Carve My Pumpkin (The Night Realm: Halloween Marked #3)

Chapter 17

SEVENTEEN

COLETTE

“Hey, Colette, you still here?”

I froze with my fingers over the keyboard at the sound of Mateo shouting for me through his office door that was cracked open. I pursed my lips. Am I still here? It was four-thirty on a Friday afternoon, so technically it was still within my work hours but also most of the building had gone home half an hour ago to prepare for tonight’s big festivities. We all probably took the annual Vauntero haunted house night a little too seriously, but it was so good. Actually, I thought he had already left. I could’ve slipped out easily, he clearly suspected I had by the fact he asked.

Except…he asked. We’d had a major breakthrough in our relationship, for lack of better word, over lunch and he’d been quite pleasant since. He’d gone out for coffee after lunch and brought me back one without me asking - and it had been the correct drink. So he either had somehow noticed how I preferred my coffee or he took the initiative to find out. Either was impressive considering I thought he loathed my existence.

I sighed. There was no way I was bailing now when we’d finally made nice. “Actually, I thought you left,” I yelled back.

“Oh good, you’re here…um…” I heard him let out a slightly panicked, manic style laugh. “Help?”

“Is there blood? Tell me now-”

“No, no blood. I’m not injured.” He sighed. “At least not physically.”

I smiled. This man was a constant surprise. As long as the whiplash stopped, I could handle the rest. I hit save on my spreadsheet I’d been updating then pushed to my feet and walked into his office.

“Whoa…” I stopped just inside his office and my eyes widened. He stood at the far end of his office by his desk but between us had to be two dozen cardboard boxes. I gestured to the obvious problem. “When did all these boxes get here?”

He threw his hands up. “I have no idea! I came back from a meeting with Kallahan and Orson and there they were.”

My jaw dropped. “How? When? I only left my desk for fifteen minutes to help Diego not screw up one of Mr. Prescott’s spreadsheets-”

“Say what, now?”

I waved him off. “You’ve got your hands full here, don’t ask. I handled it. I just don’t understand how all of these were delivered in those short few minutes.”

He narrowed those sapphire blue eyes at me and I braced myself for the whiplash. He cocked his head to the side. “Did you say Lexington?”

“Never, he’s terrifying. I said Mr. Prescott.”

He smirked and let out a little chuckle. “I couldn’t call him Lex until I was ten, and when it happened it was an accident. I thought he was gonna kill me.”

I grinned. “So it’s not just me.”

“No and he relishes that reputation, don’t let him fool you.” He lifted a piece of paper up and showed me a note written in Mr. Prescott’s elegant, yet old fashioned, handwriting. “This is a note from Lex saying Carter and Ria had a work-related emergency to handle and needed to delegate this task to someone else. I guess I’m the lucky winner.”

“Okay…” I pursed my lips and peeked at the closest box to me that was sitting on top of two others. “It’s open?”

“Yeah, I opened all of them.” He groaned and put his hands on his head. “I’m stuck. Help.”

I pressed my lips together to stop myself from smiling or laughing. His panic was real, I didn’t want to belittle that. Plus, he’d actually asked for help and admitted to needing it. And he was still being nice. I wanted to keep us on that path. So instead I calmly nodded and kicked my heels off.

“Oh shit. She took her heels off.” He dropped down into his chair and put his head in his hands. “I am so screwed.”

I covered my mouth with my hand to hide my laugh when that wasn’t sufficient, I turned my back to him and started opening more boxes. He’d already removed the tape so they were easy to pull the flaps apart. I got about six boxes in before I stopped and frowned.

“Okay, that frown makes me feel better,” he mumbled.

I grinned over at him and shook my head. “I just…I think I’m missing an important detail here? Because none of this stuff seems to go together? What is all of this?”

“OH. Right, that would be helpful info.” He pushed his glasses up higher on his nose. “So the note from Lex says this is all of the stuff for the ‘ Make Your Own Mask’ table at the masquerade ball next Saturday. I guess they like to set it all up early to make sure they have everything.”

“I see-”

“You do?”

I nodded. “They want you to get everything set up.”

“Set up? Set up? What does that mean? What am I supposed to do with all of this? There aren’t any instructions, Colette. Just boxes of random shit. This one is full of plastic lensless glasses,” he said while pointing to the box at his feet. Then he took a step and pointed to the next. “These three are silk ribbons. The next four are paper masks, like what even is the point? That’s a mask. I’m so confused. What are they for? I mean, why all three? ”

“Well-”

“And then we’ve got gold chains, silver chains, pearls, several colors of glitter bottles, sequins to match the rainbow, about a million little fake diamonds, fake flowers of every shape and color, lace, feathers, and more ribbons. I mean, why more ribbons, Colette?” His voice rose with each item he named. “And then a giant box of magic glue from Bow Ties.”

“From Peggy? Nice-”

“Yeah, and three boxes full of these colored magic discs that - according to the instructions in the packets - will change something into whatever color you want. I mean cool, great, awesome. Love that for them. That one makes sense but why is it the only item here with instructions? But even that doesn’t tell me what to do with them now? Where do I put them? What do I do with all of this stuff, Colette? I don’t do crafts. ”

I bit my lip hard to contain the laughter. He was spiraling. I was enjoying it.

That, and every time he said my name it made my heart flutter with excitement.

“But then there’s there like these giant spider web things with holes? I am just so confused.” Before I could ask, he leaned around a stack of boxes and pulled out a large white circle with little white posts inside to make the shape of a spiderweb. There were holes that looked kind of like cup holders all over the web. Mateo frowned and his eyebrows pinched together in the middle. “Why do I have cauldrons? And what are these? Because they look like bugs.”

My eyes widened. He held a stack of black cups that were designed to have little legs sticking out from the sides. “They are definitely bugs.”

“ Why do I have bugs, Colette? ”

I snort laughed. The look on his face was absolutely adorable. “Okay, okay, let’s approach this strategically, eh?”

“I have no strategy, only panic.”

I giggled. “Don’t you run an entire department and employees-”

“Not like this Colette. Never like this. ” He shuddered then pulled his glasses off and tossed them onto his desk. With a sigh, he scrubbed his face with his hands. “Lex did this to me on purpose. There’s no way anyone does this every year by hand. Why would they? There’s mages with magic who could whip this up with a swish and flick. I don’t even know what I’m doing but I know mages could do it faster and better.”

I snort laughed and covered my mouth with my hand.

His face fell. “You’re enjoying this.”

“Well…” I giggled again.

He nodded. “I suppose that’s fair.”

“But you ask good questions, why ask you to do this task when Carter and Ria are handling everything else? And they know a lot of mages on the Island who could’ve handled it in minutes so why ask Lex to delegate?”

“It’s punishment, it has to be.”

I frowned. “Why would Mr. Prescott want to punish you?”

His eyes widened but he stared at the ground. His lips flattened into a straight line.

“ OH .” I tried to hold it in but a wild cackle slipped through my clenched teeth.

He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Yeah. That’s why. Lex is punishing me for being an ass to you, and that’s fine. I deserve it. But this…this is cruel. The guests are the ones who are going to suffer the most by making me handle this. Oh God, I can see my mother’s disappointment now. I may never be able to return to the Island.”

“Okay, all right. It’s fine.” I made my way over to him through the maze between boxes. Then I took the big spiderweb out of his hand and sat it on top of a box. With a gentle smile, I took the bug cup from his hand and sat it inside one of the holes. “These webs are just a fancy, Halloween-themed way to decorate the work station while also being functional. These bugs are just cups that are going to hold the items inside the boxes.”

His jaw dropped and his brows lowered over his eyes.

“Right so it’s a work station so people can decorate their own masks. Your family has it every year at the ball but it’s just never this elaborately themed. From what I’ve learned from Carter and Ria so far this month is that they don’t mess around with parties. It’s all gonna be top notch themed to the stars. You follow me?”

He nodded slowly. “So this is all new to this year and I’m not crazy?”

“You might very well be crazy, but I will defer to your twin for that diagnosis.” I grinned and reached into the box closest to me and pulled out a plastic tub of pretty white pearls. “See, sitting these out in the tubs is tacky so they crafted the webs. We just pour the pearls into the bugs and it looks adorable.”

I opened the tub and filled the black cup with pearls.

“ Ohhh. ” He stood and glanced around at the boxes. “So the loose items like glitter, sequins, fake diamonds, and stuff all go in these cups which go on the webs.”

“Exactly.” I lifted the web and carried it over to the far wall where there was empty space, then I sat it on the floor. “Let’s clear the floor space a bit and lay the webs out with all the cups in place. Then we fill each cup up with a different garnish for the masks. Now, I’m assuming these are going to be spread out to make room for lots of people to work at the same time, so let’s do one cup per item per web. Make sense?”

“That is very strategic.” He let out a deep breath. “I didn’t quite need to panic then, eh?”

“I found it rather entertaining.”

“Well at least there’s that.” He chuckled and rubbed his hands together. “Right, so let’s move the boxes and line up the webs?”

“And let’s organize the boxes by type of material inside. So we can production line this shit.”

“On it.” With his vampire strength it took him all of sixty-five seconds to clear a huge space for the webs on the floor and another thirty to organize all the boxes. When he was done, he dove for the webs and placed them all out on the floor. Then he turned to me with a proud smile. “Good?”

“Damn that was convenient.” I laughed. “Yes. Good. I’ll put the cups in.”

By the time I got all the cups into the holes and turned around, he had four stacks of cauldrons in his hands.

“What the hell are these for then?”

I pursed my lips then snapped my fingers. “The masks themselves. They must want to have the first stop of this station to be to select which style mask you want: glasses frame, paper masks with the elastic strap, or ribbons with eye holes - and I’m gonna assume they are pre-cut with the holes.” I took two stacks of plastic black cauldrons from his hands and sat them off to the side of the webs, still in the loading zone. He followed behind me to sit the others down until we had four even rows of cauldrons. “So the fourth row will be for the magic glue. Everyone will grab a mask then a glue and move to the decorating table.”

He whistled. “That’s brilliant.”

“Carter and Ria are impressive.”

“I meant you,” he said softly then shrugged. “You figured out what they wanted without being told specifically…that’s also impressive.”

“Oh.” I tucked my hair behind my ears and felt my face warm. “Thanks, Mateo.”

He cleared his throat and stood up straight. “So now how should we handle this?”

“I say grab a box and start filling bug cups?”

“I realize I keep saying we …uh…I’m the one being punished here, you don’t have to help me do all this. I’m sure I can manage-”

“Mateo.” I held my hand up and shook my head. “I’m your assistant. This is actually a great project to tackle together. It’s team building, and all that jazz.”

He smiled at me and it made my pulse skip.

“Besides, if you screw this up I’ll never be able to stay friends with Carter and Ria and I really like them.”

He threw his head back and laughed. “Well, I appreciate the help. So thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” I licked my lips and peeled my gaze off of his beautiful face. This being friends with Mateo was going to be even more dangerous for my health than him hating me. This was what people meant when they said be careful what you wish for. I pointed to the boxes by the door. “I’ll start over there. You start at the other end and we’ll meet in the middle?”

“ I'd start walkin' your way, you'd start walkin' mine, ” he sang with a thick southern accent. I must’ve made a face because he stopped and laughed. “You’ve never heard that song? Meet in the Middle by Diamond Rio? I think it’s from the 80’s?”

I laughed and shook my head. “Definitely not. But I may have to look it up now.”

“So you’ve got a thing for accents.” He nodded. “That’s also fair.”

I opened the box at the far side of the room by the door and found different colored tubs of glitter. “Ya know, Constantine told me you were more like Nash than people realized. And I’m finally seeing that.”

Mateo sighed hard. “I’m not sure if that’s nice to say about my twin.” Then he winked playfully over his shoulder.

I giggled. “Still, it’s good you wear glasses so we can all tell you two apart.”

“You know if I don’t wear these glasses people can’t tell the difference? I’ve given really terrible medical advice when drunk.”

“Oh my God.”

“But, in reverse, when Nash wants to hide in plain sight he has fake glasses to match mine-”

“WAIT.” I stopped and spun to face him with wide eyes. He flinched. “ Are you Nash?”

His face fell. “Stop it.”

I raced across the room with a giggle and grabbed his glasses off the desk then looked through the lenses - and the room spun. “ Whoa. Okay, touché.”

He laughed and rested his forehead against the boxes. “Yeah, can’t fake that one.”

I winked back at him. I knew he wasn’t Nash, but it was funny. “So, Not-Nash-”

“Oh God, a new nickname,” he mumbled.

“Do you miss traveling? This is the longest you’ve been on the Island since what…high school?”

He frowned. “Yes, and no. I missed my family, being home this year has shown how much I’d been missing out on. Especially with Nash. But I am getting the itch to go somewhere. I like to travel, like to experience new things and believe it or not, there are still places in this realm I have not yet seen.”

“My list is longer,” I said with a humorless laugh.

He carried two tubs of pearls over to the webs but glanced over his shoulder at me. “So, Colette, is the rumor true that you’ve never left the Island?”

I groaned. “Yes.”

He stopped in front of me. “Why? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“I don’t mind, it’s just…my mom refuses to leave her house, so she won’t leave the Island. My golden girls are all senior citizens who did their traveling before I was born and are now hell-bent to stay here until they die. Well, and Constantine is…Constantine. Aside from them I don’t really have close friends, or I haven’t until recently. I’ve actually begun collecting a small girl gang so maybe one day they’d be willing to take a trip with me. But until then I just…well…” I stared down at the different colored trays of sequins so I wouldn’t see his reaction. “I’m afraid to go by myself.”

He reached out and put his hand on my forearm and gave a light squeeze. When I looked up, there was no judgement or mockery in his face. Just kindness and curiosity. “Why are you so afraid to travel off the Island by yourself?”

I took a deep breath then let it out. “What would I do? Who would I talk to? Would I go sit at a restaurant by myself? Or see a play by myself? Do humans do that? Is it safe? I mean, I’ve never even met a human before-”

“ What?” He shook himself. “Well, I guess that tracks if you haven’t ever left the Island but…wow. You’ve never seen a human?”

“No. Not in real life. I watch television and movies, of course, but that’s it.” I stared at my hands as all of my inner thoughts and fears just came pouring out of me. “What are they like? Do they look different from us at all in real life? Like if I saw one across the street would I be able to tell if they’re human? Because I’m a fae failure, I can’t see auras like the others can. It’s not like I can push a person’s lip up to check for fangs or pull their hair back to check for ears. And then there’s mages, they don’t have any physical attributes and I can’t just ask to see their wand. Do all jinns have wild colored hair like Torren and her sister? Or are there some with black hair? Like could I see a stray cat on the street but it’s really a jinn? And if I go hiking in the forest how will I know if a wolf is a shifter or a real predator?”

He opened his mouth then shut it.

“Do humans smell different? What do they talk about? How do I interact with them? What do I say?” I shook my head and felt my pulse beating wildly in my chest. The anxiety kicking in just thinking about it was enough to make me run and hide and never leave my house. “How do I know which humans are even safe to be around? Because supernaturals have the no violence law or else deportation but I’ve seen movies and humans are crazy violent. What’s to stop them from being violent against me ? And if they do, what do I do? Do I fight back and defend myself? Will I get deported for that? The Bow’s friend Zita got deported for that-”

“No, she didn’t.” He waved his hand. “She thought she did because Queen Tephine told her that when she kidnapped her. None of us knew what happened to her, we thought she’d died in the human world-”

“SEE!” My heart skipped beats. “That’s what I’m saying! How do I not die in First Realm? I have no idea.”

“So I see you have experience with intrusive thoughts.”

I cringed. “I need therapy, don’t I? I should ask Nash.”

“It wouldn’t hurt, to help handle all of the emotions and fears you very quickly ran through just now.” He gave me a soft smile. “And Nash would be happy to help you connect with one.”

“But?”

“But once you leave the Island and see the humans for yourself, you’ll see they’re just like us.” He chuckled. “Actually, most humans struggle with the same feelings of detachment and isolation as you do. They feel inept in comparison to their peers.”

“Really?”

He nodded. “It’s important to remember that at one point, back before any of us supernaturals existed the way we do now, we all come from Nephilim. And Nephilim were half human. So at our very cores we’re really no different than them. They look like us, talk like us, feel like us. We just are so much cooler with our magic shit. Though, I may be bias on that.”

My pulse slowed a little. “I hadn’t thought of it like that.”

“You just have to get off the Island. Even if it’s just to grab lunch in New York for an hour. You’ll see, it seems a lot scarier than it actually is.” He shrugged. “Sure, their world moves a lot faster than it does here on the Island - especially in some cities - but it’s not much different. And I am positive that Carter and Ria would be more than happy to escort you to the city for the first time. They live there and work there, they’d protect you and help you experience humans safely.”

I let out a deep breath. “Thank you. That…helps.”

“You’re welcome.” He smiled then turned and headed back towards the boxes he’d been working on.

I stared at his back for a long moment in silence, feeling awkward as hell in the wake of my word vomiting. “Sorry about that, I guess I have a lot of questions.”

He smiled and turned to face me with more stuff in his hands. “Did that feel good? To say it all out loud for the first time?”

I bit my lip and nodded.

“Good. I’m glad you did.” He walked over to the webs and started pouring the crystals in the cups.

“How’d you know?”

He shrugged one shoulder then walked over to the cauldrons and dumped plastic pairs of lensless glasses. “I don’t know, maybe it was just a gut feeling? But…they poured out of you like you couldn’t keep them in any longer. And I imagine you might’ve felt self-conscious to ask other people.”

“I honestly don’t know why I just said them to you.” I frowned.

“Has anyone ever asked you why you were afraid to travel alone?”

I opened my mouth to say yes when I realized that was a lie. I scowled. “No, actually.”

He smiled and nodded. “I meet a lot of people out in my travels, a lot of supernaturals afraid to leave the safety of their little bubbles to come here. I’ve gotten good at sensing it and I’ve learned it’s best to just ask. Otherwise you can never help them. And most people are just waiting for someone to ask.”

“Well then, thank you for asking.” I turned away and started breaking down the boxes we’d emptied already.

“Where would you like to go?” When I looked over, he gestured around to the way I’d organized the room. “I know you well enough by now to know you’ve probably got a color-coded list of travel destinations, possibly even organized into categories.”

My face heated and I knew I’d just blushed bright red.

He chuckled. “Yeah, I thought so.”

“Well…”

“No, no. I love that. It was not an insult.” His own cheeks flushed a soft pink. He looked away from me to fill a bug cup with sequins. “But I am curious, where would you like to go?”

“Everywhere,” I said without hesitation.

He looked up at me and grinned. “I’m sure there are a few places at the top of your list.”

“Vegas.”

“Oh, that was fast.” He cocked his head to the side. “Let me guess, to check out the massive fae community there?”

I nodded. “And then Chip and Pickles told me about the siren cove down in Key West. I’d like to see that.”

“I’d also like to see that.” He chuckled. “I didn’t know it existed until like a week ago.”

“Me either -OH - Scotland. I heard they have these things called fairy pools? Oh and Italy. Connor and Caleb have told me all about their trip to Italy and the food there.” I snapped my fingers excitedly. “Actually, I love listening to Will and Archer Bow talk about their trips. They see such amazing things and places. Archer’s seen so many cool exotic places for fashion shoots. And Fashion Week itself seems like quite the experience. I read Will’s books about all his trips and the nature of the world is breathtaking. Bears seem terrifying yet I really wanna see one. I mean, is a moose really as big as it seems? And volcanoes! Like wow, what a thing to see - and oh my God. I’ve rambled on a lot about myself-”

“I’ve enjoyed it.” He grinned up at me and the twinkle his eyes made my breath catch in my throat. “Not gonna lie, Colette, I could sit and listen to you talk like this - with all this raw excitement - for a long time.”

I blushed. “Well it’s your turn. What are your favorite places to visit?”

“Honestly? I have two sets of favorite places.” I must’ve made a face because he chuckled. “Well, I love all the anchor cities that our fellow supernaturals have set up out among the humans. Vegas, Montreal, Key West, several cities in Italy and the United Kingdom. Those places are so special because they’re our people. I like to see what they’ve created for themselves out there. It’d be like if Megelle Island were inside of Manhattan, connected to the human world but still existing in its own bubble. You know?”

“I want to see that so bad.”

“And then my other favorite places are deep in the human world. No supernatural societies lurking in the shadows, just humans doing human things. I like to sit and watch them, to see what we can learn from them and just to see how we differ. It’s fascinating as hell to me.” He bent over to lift a box then frowned. “Hey, that’s empty. Are we done?”

I grinned and nodded. “Yep. That’s everything.”

He whistled. “Wow. Guess that leaves us with one thing left to do.”

“What’s that?”

He wagged his eyebrows. “Test it out. Let’s make a mask.”

I giggled and raced over to the cauldrons. “I’m going for a paper mask because I don’t think I’m crafty enough for the others.”

He scoffed. “Challenge accepted. Give me a pair of the lensless glasses. They’ll slide right over mine.”

“Here you go, Clark Kent.” I handed him the glasses. “Do you know what your costume will be yet?”

“The family is doing Disney characters.” He gave me a funny look. “The family decided I was Prince Charming.”

I cackled. “Who can argue with that?”

He rolled his eyes and grabbed one of the magic glue bottles then sat down in front of one of the webs. “Let’s see if I can do this without glueing my fingers together.”

“I’m sure Peggy has a potion for that, too.” I winked and crouched down beside him.

“What are you dressing as?”

“Well, someone recently said I was the devil in disguise…” I looked up at him and winked. “So I decided to stop hiding.”

He hung his head and laughed.

I reached over and grabbed some of the lace. “I’m kind of excited about it, actually.”

“Pitchfork included?”

“Is there any other way?”

He grinned. “I’ll be on my best behavior so you don’t get deported over to Bash’s playground.”

“I was always terrified of Third Realm, I mean obviously. Queen Tephine was a monster.” I shuddered. “But I’m curious now. Bash seems so jolly and nice. Collins is so cool.”

“I bet it’s still terrifying while being beautiful. Just like Bash and Collins.”

I threw my head back and cackled. He laughed with me. We fell into comfortable silence for a few minutes while we glued stuff to our masks.

But then a thought occurred to me, one I realized I’d never actually stopped to ask. Mostly because I didn’t think anyone else would know, but I had Mateo’s full attention now. “So, question.”

“Answer.”

I snort laughed and bumped my shoulder into his. “Hypothetically speaking, had I not been desperately needed in the hunt for your soulmate-”

“ So desperately, ” he whispered with a laugh.

“What would the job as your executive assistant look like? Also what do Kallahan and Orson do that’s different from you?”

“Well, Kallahan and Orson have both come into this department to help me do what I do. Obviously, Kallahan has been here longer as he’s older-”

“What did he do before this? I know you started the ambassador thing-”

“Kallahan….” He grimaced. “Ya know, I think to be fair to my brother I’ll not tell his story. But you should definitely ask him.”

I looked up at him and smiled. He may have behaved like a jerk to me at times, but there was real class and character beneath that sass. I admired that. He could’ve told me all the town gossip but instead he gracefully declined without making me feel bad for asking.

“Kallahan helped me really take this department to new levels. A lot of the supernaturals out in the human world saw me as a kid because I was in my mid-twenties. But Kallahan is like twice my age. He was a proper adult to them, so they listened. More importantly, they talked. They opened up more. This may be my show, but he was the manager behind the stage getting people in position - if you get what I’m saying.”

“I do.”

“Now, he travels to new cities we’ve gotten leads that our people have settled in and he sets the same stage for me to come in.” He held his mask up to inspect it. Then set it back on the ground and grabbed a few pearls. “He’s really talented at getting people to open up to him, to trust him. Once they know what we’re about, they come to me to get shit done.”

“So you’re like a tag-team?”

“Yeah. Exactly. I like that.” He chuckled. “Orson and Liza work together now, and honestly, he’s much better off for it. He was a bit wild prior to them getting together. But their job is to go out and mingle with all the youngsters. They go everywhere and anywhere. They’re kind of like guinea pigs in that if we think there might be issues with humans we send them as testers to see. They also meet a lot of nomad supernaturals Kallahan and I would miss otherwise. Or teens and college kids who’ve run away from home for whatever reason. Orson and Liza are just so young and fun that they’re rather magnetic.”

“So then what do you do?”

“Now?” He smiled. “Breathe easier. Handle the bigger picture, the bigger problems. Or should I say, bridging the gaps between the human world and ours. I see where they need help and I get them said help. I have to be super flexible, go where I’m needed and when. I get my hands dirty a lot, both literally and figuratively.”

“That makes sense. Your assistant then just accompanies you and helps?”

“Yes, of course. But also…two brains are better than one. I mean this…” he gestured to the chaos. “Is a perfect example. I was a little overwhelmed and stuck and you just came in here and helped me see a path to take. It’s kind of like that. My assistant hears what I hear, sees what I see. I need someone to be my backup and brainstorming partner. Different brains hear different things. Dennis was great for pointing out that not all of our fellow non-humans are tech savvy like us. He helped me assist those people.”

“That’s really cool. I’ve been kind of obsessed with your department since it started.” My face warmed. “It’s why I wanted to work for you.”

He stopped and looked over at me. His gaze held mine for a long, long moment where all I could do was stare back.

“So if I said, hey Colette, have you ever heard anyone from the Island talking about issues they have traveling into First Realm that we should address …you could then tell me and I would listen and make note.” He stared at me. “Have you?”

I bit my lip. “Actually…”

“Let me have it.” He chuckled.

“Well, Archer has mentioned a few times over the years about how hard it is for him when he’s in Los Angeles to find a home base for supernaturals. So it can get lonely and isolated. Then I was thinking maybe Ivy’s hotel there could be used for that somehow?” I shrugged. “But I’m sure they would’ve already done that by now if she was interested, I mean they’re soulmates.”

He grinned. “You’d be surprised how much people don’t think of things when they’re not experiencing them. I bet Archer hasn’t felt isolated or alone when he goes out there with her in the last ten months. So I will definitely ask Ivy about that as soon as possible because it’s brilliant. I hadn’t realized LA was a problem zone. Thank you. See. That’s why I need an assistant, and a good one.”

“It’s funny, I hadn’t thought about that in a long time. Just suddenly remembered it.”

“Yeah, memory is fun-” he gasped and sat up straight. “The Looking Glass spell!”

I scowled and sat up. “What’s that?”

He smacked his own forehead. “Dammit, Mateo. Right after Christmas I was looking for some stuff that I hadn’t seen since I fell into that coma. It was driving me nuts. One day Ria was here and she did this spell…it was incredible. You take a bowl of water and recite this spell, i’m positive it’s more complicated than this, but then it’ll retrace your steps visually on the water surface.”

My jaw dropped. "Mateo, that means-”

“If we do it for the Christmas parade day last year we could see who I came in contact with and narrow down our search list!”

I jumped to my feet. “Holy shit. That’s huge.”

He stood and raced over to his desk to pick up his phone. “We have to do that right now.”

Movement outside caught my eye and my stomach sank. I pointed toward his family’s castle. “No, you have to go do a haunted house right now.”

His face fell. “Dammit. You’re right.”

“What’s the theme this year?”

“I have no idea. I’ve been uh a little distracted.”

My face burned. “Hating your assistant will do that.”

He groaned “Colette-”

“Too soon? ‘Kay.” I waved my hand and winked.

“You.” He hung his head and laughed.“Let me at least call Ria before I run off.”

The room fills with a ringtone coming through the speaker of his phone.

There was a click, then Ria answered, “Hey Mateo. ‘Sup?”

“I need to do the Looking Glass spell again.”

There was a beat of silence. “OH SHIT. To find your soulmate! Oh dammit. I didn’t think of that. Oh, Mateo, I’m so sorry-”

“Don’t worry about it. I didn’t either. Point is I have now.” He laughed and shrugged it off. “Would it work if we did it for parade day last year?”

She cursed. “For me? Ooof. I’m not that good. But my mom could do it.”

“Any chance we could pay her a visit?”

“You kidding? For a Vauntero? She’s still trying to get me to marry one of you - but maybe this will help clear you of that pressure from her.” Ria giggled. “Yeah, so Carter and I had a nightmare happen at our event here in Manhattan so I can’t do it now. But I can be at mom’s at midnight and we can get it done then. That cool?”

I frowned. “Will your mom be awake at midnight?”

Ria sighed. “Woman is an insomniac.”

Mateo looked up from his phone that he’d been typing on then cursed. “No trains at that time.”

Ria hummed. “Technically you don’t have to be here…”

I snapped my fingers. “Ria, you’ve got a set up to film shit, right?”

“Not sure I like you saying it like that, but yeah.”

We all laughed.

I rubbed my hands together. “Okay, so we’ll be on video chat. Mateo and I will be at Prescott Tech where we can use the set up here to watch on a big screen so we can see all the details.”

Mateo was staring at me funny but I kept going with the plan.

“Then I’ll also film it so we can rewatch it later..”

Ria whistled. “Girl, you think like Carter. I like it. Perfect. I’ll call you guys at midnight.”

“Thanks, Ria!” The phone line went dead but Mateo was still staring at me. I frowned. “What?”

He shook himself and looked away then glanced back with a blush and a smile. “Nothing. Nothing, you’re just…kind of impressive.”

I opened my mouth but nothing came out.

“No, no, let’s not make it weird.”

I arched one eyebrow at him. “I think we’re well beyond weird.”

He gave me a ravishing grin that sent flutters through my entire body. “Will I see you in the haunted house?”

“Yes, but I don’t scare easily.”

He leaned in and whispered, “ unless you’re a human. ” Then he winked and hurried out the office door.

I turned and watched him walk away from me with a bounce to his step I hadn’t seen before, like he was excited. Right when he reached the stairs he glanced over and waved, his grin still in place. I waved back then let out a deep sigh. My heart pounded in my chest and butterflies danced in my stomach.

Oh no. This is so much worse than him being mean to me.