I spun around and found Grace where I'd left her. At first, I almost didn't see her because she blended in with the fake trees that flanked the door. Perhaps someone thought it added a cheery note to the dismal atmosphere, but it failed horribly. The white branches and yellow leaves acted as a decent camouflage for her, though.
After pulling my husk forward, I said, “Found it.”
She jumped, and I do mean jumped, before knocking over one of the tree pots. Of course, she started to bend, aiming to right it, but I grabbed her and yanked her after me.
“But the tree!” she cried at the same moment Shadow sent a weird sympathy laden longing with a picture of the tree as if she felt sorry for it.
“Shhhh. They put us in the worst place in this entire building. They can pick it up.” I kept dragging her as she continued to be obvious and peek behind her.
When we reached our new office, I stopped and waved my hand before the open door. “Well, what do you think of it? Fitting for a Master?”
She peeked up at me before leaning inside and jerking back.
“No.” She paused to glance towards the front of the building before looking at me and whispering, “They can pick up their own stuff.”
While her cheeks heated, I grinned. Maybe she won't be that bad, after all.
“Exactly. Let's go check it out, I suppose. At least it won't take long.” At her nod, I stepped inside.
My gaze swept over the two desks and single file cabinet—all in grey, of course. A paper dropped on the larger of the desks seemed to be the only interesting thing in the entire cramped box. We didn't have chairs. We didn't have a separate room for me. They'd simply stuck us in a corner and waited for us to fail.
Fuck that. I spun and marched out, allowing the blazing fury that spiked to vibrate down my legs until it made itself known in the strikes of my booted feet. Shadow's tiny cool palm rubbed my cheek but did nothing to calm me. My gaze remained chest high as I searched the entire building for someone with a cloak similar to my own.
That Reaper had holed up in what appeared to be their version of a break room. Well, that explains it. Fucking Wen. He'd once been a promising legacy, but as second in command of the Investigations Office, he now preferred to remain hidden.
Chatting and snacking seemed to be his only concern. At least, until I slapped my hand down on the table in front of him. His black eyes followed my arm up to my face, where he offered me a lazy, thin-lipped smile.
“What can I do for you?” The smirk in his voice curled my fingers.
“You can give me the ferrule assigned to my Office, Wen.”
“I'm not sure I know what you mean. Are you telling me you haven't kept up with your ferrule? That's a serious offense, you know.” He sat a little straighter, and the glee in his eyes only resulted in gaining my monster's attention.
It practically salivated at what it thought was to come. If the pot licker at the table maintained his act, the monster would feed until it became stuffed as the lazy ass in front of me.
With my mood blacker than my cloak, I couldn't control the growl in my voice as I leaned forward and took a guess, “Your little ass-kisser left the paper with the rules on the desk. If a single ferrule can't remain safe inside the Ministry of Investigations, perhaps the Reapers that work within need to be reevaluated. Return it, or I contact Resources, Master Akai, and Master Anu. I'll give you, well, until I tire of your game.”
He stared up at me, his eyes darting somewhere behind me. Maybe he searched for a savior or was busy working his tiny brain. It didn't matter. Only Grace stood behind me, blocking the door. She wouldn't stay there if someone tried to enter, but he didn't know that.
“Better yet, why don't I begin the search for the treasonous Reaper myself?” I stood and pulled at my lower lip, letting my gaze become unfocused. “It would look really great if I found someone in need of destruction on my very first binal here, wouldn't it? And, bonus, I've been feeling super bitchy lately. See, I've been so busy that I haven't been able