Page 9 of The Vampire’s Receptionist (Charmed Away Temp Agency #4)

CHAPTER NINE

There was something almost cathartic about causing a little mischief.

Nothing crazy, he wasn’t obnoxious about it like a lot of his cousins were, but whenever he was in a bad mood, it always made Kian feel better to do something a little crazy.

Like right now. The spell was simple and practically invisible with how small it was.

It caused people to trip over their own feet.

Not enough to send them to the ground, just enough to make them dance to catch themselves.

It was hilarious and put him in a better mood before he had to go upstairs to his second day of working at Spellbound.

It was also possible he was doing it to avoid facing Dorian. Not that he’d admit that out loud.

He was too focused on the chaos and not on who was heading toward it, so he didn’t see Tony coming until it was too late.

The poor man, who Kian knew was disabled with a bum leg, tripped on the wrong foot.

He would have gone sprawling if it weren’t for Kian throwing a spell out to catch him.

His mates, who were in discussion with someone else nearby, both whipped around at Tony’s startled noise and raced for him.

The distraction was enough that he could release the tripping spell before anyone noticed.

Hurrying to join them, Kian released his magic once his mates had a good hold on him. Tony was frowning, but he looked unhurt. Kian scanned him with magic to be sure, but aside from the pain he saw the last time they met… His eyes narrowed.

“You’ve had a procedure since we last met.”

Tony twisted in his mates’ embrace, surprised, and a smile lit up his face when he noticed Kian standing nearby. “Kian! Hi!”

The mates looked at him suspiciously, especially the thunderbird, who wasn’t at all subtle about putting himself between Tony and Kian. Kian ignored it, though he silently wished he’d left the spell up long enough for that one to trip. He gave his focus to Tony instead.

“Hey, Tony. You okay?”

Tony wrinkled his nose in embarrassment. “Yeah. I just tripped. I’m okay. Thanks for stopping the fall. Again.” He grinned sheepishly. The first time they met, Kian had stopped him from being knocked over. This time was Kian’s fault, but he wasn’t going to admit to that.

“We’ve got to stop meeting this way,” he teased. It made Tony laugh, and one of Tony’s mates softened beside him. He gave Kian a once over before putting on a charming smile and thrusting his hand out for a shake.

“We haven’t met. I’m Taron, Tony’s mate.”

“One of them,” the thunderbird growled with a mock glare. It was easy to tell the distinction was a tease, and the thunderbird was only playing along.

Kian shook Taron’s hand. “Kian.” He glanced back at Tony. “So were you right that they won’t let you go anywhere alone?”

That got Tony a few looks from his mates, and Tony flushed lightly. “Yeah. They hover. I like it though. What are you doing here? I thought you hated the idea of working here.”

“I don’t technically work here,” he replied with a shrug.

“I’m a temp in the medical innovations division.

I’ll only be here a month. Besides, being a temp means I don’t have to wear a full suit.

” He tugged at his clothes with a grin. He wouldn’t be caught dead in a full suit.

Thanks to being a temp, he got to stick with business casual with a loose fitted teal button up and white slacks.

Tony pursed his lips, looking at his mate. “Am I supposed to be wearing a full suit?”

His outfit was close enough, all he was missing was the jacket, but he obviously cared enough to ask. Taron shook his head with a soft smile.

“No, a thaisce. You’re my secretary. You wear what you’re comfortable in. I don’t want you limiting your range of motion. If anyone has a problem with that, they can speak with me.”

The protectiveness was normal with mates, and something Kian had seen too many times to count. It wasn’t possible for him to have a mate himself, but it was nice to see couples, or in this case throuples, in such happy relationships.

“What did you trip over?” the thunderbird demanded, scanning the floors like he expected to find a banana peel or something else that might have tripped his mate.

Tony shrugged. “My own feet, I guess. It happens. Don’t you have a meeting this morning with the marketing team?”

The thunderbird pressed his lips together in an attempt to hide his smile.

“You’re Taron’s secretary, baby, not mine.

Don’t overwork yourself looking after me, too.

But you’re right. I do have a meeting. Thank you for the reminder.

” He leaned in, pressing a kiss to Tony’s lips before doing the same with Taron.

It was only when his gaze flicked to Kian that he hesitated.

He didn’t look happy with the idea of leaving his mates alone with a fae.

Kian never took kindly to that kind of discrimination, so he raised an eyebrow in challenge. He’d done nothing to the stupid thunderbird. Well… Nothing he knew about, anyway.

“Kian?”

A familiar female voice spoke behind him, and he was forced to turn around to acknowledge his coworker. He smiled at her. “Good morning, Poppy. Ready for your first day?”

She gave him a dry look. “Considering why I was called in, I’m not exactly looking forward to it.”

She was the main reason he’d decided to wait in the lobby, since he wanted to go up to the marketing office with her as a show of force. To show the creep that not only was she not receptive, but she had the full support of her supervisor to back her up.

“I’ll head up with you. Just a second.” He turned back to Tony and gave him a little wave. “I’ll see you around. Try not to trip over anything when I’m not around to rescue you.”

Tony flushed and grinned, but the thunderbird scowled at him in response. “We can handle it,” he said gruffly.

“Uh huh,” Kian replied dismissively. “Have a nice day, Tony. Taron.”

He didn’t offer the same courtesy to the thunderbird. He wasn’t going to let people discriminate against him and still give them kindness. He treated others how they treated him.

Turning on his heel, he went to meet Poppy, who was eyeing the throuple with narrowed eyes. After they walked away, Poppy leaned in close to ask, “What was that guy’s problem?”

“Thunderbirds don’t like fae,” he replied with a scowl.

Her eyebrows shot up. “That’s the only reason? Does he even know you?”

“Nope.” He shook his head, annoyed. His good mood from earlier was entirely gone now. “Nevermind that. Let’s get you upstairs and settled. I want that asshole who freaked Morgan out to know you’ve got my support no matter what.”

She grinned and threw an arm around Kian’s shoulders, leading the way.

She was taller than him, as most harpies were pretty tall, but he didn’t mind.

She was one of the few who approached him easily, without a hint of distrust. She was so confident that she could face any problem put in front of her that she didn’t fear him for a second.

“Sounds like fun. How is Morgan, by the way? I know he’s a little dramatic, but he’s never switched jobs before. I figured it had to be a lot for him to jump ship.”

“He had a good reason.” Kian wrinkled his nose, swiping his badge at the turnstile and waiting for her to do the same and follow him through.

The line for the elevators for the medical division was significantly shorter than the main building, so they didn't have to wait long for one to show up. The building was also shorter, so there weren’t as many stops along the way.

They got off on the marketing floor together.

Morgan said there were only three workers from the original team.

They were a subdivision of the marketing team in the main building, focused specifically on medical marketing, so the team was smaller, but even Kian knew three people weren’t nearly enough.

Two were there already, drinking coffee and chatting.

They looked curious when Kian approached and only slightly apprehensive when they noticed his eyes.

“Hello. Can we help you?”

“Yes. My name is Kian. I’m the liaison for the temps during this transition period.

Morgan, unfortunately, was needed elsewhere, so I came to introduce his replacement.

This is Poppy.” He gestured to the harpy beside him.

“She’s got extensive experience in marketing and should be a good fit here until you can hire new employees. ”

The satyr on the right frowned at them. “Did something happen to Morgan? I liked him.”

He shook his head. “No, nothing happened. He was just requested elsewhere.”

They exchanged looks, and Kian could see the silent conversation there. He assumed they knew about the werewolf’s behavior. He was curious to know if they ignored it or felt they weren’t in a position to do anything about it. Either way, it wasn’t okay to let Morgan suffer alone.

Like thinking of him made him appear, the elevator dinged, and the doors slid open, revealing a werewolf in a cheap suit, his eyes already scanning the room like a predator searching for prey.

He didn't look happy when Morgan didn't appear out of thin air, but his demeanor changed when he noticed the newcomers to the office.

He strutted over with an air of cockiness, flashing them both a little too much fang with his smarmy grin.

“Good morning. And who might you be?”

Kian didn’t even pretend to be polite. He kept his expression cold while introducing himself. “I’m Kian, the liaison of Charmed Away’s temps here at Spellbound. I’m here to introduce Morgan’s replacement.”

The smile fell, and he looked as though he was fighting back a scowl when he asked, “Morgan left? Why? He liked it here.”

Kian knew to be careful how he approached the situation. If werewolves thought their prey was running away, they would chase them. He didn’t want this creep to go looking for Morgan.

“I asked him to switch with Poppy. As liaison, I have the discretion to move employees when I feel they’re a better fit elsewhere. His talents were needed at another company.”

The werewolf wasn’t happy about it, and Kian exchanged a look with Poppy. She would need to keep an eye on this one. If he showed any signs of going after Morgan, they had every right to report it.

Kian stayed long enough to get Poppy settled at her desk.

He gave her his direct line to reach him, like he did with every other temp, and told her to call if there were any problems. She dismissed his concern with a wave, already starting on her work, so he left her to do her thing.

He wasn’t worried about her. If the werewolf decided to try and mess with a harpy, he’d be lucky to come out of the situation unscathed.