a

ll feel like a dream to her, Apex is one the multimillion-dollar automation company and she has just been an employee, not just an employee, a member of the board. This is literally a

si

red, Maya went straight to the chair adjacent to her

Mo

iew, Maya? Just tell

thin

will land a very nice one s

ight

he restaurant for now

ursting into laughter whil

post" she said excitedl

am so happy Maya, t

lly part of the executive board" she said while she s

howed the pictures

all over the business news, the on

s the

weater and needles forgotten in her lap. "Executive boa

onestly. I still

Her mom reached over

uld've been so

y it always did whenever her dad came up, but sh

ad every few seconds like the news kept surprising her all o

real dinner tonight, I will go

't have to, I

down, relax, call your friends, do

bbing her cardigan off

't be

to make a whole

eady at the door, purse over her s

n executive. I'm allowed t

disappeared out the front door, the soft

felt quiet, sh

ed to her room, flopping face first onto he

most two years now, some anonymous writing forum where she and a stranger she'd

hey were somewhere in Thailand, always awake at hours that mad

spilling out before she

going to believe

you got

orse. i g

worse than gett

ompany. I still don't fu

ckering on and off a few times like the person on

hai:

hings to the right people. i'll tell

so how do

dddd. I will talk to

ped her phone and

Mor

framed photo of her and her mom tucked in the corne

en Sienna knocked once and let herse

ling

ing

dropped a fold

d Airline. They're not backing down on th

open, scanning

the dea

that actually convinces them to s

e day

repeated, already h

then the pizza box on her desk went from full to half empty without her really noticing, slice after slice disappearing w

had gone quie

heard a

lling, coming from

izza halfway

a c

a second, waitin

did

e to human, something wild and furious and definitely not s

o her from the tour. That's

f pretending to focus on the proposal before another crash sent something clattering, and this t

d she knew it was stupid even as she thought it, bu

stoo

king up speed with every floor, the growling getting louder the higher she climbed

e top floor an

omething had dragged itself across the ground. Maya's stomach turned. Whoever, whatever, had l

ts weren't a pe

ut in a way no hum

call the cops, to do literally anything except walk toward a trail of animal blood on th

ind that door, low and heavy and shaking wi

handle before she let h

pened

fr

completely naked, his back to her, muscles tensed in

ad toward the so

as V

's brain simply refused t

yes locked

red, glowing faint

e growle