Chapter 9

Sanaya’s P.O.V

My breath was a bit unsteady as I walked into ReefWood HQ the next morning. I couldn’t tell if it was because I was barely skimming the eight o’ clock mark this morning or because of that blasted dream last night, but my hands were a bit shaky as I pressed the elevator buttons to the sixteenth floor and I was pretty sure that the entire building could hear my heart beat.

Incubi could invade dreams. Fuck! How could I have forgotten one of the most crucial powers an Incubus has? It was the first thing that Acelin had warned me about when I was first promoted to the position of a Scribt.

“Not all Incubi possess this power,” Acelin said to me, his bright crystalline blue eyes clear as the ocean. “But some of us do and it can be very dangerous for the human. Mostly all high ranking Incubi can invade dreams.”

“I understand, Sir.” I nodded, not sure if I should be elated or terrorized at having just learned the existence of a new world. “But how is that dangerous? It’s just invading dreams, isn’t it?”

“Dreams and reality always have a very thin bordering line.” Acelin’s voice was ominous. “If someone can control you in your dreams then they can control you in reality as well and you wouldn’t even notice. That’s how Incubi used to send spies in their enemies hideouts in older times. However, all Incubi have been banned from using this power ever since the present King came into power as it is wrong to use someone against their will. It is considered a kind of rape in our culture. But there are other kinds of dreams that are still permitted.”

“Other kind of dreams?” I asked, confused. “What kind of dream manipulation could possibly still be permissible?”

“Well,” Acelin answered with a devilish smile as he air quoted his reply. “The kind that young people nowadays like to call ‘wet dreams’.”

“Oh!” I was very sure my cheeks were tomato red at the moment.

The elevator doors dinged open, snapping me out of my memories and I squared my shoulders before entering the lobby. Lancelin’s office was surrounded with black stained glass that made it impossible to peek inside his office, but he had the unfair advantage of watching everyone as they entered. Yup, it was one of those glass walls.

I adjusted my black shirt and the steel grey pencil skirt I wore today before knocking on the glass door with my knuckles. I’d already grabbed my planner from my desk as soon as I entered and I was already checking the events of the day as I waited for a reply. I entered only after I heard a curt ‘come in’ from Mr. Eustein.

“Good morning, Sir.” I gave him a small bow and a bright smile. “Shall I go over all the events that were planned for today?”

But just like the first day, the impact of seeing him, that too right after the dream I had, made me swallow and pause mid-step. Lancelin Eustein was sitting on his chair, behind the desk in a lilac shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and a slate grey jacket was slung over the back of his chair. His hair was neatly combed back on his head and from the texture; I could tell that it was still a bit wet from his shower.

I swallowed nervously as I was reminded of my dream once again. The steam coming off the shower…the drops of water cascading down his body…the ripped curves of his abdomen…

“Here.” Lancelin’s curt voice cut me out of my daydream and I finally noticed that he was pushing a medium-sized black velvet box in my direction. “This is for you.”

I blinked back my surprise and hesitated as I came to a stop on the other side of his desk. “For me?” I asked cautiously.

“I don’t like repeating myself, Ms. Johnson.” Lancelin sighed and flipped through the pages of the file he had in front of him.

I picked up the box and opened it to reveal a small, gorgeous looking lipstick tube. Placing the box and my planner on the desk, I took out the tiny tube and brought it closer to my eyes for inspection. The name Esteem Amber was written in gold on the side of the tube and I had a vague feeling that it was inscribed in real gold. Half of the tube was transparent with a giant ruby crystal at the very top of the tube and the bottom half was made of some kind of black metal. The tube itself was lightweight and the lipstick inside was a brilliant red, like someone had captured a blood red rose and turned it into a lipstick, just like magic.

It was only when I put the lipstick back into the box and turned it over that my heart nearly leaped out of my chest.

$10,796.

“Sir,” my voice came out breathless as I placed the box back down on the table. “I cannot have it. I feel I don’t deserve to keep such a priced possession, it’s far too expensive.”

“So was paying off Ms. Stonewater.” Lancelin finally put away his file and let me feel the impact of his amber gaze. “If I’m correct, her price for providing you the classified information coasted about ten thousand dollars and you did pay it off from your own pocket.”

I was stunned into silence and caught completely off guard. This was the second time that such a thing had happened to me in my entire life and that too after I’d perfected myself to the point of never being caught off-guard. And yet, Lancelin Eustein had found out about my plans and was now using it against me.

“Sir,” I cleared my throat to remove the nervousness from my voice. “I had no ill-intensions when I decided to contact Ms. Stonewater to hand over the information and neither do I want any favors. I had the best interests of the company in mind when I-“

“Best interests of my company, huh?” Lancelin cut me off with a sardonic smile. “So it had nothing to do with Acelin’s intrusion in my business?”

“Did you follow me last night?” I asked him suspiciously and instantly regretted my decision when I saw his expressions darken.

“You should be more careful about what you say in front of me, Ms. Johnson. I’m not as lenient with my secretaries as Acelin is and most definitely do not want you involved with him any longer, unless you want to get fired.”

My heart almost leaped out of my chest at the thought of being fired. Because you don’t just walk away with the knowledge of the supernatural world etched in your brain. You can only walk away with your mind wiped clean of everything you ever knew and everything you were. No past knowledge, no past identity.

“My apologies, Sir.” I bowed low. “I can swear on anything you want me to swear on that I’m no longer loyal to Mr. Billard. He’d asked me a final favor as I left BlueStar to warn you about the Ad campaign and I kept his request. My loyalty belongs only to ReefWood and has been ever since I walked in through the doors.”

“Stand up, Ms. Johnson.” Lancelin sighed.

I rose to look him in the eyes as a chill ran down my spine at the focus in his gaze. It wasn’t a chill of fear, quite the opposite actually. His eyes had gone back to the light topaz colour they usually are and I realized at that instant that his eyes changed colour according to his moods. If he was angry or agitated, the colour darkened to an amber gold rather than the bright topaz of his normal gaze. I’d never seen Acelin’s eyes do that and I found it immensely fascinating to see the changes in him. I wondered at what else his eyes could do.

“I’ll let you off this time since this is only your second day.” Lancelin leaned back on his chair. “But be mindful of what you say next. I’ve transferred ten thousand dollars to your bank account this morning; you will be receiving a notification shortly. Consider this as a bonus for saving me from investing a few millions at Ace Media. But that means you won’t be getting any Christmas or New Year’s bonus this year or the next. And as for the lipstick, keep it. It was a gift from a fellow businessman who wanted me to submit a review. Wear it and provide me a review by tomorrow.”

I hesitated a bit before I took the box in my hands. Make-up was one of the things that I did invest in from time to time and lipsticks were the only things I loved to splurge on. And on top of that, red was my absolutely favorite colour. How could I deny it after knowing that he hadn’t actually spent almost eleven thousand dollars on a luxury lipstick?

“Thank you, Sir.” I told him with a smile. “I’ll write an honest review and send it to you by tomorrow evening.”

“Good.” Lancelin nodded and pointed at my planner that I’d forgotten on his desk. “Let’s get started with the day, shall we?”

It was only later…much later, that I realized I’d completely forgotten about the dream I had and Lancelin’s involvement in it.