Page 84 of Colin Gets Promoted and Dooms the World
That gave me pause. “I don’t know,” I said eventually. “Can I trust you? Especially after you brought those two goons along?”
Grimacing, Eric glanced back down the sidewalk at Ivan and Corrine. “They’ve been watching my apartment. Once they heard from the Conclave that something is happening tomorrow, they latched on to me and won’t go away.” He shrugged wearily. “I’m stuck with them, at least for the moment, but I’ll keep them in line. And they really can be useful. They’ve fought supernatural entities before.”
Weighing our options, I said at last, “Okay. Dark Enterprises is locked down as the board prepares for their ritual—by the way, that’s happening tomorrow at four forty-three p.m., somewhere onsite. We have research to do, so we’re going to sneak in and hunker down. Do you have someplace safe to go?”
“We’ll be fine,” he assured me. “Are you going to tell me what this cunning plan is?”
“We’re going to re-create the magicks that Management used to bind the Abominations back in the old days.”
His eyebrows went up. “That’s some serious power.”
“Yeah, well, Lex and Amira are both, like, geniuses or whatever.”
Eric touched my hand and a pleasurable little frisson shivered through me. “I want to give you something else.” With his other hand, he held out a small golden disc. “This is linked to my amulet. If you hold it and speak my name, I’ll hear you. We can use it to keep in touch.” As I took it from him, he added, “I’ve masked its magicks, so getting it into your building shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Thanks,” I said quietly as I held his gaze. Then, awkwardly, I murmured, “Well. We’d better get going.”
Eric nodded, and together we walked back to the others. “Be safe,” he told me softly before joining Ivan and Corrine. Then the three of them disappeared back into the alley.
“Colin, Lex has been telling me some insane things.” Amira looked a little dazed as she reached for my arm. “Like…magic? Abominations?”
I pulled her close. “The learning curve for this stuff is very steep.”
“But it can’t be real,” she insisted. “There’s a rational explanation for what’s happening.”
“There totally is,” Lex agreed. “It just includes variables that you wouldn’t normally consider.”
Amira shook her head so vehemently that her curls whipped across her face. “That would mean that everything we know about the universe is wrong! It would invalidate every fundamental assumption held by modern science!”
Lex smiled, which I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen before. “Everything you know about the universe isn’t wrong. It’s just incomplete. And isn’t that where science gets really interesting?”
Amira stared at them, mouth opening and then closing slowly.
“You just watched Eric pull a burning sword out of thin air,” Ireminded her. “And I think even you would be hard-pressed to find a scientific explanation for countless thousands of people vanishing without a trace.” I gave her a quick squeeze. “Let’s get inside, okay? We’ll have time to unpack all of this once we’re in a safe place.”
With a reluctant nod, Amira allowed herself to be drawn across the street. “What did Eric give you?”
I glanced down at the cloth bundle in my free hand. “He called it the Black Blade. Someone used it to kill an Abomination, like, a million years ago.”
“Handy,” Lex observed. “If we can trust those Conclave assholes.”
Pushing aside thoughts of Eric and his goons, I stopped to peer through the tinted glass walls of Dark Enterprises. Someone was sitting behind the reception desk in the middle of the lobby. “I’ve got this,” I said with an attempt at confidence as I moved to the revolving doors. “Follow my lead.”
The receptionist was a young woman with short red hair who seemingly never left her desk. She was always there, day or night. For all I knew, she was attached to the floor, or perhaps an organic extension of the desk itself. Looking up at our approach, she fixed us with a repressive stare and said, “Access to this building is restricted.”
Time to switch on the ol’ Harris charm. “Hi there,” I said in a friendly tone, giving her a big smile. “It’s Carrie, right?”
“My name is Skye.”
“Oh, right. Hi, Skye. I’m Colin.” Adopting a casual pose, I placed a hand on the chilly granite surface of the desk and leaned in a little. “You might recognize me. I work on thirteen.”
Her blank stare conveyed without words that she neither knew who I was nor cared to converse any longer than absolutelynecessary. “You all work on the thirteenth floor?” she asked, gaze flicking over my shoulder to Lex and Amira.
“I work in the Repository,” Lex said.
“And this is Dr.Davis,” I added, motioning to Amira. “She’s working with us as an outside consultant. We’re here by special request. Top secret executive project. Essential employees. You know the drill.” I punctuated this with my most winning smile.
“All of you are on the authorized list?” Skye inquired icily. Her hand inched toward her keyboard.
