Page 1
CHAPTER 1
Igazed up into Theodore Morrow’s face, his eyes filled with concern, and care, and maybe the faintest hint of disapproval. I sucked and sucked, then sucked some more, relishing the creamy sweetness hitting the back of my throat. And then the balls came, and I nearly sputtered and choked.
He slapped me on the back, then pulled my treat away from me. I swatted at his hands, fighting to retrieve my half-full cup of boba tea.
“Give it back!” I said, a toddler throwing a tantrum.
He hoisted it high above his head as I sprang up from the bench outside Happy Boba.
“Not until you learn how to drink these without half choking to death. You’re supposed to chew the boba pearls, not swallow them like pills. Here. Watch.”
And watch I did, in stark horror as he sucked down half of what was left of my drink.
I snatched it back, glowering at him as he chewed with exaggerated relish. Okay, to be fair, I was drinking the stuff like a toddler, too. I’ve had boba before. I was just really thirsty, okay?
It was a hot day out in Nomicon Valley, the perfect weather for my first taste of some nice, cold Happy Boba milk tea. Even better timing since Director Sakamoto had assigned us to investigate the rival corpo.
And I’d already guessed that working with my actual rival would bring its own challenges, but I never once thought that Agent Theodore Morrow was the type to bully his partner over tasty beverages.
Still scowling, I took a sip of what was left of my tea, pausing momentarily when I realized this was the closest Morrow and I had come to swapping DNA. I felt my ears burning.
The fuck? It was like being back in high school again, harboring one of those unhealthy crushes on boys who were very nice to me, but wouldn’t ever reciprocate because they just weren’t built that way.
Almost angrily I clamped my mouth over the straw, not really getting any tea out of it because I was chewing it ragged. Washing down my hot mingling of annoyance and embarrassment with cool milky tea, I suddenly realized that Morrow had pulled the move first, sucking on my drink without regard for the fact that I’d already been slobbering all over it. I made an even angrier face and scowled.
“Goodness,” Morrow said, arms crossed as he stood over me. “If you’re really that upset about it, I’ll buy you another one.”
“Forget about it,” I snapped, aware that I was being childish. “Go buy your own drink, you huge ass.”
Why did I have to throw in an indirect compliment about his colossal posterior, too? And wow. Real mature, Jericho Frost. Just like being a schoolboy again.
Speaking of which — why were those women over there screaming like schoolgirls?
“What the hell is that?” I said, squinting against the sunlight. “The sign above the shop. Happy — something.”
Morrow tapped on his necklace, bluish holographic lenses blurring into place over his eyes.
“Happy Links,” he read. “Chains and charms for the charming.”
He tapped again, and the not-quite-glasses were gone.
“Pfft,” I said. “Showoff.”
“You always tease me about my vision.” He ran a hand through his hair, sweeping the golden-blond locks back in place. “Maybe you’re the one who needs glasses.”
I waved my hand to shush him, sucking down the last of my milk tea that he’d so selfishly inhaled — never mind that he’d put it on the company card. Small perks of working with an Occultech agent.
“So is it another cog in the Happy, Inc. empire?” I looked back at the boba shop, then over at the burger place right next to it. “Just how many pies do these people have their fingers in?”
There had to be a Happy Pie out there, too. Happy, Inc. was arguably one of the biggest corpos in Nomicon Valley, if not the biggest. Their Nomicon office wasn’t even their actual HQ, despite towering over many of the other buildings. I could see it from here at Happy Boba, even.
It had huge multinational coverage with its many, many popular franchises. Most catered in food, pun intended. Happy Cow did burgers, Happy Boba and Happy Noodle — formerly Happy Ramen — were self-explanatory. But Happy Links? They were doing jewelry now?
It just seemed like such a scattershot approach. Jackal & Ashby, the demon corpo, at least kept things consistent by masquerading as an entire building full of lawyers. SeraphiCorp was never shy about highlighting their charity initiatives, which made sense because it was operated by angels. Or angel investors, maybe?
Occultech had their ominous Investors with a capital I, the ones that Director Sakamoto communed with directly using rituals and blood sacrifice. Freaky shit. Not for me. That was my main problem with Occultech. All this time working for them and I still had no idea who they served, or what they really stood for.
And that was the issue with Happy, Inc., too. Just who the hell was in charge up there? A three-headed dragon with at least one head for business? A cabal of enterprising wizards? Surely not another cult. Right?
