The Arena novel Chapter 17

Adjusting to life in a big city is, well, an adjustment. When we arrived in the city, Ishir took Jena to a pawn shop and sold one of the diamonds, leaving the rest with me. With the money we made, we bought some high-end clothes, some food, and a hotel room for a week.

The rest of the week, the three of us would go into upscale jewelry stores, selling a couple of diamonds at a time. We constantly rotated who the two were going in to sell the diamonds. We also moved around the city, starting with the east side, moving to the north side, and all the way around, so we weren’t seen in close proximity selling our diamonds.

When it is all said and done, we have nearly six million dollars. Ish found a penthouse apartment in the tallest high-rise in the city. He said it had gone up for sale, but I think he convinced the people to sell it to us for the astronomical price of 4.5 million dollars. Caves are free, and they have a better view.

He insisted that we needed an upscale car to go with our penthouse, even if Jena and I didn’t know how to drive. He hired a chauffeur and a cook for us, then contacted his person and set up an interview for me.

He talked me through the interview process, seeing as how I’ve never been to an interview, and he helped me create a fake resume. He said his friend knew it was fake but because it was in a human company, they have something called human resources that insists on having the documentation that you meet the criteria for the job.

I dressed in a black skirt suit with a slate gray button-down top. I pulled my hair into a sleek ponytail, letting my hair fall to my lower back. I’m a tall woman, at 5’11”, but Ishir said it wouldn’t matter to this guy, that I should wear heels. We compromised on 3-inch heels, putting me at a very tall 6’2”.

The office was within walking distance of our penthouse. When I walked in, I could see that my height and confidence made most of the men uncomfortable. My dragon doesn’t care. If you are so easily intimidated, you aren’t worth my time.

When I arrive at the offices that Ishir sent me, I ask for Mr. Rime. A small woman that I can smell is some kind of bird shifter leads me to an office. A deep voice tells her to come in, and when she opens the door, I smell the bear.

I nod at the bird, thanking her before walking past her into the room and getting my first look at Ishir’s contact.

“Mr. Rime,” I say, walking to him and extending my hand. Rime. It means frost formed on cold objects. His hair is white, like that of an elderly man, though he is anything but. His eyes are an icy blue, like frozen water. If I had to guess, I’d say he was a polar bear. This guess is only accentuated when he stands, having at least 6 inches on me. Now I understand why Ish said the heels wouldn’t matter. It would take a lot for me to be as tall or taller than this man.

“Ms. Blaze,” he says, taking my hand. Like me, he must have had to create a secondary name, or ‘last name,’ as Ish had called it. Apparently, having one name isn’t sufficient for humans. So, I took a name that symbolized who I am. It appears that Mr. Rime did as well.

“Please, call me Tana,” I say.

“Fire goddess; a fitting name. And you shall call me Edur,” he says. Edur means snow. He’s definitely a polar bear. “Please, have a seat.”

I take a seat and hand him my resume.

He glances at it for the briefest of moments before setting it aside. “Is any of it accurate?”

“No.”

He nods, “Never say that to anyone else but me. Understood?”

“Yes.”

“Now then, is it true? Are you an Elemental Dragon?”

“Yes, I am the last remaining fire dragon,” I tell him. Ishir said I could trust him, and obviously, he’s given him information about me.

“And is it true that dragons are excellent with numbers?”

I smile, leaning forward a little. “Do you want to test me?”

“How many tiles are on the floor in the waiting area?”

“One-hundred and eighteen.”

“How many pens were in the cup on my receptionist’s desk?”

“Eight.”

“How many days would it take you to read through the ledgers of our top 20 companies and memorize their financial situations?”

“Ten.”

“Two a day? Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

“Have you figured out what I am yet?”

“Polar bear.”

“I look forward to working with you, Tana. See you tomorrow. Our little wren lark will see you out," he says before pushing a buzzer on his phone. A moment later the bird receptionist is there, gesturing for me to follow her.

I walk home, excited that I have a way to support our little family group beyond selling diamonds. That night, we celebrate.

I find that I love my job. My title is Chief Financial Officer or CFO. It means I’m in charge of managing the money for the company. Over the next few months, I review all of the existing clients and their investments. I can sniff out several that are taking advantage of our company, and we eliminate them as clients.

The President of the company is so happy with me, that he starts to bring me into our mergers and acquisitions, having me look over the books of the other companies and making recommendations as to whether or not we should buy the company. One instance of him not heeding my advice and purchasing a company I had advised against was enough for him to recognize that I possess keen insight into the best investments for the company.

By the time my daughter arrives four months later, I have made a name for myself in the company. I take a month off of work because that is what is expected of humans. In truth, I didn’t know I would love my daughter so much from the first moment that I met her. I had felt her growing inside me, and it was a weird experience. Dragons are used to laying eggs; they don’t grow babies in their bodies. But, in my human form, that’s what I did.

Dragons also usually only wait about a month after the egg hatches before their time as a parent is complete. Dragon babies are independent at a very early age. Having a child that is completely dependent on me is quite a transition. Thankfully, Jena has a much better understanding of how to care for a young child than I do, and she helps me to bond and connect to my child differently than I would have if she had hatched from an egg.

I name her Kenna, meaning fire-born. I wasn’t sure, with her being a hybrid, if she’d get the wolf gene from her father or the dragon gene from me. But since her father wasn’t in the picture, I chose to go with the dragon.

During the month I am home with Kenna, Ishir takes off to try and find Jena’s sister, Palila. He calls every couple of days to let us know he’s okay and to fill us in. After two weeks, he catches her trail and begins to follow it.

When I go back to work, Ishir is still not home. Jena is perfectly content watching Kenna during the day while I work. I’m thrilled to be back in the office, doing what I love, and then getting to enjoy my daughter at night, knowing she’s well cared for during the day.

A month after Ishir catches Palila’s scent, he returns home. I had just put Kenna down for the night when he walked in the door.

“Ishir! What are you doing here?” I ask.

“Did you find her?” Jena asks.

“Sit, I’ll explain everything.”

We do, and what he tells us has my blood running cold.

“I found her. She’s been captured. She’s back in the arena.”