The Arena novel Chapter 24

A couple of months after burning the second arena down, Edur tells me that our CEO, Mr. Brodski, wants to see us.

"Do you know what this is about?" I ask him.

"No, but our team is the best that he has, so I'm sure it's not bad," Edur says. The man lets everything roll off his back. Nothing upsets or stresses him.

We are escorted to Mr. Brodski's office, where he greets us, literally, with open arms. He hugs Edur before turning and hugging me.

"Edur, Tana. Welcome. Come, come, sit. Do you want something to drink?"

I start to say no. "Iced tea for me," Edur says.

"Just water for me," I say, taking my cue from Edur.

Mr. Brodski claps his hands as if we've given him exciting news and tells his admin, a human, to get our drinks. "Now, I'm sure you're wondering why I've asked you here today," he says.

The man is brilliant when it comes to running a company, but he's terrible when it comes to social interactions. I can tell he's nervous and I can smell his sweat. A human might not recognize the signs, but he's in a room with shifters and not just any kind of shifters. Edur and I are predators. We're used to smelling fear on our prey.

Edur says nothing but sits back in his chair. Casual. Again, I follow his lead, crossing my legs and folding my hands in my lap.

"You must know that the two of you are my best team. Since you've started, Tana, our company's income has doubled, and that is in less than a year. Our board members like those numbers, and they want to see more. They want you to be more active in our mergers and acquisitions."

"What do 'they’," Edur uses air quotes, "have in mind?"

"Well …" Before Mr. Brodksi can complete his sentence, the admin walks in with our drinks. Edur takes a long sip of his tea. Again, I follow his example and take a sip of my water before sitting back.

When the admin leaves, he continues. "We’d like you to start sitting in on the meetings with our potential companies. We’d like them to hear from you directly about why we are or are not going to buy their companies. But, also, they have decided to take some of the companies we have built back up, with your assistance and input, of course, and they want to sell them. They would like your involvement with those transactions as well.”

“You want Tana to basically become the voice of your financials? You want her to play hardball with other companies?” Edur asks.

“Both of you. We recognize that you are a package deal and that you, Edur, found Tana and brought her talent and assets to our company. So, we are asking both of you to move up and become part of this new phase of our company.”

“How much?” Edur asks.

I look at him and back at Mr. Brodski. “We are willing to raise both of your salaries by 50%. And, if your numbers continue, you will be eligible for bonuses every quarter.”

After shaking hands with Mr. Brodski, I go home excited. Now, there will be times when I can go with Ishir when he’s out searching for missing supes, and if he finds another arena, I will be able to help him take it down and not have to wait for the weekend.

When I arrive at home, I immediately go to Kenna. She’s already sitting up and crawling. It’s slow by dragon standards, but according to Jena and Palila, it’s very fast for a human child.

I pick Kenna up and walk her into the kitchen, where Palila is fixing dinner. “Where’s Ish?” I ask before smelling the delicious scents. “And what’s for dinner? It smells divine.”

“Ish had a meeting,” Jena says, walking into the kitchen behind me.

“And dinner tonight is lamb chops,” Palila says.

I play with Kenna while they finish dinner. I use the time to tell them about what happened at work and that I’ll have more time off. They are both excited for me. I play with Kenna, showing her how to pull her fire. I’m almost positive that she got the dragon gene. Her body will get warm when she gets frustrated, too warm, according to Jena and Palila. I’ll have to find a place to take her and start teaching her how to manage and hide her dragon.

Dinner is just about ready, and Jena has set the table when the door opens, and Ish walks in. My nose goes up as I smell a scent I’ve only ever smelled once before in the arena.

Behind Ishir is a beautiful woman with golden blond hair and a lithe, beautiful body. He looks at me. “Tana, meet Kali. She is one of Zaiden’s mates. She’s part of his pride.”

She walks in, taking in me, Kenna, Jena, and Palila. “Zaiden has been taken, as have my two sisters. I think they’ve been put into another arena.”