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Aiden glances between us from his desk and then sits in his chair, roughly shuffling through his paperwork. I walk over cautiously and sit down.

“Yes. We did meet. After Aiden and I left court.” I reach out my hand for him to shake. “Joyce Parker, sir.” He gently takes my hand and shakes it. He holds onto my hand a little bit longer than I am comfortable with, then lets it go.

“Pleasure to meet you again, Ms. Parker,” he says.

“Oh, please call me Joyce, Director Jackson.”

He laughs. “I’ll call you Joyce, if you call me Taevian.”

“I think I can do that, Taevian.” I smile at him. Despite looking strong enough to rip my arms off with minimum effort, he seems very gentle. Something about him feels…familiar.

“How is your stay at Eden so far? I am thankful you took on helping Aiden with this.”

I let out a humorless chuckle. “He didn’t leave many options.”

He tilts his head in confusion. “What do you mean by that?”

“Well, it was either help him, or suffer in Hell. After my brief stay in Hell—which, by the way, was traumatizing and I would like a therapist—the choice was clear. If you can even call it a choice.” I glare at Aiden as I say the last sentence. His mouth twitches into a smile. When Taevian turns to Aiden, that smile fades from his face.

The director’s glare is venomous as he says, “He sent you to Hell, huh? I will have a talk with him later. That was not supposed to happen.”

“Oh, that is not necessary.” I’m already on Aiden’s bad side. Last thing I need is to get on Aiden’s worse side. While we aren’t fond of each other, there is no need to be at each other’s throat.

“If that’s what you want. I have to go meet with the other directors about this situation.” Director Jackson stands, and I do the same.

He holds out his hand to me and says, “It was nice meeting you, and I will see you both soon.”

He gives me a gentle smile then turns to walk out the door, throwing a glare at Aiden as he walks out. Once the door clicks shut behind him, Aiden picks up his phone and taps away at the screen. I walk over to my desk and sit down.

“What are you doing?” I ask curiously.

Without looking up from his phone, he says, “Minding my business, you should try it sometimes.” Seems as though he took a page from my book of attitude.

“Until your case is complete, and I ascend into Heaven, your business is my business.” He ignores me and continues typing on his phone. I stand and walk over to his desk, tapping my foot with my hands on my hips.

I repeat my question. “What are you doing?” Still no reply. I nod, then lean over the desk and yank the phone out his hand. He tries to grab it, but I’m too quick. I look at the screen and see that he was looking at a list. Before I can scroll, he leans over and grabs back his phone.

I bet all of my wine bottles that was the list of the missing souls. Why can’t we just relax? Mind our business? Not get involved? Is that too much to ask for?

Settled back into his chair, he points a finger at me. “Try that again and I’ll send you to Hell for a week.” He would’ve been better off threatening to cut off my supply of mimosas.

I shrug. “You’re bluffing. Not only would Director Taevian not allow that, but you would only be hurting yourself. You have an active case going on.”

He narrows his eyes. “Try me and find out if it’s a bluff.” We stare at each other for ten seconds. I shift under the weight of his stare before I roll my eyes.

“Whatever you plan on doing, I’m coming with you.” If he is going to do something reckless, I’d rather be there as a witness to his actions and to control the situation. Last thing I need him to do is make his current case worse.

“Absolutely not. Stay here and work. I’ll be back.” He walks towards the door, and I run to block his way. What era does he think this is? Stay here and work.

“I’m coming with, or I’m telling Director Taevian. Your choice.” I smirk at him. His whole operation would be over before it began if the director found out.

“Those aren’t great choices.”

“Well, now you see how it feels to not have great options.”

He runs his hand over his face, staring down at me. “Or here’s another choice. I will drop you off on a deserted island until I am done.” Damn. He could do that, but—

I cross my arms. “When you bring me back, I’ll tell the director. So, either way, you’ll be getting in trouble. Not only for going against a direct order, but also for leaving me on an island.”