Crave Me, Kill Me

p looked even less human t

-second floor, hands wrapped around her ID badge,

adn't

her apartment violated. Not after the m

Some ghosts don

ld've wa

ad, she w

gh-end, ex-military kind was waiting for her just pas

Vale asked me

ort

ether to feel impo

f the executive floor. The walls here were more tha

just build a fortres

king the skyline. A sleek white desk, a company

welcome, n

r. Cold a

arp," the security escort said.

d?" Ari

id no

walke

Vale's office, staring at the opaque black do

didn'

to knock just as the

ensors.

lass. Floor-to-ceiling windows behind him. A single abstract

draped over his chair, black shirt fitting him like it was

is eyes pinned

said smoothly.

one who said

Ten. Not

"I assumed punctualit

e early tend to be trying to

rms. "Which one d

en't d

ir across from his des

memorizing the way her fa

in," he said. "It's strong. Bu

onally, I

man who wastes t

man who only asks questions whe

tly barely there. A shadow

of me," he said.

k fear is the

at

erta

pa

iving in San Dieg

She forced her expre

ou don't seem like the type

type to ask about thing

wasn't empty it was electric. A field of unsp

ransparency, Ms. Qui

ve in bo

sec

usually

re either the most self-possessed person I've

gaze. "Why ca

flicker in his expre

n it wa

. All files will be routed to your private server. If

hy

oice droppe

rying to use you. And I haven't decide

yes g

estro

he screen blink softly. The Vale Corp intranet had just finished loading a sterile, p

ng through branding assets for the Lure campaign. For the

er inbo

r work

private

aff Comm flashed once,

wn Se

ng here. They

d froze on

he message was

o refresh. Th

th

g. No

ed. The back of

t that it had appeared in a secure system

had over

trying to scare

re warn

t

hey know who

hammering. The hum of the building felt lou

desk at the far end of the hallway. It was mostly deserted just a c

arp green eyes sat behind the desk

lp

'm trying to make sure my system credentials

am

a Qu

ped. Frowned

umber?"

d it off

typ

up slowly. "You

went

do you

name. No onboarding file. No IT log. Whoever gave you this

hat n

this building? Nothing's norm

idn't

eart now pounding too lou

ord. N

inside V

the s

idn't