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She breathed in as she took brisk steps She swiped at her cheeks, folded a tissue into her hand, and blew her nose She had so much to contribute She could et Madaan to calht the lavender folder once more into her hands then popped it open

"Alison Wells," she murmured "Blah-blah-blah … preternatural empathy, dematerialization of objects, mental shields, blah-blah-blah" With soher de her ass, Alison Wells would not likely survive her first two hours on Second Hah!

These truly ungenerous thoughts had an effect Havily’s rage fled as her conscience kicked in To say she was severely disappointed was to say the least She knew she had it in her power to e for the better in Endelle’s administration However, this ascendiate, the mortal Alison Wells, should not have to pay for her temper

As she read the document, her eyes widened and she sucked air between pursed lips The mortal could even dematerialize! Good God, she was powerful She’d probably been in hiding on earth, maybe not literally but in a dozen other ways She would need information, and lots of it, just to keep her sanity

Very well

She turned her organized anwith, Attempt to explain a difficult, callous, and quite ancient Supreh Adht, as promised, Marcus folded to the steps outside Endelle’s administrative headquarters He hadn’t been on Second in a very long ties had occurred As he looked up at thethen turned around in a circle, the architecture stunned hiardens cascaded from dozens of floors

Since he’d built half his hly lucrative trade between Mortal and Second Earth, he’d seen many pictures, of course However, the photos failed to capture the beauty of the modern world Second ascenders had created Phoenix One hadlike this

The air smelled different than on Mortal Earth as well, cleaner, of course There were fewer inhabitants to wreck the environment and there was also a deep co the planet healthy, clean, oxygenated

He took a deep breath His chest felt strangely tight, absurdly eht hundred years before he’d had his fill and returned in self-exile to Mortal Earth

Noas … home

Goddammit His ascended vampire nature knew the difference between Mortal Earth and Second He hadn’t expected to feel this way, to have such a profound sense of belonging

He ground his teeth Whatever the global society had been able to achieve in terles had been a disaster and his sister’s death had been the last straw He’d blaet, and yet he’d also blas The Coo, and Endelle’s ad Not knowing the layout, he took the elevator to the top

Once in the hall, he saw the broken glass and paused Turning around, he noticed that a black briefcase lay against the far here the glittering debris trailed to an end point

Instinctively, he dropped into a crouch His wing-locks set up a steady vibration He took deep breaths He extended his senses, reaching for the ene returned to him

Huh

As he rose, he assessed the situation then snorted Someone had lost her te doors He stepped over the low hts were off over the entire southern stretch of workstations His gazeout of place, a wink of light, a piece of furniture, anything

But the only thing he detected as unusual was an odd scent in the air, a kind of perfuroin hten

What the hell?

He looked up and down the wide hallway All he saere a few ill-tended pal pink plants fronting the glass office wall--nothing that could account for the fresh and rather sweet floral scent that assailed him He flared his nostrils, parted his lips, and took in the scent, breathed it in, all the way into his lungs and into his brain He exhaled and breathed again

The fragrance made him dizzy and his heart sped up, like he needed to be prepared to give chase Once ht

Fucking weird

What was Her Supre syste? It even affected his libido He had a sudden hard-on

Holy shit

He ignored the odd saze drifted over the sea of desks A y available to Second Earth, ere there h mounds of paper everywhere? Had Endelle not heard of a paperless office?

He shrugged

Whatever