Bad Moon:Book One in the "I Am Chaos" series.

Chapter 13: Location, Location

Chapter 13: Location, Location

There was no point in moving my car. The Ash and Crowley building was a ten-minute walk away.

When I called, Sin had answered what must have been a personal cell with a curt. "What is it?" There had been enough voices in the background for me to tell he was busy.

I'd resisted the urge to snap back at him. I gave him the briefest version of events I could, and breathed a sigh of relief when he told me, brusquely, to meet him at his offices.

I'd never been over to the Ash and Crowley building in broad daylight. In the night, it had seemed somehow magnetic, imposing. In the daylight, it was just another chrome and glass office building.

I got a few interested stares when I walked in, and I realized I must have looked like a total mess. In my rush to leave my house, I'd thrown on black leggings, brown boots, and a high school sweatshirt. I wore no makeup - so my bruise was on full display - and my hair, which had been wet when I left the house, was snapping with the frantic, frenetic energy I was producing.

When I gave my name to the young, soft-eyed security guard behind the front desk, and reached for the sing in sheet, he waved me away. "Boss called," he said, eyeing me with interest. "Said you could go on up."

I bet the boss rarely called the front desk himself. Nodding, I hurried over to the elevator. Sin's directions were to meet him on the twelfth floor – his offices.

The elevator rose swiftly, and when its doors opened, they did so upon a sumptuously appointed lobby: polished wood floors with oriental runners, a waiting area with a glass table and expensive leather chairs, a man and a woman, wearing suits, holding an intense conversation.

In place of a typical office assistant's desk, there was a beautiful, antique table with a lacquered top. An attractive young woman with a short blonde bob and a sharp, impatient gaze sat behind it.

She took me in, mouth pursing slightly over my appearance. "You must be Eva," she said as I approached. She spoke to me as if I were twelve and, despite everything that was going on, it bothered me. I straightened, and opened my mouth, prepared to sound important.

"Mr. Ash has instructed me to see you to his office," said the woman, speaking before I could. "He's in a meeting but will be in shortly."

She didn't wait for my confirmation, but stood up and strode smartly down a hall, avoiding the carpets, heels clicking against the wood. We get it, Honey, you're important, I thought nastily as I followed her. The small, mean part of me that had been growing more prevalent with the waxing of the moon wanted to step on the back of this woman's heel.

Stop it, I cautioned myself.

The halls were winding and narrower than I would have expected. And while there were a few rooms with glass windows and doors, most of the offices had their blinds pulled. I passed by one that had Brandon Lamont's name on the outside and wondered, absently, what his role in Sin's company was.

Finally, after what seemed like minutes, we stopped at the end of a hall, before a door that didn't look any different than the ones we passed. But Sins name was engraved on a brass plate on the wall. The woman gave a sharp knock and, before anyone could respond, opened the door for me. She gave me a fake, impatient smile, and strode back down the hall.

Behind the door, the office was enormous, dim, and empty. One entire wall consisted of floor to ceiling windows, but heavy, green velvet curtains blocked any light that might have come in.