“Good,” Gabriel praised. “Oh, and there is one more thing.” He stood up graciously and descended the steps of the dais. The billowing ends of his gilded shawl glittered under the afternoon light like the edges of his feathers. With his waist-long white hair, androgynous features and ivory skin riddled with golden symbols, he was even more magnificent than Jaoel. “That agent of yours you mentioned, I’ll need them to do something for God.”
“Of course,” the Cardinal breathed out, the proximity of the Archangel overwhelming him. He bowed his head and waited for an explanation, but when one didn’t come, he lifted his gaze and found the messenger back in the throne, smoothing out creases from his linen breeches.
“Well?” Gabriel prompted, arching an eyebrow. “What are you waiting for, Cardinal? Call or send for that agent. I’ll be speaking to them personally.”
9
A month. That was how long it had been since Reign had given Noah his number. It was also the last time Noah had seen the red-haired diplomat or heard his voice. The demon continued to show up, even if Noah often ignored him, usually observing, sometimes whispering. Other times, he enticed, though he didn’t need words for that, but rather, just his presence.
Noah couldn’t afford to give in, even at times like now, when the demon was sitting right next to him on a nonexistent chair. Or maybe it wasespeciallynow? Tomorrow was Noah’s one chance to change the course of his future and as much as he wanted to indulge, to take a break and get rid of the throbbing headache he couldn’t remember living without, he simply couldn’t give in to the temptation.
Because everything had to be perfect, both his demonstration and him.
He’d worked harder than he ever had in his life to ensure everything was impeccable, the thrill of being so close fueling his late nights and early mornings, motivating him to push further and harder until he felt he was about to implode.
But it would all be worth it only if he could make tomorrow a success.
Tucked in under the covers earlier than usual, Noah allowed his brain a last run through the key points of his presentation and then drifted into sleep without as much as a glance the demon’s way.
Much to his surprise, Noah felt rested in the morning, even if a headache lingered at his peripherals. The dull throb of it was a reprieve from the sharp pain he’d been living with for the past month, and so he forgot about it the moment he slipped under the shower. He kept it quick, then he donned the fancy outfit Teresa had picked for him for the delegates’ visit and left his apartment with a smoothie in hand, arriving at the office twenty minutes before the agreed time. Unsurprisingly, Teresa was already waiting in the lounge preceding the Director’s office.
“Noah, dear, good morning. You look stunning,” she complimented, flashing him her predatory smile.
He registered it logically, but he was numb to the usual discomfort it elicited in him as his focus was solely and entirely on his task for today. He had no spare capacity to worry about miniscule things like a flirty curve of lips, hungry eyes, or the hand she placed on his nervously bouncing leg.
“Dear, it’s a good case you are making to our Director. I wouldn’t have endorsed it otherwise,” she said, swiveling in her seat so she could face him.
Teresa was right, of course. He had the chance to present today primarily because she was backing him up.
“I hope so,” he muttered, only now noticing she’d scooted over from the other side of the sofa. “It’s my only chance to… get involved with what you do,” he confessed and didn’t even have to fake the waver in his voice.
Too much was riding on this. He wasn’t sure what he would do if he failed. A chance like this, he couldn’t allow it to slip by, not when it could bring him years closer to his escape from the Empire.
Leaning in slightly, Teresa flicked a stray lock of Noah’s dark hair away from his cheeks. “Still, I was only half-joking when I suggested you join my department. I didn’t think you’d ever consider it seriously… I mean, you hadn’t until recently. Why the sudden change of heart?”
She was fishing again, like she occasionally did.
“I told you.” Noah held her brown gaze and thought about Reign. Focused on the handsome diplomat so he could channel that intensity to make her believe the crap he was about to feed her was genuine. “Meeting the representatives and seeing how you handled them and their doubts about the Church… it sparked something in me. Teresa”—he squeezed her slender hand—“you were amazing. I want to work with you and people like you. But I won’t be able to do that unless I…dosomething. Domore. And if my tech skills can help the Holy Empire stay safe, then I want to make it happen. Even if it will take me some time to figure out exactly how to prevent our enemies from exploiting our systems.”
Teresa chuckled and stroked Noah’s cheek. “You heard him, Director,” she said with glee, smoothing out her long navy skirt as she stood up. “It’s not often we come across someone as passionate as Noah, would you not agree?”
“Indeed, Madame Teresa,” the Director, who was a man in his fifties with a bald head and gray goatee, confirmed when Noah stood up and faced him. He was standing by the door leading into his office. “I see now why you were so insistent that I meet your protégé. Please, come in. I’m excited to hear what proposal you two have for me.”
Noah entered the room after Teresa, biting the inside of his cheek to prevent the smirk from fully manifesting. All these hours practicing in front of the mirror had not been in vain and not just so he could successfully lie to her.Now, for the rest of his award-worthy performance.
“Right then. The stage is all yours,” the Director prompted, sinking into his office chair and lacing his hands together atop his custom-ordered desk.
Noah tipped his head in respect. “Thank you, sir.”
While waiting for his laptop to boot up, he examined the opulent space. To say it was impressive would be an understatement. The room itself was as big as a studio-apartment, came with a high ceiling, and was thematically separated into two areas. One was the Director’s workspace, while the other one appeared to be the welcome/guest space equipped with a velvet sofa and oak coffee table. To the right of them was a display case showing gifts and trophies, and on the left a statue of an angel bestowing a golden cross to His Holiness.
This was certainly an office worthy of one of the most important men in Lisbon.
Noah’s laptop finished loading, and he wasted no time pulling up his presentation. Taking a deep breath, he plastered on his practiced smile. “Director, I’ve been working on this side project for the past month, after Teresa brought an issue the Holy Empire is facing to my attention.” He opened up the command console and typed inthe few lines of code that would return connection errors. “Security has been of paramount importance to everything we do online. Same as threat prevention. As you can see on my laptop, which is connected to my phone’s network rather than the corporate one, I can’t access the company servers and internal systems unless I am also connected to the Virtual Private Network.”
Noah turned the laptop so the Director could confirm for himself that the VPN wasn’t running.
“Okay, yes, I can see that,” the man said, squinting at the connection error on the screen.
