Well, anything they wanted except for the opportunity to quit.Ever .
Along the right side were the employees who had messed up a job. Failed on an assignment.
They hadn't needed to quit.
They would have had an appointment with the Boss exactly like the one she was about to have. Then their photo would be moved from one side of the hallway to the other as an example to others.
She always knew a place that listed "burial options" on the job application form had a few potential human-resource issues.
Janie had had two meetings with the Boss prior to this one. The first had been when her very ex-boyfriend had tricked her into taking his place at the Company (which was what the organization was generically known as to those unfortunate enough to know it even existed). He'd been able to trick her because she'd imagined herself in love with the good-looking creep. He'd been so convincing and charming that she'd signed the dotted line happily. A little less happily when she realized she had to sign in blood, but still. He promised that they would work there together. The jerk lied. He took off late one night when she was fast asleep and she never saw him again. He'd managed to beat the system.
Now she was the system.
The second time she'd had a meeting with her boss had been slightly over a year ago when her previous partner screwed up a job and tried to blame it on Janie. They'd both been dragged in on the carpet, and the Boss had been very calm in listening to their explanations before cleanly and efficiently decapitating her partner right in front of her.
Janie swallowed hard. She'd liked her old partner. Trusted her like she hadn't trusted anyone in years. It just showed how people change when having to own up to their failures. Not to mention having their heads chopped off.
She didn't trust anybody anymore.
Since that unfortunate incident, she'd been an exemplary employee. Doing everything she was told.
Whenever she was told. Wherever she was told. Gritting her teeth over any unpleasant assignment—and since most of the assignments she had were unpleasant, her teeth were likely to be ground down to nothing but stubs very soon. But the image of her last partner's untimely death haunted her. The Boss was nobody to mess with. Nobody to let down.
And she'd done just that.
She'd very recently let a job slip through her fingers. A regular retrieval of a magical piece of jewelry up in Toronto . A necklace. She didn't know what it was or what it did, only that the Boss wanted her to pick it up and bring it back to him.
She'd failed. Accidentally, on purpose. She knew there was only one way out of this job, and that was the route she was taking.
But now that the moment had arrived, she was shaking in her brand-new Prada pumps.
Sure, she could run. Or try to, anyhow. But it would be no use. The Boss had seers on his payroll who could psychically pinpoint any employee's location no matter where they tried to hide. Running would only delay the inevitable.
She wanted it over with.
"Get in here," the Boss growled from behind the slightly ajar door.
Janie entered the room. Two helper drones stood on either side of the door. They were the Boss's personal assistants—they looked like regular guys but weren't. They were under some sort of spell to make them his slaves, unable to resist his authority. However, they did get a really great Christmas bonus, so she supposed it all worked out in the end.
She painted on her best fake smile. "Hey there, boss man. Good to see you. You look fantastic."
He didn't, but Janie was a very good liar. He was actually a tiny little shrew of a man. Skinny and frail-looking, with hollow cheekbones. He reminded her of a live-action Mr. Burns from The Simpsons .
Only meaner. And older. And much less yellow.
"Save the compliments for your next life, Parker."
"Listen, Boss, I can explain everything."
He waved his bony hand. "You can save that, too. Come closer."
Janie swallowed and then commanded her feet to start moving. She wanted this. It would hurt only for a second, she hoped. After she was dead, she'd be free from this lonely, disappointing, horrific life once and for all. It was the best decision. Suicide by proxy.
She'd miss her new shoes, but that was about it.
It seemed as though it took about two hours for her to finally reach his desk.
"I'm sorry," she heard herself squeak and then mentally kicked herself.
Shut up.
He stared at her with watery, pale gray eyes. His bony hand slipped down into the drawer on the right-hand side of his black-as-pitch monster of a desk.
What was he reaching for? A gun? A knife? A vial of acid? A bowl of piranhas?
She squeezed her eyes shut and braced herself for impact.
Nothing happened.
"Take a look at this," the Boss said.
She tentatively pried one eye open, and then the other, and looked down. On the surface of the desk was an intricate color drawing of a small crystal sphere almost completely enclosed by a spider web-like filigree of silver at the top of a golden wand set with a single large ruby.
She forced the smile back to her face. "Is somebody thinking about going out as Harry Potter next
Halloween? It's only February, but I always say it's good to plan ahead. You will look adorable, I think."
He tapped the drawing. "I want this. And I want you to get it for me."
"You want me—" She paused. "But I thought I was here for—"
He shook his wrinkled head. "You're a failure, Parker. A disgusting waste of space. But I'm willing to give you one more chance. Retrieve the Eye for me and all is forgiven."
"With that kind of a buildup, how can I possibly refuse?" She snatched the drawing off the desk and looked at it closer. "Why's it called the Eye?"
A cold grin twisted on his face. "You don't have to know anything more than what I will tell you to retrieve it. There is one who has the means to find its location. It was foreseen by a seer this morning. A vampire who wishes to use the Eye's power for his own gain. Follow the vampire and you will find the
Eye. Acquire it by any means necessary and bring it to me. This is all I ask."
"Sounds simple enough. And if the vamp gives me any problems?"
"Kill him."
Janie took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Is he evil?"
"Does it matter?"