Chapter Thirty-one
Erik groaned as he stared at the mountain of papers on his desk and the huge number of unanswered emails on his computer. After only a week off, he was behind on just about everything. To top matters off, Catherine was coming in for another visit.
The Council’s liaison hadn’t exactly been thrilled during her first visit. She’d made it clear that the Council was well aware that Hall was rogue, and if Erik didn’t handle the matter, they’d handle it their own way, whether it involved Hall surviving or not.
Erik’s mood darkened. He wasn’t sure if it was better that Hall had taken care of the problem himself. There was nothing he could do about that for now, but Hall’s sacrifice should at least get the Council off his back.
He sorted through stacks of papers and paused when he pulled out the pink form he'd filled out weeks ago. It was the form that would decide Lillian’s fate in the company. A few days after she’d started, he’d filled it out, as he’d expected he’d be letting her go, just as he had almost every other temp who had started at his company, but Lillian had proven to be so much more than just a good employee.
Through the weeks, she'd been the strength he needed. Erik never considered himself a weak man, but the death of Hall had been harder on him than he expected.
He had been his responsibility in the end. And when it was all said and done, Erik had let him down. Anca would pay, but Erik would never let himself forget his own failure as a leader.
Lillian had been the rock he needed. In fact, the whole pack seemed quite taken with her. She had a soft, gentle way about her. It was as if a small touch from her could soothe the soul.
No, not as if. It did. He accepted the truth now, no matter how much his myth-hating mind wanted to push against it. There was one word to describe her.
Valkyrie.
He'd always heard about how the rugged women in the stories were as tough as many of the warriors, but he supposed that there must've been a softness to them as well. The duty of ferrying the souls of dead to the other side meant they needed a level of compassion that a lot of people didn’t have.
Erik glanced over to where Lillian sat at her desk. Margaret leaned over her, shaking her finger.
He chuckled at the sight. Even Margaret had been a little softer since they’d come back from their time off. Although that might just be due to the fact that Lillian was currently staring daggers at her. She’d learned to stand up for herself.
It made sense. After what she’d dealt with in recent weeks, an annoying coworker would seem minor in comparison.
Erik looked down at the HR paper once again and pushed it to the side. There were changes coming to his company. Hell, changes coming to their world. It was time Erik started making changes of his own.
I love you.
When she'd uttered those words, Erik didn't know what to say. He'd been in such shock. Never in his life had he wanted to tell a woman his feelings for her. That was, until he met Lillian. He didn't know if it was destiny that they found one another, but he did know that they belonged together. She completed him in a way he'd never thought possible.
He needed to tell her that night, to let her know just what she meant to him. How important she was to him.
A loud knock came at the door and startled him from his thoughts.
"Yes?"
Leif opened the door and stepped inside with Catherine close behind.
Without waiting to be invited in, Catherine charged forward and sat down in the seat across from him. Erik nodded to Leif to close the door behind them. The other man did, watching Catherine with a slight frown.
"Catherine," Erik said dryly. "What a pleasure it is to see you again."
The woman rolled her eyes and pulled out a paper from her briefcase. "Cut the crap and sign the paper.”
Catherine was pretty standard for a Council representative. Direct and to the point.
Erik glanced over to where Leif stood by the door. The other man shook his head, likely trying to tell his leader not to say anything that might cause trouble.
He scanned the paper in front of him, an official statement on what had happened. The Council liked to be thorough in their dealings. They also liked to make sure they had everything in writing in case any party decided to stretch the truth later.
It all seemed to be in order, even as the details pricked Erik’s heart a little. In the end, they found that the two people Hall had attacked were not dead like he thought. Both men had been badly injured though.
Erik made a sizable donation to funds being raised for the men and their families. He knew it was what Hall would've wanted.
"And the Council wants to know if this is a genetic thing," Catherine said.
“Genetic?”
“Whatever this was, it wasn’t some normal loss of control. We all agree on that.”
“So what are you saying?” Erik said, keeping his voice neutral.
“This Hall had a brother, and if this is a mutation in their line, we might need to nip that in the bud.”
“You mean kill him? Might as well not dance around the question.”
Catherine sighed. “What the Council does, they do for the safety of everyone.”
Erik bit back a growl. There was no way in hell he’d let the Council murder one of his men on a theory. He shook his head.
"We believe this was caused by some sort of drug," he said. “That’s what Hall himself said.”
Catherine frowned. "What sort of drug?"
Erik shrugged. "We’re still looking into it." He slid the paper across to where she was. “We’ll pass that information along once we’ve confirmed something. Right now, all we have is what Hall told us, and he’s dead, so it’s not like we can get more information out of him.”
“A pity.”
A small knock came at the door, and he nodded to Leif to open it. He couldn't stop the smile that came to his face as he saw Lillian standing there with a stack of papers in hand.
"Sorry," she said softly. "Margaret wanted to make sure you got these as well."
“Thanks, Lillian.”
The smile on his face fell when he saw that the stack of papers was meant for him. Erik suppressed the groan that was working its way out.
Lillian brought the papers over to his side and placed them on the desk. When he turned around, he found Catherine staring at her. Lillian paused to look down at the other woman.
"Do we know one another?" Catherine asked finally.
Erik couldn't have been more surprised if she'd reached across the table and slapped him.
Lillian frowned slightly. "I don't think so.”
Catherine stared at her for a moment longer before shaking her head. "I must be mistaken. My apologies.”
Lillian nodded and glanced back at Erik before making her way back to the door.
"Oh, Lillian, was it?" Catherine said. "I think this pink paper must be yours." She snatched up the HR document and chuckled. "Looks like someone’s getting fired. Tough break in this economy.”
Erik cringed and hoped that Lillian had already made it out of the room before hearing that. Instead, he looked over to the door and found her staring at the paper in Catherine's hand.
"Lill," Erik said as he stood.
She was already out the door and racing for the elevator before he had the chance to say anything.
Erik turned his gaze to Catherine. The abashed look on her face suggested she seemed to understand her error. "Are we done here?"
Catherine placed the paper in her briefcase. "That should just about do—"
Erik was out the door and running before she'd even finished the sentence. He didn't give a shit about the Council or what anyone in the office thought of him. He cared about one thing. And that one thing was just about to walk out of his life.