Destined (Darkin World Book 2)

Chapter Three

She should have stayed home in her warm, cozy bed. Instead, Breqlynn headed to her office. It needed straightening since she'd been gone so long chasing after Griffin's slut-making device. Some brilliant and horny acolyte of the goddess Inanna/Ishtar had probably made it as a way to get off.

Yeah, so she was still pissed. Breq practically threw the artifact in her safe before sitting at her desk. There was more than a month's worth of messages, bills, and information on other acquisitions stacked in neat piles on its dark, wooden surface.

She needed another coffee.

"You're back!" Breq's assistant Micah exclaimed when she opened the door at ten-till nine.

Breqlynn eyed the petite, dark-haired human.

"You need coffee, don't you?"

If it weren't for the fact she felt precisely zero magic coming off her assistant, Breqlynn would have thought the other woman was proficient in aether. At her boss' growl, Mic practically skipped out of the office.

Damn bubbly human.

Breq thumbed through her messages and tried not to groan. Her problem client, Isabel Derici, had left fourteen messages. Fourteen!

Suddenly, a steaming cup of coffee appeared before Breqlynn. "Thanks," she mumbled, accepting the much-needed caffeine.

"No problem." With that, Micah left to man her desk in the lobby.

As the rich taste of magical bean juice hit her tongue, Breqlynn nearly moaned with pleasure. Slowly sipping her second cup that morning, she sorted her messages in order of importance. All of Isabel's went to the bottom of the pile. She'd never met the woman but imagined she resembled Gladys Kravitz. She was annoying enough to be the fictional character's doppelganger.

First on Breq's stack was Edward Schweitzer. He was a pre-war human who was knowledgeable in Greek antiques. He had to be pushing eighty.

"Hello, Mr. Schweitzer. This is Breqlynn Darrah," she chirped professionally when he picked up the phone. It was the surname she and her family used to hide their real family name.

"Ah, Ms. Darrah. Thank you for returning my call."

"I was sorry to have missed you, but I was globe-hopping." Breq had begun her search for the Babylonian artifact in the Near East and ended up in Sweden. Both regions – Arabia and Europe – had suffered more significantly than the US. She'd had to travel via raven-air more than once.

"How is the world-at-large? You hear about things on the news, but..." Mr. Schweitzer intoned.

"I hear you. It's all sensationalized to the point where you have to dig for facts."

Mr. Schweitzer's chuckle filled Breq's ear, "Exactly."

"Iraq is still pretty much a dustbowl. Many have moved to greener pastures - literally - and it's so quiet there, it's eerie." With the huge drop in oil use, many of the Near Eastern countries suffered the same evacuation of its citizenry as US coastal cities had. "Europe, on the other hand, is rebuilding. They aren't as far along as we are, but they're getting things done."

"So, the news is off regarding Iraq saying it's destined to become the next Hanging Garden?"

Breqlynn couldn't believe that article when she'd read it the other day. "Yup."

"And wrong about Europe struggling to rebuild."

"Bingo."

"Fucking news," the old man groused, causing Breqlynn to laugh. It was the first time she'd been able to do so since yesterday. It felt good.