By lunch, there were three spirits.
One by my desk, one near the printer, one that seemed to really like the conference room.
No one else could see them, I knew because I watched Tom walk directly through one without even pausing.
But I could see them. In perfect, terrible clarity, and they could see me.
The worst part? They kept trying to touch me, like I was the most fascinating thing they'd encountered in their weird spirit existence.
Every time one got too close, the sigil would flare and they'd back off. But they never left entirely, just hovered at the edge of my vision, waiting.
I tried to work. Really, I did. But have you ever tried to analyze data while supernatural entities are basically photobombing your entire existence? It's distracting.
By two PM, I was developing a headache. By three, the headache had evolved into a migraine. By four, I was seriously considering calling Azryth and begging him to make it stop.
Then the bigger spirit showed up.
I was in the bathroom, splashing cold water on my face, trying to get my shit together, when I felt it, a pressure change, the temperature dropped.
I looked up at the mirror.
There was something behind me.
Not a wispy little curious spirit, something darker and bigger. With actual features, or at least, the suggestion of features. Eyes that glowed with sickly green light.
"Oh fuck," I whispered.
It moved toward me. Fast.
Instinct took over. The same instinct from when I was a kid, before the accident, before I learned to suppress everything.
I spun around, hand outstretched, and 'pushed'.
Energy erupted from my palm. Not visible, but I felt it. Raw and wild and definitely not human, the binding's energy, channeled through me like I was some kind of supernatural conduit.
The spirit shrieked, an actual sound that I felt in my bones more than heard, and dissolved, just came apart like smoke in the wind.
The bathroom door slammed open. Sarah stood there, eyes wide.
"What was that noise?"
I was braced against the sink, panting like I'd run a marathon. My wrist was on fire, the sigil blazing so bright I could see it through my shirt sleeve.
"Nothing," I gasped. "Just... dropped something."
"Are you okay? You look really pale."
"I'm fine. Just need a minute."
She hesitated, clearly wanting to push, but something about my expression must've convinced her to back off. "Okay, but if you need anything..."
"I'm fine."
She left. The door swung shut.
I slumped against the sink, the adrenaline draining away and leaving me shaky and exhausted.
I'd just banished a spirit. Using demonic energy, at work.
This was fine, everything was fine.
My phone buzzed, a text from Azryth.
*What did you do?*
*How do you know I did something?*
*I felt it through the binding, that was a significant energy expenditure. What. Did. You. Do.?*
*Spirit…. A bigger one. It came at me and I panicked.*
There was a longer pause before his response.
*Are you hurt?*
The question surprised me.
*No. Just tired.*
*Come home.*
*It's only 4:30, I have another hour.*
*Come home now. You're exhausted and broadcasting distress through the binding, you'll attract more spirits in this state.*
*I'm fine.*
*Riven.* Even through text, his tone was commanding. *Come home before you collapse.*
I wanted to argue, to insist I was fine, that I could handle this, that I didn't need him telling me what to do.
But my hands were shaking, my head was pounding, and I could already sense another spirit forming near the bathroom door.
*Fine.*
*A car is waiting downstairs.*
Of course it was, because Azryth Valek didn't do anything by halves, including monitoring his unwilling spouse's supernatural meltdowns.
I splashed more water on my face, dried off, and made my way back to my cubicle to grab my stuff.
Sarah intercepted me at my desk. "Leaving early? Hot date with the husband?"
"Something like that."
"You're so lucky," she sighed. "Living the dream."
I looked at the spirits hovering around my workspace, at the sigil burning on my wrist, at my phone with Azryth's terse commands.
"Yeah," I said hollowly. "Living the dream."
***
The car was a sleek black sedan with a driver who didn't speak, just opened the door and drove me back to Valek Tower in silence.
I made it to the elevator, made it to the penthouse floor.
Made it approximately five steps inside before my legs gave out.
Azryth caught me before I hit the ground.
"Idiot," he said, but his voice was gentler than usual. "I told you to come home immediately."
"I did come home immediately," I mumbled, everything felt fuzzy and distant.
He lifted me easily, which should've been embarrassing but I was too exhausted to care, and carried me to the couch.
"You burned through too much energy too fast," he said, setting me down. "Your body isn't adjusted to channeling infernal power, you'll crash hard after using it."
"Wow. Add that to the list of fun side effects."
He disappeared into another room, returning with water and what looked like a protein bar.
"Eat," he commanded. "You need to replenish."
"I'm not hungry."
"I don't care. Eat."
I was too tired to argue, I ate the protein bar mechanically while he watched.
"The spirits will keep coming," he said after a moment. "You're like a beacon now, a changed human with infernal energy, they've never encountered anything like you."
"That's not comforting."
"It's reality." He sat in the chair across from me. "You need to learn control, how to shield yourself and manage the energy without exhausting yourself."
"And who's going to teach me? You?"
"Unless you know another demon willing to tutor their accidentally bound spouse in infernal energy management."
I laughed, it came out slightly hysterical. "This is insane, all of this is insane."
"Yes," he agreed. "But it's our insanity now."
Our insanity, like we were a tea, like we were actually in this together.
I looked at him, really looked at him. He'd loosened his tie, his hair was slightly messed up, like he'd been running his hands through it, there were faint circles under his eyes.
"Did you sleep at all last night?" I asked.
Something flickered across his face. "Not particularly."
"Because of the dreams?"
"Among other things." He stood. "Get some rest, we'll discuss training tomorrow."
He started to walk away.
"Azryth?"
He paused, looking back.
"Thanks," I said quietly. "For the warning, for sending the car, for... catching me."
He studied me for a long moment, those ember eyes unreadable.
"Don't thank me," he said finally. "I need you alive, your gratitude is irrelevant."
Then he was gone, disappearing into his office and leaving me alone with my exhaustion and confusion.
I lay back on the couch, the sigil pulsing steadily on my wrist.
My first day back at work. I'd been haunted by spirits, had a supernatural meltdown in the bathroom, and collapsed the moment I got home.
"I really, really, really didn't sign up for this," I whispered to the empty room.
The penthouse didn't answer.
But somewhere in another room, I could've sworn I heard Azryth sigh.