The Corner Office

LOCH

“The last payment has been sent to the contractor…,” I told my brother, crossing one item of business off of our checklist.

“I added a bonus for their quick work,” Hael added.

He always had been the more philanthropic of the two of us.

In this case, I didn’t mind. The casino had been restored to its previous glory in record time.

From the top-floor corner office of our pristine palace of business and pleasure, Hael and I looked out at the desolate city around us.

Downstairs, the gambling hall was sparkling once more…

It was exactly as it had been. All reminders of the horrific opening night were gone.

Gone from the building, at least. Because the events were still burned in my mind.

“Now we should discuss our security detail,” I went on, addressing the next point on our list.

I leaned back in my swivel chair, unbuttoning my suit jacket and straightening my tie.

Hael rested his elbows on the table, silver cuff links flashing.

This was the ~largest~ item on our to-do list.

“We need a significant increase in protection,” Hael said thoughtfully.

I nodded.

“We’ll need at least four armed guards on the perimeter…,” I went on. “Do you still have the connect at SWAT?”

Hael grimaced.

“I think we may have burned that bridge, brother.”

By that, he meant that ~I~ had burned that bridge, back when I had turned to Lochness and made an enemy of every upright citizen in Requiem.

“Well, then. We’ll form our own military to be ready on call.”

Hael considered this and nodded in agreement. We both knew that we could accomplish anything if we threw enough money at it.

I scrawled down our notes.

“Should we consider a metal detector at the entrance?” I asked.

Hael didn’t have time to respond, because our office door swung open and Maddie stormed inside.

“A ~metal detector~?” she demanded. “That’s how you’re planning on keeping out ~dragon slayers~? Why was I not invited to this meeting?”

Her eyes were fiery with anger, and her red hair was wild around her face.

“Mouse, we have this covered,” I informed her.

“We’re the richest businessmen in Requiem. We know how this works,” Hael added.

Maddie stalked around the table until she was standing right before me.

“Maybe you’re the richest, but you’re also the fucking ~stupidest~,” she shrieked, losing whatever control she had before, “if you think you can protect the casino with a ~metal detector~!”

“Mouse, don’t overreact,” Hael warned. “Of course we are implementing other security measures.”

“Oh, like last time?” Maddie countered, her eyes narrowing. “The ~first time~ you didn’t listen to me about the dragon slayers?”

Fiery anger began to burn inside my own chest. How dare Maddie think we wouldn’t take this seriously after what happened…

“Watch yourself, mouse,” I growled.

“Or what?” she countered. “You’ll ~punish me~? Do whatever you want, but I won’t let you two burn ~my~ casino to the ground.”

I slammed my fist onto the table, and the mahogany immediately split.

“Fuck!” I shouted.

Maddie gave me one more deadly glare before turning on her heel and slamming the office door behind her.

MADDIE

A few hours after my awful meeting with my ~business partners~, I left the penthouse to meet Harry for drinks.

I’d had some time to cool down—and to do some strategizing of my own.

I was looking forward to talking with Harry. Loch and Hael weren’t the ~only people~ I was working with.

They’d forgotten who owned the casino. They’d forgotten whose idea it was in the first place.

But I hadn’t. It was all mine.

I knocked on the unassuming metal door of the speakeasy. It was rusted on the sides and its gray paint was chipping.

A man wearing an eyepatch opened the door a sliver and punk rock spilled out.

“Password,” he demanded.

“Toxic waste,” I replied, twirling a strand of hair.

He let me in, and I descended the stairway into a veritable pit of hell. In other words, a good party.

In one dank basement room, a chick was shredding electric guitar while the crowd banged their heads in time with the beat.

But I angled to the left, for a dark smoking room where I saw Harry at a corner table.

I sighed as I collapsed into the chair opposite him.

“Hey Mads. I got you a beer,” he said cheerfully, pushing a bottle toward me.

“I wanted something stronger, but thanks for trying.”

I tilted the bottle back, the carbonation burning my throat.

“Uh, okay,” Harry said. “Are you in a bad mood or something?”

I slammed the bottle back on the table and looked at my friend. He was genuinely concerned.

“Loch and Hael are fucking assholes and impossible business partners,” I sighed.

Harry nodded, but didn’t say anything.

“We can talk about that later,” I went on. “How are you? You look…like…happy.”

I tried to conceal my distaste.

“I have to show you something,” he said mischievously.

Then he stood, turned around, and lifted up his shirt.

I saw the deep red of the tattoo and pulled up his shirt more to take it all in.

“No. Fucking. Way.”

The dragon’s wings splayed from one side of Harry’s back to the other. The dragon was surrounded by geometric, nearly hypnotic black designs.

“Onyx is your fucking mate,” I said finally, leaning back in my seat and shaking my head in disbelief.

~“Yes!”~ Harry replied, spinning around and flashing a smile.

“Wow.”

It was all I could say.

He took his seat again and raised his beer.

“Cheers, Mads.”

I clinked my bottle against his.

“Who would have thought,” he went on, “when we were little orphans living in that fuckin’ ~prison~, that we would both be mated to ~dragons~.”

Harry had a far-off, dreamy look in his eye. I didn’t want to burst his bubble…but I felt like I had to.

“I’m happy for you, Harry, I really am,” I said, before taking a long drink. “But you should know…all dragons are fucking dicks.”

ZAYDA

As I mixed together the bowl of high-protein gruel, the dim lights in the lab flickered, threatening to give out.

I exited the room and headed down the hall to Xythor.

Though these days I tried my hardest not to think about how my body felt, each step sent a stab of pain through me…straight to my core.

I entered Xythor’s chamber, where he was propped up on the hospital bed, staring out into nothing with dead eyes.

His skin was a sallow gray.

I raised the spoon to his lips, forcing them open for him to accept the food.

It wasn’t lost on me that caring for Xythor looked a lot like what I would soon be doing: caring for a child.

But if I thought of this too much, the depressing state of my life would crush me altogether.

I had become good at switching to autopilot—at doing without thinking. But right then, the thoughts kept coming.

I reflected on the fact that I didn’t look much better than Xythor.

We were both sun-deprived, and both of us had open tracks on our forearms from the blood work I’d been performing to keep him alive.

~If you can call this alive…~

I heard a solid knock on the outside door. My fragile heart jumped in my chest, and my hand shook as I prepared another spoonful, but I decided to ignore it.

~Who would come to see me?~

I raised another spoonful to Xythor’s lips as my child kicked violently inside me, and I spilled the gruel on Xythor’s already-filthy hospital gown.

Still, the knocking continued. It had only grown stronger.

I stumbled from my chair. In the hall, I clung to the wall for support. When I finally wrenched open the door, the sun blinded me.

A moment later, Summer rushed into the underground lab, carrying a large bag.

Still delirious from the light, I couldn’t make out her expression as she grabbed my shoulders.

I was too tired to feel embarrassed for my appearance. I could only imagine my dismal condition.

“I’ve been so worried about you.”

Summer’s voice rose to me as if from a dream. I held on to her so I wouldn’t collapse, and then I stumbled back toward the laboratory room where Xythor waited.

She supported me down the hall, and when we entered the room, she helped me to the gurney opposite to Xythor’s. It was stained with another robot dragon’s blood from before the battle, but it was where I slept.

“Oh, Zayda,” Summer said in a low voice.

I felt her grab my wrist, and I was too tired to pull away from her. In that moment, I didn’t care what she knew. My life, that I had concealed for so long, was no longer a secret.

I could feel Summer’s distress, though it didn’t register because of the state I was in.

The blood work from that morning had taken a stronger toll than ever before. I felt my consciousness fading.

“Zayda.”

I knew Summer was trying to get my attention. Only when she placed both hands on my face was I able to see her clearly.

“You have to stop,” Summer said. “I know you’ve been continuing the blood work. It’s killing you, Zayda!”

Her sharp tone struck me like physical blows.

“And it’s not bringing Xythor back to life.”

She turned my head so I was forced to look at him. The man I loved…

He was staring into the distance as gruel dripped down his chin.

“This isn’t Xythor…at least not anymore.”

With those final words, I crumbled in Summer’s arms. I finally understood the awful, doomed truth of my life.

The man I loved was gone. I was destined to bear a child…all alone. Even my own body was failing me.

I reached up to wipe the tears from my eyes…

When I pulled them away, my hands were covered in blood.

I began to spiral. My hellish world gave way to another reality where all I felt was pain.

My womb tightened around the powerful fetus inside me as it kicked my spine with such force that I worried my back would break.

I could hardly hear Summer calling my name, begging me to come back to reality.

But there was no place for me in reality anymore.

Just then, I felt a warm release between my legs and the pain reached an unfathomable crescendo.

It was happening. The force inside me was fighting its way out.

“Summer,” I croaked, though I could hardly hear my own voice. “I think I’m going into labor.”