Demonicus (Overworld Underground Book 2) by John Corwin Page B

Somers and several other programmers entered the glass doors.
    "Emily!" Jack gave me a hug and pulled back. "How was vacation?" He smirked. "Or should I call it a sabbatical?"
    "It was lovely." Despite the nagging worry that the Exorcists or some other Overworld agency would swoop in and take Tyler from me, the stay had been blissful. A beach, amazing sex, and wonderful food went a long way toward assuaging anxiety.
    "Does Isabel know you're back yet?"
    "Of course." I'd used a secure phone to stay in touch with her the entire time. "We're planning to have drinks tonight." I smirked. "We might even invite you."
    "That would be so sweet."
    Isabel and Jack were virtually inseparable. Then again, Tyler and I were much the same.
    "The four of us should do something fun soon." I hooked my arm through his and walked with him down the hall toward the programming department. "Being in love is grand, but it certainly makes keeping up with friends difficult."
    Jack stopped just outside the door to his department and regarded me seriously. He was slouching, something he rarely did. "Look, I know best friends don't spill secrets, but I really need to talk to you about something."
    Worry spiked in my heart. "Are things okay between you two?"
    "Things are great, but…she's been acting weird lately." He shrugged. "I dunno, secretive. She used to talk to you on the phone with me around, but while you were away, she'd go into her room." He squeezed my hand. "Emily, please tell me—is there something I should know? Am I doing something to upset Isabel?"
    The worry turned to a blanket of leaden guilt. Jack didn't know about my supernatural job, or vampires, or Tyler's true nature, and Isabel was trying to keep him out of the loop. "Absolutely not, Jack. I just have some personal issues I wanted to talk to her about and felt uncomfortable with you knowing."
    His slumped shoulders straightened. "Really?"
    "Yes, really. She's having the time of her life with you, silly." I patted his arm. "I just can't have you knowing all our secrets. After all, sisters before misters."
    He snorted. "Your secrets are safe with me, Em." A long sigh escaped him. "Wow, I feel much better now."
    "I'm sure you do." I looked toward the table where I'd put the doughnut box. "Unfortunately, you missed out on the doughnuts."
    Jack put the back of his hand to his forehead and pretended to swoon. "Tragic!" He looked back toward the programming department. "Well, I'd better get back there before Hinkle starts complaining about me to everyone."
    I left him and met with Kevin Shale, the sales team leader so I could catch up on recent events.
    "We've made some great inroads with prospective clients, but finalizing deals has been hard." He showed me a spreadsheet of companies and their software needs. "We actually had the CIO of Purple Giraffe ready to sign, but for some reason, he backed out at the last minute. Now he won't even talk to me on the phone or through email."
    "That would've been worth over a hundred thousand dollars this year." I ran a finger down the list. "I don't understand why they're balking."
    He blew out a breath. "None of us understand. Tony Costanzo told me his sales team went from first place during the bid process, to persona non grata."
    I looked away from the computer screen. "There's too much of a pattern here for this to all be coincidence."
    Kevin sat back in his chair. "I agree. Someone out there has it in for us, and they're pulling all the right strings."
    I picked up the phone and called Jack's extension. "Could you come to Kevin's office, please?"
    "Be right there."
    The office door opened a split second later, but instead of Jack, it was Tyler. He stormed into the room, face clouded with anger. "Someone is sabotaging my companies."
    Jack walked in. The smile on his face faded when he saw Tyler's mood.
    "Close the door, please." I told Jack.
    He gulped and shut it behind him. "Uhm, did I screw up?"
    Tyler shook his head. "Have any of you