Chapter 7

*17 years old*

Thea was sitting at her simple black desk and while she looked over the documents and reports that she’d just received, she groaned in frustration. She was only seventeen and yet even she could see how poorly these reports were written. Looking at all the highlighted errors on just the top page, she wondered if it would be easier to just highlight everything.

She'd have to talk to Darius about it, this was getting ridiculous. More than once she'd found errors that could mean life or death for the Centurions, D Corp's private security force. She’d come to know some of them and considered them friends. She didn't want to see any of them hurt.

In those instances she’d gone to the heads of the Linguistic and Cryptology departments to talk to them about what she'd found but instead of listening to her, they treated her as a child, not as someone who had enough training in Linguistics and Cryptology to equate to multiple lifetimes of experience. Not even her extremely high security clearance made them treat her any better. It was beyond frustrating.

With a deep sigh she went back to work on the report in front of her. Several minutes later, just as she finished with the report's revisions, her desk phone rang with its high-pitched annoying sound. She used to have one of those phones where the ring was a pretty musical sound but she kept ignoring it. Darius had gotten so frustrated he had her phone changed out. She didn't find it funny then or now. “Theanna.”

“Thea, if you aren't in the middle of something, can you come to my office?” Helen asked.

“Sure, I'm at a good stopping point and could use a break. Besides, I need to chat with D anyways.”

“Perfect then. See you soon, sweet girl.”

As Thea hung up the phone, she stood up and pushed away from her desk. She picked up her coffee mug and saw it was empty. Looking over at her empty coffee pot sitting on the top of a bookcase filled with reference books, she realized that she'd forgotten to refill her coffee maker. Groaning in frustration, she could only hope Merie, Darius and Helen's fantastic secretary, would have a fresh pot.

Briefly, she looked out her windows at the gardens below and thought about maybe taking a break down there before her training session later today. It was such a pretty day out.

With a firm nod to do just that and her mug in hand, she left her little office and took the short walk to the stainless steel elevator doors, and pushing the up button, patiently waited. She didn't know how many times she’d done this same exact thing. She could tell anyone who asked where every scratch and ding was on the doors. There was something annoying yet comforting in that bit of monotony.

After short ride, the elevator opened and Thea headed towards Merie's desk. “Please tell me you have coffee?”

Merie, an older lady who was always immaculately dressed and was the most valuable employee her grandparents had in Thea's opinion, chuckled as she responded, “I do indeed.” As she filled up Thea's cup she told her, “Helen is waiting for you in her office.”

“Kewl beans. After my meeting with Helen, I also need to chat with Darius. Will he be available?”

“He should be. He's in a meeting right now but that should be over soon.”

“Ok, awesome! Thank you!” Taking her coffee, Thea headed into Helen's office after a brief knock. She blinked in surprise as she saw a beautiful lady sitting across from Helen. “Oh, I didn't realize you were busy. I can wait outside.” Helen's office was girly and modern with soft bright fabrics, a clear desk, and pictures of her and Darius in jewelled frames. L

“It's quite alright, Thea. In fact, I called you here because I wanted you to meet Celia Thornton. Celia is an imprint psychic like most of the women in her family. I'm hoping the two of you will hit it off because I was thinking you could probably do with having an assistant to field visitors and calls while you work. I know that you said that the constant interruptions were a big source of irritation for you,” Helen explained as she smiled at Thea.

“I did. An assistant would be really nice, maybe then a particular grandfather wouldn't get so pissy at me when I ignore calls,” Thea giggled as she sat down next to Celia in a plush soft blue chair. “Hi, I'm Thea Daniels. Resident crazy Mythic and granddaughter of Helen and Darius Deus. I'm not sure you want to be a part of my crazy brain but you are welcome to take a peek.”

Celia smiled brightly at her. “We’re all a little crazy I think. Are you sure, though? Not many like to have their inner thoughts looked at.”

“I'm sure. I've had so many peeps looking in my brain over the years I'm no longer shy about it. I also don't apologize for what's in there either.”

“Fair enough,” Celia smiled at her before she closed her eyes and gently took Thea's hand in hers.

Helen always found this process so fascinating and enjoyed watching the various emotions that showed on Celia's face. Finally, Celia opened up her eyes and looked intently at Thea before suddenly reaching over and hugging her.

“Not all psychics are like that. I promise, you’ll always be able to trust me. No one, not even Helen or Darius will be able to break your confidence in me. I’ll never do anything that’ll ever harm or damage you. This I swear! I will be loyal to you and only to you.”

Thea returned her hug tightly. She just knew that Celia was going to be someone very valuable to her. All through her life she’d always known instinctively when someone was going to be someone important to her. Her inner circle wasn't that big and so those that were in it were very important to her. “I like you, Celia Thornton. Want to come join my insanity? I promise it'll be interesting because heaven knows my life has never been and probably never will be boring, despite the fact that in many ways it has been rather sheltered.”

“Absolutely,” Celia replied with a bright smile.

“Yes! I’m so glad!” Helen exclaimed as she clapped her hands together. “I have a few details to finish with Celia, did you still need to talk to Darius, Thea?”

“I did. How about I go chat it up with the D-man while you finish with Ms. Celia and then after I can take her to lunch? Liam is at the cafe today trying out more recipes before the opening of Mythos.”

“That sounds like a grand idea, we can all go!” Helen agreed as Thea stood up.

“Ok, I'll be back soon. If I'm not, please come rescue me,” Thea winked.

Helen nodded with a smile as she headed out of her office door. As she closed it, Thea turned towards Darius' office across the wide hall when she froze as she watched as Damian shook hands with Darius. Just as Damian vanished, he caught her eye with what seemed to be a grimace on his face at seeing her.

Tears suddenly filled her eyes. ‘No! She wouldn’t allow herself to cry over him any more,’ she determinedly stated to herself as she wiped the tears away roughly. She hadn't seen him in forever and it was obvious by that look on his face that he didn't want to see her now.

Fine! That was his loss. Who cared about some stupid betrothment. That new guy in medical was super cute and had asked her out several times. Maybe she'd say yes to him, even if it meant she had to cut out her heart to do it. She was tired of always being sad. She wanted to find joy again.

With a strengthening sigh she headed to Darius' office and knocked. “Yes?” she heard him answer before entering.

“Hey D! How's it hanging? Slice and dice any new meat otherwise known as D Corp employees?” Darius' office was the opposite of Helen's. It was filled with leather, awards from governments and photos of powerful people. On his deep mahogany desk sat two photos, one of Helen and one of her. It was the office of someone who was very powerful in the world, the office of the owner and CEO of D Corporation.

“Har Har. What do you want my pain in the butt but oh so lovely granddaughter?” Darius snarked back with a smile.

“I wanted to talk to you about the translation reports I've been receiving lately. They’re horrible! Not only have there been simple errors in the translations themselves, but even something as simple as filling in the blanks of where and when a document was found have either been wrong or left blank. What if the Centurions were sent to a location based on those reports only to either be sent to the wrong location or sent in with faulty information?

“I've tried to talk to Seth and Justin about it since they’re the heads of Linguistics and Cryptology but they refused to listen. Seth even told me that I was too young to have any good input. Justin agreed and told me to just do my job,” Thea huffed as she plopped herself down on one of Darius' cushy leather chairs.

“When you get back to your computer, send me a copy of the reports that you’re talking about. I've already talked to Seth and Justin once before about how they treated you but I’ll have another chat with them. If this continues to be an issue we’ll start to look for replacements.

“In the chain of command, you report directly to me and if they have a problem with it, well, they can always be moved to less desirable positions,” he replied, wearing a scowl. He was annoyed that he had to repeat himself with his department heads. They would accept that Thea was above them or else.

“Thank you, D. I don't like to cause problems but the kind of laziness I've been seeing can lead to big mistakes and big mistakes can lead to a loss of life.”

“Exactly. Oh, have you met Celia Thornton yet?”

“I did, right before I came to talk to you. I like her a lot. What about you? Do you like her?”

“I do. I think she’ll solve a lot of unnecessary headaches.”

“I’m all for that! So, um, yeah... I saw Damian leave. What did he want?” Thea asked cautiously.

“Not too much. He was giving me an update on some of the issues they’ve been seeing,” Darius commented delicately.

“Oh,” Thea said softly, her eyes downcast. “So, I've been wanting to talk to you about something more personal. What are your thoughts on Averic Stanchek in Medical?”

“He seems like a very smart, well put-together young man. Why are you asking?”

“Well, I know I'm betrothed to Damian and all, but I haven't even seen him in ages and well, I wanted to know if it would be ok with you if I answered yes if Averic asked me out again? I'm tired of being sad. I want to have fun with friends, maybe experience my first kiss, who knows. I just want to be happy, D. I've lived multiple lives in my training sessions. I'm not a child anymore.”

“True, but in many ways, and mostly due to us sheltering you as you grew up, you’re very naive,” Darius stated as he looked at her, seeing the young woman before him.

Averic Stanchek. This could be good and it could be bad. He'd known for a while that Damian and Thea were due to have an honest discussion with each other, but still Damian resisted doing that. Seeing Thea with Averic was sure to make Damian furious but at the same time this wasn't about him. It was about his granddaughter and her happiness. What harm could it really do to let her enjoy some life experience before settling for a Daemoni?

“Thea, if Averic makes you smile and provides to you what you need, you’ll always have my support,” Darius answered as he stood up and came around from behind his desk. Pulling Thea up, he added as he wrapped her up in a hug, “At the end of the day, I simply also want you to be happy, Thea. You've gone without it way too often.”

“I love you, D.”

“I love you, too Thea-mia.”