When the man with too little skin and too many bones offered me the position, a notification chimed somewhere behind my eyes.

  

  [SYSTEM NOTICE]

  New Contract Detected

  Role: Corporate Assistant—Temporary Placement

  Reward: ████

  Hidden Objective: Continue Investigation—Faye Addison (Missing Person)

  A quick acceptance due to getting me closer to finding who I needed to find. I was in a weird excitement high at the prospect of this position. Not by the puppet of a human standing in front of me. He was still calibrating his eyebrows like they were foreign equipment. He didn’t say, but I have a feeling this was his first position topside. Why they would have him in a new hire or customer service-facing position right now was a wild choice.

  This job moved me one square closer to Faye. Closeness mattered more than comfort. Closer mattered more than safety. Closer mattered more than the way my pulse jumped when I realized where I’d been assigned.

  I stood in the lobby beside my new supervisor. My passive scan would not stop stuttering. A glitch that wouldn’t let up.

  

  [ENVIRONMENT SCANNER - ON]

  Threat Level: Elevated

  Atmospheric Corruption: ███████??

  Origin Signature: Infernal/Corporate Hybrid

  Even with the expensive cologne and the attractive face, there was something about Silas that did not sit well with me. The darkness sagged into the building in an attempt to drag this place into the fiery depths that most everything from here came from. A child seeking its mother while out on its own for its first time.

  A very hell-born, OSHA-violating kid and yet somehow…

  Silas Thorne stood perfectly inside that shadow, like he belonged to it.

  Which bothered me.

  A lot.

  Deeply.

  Even with the expensive cologne buff, dangerously symmetrical face, the calm, executive-level posture…

  He scared me. Something about him scraped against my sense of danger.

  

  [PASSIVE TRAIT - Omen Reader]

  ?? Anomaly Detected

  Good. That meant I wasn’t being stupid.

  ... Right?

  Based on how this job was presented to me, I thought I would be working alone. A solo assignment where I could befriend staff, stay late without raising flags, and quietly hollow out the building’s secrets like a very polite raccoon.

  

  [SYSTEM UPDATE]

  Assigned Supervisor: Silas Thorne

  Proximity Requirement: High

  Operational Pairing: Mandatory

  Oh.

  That was.

  That was going to be a big problem.

  Silas Thorne was going to be a problem. A tall, expensive, sharp jawline of a problem. He also looked as if he hadn’t smiled since maybe his childhood. If he had a childhood.

  

  [TARGET: Silas Thorne]

  Species: Human …?

  Status: Stable

  Threat Rating: ▓▓▓▓▓??

  Emotion Output: Restricted

  Smiling History: Not Found

  I wasn’t expecting to be partnered with a human brick wall capable of delaying my investigations with nothing but silence and legal approval chains.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Faye’s parents told me to take as long as I needed. They handed me half of the promised amount the night I agreed to it. Which was super awkward because I was at work, and my boss already thinks I sell drugs for extra cash.

  

  [SOCIAL REPUTATION - WORKPLACE]

  Suspicion: +2

  Worth it.

  This meant that I needed to win him over. Humans. Demon. Corporate Lich. Whatever. I didn’t normally struggle with people. Human-people, Fae-people, and Demon-people.

  But judging by the tension radiating off of him, this was less about me. It was more about how his bosses deployed an assistant like an unrequested software update.

  I could work with that.

  I shifted my weight.

  I looked at him again. A little too long.

  A new icon blinked into existence.

  

  [STATUS EFFECT APPLIED]

  Soft Spot (Unwanted)

  Cause: Prolonged proximity to emotionally unavailable authority figure

  Symptoms: Light chest pressure, increased awareness of jawlines, irrational urge to impress.

  … no.

  Absolutely not.

  That was tactical curiosity.

  A professional assessment.

  Very serious.

  Very...

  “You’re staring.” Silas said, pulling me out of my rambling thoughts. His voice had a low vibration that I felt in my chest.

  My chest did something embarrassingly physical in response

  

  [STATUS CHECK]

  Heart Rate: Elevated

  Composure: Minor Leak

  He didn’t even look at me.

  The exits.

  The people drifting through the lobby.

  Like he was quietly mapping all the ways the room could fail.

  “Just observing,” I gently corrected, flashing my best I’m-harmless smile. “You have a very disciplined posture. It’s impressive. Do you do Pilates? Or just the weight of working at a demonic corporate job?”

  His eyes flicked on me.

  Dark.

  Focused.

  Unfairly attractive.

  My internal threat meter wavered.

  

  [WARNING]

  Target aesthetic interfering with judgment

  Okay.

  Okay.

  I have dealt with vampires, cursed archivists, and a man who communicated exclusively through haunted sticky notes. I could handle one emotionally constipated executive.

  Probably.

  But

  Why did it suddenly feel like I wanted his approval?

  Why did I straighten up without thinking?

  

  [STATUS EFFECT UPGRADED]

  Soft Spot → Unfortunate Crush (minor)

  Subtype: Puppy-brained Loyalty Response

  Duration: Temporary

  (Probably.)

  He studied me for half a second too long, then looked away.

  “It’s the weight of having an assistant I didn’t ask for.” He paused.

  Oof.

  Direct hit.

  My shoulders dipped before I could stop them. Not dramatically. Just a little. Enough for me to notice not anyone near me. Hit like I was just told I wasn’t allowed on the couch.

  "Oh," I said lightly, because my emotional defense strategy involved tail-wagging optimism.

  He started walking.

  Toward the doors.

  Toward hell’s open-concept office floor.

  I followed.

  Immediately.

  Without hesitation.

  Without dignity.

  

  [BEHAVIOR NOTE]

  Subject compliance increased by 37%.

  For today I would absolutely count that as banter.

  And, tragically, as progress.

  Without a word or notice, when we passed another security threshold, something shifted. Something subtle—had I not been good at what I do, I wouldn’t have noticed. But since it was a skill that kept a roof over my head. Silas adjusted his stride not to slow me down but to keep a step ahead of me. Between me and the nearest cluster of personnel.

  As we moved, it was him versus a corridor intersection, and he still didn’t acknowledge what he was doing. But every sightline narrowed through him, and the darkness that followed tightened. Not outward but inward like a sheath

  

  [OMEN READER—UPDATE]

  Ambient threat trajectory reduced within 2.3 meters.

  I lightly rubbed at my left eye as something flickered across my sight.

  [SYSTEM SUBPROCESS — BACKGROUND]

  Stability domain: Interpersonal

  Activation class: Passive proximity

  'Kay whatever that meant.

  I glanced up at his back, the calmness radiating, but I could tell that the building seemed to not want to get on his bad side. It was the best way I could think to describe what was happening in front of me.

  I needed to get this guy to trust me and trust me fast. I pushed down any and all silly school boy crushes or notions.

  In the end, seeing the possibility of Silas being a good guy in a bad place was delusional. Same with the possibility of Faye not being a good person. She could very well have deserved suddenly disappearing. But the way her parents looked when they came to me for help. I was hell bent on finding out the truth whether it was for the best or...

  I Shookt he thought out of my head. I couldn’t dwell on that.