Free Sirenz by Charlotte Bennardo Page A

offer an explanation.
    â€œLasik,” I blurted, before I could stop myself. For a few horrible seconds, I mentally searched my body, waiting to feel something sprout or puff … but nothing. Then I calmed down, remembering what Hades had said. I hadn’t given any suggestions or orders, nor wanted to. I’d just offered an explanation. Perhaps this wasn’t going to be mission impossible, just mission very, very, very careful. “Shar had Lasik surgery,” I repeated, in as low and monotone a voice as I could.
    â€œOh,” he began. I couldn’t tell whether he accepted it or not, but thankfully, Shar joined in.
    â€œYeah, no more contacts for me. But I have to wear these for a while—inside and out.” She tapped her glasses.
    â€œJust take it slow then, okay? Mr. Romanov doesn’t like to deal with workmen’s comp.” He patted her on the shoulder and I couldn’t help but notice that his hand didn’t linger there. We continued our tour of the office.
    â€œHere’s the Yellow Salon, the Purple Salon, the fitting rooms, and the Gold Salon. Admin is on the other side—Reynaldo, the Collection Coordinator, is there, and so is Callie, our IT person. Mr. Romanov’s office is down the hall to the end, behind the huge double doors. I don’t know if you’ll actually be able to meet him, not many of the staff have. He’s a very private person, and extremely busy.”
    Was this another of Hades’ ironic manipulations? We’d be in the same building, on the same floor, and probably within feet of Arkady Romanov, but we’d never get close enough to him to get him to a portal. The nearest one was four blocks away at the city morgue, and I doubted we’d be able to convince him to go there without morphing ourselves into poultry. I nudged Shar hard in the ribs, and she looked at me and glared angrily. She had to be thinking the same thing as I was; that we should just toddle on down to the morgue, open a fridge door, and go to Tartarus ourselves. How could we ever do this assignment?
    â€œAnyway,” Jeremy continued, “you’ll be playing a very important role. With our New Year’s Eve showing, it’s hectic. If someone needs something around here, you two are the ones to take care of it. If they need coffee, office supplies, TP, anything, you get it.” He stopped and looked from Shar to me. “Do you understand?”
    I tried to crack a smile and forced myself to nod.
    â€œTotally.” Shar answered. “We’re here to pamper and please.”
    â€œThat’s what I like to hear. Now, the pay isn’t exactly the greatest …”
    Jeremy kept talking and walking, but I didn’t want to hear any more about our duties. There had to be some redeeming qualities to this place—other than his perfect face.
    From where we were standing, I heard someone come in, then the barking of several dogs.
    Jeremy raised his eyebrows and put a hand on each of our shoulders. “Here we go!” He ran his hand lightly down my arm and I felt my face get hot. Redeeming quality found—physical contact!
    We returned to the lobby area to find Demi, the amazon receptionist who’d almost made toast out of us on our last visit, dressed down in jeans and a brilliant spring-green sweater. She had a voluminous, daffodil-yellow shawl draped across her broad shoulders, and she was holding leashes attached to three super-sized dogs. The largest one looked a little too much like a wolf. They sat calmly at her side panting happily as she bent over the only desk in the area and sorted through a stack of papers.
    â€œDemi!” Jeremy called.
    She turned around and smiled coyly at us. “I see our interns are here.” She checked her watch. “And early.”
    â€œTold you they’d work out.” Jeremy grinned. “I’ll leave them in your capable hands. I’m sure you have some