Page 66 of Sincerely, Secretary of Doom

Violet was sure she could hear her heart beating in her ears. She was also sure he’d just discovered she hadn’t taken her iron supplements last night. That she’d secretly decided to try and ween herself off them forever, despite his instructions. In about an hour, she was going to start getting dizzy, and if it was an unlucky day, the stomach pains would begin, too.

She hoped maybe she could pull away before Mor noticed their skin was touching, but his vampire coat hood was down, and her cheek pressed against his warm neck. Also, his hand held gently against her lower back, his fingers grazing her midriff where her shirt had lifted during her epic tumble. He must havenoticedhe wasn’t screaming, so likely the cat was out of the bag.

Mor’s hands found her sides and he slowly pulled back. His gaze darted over her outfit, her relaxed, uncurled hair, her new flat shoes. Violet awaited her lecture about the cold iron, but he didn’t give one. Instead, he looked at her with a bothered face and said, “Who are those humans knocking on the front door of my cathedral?”

Ah. It was time he learned about her late afternoon betrayal from yesterday.

Three and a half minutes later, two high school students stood in the open cathedral doorway, peering in at the peculiar, creaky lobby floors, the antique emerald-green carpet up the staircase, and the high shelves lined with half-melted candles. They both clutched notebooks and suitcase bags.

This was the first time Violet was seeing them in person. Their interviews over the phone yesterday had been short but promising when she’d asked them a variety of questions that ranged from, “Are you squeamish about blood?”to“If you happened to meet a vampire in real life, would you be terrified or excited?”

“Remi and Jase, right?” Violet asked, clutching her hat tightly in her hands before her. “Am I remembering your names correctly?”

The guy and girl were only a few years younger than her, but Violet suddenly felt like she was a hundred years old as she waved them further into the cathedral. She warily turned to Mor. “These are our new interns!” she told him with as much enthusiasm as she could muster while melting beneath his silver-brown gaze.

Mor stared at the interns and said nothing for several seconds that felt like years. Violet was sure she was going to have a panic attack if he didn’t speak. Finally, he turned toward Violet and said, “Put on something discreet. Black, preferably.” He pulled his hood on over his head.

Violet blinked a few times over. “I don’t have anything black.”

“You have no garments that are black?” Mor folded his arms.

She shook her head. “You’re the one who packed my bag; you should know most of my clothes are pink, white, floral, or green. Not all of us want to dress like Masters of Doom, you know.”

He stifled an eye roll and headed out the front doors, brushing past the interns. “Come with me.”

The interns looked to Violet as if to ask,“Is he talking to us?”

Violet forced a smile. “The office is upstairs. I’ve added two new desks for you, so go make yourselves at home and get familiar with The Fairy Post style. I left all the past issues on your desks.”

The interns exchanged a look, and the girl shoved her glasses further up her nose. That was goodbye as Violet trotted down the cathedral stairs after Mor.

The doors slammed shut behind her, trapping the interns in, and Violet winced, wondering if she should mention to Mor that locking them in might frighten them the same way it had frightened her on her first day inside the gloomy building.

“Doom?” she asked as she followed him down the sidewalk. “Where are we going?”

“We’re going for bubble tea,” was all he said. The cape of his jacket fluttered behind him.

Violet had to run to keep up. This was the first time she’d heard Mor mention liking bubble tea. But she wanted to know how he felt about the interns, if he was secretly happy she’d taken initiative. Happy enough to want to keep her around forever. “Okay. Why? And are you really going dressed like that?”

“My jacket protects me,” he said. “Your clothes protect you, too, Human. I dragged them through a dandelion field before I brought them to the cathedral.”

Violet looked down at her outfit, thinking of the grassy smell.

Her phone buzzed and she pulled it out, seeing another message from Zorah. She chewed on the inside of her cheek as she thought about what to say to her aunt. She’d been adding flourishing details about her work trip every time Zorah asked a question, trying to keep the conversation going every morning so that she knew Zorah was still alive and breathing. But it was only a matter of time before Zorah realized Violet was lying through her teeth.

“Just tell her the truth,” Mor said without looking back at her.

Violet blinked at the back of his head, positive he had eyes there. “Have you been reading my texts?” she asked, and he pulled one shoulder into a shrug.

“You don’t guard your phone well enough. It’s too easy.”

Violet halted, bringing Mor to a stop. He turned back and seemed to take in her folded arms, her scowl.

“First, that’s totally an invasion of my privacy,” she said. “Second, I can’t tell Zorah the truth about this because she would lose her mind if she learned about you fairy people. And third, you haven’t said a word about the two awesome interns I just hired to keep The Fairy Post running. You could at least say thank you, even if you’re not sold on the idea yet.”

“You’ve doomed them,” Mor stated plainly.

Violet huffed and started walking again, shoving past him a little. “You’re so dramatic.”

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