“I’m exhausted.”
“Tell me about it.”
“Dude, I’m literally telling you I’m exhausted.” I wanted to smack him on the ass but I was too tired. “Wake me up if Allan comes back, will ya?” I yawned, and lay my head down on my desktop. I felt my eyes flutter shut, and right as I was starting to doze off, a loud authoritative voice sounded from down the hall.
“Elena!” Logan hissed while he jostled my shoulder. “Wake up!”
“Tell Allan to fuck off. It’s too early for his bullshit.”
“It’s not Allan. It’s Chief Harris!”
Well, that woke me right up. I sat up straight in my chair and opened my word processing software, moving piles of paper from one side of my desk to the other in an attempt to look busy.
“Welcome back, Rivera!” he beamed, stepping into our cube. “And Hawthorne—nice to see you!”
I’d never seen him in such a good mood before. Was he on drugs? Was he a doppelgänger? The man was formidable as a Kodiak bear. This unnaturally chirpy voice was confusing the hell out of me. He wasn’t supposed to smile so much.
“I just wanted to swing by to congratulate you two.” Harris extended a palm, waiting for my partner to take it.
“Congratulate us?” asked Logan, standing up to shake our boss’s hand. He shot me a sideways glance and I could only shrug. I had no idea what was going on. The first thought that came to mind was that Katrina or Carl must’ve caught us sneaking into my room and not coming out until many, many hours later. I hoped to hell that our super-secret, super complicated, coworkers with benefits arrangement hadn’t been discovered. I wasn’t ready to shut it all down; not when it was just getting started.
“Yes. Great work on your assignment in Arizona. I just had an email from Chief Alvarez and he couldn’t be happier. Nothing but glowing reviews. And thank you for not blowing up any cars this time. I appreciate it.”
“Oh, well there wasn’t much driving,” I said. “But it was still an eventful week.”
“So I heard,” replied Harris, still flashing that goofy grin at us. He looked as though he was holding back a huge secret, and it was driving me nuts. What was going on with him? Why did his eyes keep shining mischievously? I was sure I knew what it was, and I refused to crack.
But what about Logan? The bureau’s golden boy? Could he keep a secret? I wasn’t so sure.
“I’ve also read the reports from Agents Johnson and Kozlov,” Harris continued. He laughed and clapped his hands together. “I knew they’d be in for a treat working with you two. How would you feel about seeing them more regularly?”
My shoulders sank, along with my heart.
“Are we getting another audit from them?”
“Oh, far from it,” chuckled Harris. The mischievous glint in his eye intensified for a second, then he burst into a smile. “The two of them both asked to transfer to the Occult Crimes Division.”
“What?” I laughed incredulously. “Really?”
“Yes. In fact, they’ve already submitted their report of the events that occurred in Mariposa. I’m not at liberty to disclose what it said, but I will say it caused an absolute shit storm with the higher ups. You’ve made believers out of more than a few of them.”
“Ha!” laughed Logan. “I love it. So what’s happening? Are we keeping our funding?”
“Not only that but . . . ” Harris paused for dramatic effect and we both leaned in closer to him. “It’s actually going to be increased to account for two new members of the division,” he announced. “Kozlov and Johnson are joining the team! I mean, if they have your blessing. They already have mine.”
Me and Logan looked to each other and laughed. Well, Logan laughed. I mostly sighed in the knowledge that our secret sex-pact was still secret.
“Yeah, that’s cool if they wanna join the OCD,” I said. “I think we could make that work.”
“Wonderful!” said Harris, still grinning wider than I thought his mouth was capable of. “I’m ecstatic, can you tell? Double the funding. Double the team members. Double the resources.”
He clapped his hands together joyfully one last time then said his goodbyes after shaking both our hands. As soon as Harris was back in his office, Logan let out a long whistle through his teeth.
“Wow,” he said. “So Katrina and Carl are joining us.”
“Yeah . . . pretty wild, isn’t it?” I said, settling back into my desk chair. “You know what this means, right?”
“It means we get two new team members. What else does it mean?”
I shot him a sassy little sideways smirk.
“It means you’re not the FNG anymore.”
A Quick Word…
Will Logan develop any new magic abilities? Does Elena have what it takes to become an actual girlfriend? Will Lafayette ever get that rose-throated becard added to his life list??? All questions will be answered in the final book of my Faerie Files trilogy, Hexes & Hairballs.
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Also by Emigh Cannaday
The Faerie Files
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Catnip & Curses
Hexes & Hairballs
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About the Author
Fun Fact: Emigh sounds just like “Amy”
Emigh Cannaday lives in Wisconsin with her rock star/winemaker husband and a pack of Pembroke Welsh Corgis. She grew up drawing and painting but now uses words to illustrate her elaborate daydreams. When she’s not hoarding houseplants or collecting corgis, she spends her free time testing out new recipes on her friends & family.
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Catnip & Curses (The Faerie Files Book 2) Page 26