Page 81 of Colin Gets Promoted and Dooms the World
“I forgot to tell you,” I lied without looking at either of them. “He has something he wants to give me.”
“Who’s Eric?” Lex asked Amira in a low voice as I started across the street.
“He and Colin are dating. Or were dating. Something happened.”
“Colin was datinghim? How? Dude iswayout of his league.”
Trying to ignore them, I kept my gaze fixed on Eric’s face. He watched me steadily, eyes sad. Something moved in the alley behind him and a sliver of fading daylight played across a pair of steel-rimmed glasses as another man stepped into view. My heart skipped a beat and I came to a halt some ten feet away, watching incredulously as my former attacker moved to stand next to my ex. The shorter blond woman appeared as well, hair coiled into a familiar braid and eyes cold as she took up a position to the other side.
“What the hell, Eric?” My voice rang furiously against the blank facades of the buildings around us. “You sold us out?”
He sighed, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jacket. “I didn’t sell you out. They insisted on coming along.”
“Who are these people?” Lex asked as they stepped up next to me, arms folded.
“They’re agents of the Seraphic Conclave.” I pointed at the tall man and the woman. “Those two tried to kill me.”
“Theywhat?” Amira demanded loudly from my other side. “Eric, you’re here with the people whoattackedColin?”
Eric grimaced and looked down at his Chuck Taylors, but it was the tall man who spoke. “We did not try to kill you,” he said in a flat Slavic accent. “If we wanted to kill you, you would be dead.”
“We only wanted to talk to you,” the woman added. “But the knight, here, decided to intervene.” She gave Eric an unfriendly stare that he returned with interest.
“Don’t forget who knocked your asses into the dirt,” he said sharply. “The Conclave should have spoken to me before sending in a couple of poorly trained Hands.” The woman’s features went white and the man with glasses growled in the back of his throat, but both remained silent as Eric turned his attention back to me. “I don’t want them here, either, but if things are about to get dicey, we can use them. Hands are soldiers. Point them at a target, and they’ll fight.”
“We will not be conscripted into a suicide mission,” the other man started to say, but he stopped abruptly when Eric lifted a hand and pulled a sword of golden fire out of the air.
Next to me, Amira gasped and fumbled for my arm. I gripped her hand tightly in mine, my gaze on Eric.
“I am a sworn knight of the Seraphic Conclave,” he said softly as he pivoted in place and leveled the sword at the other man, “and you are its instruments. You go where I say and do as I command. Is that clear?”
There was a long pause. Finally, the man nodded jerkily, gaze averted. The woman bowed her head in acquiescence, though her mouth twisted as she did so.
“Good.” With a flourish, Eric made the sword disappear as smoothly as he’d conjured it.
“Dude,” Lex said out of the corner of their mouth, clearly impressed, “thatwas your boyfriend?”
“I thinkIwant to have his babies now,” Amira added, sounding a little dazed.
“He’s so manly,” I whispered, awestruck.
Eric glanced over at us and we straightened self-consciously. “This is Ivan and Corrine.” He pointed to each in turn. “They’re going to be extremely helpful and well-behaved. Aren’t you?”
The two nodded sullenly.
“Wait, wait, wait. What just happened?” Amira turned from Eric to me. “You saw that, right? The…sword?”
“Yeah,” I sighed.
“And what is the Sapphire Conclave?”
“The Seraphic Conclave,” Lex corrected her before giving me a hard, bruising poke in the biceps. “By the way, what the actual fuck? You were dating someone who works for theSeraphic Conclave?”
“Ow!” I protested, ostentatiously rubbing my arm. “Calm down! We’re not dating anymore!”
“Is dating one of these Conclave people a bad thing?” Amira asked.
“Yeah, it’s bad,” Lex replied, still glaring at me. “They hunt down people who work for our company and burn them alive.”
