Page 5 of Of Mercury and Mist

Josiah was a stickler for order and ran the company with an iron fist. He wouldn’t overlook my breach of security or my irresponsibleness. He’d very much overlooked the rules against fraternization when it was personally convenient, but he’d have a much different opinion about me, no doubt.

There was no way I’d put the burden of my stupid actions on Della, especially when she was thousands of miles away enjoying a work-slash-vacation trip with her boyfriend. She’d want to help me and be completely unable. It was bad enough I’d screwed Karissa over; I didn’t want to drag my best friend into my dumpster fire as well.

Micha was going to have to be faced on my own, sans a crutch.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t going to have enough time to go home. It was now three in the morning, and I hadn’t slept at all. The same sweater and skirt I’d worn all day would go right back on in the morning. Luckily, they were both black, so they’d blend by default. If I walked into the office like nothing happened and everything was normal, I’d probably be okay.

Somehow, I dozed off for a couple hours. When I got up, I showered and then strategically washed my face, trying to preserve as much of yesterday’s smoky eye makeup as I could. As it was, I was shocked more of it hadn’t smeared on the pillowcase.

* * *

“Hey, how are you,”I greeted Karissa, not waiting for an answer. “Sit with me.”

I sipped on my coffee and weaved my way through the employee dining room, my friend following along behind. So far, everything was as it should be. There wasn’t anything outside of the norm, just the usual security guards and employees. No one’s gaze lingered.

“Have you heard from Della?” Karissa asked, sitting down across from me.

“Not for a few days. They’re way out in the wilderness I guess, several hours from Vancouver.”

She looked down at the table, where I’d normally place my phone. I felt ridiculously naked without it, as if I were missing a limb. The urge to say “I lost my phone” or make some other inane excuse was welling up and I had to squelch it and pray she didn’t mention the missing device. I couldn’t trust myself not to spill out everything that’d happened.

Why she’d be so interested in my phone was beyond me but the chances of her bringing it up felt like it would be magnified just because of last night’s events. Just my luck, and all that.

“I’m sure I’ll hear from her soon,” I said, and smiled.

Karissa tugged the string of her tea bag and squished the pouch against a spoon. A fragrant orange scent drifted through the air. Not once had I ever seen the girl drink coffee.

“Mike and Andy are having some people go over Vincent’s tonight, I gotta make sure I get out of here on time for a change,” she said.

It was hard to focus on my friend when all I wanted to do was keep scanning the room. “What’s going on, anything special?” I asked, forcing myself to stay attuned to my company.

She shook her head. “I don’t think so. Just the usual, I guess?”

What that meant was a whole lot of nothing. Drinking, gossip, maybe a game on the television. “Sounds about right. God forbid we do anything interesting.” Karissa laughed at my complaint. “Need a lift?” I offered.

“Yeah, that’d be great,” she said, a look of relief softening her features. She had a driver, thanks to her parents, but she avoided using them or the provided car as much as possible. I wasn’t clear on all the details for that and never asked for an explanation. Not my place.

“Of course,” I said, standing up and grabbing my cup. “I gotta go. I’ll grab you later.”

Karissa gave me a little wave and replied, “Okay, see you. Have a good day.” She tossed a smile at me and made her exit.

The girl was far too sweet for what I’d accidentally done to her, and I was torn between wanting to warn her and not making a big deal over it on the off chance nothing happened. Why stress the poor girl out?

If I’d gotten the chance, I would’ve slid the card through the slats on her locker and helped her out. She was going to go look for it and it was going to be gone, pocketed by a man in a full facemask.

I’d only seen him out of the corner of my eye but the little bit I could see was a wall of black. Not enough for identification if I wanted to rescue the card.

The elevator had just enough people in it so I could hide my shattered nerves, lost in a shuffle of humans on their way to their floors and offices. Twisting my thumb ring around in circles, I watched the numbers change until we arrived at my stop. It happened much quicker than I’d hoped.

Keeping my head down and my eyes on the floor, I took a deep breath and stepped from the lift. I was probably worried for nothing. I mean, if something was going to happen, it would’ve already, right?

“Ashley,” a low voice murmured my name.

Fuck.

Satan had found me.

“Come this way,” Micha ordered, curling his fingers at me.

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