Page 7 of Always Say Yes to a Dragon

“Thanks,” I said. Looked like I’d have to do some more searching. At least I wouldn’t make the mistake of moving in with a boyfriend again. Adrian had taught methatmuch. Fucker lost his job and expected me to pick up the tab, and because I was stupid enough to lovehim, I had. Months down the drain, sprucing up his resume, sending him job postings, and he never applied to a single goddamn thing.

Asshole left me with a mountain of debt and little else. In fact, kicking him out had saved me a little every month, since I didn’t have to pay for his food or the crazy high electric bill because he liked to keep the thermostat at seventy-five in the winter.

But it didn’t save me a lot, of course. Most months, my paycheck and tips covered everything. Some months, they didn’t.

At the end of my shift, I hustled to the nearest ATM. If I didn’t deposit the cash, I was afraid it would vanish into smoke. Then I sat in the parking lot and opened my bank app, triple-checking that the cash had hit my account.

It had. Every red cent.

I drove for a rideshare app in my free time, and if I kept that consistent, I could pay all my bills without having to put anything new on the credit card.

With relief singing through my veins, I opened my driving app and set myself to available.

Near midnight, I called it a night and drove home through the pounding rain. Once inside my apartment, I stood in the doorway and shook my umbrella onto the concrete just outside the door. One of the few things I liked about my shithole apartment complex was that all the apartments opened into breezeways. I could be outside in a second, no industrial gray hallways with unfriendly fluorescent lights.

Was this the rest of my life? Grinding and grinding and barely making ends meet? I thought about my cousins out in Elliston. Mama had left that little spot of nothing as soon as she’d hit eighteen, to make something of herself in Kilinis, and while I hadn’t grown up in the grinding poverty of my cousins, was I really so much better off in this rundown apartmentI could barely hold on to?

Sure, I had avoided getting knocked up at sixteen or a DUI by twenty, but I also didn’t have the close relationships with my cousins that they had with each other. Couldn’t call one up and crash on their couch for a night, or pull together impromptu parties when someone had a big win. Just an afternoon visit a few times a year where we all made awkward small talk.

Sometimes I wondered if I’d squandered all the opportunities Mama had made for me by moving away from everything she knew. At the rate I was going, I wouldn’t even be able to pass those same opportunities to my own children. Probably wouldn’t even have any, since I’d sworn off men.

I curled up on the couch, avoiding the broken spring, and pulled out my phone. Something about scrolling through glossy image after glossy image of vacations I’d never take and people I’d never be was oddly soothing.

3

Az’zael

Igot to City Hall at midmorning the next day. I’d been too anxious to sleep the night before, my brain swarming with plans for my next move with Elle. Besides, I preferred to fly over the city after the morning rush, to avoid stares and the odd scream.

Inside City Hall’s treasure room, I kept my wings pinned to my back, conscious that this building wasn’t designed for someone of my size. I had to duck through every doorway.

My assistant, Diego, sat in the reception area and greeted me with a small smile. “Good morning, Az’zael.” Healmostsaid it right, slurring both Z’s into one. I didn’t bother to correct him.

He’d gradually relaxed over the last eight months. At first, the human, who was dark-haired, with medium-brown skin and a medium build, had been a ball of fear-sweat and nerves, and I’d asked one of the city councilors if another, less fearful human was available. They’d told me Diego had been the only applicant.

But now he felt comfortable enough to address me by name. I hoped the rest of Kilinis would warm up to me as well.

Elle had needed no such prompting, no hint of fear in her face or posture, just an open, welcoming smile. She’d been nervous, but not scared, and she’d quickly relaxed into confidence.

“You sent the gold over to Niemrin?” I asked, groping for something to say. Diego was so good at his job, while I still felt like an intruder at City Hall.

“It, um, wasn’t solid gold, but yes.”

“Right. Anelectronictransfer.” Nothing to polish or organize, no satisfying clink of gold-on-gold. Humans sucked the fun out of treasure hoarding. But then, it wasn’t the same innate drive for them as it was for dragons. “Niemrin’s happy with that, so it’s fine.”

I glanced around at the bare gray walls, the shamefully thin carpet, and sighed. “Can we at least get some gold bars around here?” I asked Diego. “I can’t have a treasure room with no treasure.”

“It’s a treasury. Not a treasureroom,” Diego said, adjusting his suit jacket. He insisted on wearing mid-quality, off-the-rack suits despite mymanyoffers to find him something better. He always said something about them beingtoo expensive. But good clothing should be expensive, to reflect the cost of excellent materials and skilled labor. That was nothing to complain about.

Since Diego was quick and efficient and hadn’t screamed the first time we met, I wouldn’t replace him over his terrible taste in clothing.

“This is where we count Kilinis’s money. That makes it a treasure room. Treasure rooms need good decoration,” I explained, for what felt like the thousandth time. Would Elle like to see it one day? I’d show her my personal hoard first, of course. It was much more impressive.

If she were a dragon, I’d have already offered to show her, to demonstrate I was a good prospective mate and to assess compatibility. But I needed to step more carefully with a human.

“You rejected all the options I sent you last month,” Diego said.

“They were cheap.” A stream of smoke curled from my nose. Basic paintings, boring sculptures. All of it mass-produced.

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