Page 1 of Crossing Between
Chapter 1: Zoey
“Oh, I’m so late!” Chanting under my breath, I ran faster. I just had to wear heels today. Why couldn’t I have been smart and just worn flats like I’d first wanted to? I wanted to impress in this interview, that’s why I wore the nicest pair of shoes I owned. We’ll see how impressive I was by being late. Or if I fell over because I tripped with my cankles.
My book bag slapped against my hip as I jogged across the street when the light gave way. Luckily, there were no cars on either side. The stairs leading up to the entrance were another hurdle that I got through in the dreaded feet contraption as I moved into the police station.
“Hi! My name is Zoey and I’m here for the Medium interview?” Stopping in front of the receptionist, I smiled brightly, trying to catch my breath.
The woman looked up with a face only a mother could love. I tried not to show any rude reaction. She was some kind of Fae. Her face was a cross between a pug and what looked like someone took a hammer to it. Multiple times with rage.
“Down the hall to the end and take a left. They’re waiting for you.” Her voice was gravelly like it had been put in a rock tumbler.
I nodded my thanks and moved down the hallway, taking my time so I didn’t trip. Again. I had a few minutes to spare according to my cell phone. When I stood in front of the door, I took a deep breath before knocking.
“Come in.” A deep male voice filtered through the wooden door.
I opened it and paused when I stood in the doorway.
It was a conference room with three people at the end of the table. The voice that had said to come in belonged to the man who stood as I entered the room. He reminded me of a bear. His beard was neatly trimmed which went along with his crisp gray suit. Next to him was a woman in a pale yellow blazer, which made me glad I’d dressed up for this interview. They were both humans.
The third member of the group was pale, sitting up unnaturally straight. He wore a white silk button-up that screamed money. Even with how pale he was, I couldn’t help sneaking another peek at him through my eyelashes as I tried to be inconspicuous, because he was breathtaking. Understated muscles made his clothing tight in just the right places. His hair was black with streaks of red through them. His strong chin looked like he never had to shave, and his eyes were a bright green that reminded me of grass in the morning light. He was also vaguely familiar.
“Ah, Zoey, is it?” The large man spoke, drawing my attention back to him.
I nodded. “Yessir. Zoey Halinger. It’s nice to meet you.” I held out my hand that he took lightly.
“Please sit.” He gestured to an empty seat across from them and I proceeded to sit, smoothing my skirt down. “We are excited to have you here for this interview.”
They didn’t look excited. The humans looked tired, but I didn’t say that. “Thank you.”
“You’re interviewing for the Medium position. It’s a fairly easy job description. You will communicate with victims with our detective's directives. The hours are not standard, and you would be working with different units sometimes. You would directly report to Varon here.” The large man gestured between him and the pale man. “Ah. Excuse my rudeness. I’m Bradley. I’m the deputy chief of the police force of the city. This is Sheryl, my secretary and this is Varon, the captain of our supernatural homicide division.”
Varon was a vampire, that’s why I thought I recognized him. Explained why he was so pale. I’d seen him on the news before. I nodded at all of them as they were introduced.
“What my boss has failed to mention, is that it is also a dangerous job. A human dealing with suspects and the dead when they may not have the most cooperative attitudes.” Varon shook out his sleeve, rolling it up. My eyes followed the smooth skin that was surprisingly muscled. “You’ll go from case to case as needed, along with showing up to court cases if summoned. You’ll see things you’ll wish that you never had. Our last Medium only stuck it out for five months before giving up. We understand that the strain on your psyche that happens when working with the dead can be overwhelming to most and you can only summon them once. You'll have to tell us your limit of summonings you can do in a certain time frame. It’s not an easy job.”
I nodded. “That’s one of the reasons I applied. I want to be challenged and this was the perfect job for it.” I tried to be upbeat, even if I fibbed a little. I needed a job or I was not going to be able to keep my brother’s creditors off our backs. “Who wants a boring job?” I could do this easily, even if I was a little bit different from other Mediums. The salary of this job would help me get back on my feet and pay off my brother's debts quicker than I hoped. I just needed to nail this interview first.
Hopefully, I’d be able to keep my different side a secret. It wasn’t like my specialty with the dead wouldn’t benefit the police, it just might ruffle some feathers, or cause my death, if anyone found out that I could bring the dead back to life under my command on top of letting a soul possess me.
Necromancy had been illegal for a little over a hundred years after the Undead War. They were either killed on sight or placed in jail for their whole lives. Only children had their magic drained, leaving them human as they could bounce back from it.
Most necromancers hid in the shadow world and were downright assholes nowadays if you met one. I'd discovered I could raise the dead after my parents passed when Ryan and I were still young. Mom woke under my command in the funeral home when I was crying next to her body, but that was a story for another day.
Varon eyed my fingers as they tapped on the table nervously, a bad habit I’d had since a kid. I stilled them as I became aware that he was watching my every move with a calculating look. His attention was intense, it felt like I was under the purview of an apex predator and my body knew it before my brain had caught on. He wasn’t trying to hide what he was on purpose. I didn’t know if he was just this way all the time or was purposely being a jerkwad. My money, based on the last thing he said, was that he was just a dick to everyone.
Swallowing, I squared my shoulders, straightened my back, and cleared my throat. “I graduated in the top ten percent of my class. I adapt quickly and am not afraid of the long hours that the position may have.”
“I’m tired of waiting for a Medium to be hired. It makes my men’s job that much harder without one.” Varon’s dark eyes ran over me again as I tried to keep my mind focused on the matter at hand and not imagine naughty things with that voice in my ear. Maybe I should have skipped my tea this morning. I was overly caffeinated if I was lusting after a vampire I’d barely just met, but he was a hubba hubba for sure if I ignored the asshole personality. Earplugs might be an option in the bedroom.
“She’s the only one who’s been semi-presentable, on time, and has only lied a little about why she wants the job.” Varon kept his gaze on me as he spoke, and I felt a flush go across my face. He’d been paying that close of attention that he realized I lied a little. How? I sure hoped he didn't have mind reading abilities.
Wait. Semi-presentable? Excuse me? If I had fur, it would have been raised with annoyance as I went to retort.
“Well, if you agree, Miss. Halinger, we’d like to offer you the job on a ninety-day probationary period.” Bradley looked eagerly at me, reminding me of a puppy. If I said no, would he whine?
That’s when it hit me. He’d just offered me the job! My mouth dropped open and I’m pretty sure a fly could go right in and I wouldn’t notice. I was on my feet in an instant.
“Truly?” My eyes wandered between the three of them. Bradley smiled widely, Sheryl looked bored still, and Varon just lifted a brow, although I think I saw a hint of his lips curling, which could have been a trick of the shadows because it disappeared in a blink.
