Total pages in book: 182
Estimated words: 171176 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 856(@200wpm)___ 685(@250wpm)___ 571(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 171176 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 856(@200wpm)___ 685(@250wpm)___ 571(@300wpm)
Vemar stepped into the room but stayed by the door. He wasn’t a fool.
Clearly, I was.
“Sit there.” She pointed at a couch in a finely appointed sitting room and continued farther into the large quarters.
In a moment, Nyfain walked into the room wearing his robe fastened at the waist.
“No, I meant I need to speak with both of you, not just you.”
He glared at me and growled, “The only reason you should ever be here at this hour is if it is an absolute emergency. Because of your unique situation in this moment, I am allowing it. Do it again, and I will beat the ever-loving hell out of you, and then the hell out of your mate when he tries to come to your rescue. Do I make myself clear?”
His threat sizzled through me because of his intensity, but I could tell he didn’t really mean it. Whether or not Finley would mean it, though . . .
“Clear,” I said for the sake of appearances.
Finley joined us a moment later in jeans and a T-shirt, taking the couch opposite me, while Nyfain sat in a chair at the head of the arrangement.
“Why do you wake up this early, and why are you here?” Finley asked me, glancing at Vemar.
“I’m going to take your offer, but with non-negotiable stipulations.” My tone made it evident I wasn’t playing around when I said, “Give me what I want, or I walk.”
Nyfain’s brow arched. Neither of them said a word, so I just got into it.
“I want to create a whole line of products to sell at market and beyond. I want to corner the shadow markets, and I want the traditional markets and I want the medics. All of them. This is all under the banner of your kingdom, obviously. I’d like access to the people of your kingdom for ideas and to test the products you have deemed safe. The current products need a fresh look, and I’d like to design that. They work great but look lame. Granny has taught me the value of packaging. I’d like to create a dragon-centric logo for anything with Everlass in it. My logo would be different—I’d like to put a fairy on it, but I know that might be . . . touchy, since I won’t be accepting the fairies’ deal, so I’ll have to think of something else.”
I cleared my throat and took a breath before continuing.
“I do want training for my fairy magic. I think it would benefit us all. You said the king can be bought. Maybe he can get a percentage of proceeds from the product I make, or maybe they get a deal on it. I’m okay with offering twenty-five percent of myself, however that might work. Maybe giving some of my time to them? I don’t like the idea of forcing emotions on people so that the king can get what he wants, but I’m willing to negotiate. That said, I am also willing to walk away without training if they get heavy-handed or ask too much, so please keep that in mind. I can probably learn to control it if I try. Training with them would be helpful, but . . .” I shrugged.
“Anything else?” Nyfain asked, his gaze piercing. Fuck, he was an intimidating bastard.
“I would like that apartment for me and Weston. If I’m able, I’d like to have children someday, and we’d need space for that. Though I’m fine to wait until we get to that point.”
“Let me see if I’m getting this right.” Finley crossed her ankles. “Your demands are essentially that you want a job, you want to improve the marketing and sales of my products, you’re willing to put yourself in a very precarious position with the fairies in order to get training to help our kingdom, and you want space for a family to continue a very powerful bloodline that will make our kingdom great for years to come.”
I blinked at her as Vemar started chuckling. “In my head all that sounded way more stacked in my favor. Oh!” I held up a finger. “You do not get to tell me how many hours I will and won’t work. I’ll work as many as I want, which will be more than you think appropriate. I’ll lay off if I need to, and take breaks when I want, which is not something I was afforded with Granny, but otherwise, I’ll do what I’m used to.”
“And you’ll overwork yourself to benefit our kingdom,” Finley surmised.
I curled my lips between my teeth.
She shook her head with a smile and looked at Nyfain, who was still surveying me.
“What made you decide to stay?” he asked.
“A few things. The work I’d be able to do here aligns with what I am passionate about. Weston loves it here and I trust his judgment, and I love the people I’ve met. I want to be part of the community you are building, and I truly want to help people . . . while also driving Granny’s business into the ground.”