Page 85 of A Demon Is Forever

Exiting onto the Staging Area, Shaw had jumped through a fewmedical hoops for her waiting med supervisor, and answered a whole lot ofquestions. Her knee, with its invisible bandage, had been deemed to have passedthe first hurdle. Shaw receiving a conditional tick of approval andinstructions on where and when to be, so more rigorous battlefield testingcould occur.

Stepping out on to the executive level, heading back to heroffice, that was when things began to get noticeably strange. More than oneadmin staff member waving in greeting, unusual in itself. Whilst at least threerested their hands over their hearts, smiling dopily at Shaw before sighing,their gazes a little unfocused.

Shaw just ignored them. Thinking perhaps the canteen was handingout trial samples of a new ale again for morning tea.

Stomping down the corridor towards Legal, she absently morphedaway her battle gear, replacing it with black trousers, a leather collaredhalter top and shitkicker boots. The mood in Legal was… expectant. All gazesimmediately shifting to Shaw as she entered the wing. Chatter ceasing abruptly.Every eye watching her progress. Weird ass heifers, had they been playing onlinegames again?

That was surprising. Given her new executive assistant’sreputation. Salwa Pleith was a retired battle Valkyrie, renown for her swordwork and unoriginal but highly effective catch phrase - Die. Die. Die!

Coming to terms with retirement was hard on a Valkyrie. They oftenhad to be monitored for bloodthirsty temper tantrums and attempting to sneakback onto the battle Planes. Salwa’s reflexes might have slowedinfinitesimally. And her eyesight gotten so bad she now had a permanent squint,with no idea if whoever was approaching was friend or foe. At least until theywere a mere four feet away from her. But Salwa was determined to remain aproductive cog in the Valkyrie Empire.

It was readily apparent though, in many small ways, that she had onlyretired four days ago and that this was her first day working at HQ.

Like the way she sat, ramrod straight. How any unexpected movementhad Salwa instantly calling her swords to hand. Pity the poor water filtercleaner this morning who’d startled her when he dropped his tool belt.

Most telling of all was the way Shaw’s new assistant was dressed.Hopefully, with Lexi starting as Head of VR next month, the first order ofbusiness would be to update the pamphlet they provided all incoming HQ staffgiving advice on how to act and dress. Salwa having dutifully replicated theoutfit on the model pictured on the front cover. Problem being, it was a photoof Julie Andrews dressed as Mary Poppins. Not only did that long tight skirtlook ridiculous on Salwa, given her height and sturdy thighs. But the littlehat perched precariously on top of her greying blonde braids bobbled and swayedevery time she moved. Making anyone chatting to her feel a little seasick.

The one thing Salwa did have going for her was her gruffmonosyllabic personality. Though they had only been working together for a fewscant hours before Shaw went off for her test battle, she had yet to hear Salwasay an actual word.

Better still, no sneezing. No snotty tissues with dubiouslycoloured contents. No clouds of burnt sage drifting overhead threatening to setoff the sprinkler system. No nothing, just blissful silence.

Shaw was pretty sure they were a match made in heaven. A briefmatch. Just until Shaw completed all the silly fit for battle tests Medicalwere insisting upon. Once she was fulltime battle approved, it would besayonara HQ.

Approaching her new assistant’s desk, Shaw made sure to avoidlooking at the bouncing tiny hat. “Any messages?”

“No.”

Oh, she loved this Valkyrie. Short. Sharp. Succinct. Forced tofreeze in place as Salwa unexpectedly kept on talking.

“Visitor.”

Glancing at her closed double office doors, frowning, Shaw triedto recall if she had a meeting scheduled.

“Gone.” Salwa advised, immediately clamping her mouth shut.

Yeah, that wasn’t exactly helpful. Had it been important? A whineyclient claiming damages or threatening to sue? Shaw was starting to think Salwamay not be perfect assistant material after all.

“Pretty.”

Say what now? Salwa, who could give Helgastein a run in the dourstakes was describing her visitor as pretty, that was… oh, Freyja, there wasonly one Demon capable of melting a gruff Valkyrie’s heart. Kaleb.

It explained all the weird ass looks she’d received earlier. Crap,even Salwa wasn’t immune to his charms, allowing him unfettered access to heroffice where he’d done Goddess knows what.

Hurrying inside, Shaw surveyed the room. Nothing looked out ofplace. Why had he dropped by then? Why hadn’t he waited to speak to her?Huffing out a deep breath Shaw was annoyed to note that she could stillidentify Kaleb’s lingering cologne; lime, leather and teasing notes of freshlypoured prime ale. Things tightened before melting low in her body. Traitoroushormones. More alarming, the closer Shaw got to her desk, the stronger thescent grew.

The gall of the Demon, he’d sat in her chair. Why? Her attentiondrawn immediately to a tiny scroll, held together by a green ribbon, placed inthe dead centre of the desk. Snatching it up she read the note attached to theribbon;Forget something?

What was he… oh, unrolling the scroll, hot colour flooded Shaw’scheeks. In her hurry to get away from Kaleb… er, she meant be on time for herbattle date, she’d forgotten to collect his signature on the second pre-schooladmission form.

Damn, it had been thoughtful of him to deliver it personally.Collapsing into her chair, Shaw plonked her boots up on the desk. It was a bitworrisome though. Unlike her not to complete a mission… had she unconsciouslynot collected the document so she’d have an excuse to track the Demon down? No…that would be madness. She’d just been… distracted by the idea of returning tobattle. Not concerned that if she spent one more moment in Kaleb’s presence,she’d haul him close, kiss him and do excitingly despicable things to that rockhard body of his.

Ugh, stop thinking about… him.

That particular Demon was out of her life as of now. Closing hereyes, Shaw took a deep breath, big mistake, instantly assailed by severalmemories of him hot, naked and smiling. Damn him and his sexy cologne. It wasalmost annoying enough to make her miss the smell of burning sage.

Yes, looking back later, Shaw realised that had definitely beenthe point at which things began to get really strange.

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