Preview of Dragon’s Surrogate: Shifter Surrogate Service
“No! I have lived in that apartment for over six years! We picked it out together! We purchased it together! I have just as much right to it as he does!” Mystic screeched at the judge.
“Miss Hanover, get your client under control. One more outburst and I’ll hold her in contempt!” the judge barked at Holly, Mystic’s attorney and best friend.
“Fuck you and your contempt,” Mystic spat back at him.
“Mystic, shut your mouth. He’s going to put you in jail,” Holly whispered to one side, trying not to be heard but failing.
“Too late. I won’t stand for that kind of disrespectful tone in my courtroom. You can cool off downstairs for the next twenty-four hours,” the judge roared, motioning toward a nearby officer. “Bailiff, please escort Ms. Jansen down to the lockup.”
“Holly, do something!” Mystic whined, realizing she had lost the plot for a moment and now would face consequences that she was far from thrilled about.
“Your honor, I’d like to ask the court to reconsider. Ms. Jansen has been under a lot of stress with the prospect of losing her home, the home she worked so hard to build with her husband. He has demanded most of her possessions remain with him, including her car and her jewelry. She has no means of support and nothing to liquidate to help her past these trying times if his petition is granted. This is all after the emotional bereavement she has had to endure over his repeated infidelity for the past six years, despite her dedication to getting the very law degree that enables him to be here on his own behalf,” Holly pleaded on her behalf.
Mystic looked down at the floor, hoping to look a bit more docile, subdued. She felt like screaming some more, but that was obviously not a good idea. She closed her eyes, as if somehow, she could focus really hard on making this go away and it would. After a few seconds of agonizing silence while she waited for the judge to speak again, she opened them, glancing sideways toward William. He stood facing the judge, but the open smirk on his face was still quite visible from where she stood. Smug bastard! It was all she could do not to rage again.
“One chance. If she says one more word before these litigations are concluded, I will not hesitate to send her down,” the judge finally said, waving the bailiff back. “That is your only warning. I won’t tolerate that in my court.”
“Thank you, your honor,” Holly replied.
She shot a glance in Mystic’s direction, a warning to remain silent or there would be consequences beyond her control. Mystic nodded ever so slightly, letting her know she understood and would behave until they were done here. No good could come of her pissing the judge off any further and she knew that.
“Does either party have any further evidence or testimony to present in this case?”
“No, your honor,” both Holly and William replied, practically in unison.
For a moment, Mystic was amused. She had some errant vision of choreographing class in law school, where they learned to respond to judges in perfect harmony like that. The moment quickly passed as the judge moved on to his final decision in their case.
“My ruling is that purchases made during the course of the marriage between Mr. and Mrs. Jansen are the sole property of Mr. Jansen, per the pre-nuptial agreement signed by both parties. A full accounting of the items to be retained or returned to Mr. Jansen are set forth in the documents submitted by Mr. Jansen. Are there any further questions?”
“Yes, your honor, if I may?” William Jansen said, addressing the judge.
Mystic cringed at the sound of his voice. It grated on her with every word he had spoken during these proceedings, a state of being that only seemed to get worse with every word he spoke. She bit her lip, willing herself to keep silent until the end. Surely, Holly could still change this with an appeal or further litigation of some sort. They had discussed that it might be their only option to continue if this didn’t go her way.
“Mr. Jansen?”
“I am asking for an emergency eviction based on your ruling. I’ve not been successful in removing Mrs. Jansen from the premises prior to final legal findings and I’d like to have her vacate within twenty-four hours. Also, I’d like to take possession of the Mercedes I purchased for her immediately. Finally, I would ask that the diamond solitaire and wedding band in her possession be handed over prior to her departure from the courthouse. The set was my mother’s and I do not trust her not to attempt liquidation, something mentioned earlier by her own counsel.”
Mystic bit her lip harder, trying to maintain control. She was normally very soft spoken, not confrontational at all, but William had pushed her far beyond the limits of human decency. He had her up against a wall and was continuing to batter her. As much as she wanted to be quiet, she soon found that she lacked the ability to do so. Her rage, once again, poured from her like a faucet turned on full tilt before the handle broke off.
“You worthless piece of shit! Do you not have any human decency at all?” Mystic yelled at Williams from across the courtroom.
He said nothing, instead turning toward her with that sick little smile of his, which only enraged her further. She had lost control of herself again, even as the judge began to bark at her from the bench.
“You incredible bastard. Fuck you and everything you ever touch. I wish I could curse you somehow so that you get everything you’ve done to me back tenfold!” Mystic hissed at her soon to be ex.
“Mrs. Jansen! I warned you. Bailiff, please escort Mrs. Jansen to lockup. Miss Hanover, do you have the rings requested by the defendant in your possession?”
Holly reached for Mystic’s wrist, trying to calm her with some human contact. It served to quiet her, but she still felt completely at odds with herself and now, as she saw the bailiff making his way toward her, that anger shifted to a sense of helplessness. She could control nothing in her life, not even herself. The bailiff took the arm opposite Holly and began leading her away from the table. Holly nodded to her quietly to just let them take her and then addressed the judge on her behalf again.
“Yes, your honor. They were turned over to me per the prior request that they be brought to court,” Holly told him as Mystic was led out the courtroom doors and out of earshot.
Mystic burst into tears as the officer led her down a hallway and a set of stairs to a small precinct located in the basement of the courthouse. She was booked on contempt of court and placed in a small holding cell to await release in twenty-four hours. At least she was alone and not in one of the cells that housed some less desirable tenants. She felt exhausted. Lying back on the cot, she closed her eyes and drifted off. She awakened sometime later by the sound of metal clanging on the cell door.
“Stand back from the door, prisoner. Chow time,” a burly guard barked at her.
Sitting up, she blinked the sleep from her eyes and glared at him.
“I was laying on the damned bunk, asleep. Was all the clanging and yelling really necessary?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you, your majesty. I brought you a lovely dinner entree. Would you like red or white wine with your meal?”
“How about a bottle of tequila?”
“Gosh, sorry. We’re fresh out. If you had any sense, you’d be out at a bar celebrating your freedom. Instead, you’re in here eating slop and drinking water.”
“How about you just give me the water and take the slop back to the pig pen?”
“Fine with me. You’re going to be hungry come lights out and there are no snacks.”
“I brought her dinner,” came a voice from behind him.
“We don’t allow meals from outside,” he said, after whirling around to where Holly stood with a white takeout bag and a fountain drink.
“No? I’ll just eat it during my meeting with my client then,” she told him.
“I wasn’t told about any meeting,” he grumbled.
“Go out and ask your sergeant. He okayed it. I can go back up with you if you like,” she replied.
“Whatever. I don’t care. I need to check you for weapons first.”
“I passed through a metal detector just to come in this place. If you lay one finger on me, I’m going to sue your pervy ass so hard, you’ll get busted down to parking lot attendant. My client is not a threat, and neither am I. Now, get out of my way.”
The guard grunted and carried the tray back out of the cell, waiting until Holly was inside to shut the door. He made his way up the stairs, calling back as he went.
“I’ll be back in thirty minutes.”
“I can’t wait to see you again,” Holly shot back.
She handed Mystic the bag and soda before sitting down beside her on the bunk.
“What the fuck were you thinking in there?” she asked.
“I wasn’t thinking. I was just pissed off.”
“Yeah. That much was obvious. I tried to get you out of here early, but the judge isn’t even entertaining the idea. William even gave him some song and dance about how grateful he was that the judge had giving you a cooling down period so he wasn’t in danger of any violence. He had him asking if he needed to issue a restraining order against you.”
“What a dick move.”
“What you did in there, that was a dick move. We have zero chance of appeal.”
“We had zero chance of appeal anyway.”
“Maybe. Maybe not, but now it’s less than that.”
“What am I going to do, Holly? I have no place to live. No job. No money. He even took all my jewelry. Every piece he bought me during the marriage. I mean, I understand him wanting his mother’s rings back. The stuff he bought for me, though. He couldn’t have let me keep that? He cheated on me repeatedly while I was working two jobs to keep us afloat. He finished law school and doubled down on it.”
“Yes, I know. I didn’t miss out on those drunken 2am phone calls about why he wasn’t home.”
“I know, Holly. Listen, thanks for all this. I know you did what you could. I’ll figure something out.”
“You know I have room at my place for you until you get on your feet. The spare bedroom is yours. I’ve got court tomorrow in a nearby county, but just go on over to the house when you get out and get some rest. I doubt you’ll get any in here tonight. Bob will meet us at the house with his van and we’ll get your personal things from the apartment.”
“Will he be there?”
“Yes and no.”
“What does that mean?”
“He said he will have your things boxed up and placed in front of the garage doors for retrieval.”
“Why do I have the feeling that I won’t be seeing much of anything in front of those doors?”
“Because you probably won’t. He’s been very specific in the paperwork on what you can and cannot have. You saw it.”
“Yeah.”
Mystic took a few bites of the club sandwich Holly had brought but found that she wasn’t very hungry. She was very near tears again, in fact.
“Listen, it’s going to be fine. Tomorrow night, we’ll kick back and have some drinks and start to figure out what your going to do to get back on your feet. This will be in your rear-view mirror in no time.”
“I hope so. I wish I could just erase the whole, ugly episode.”
“Just try to watch your mouth until you get out of here. Okay? Don’t piss off the guards.”
“I won’t.”
“See you tomorrow, chicka. Oh, give me your leftovers. I can’t leave that in here.”
Mystic put the last of the sandwich in the bag and handed it to her. Holly took it and reached in her pocket, pulling out a candy bar and handing it to her.
“What’s this?” Mystic asked.
“Contraband. In case you feel hungry later. Stick it under your pillow.”
“Naughty.”
“Well, you know, it’s not every day my best friend goes to jail for the first time.
Mystic smiled a little and tucked the candy under her pillow. Holly reached through the bars and pushed a little button on the other side. There were footsteps descending the stairs and a jingle of keys as the guard let her out of the cell and locked it behind her.
“Don’t fuck with my girl, Collins. I promise you, I’ll own you if she has even the slightest complaint about you.”
“Fuck you, Hanover. I’m a professional.”
“Yeah, I got that from the “fuck you” at the beginning of the sentence.”
Mystic sat down on the bed and watched them walk up the stairs. Once they were out of sight, she began staring at the freshly painted ceiling. It was oddly quiet down here, not at all what she’d expected from a jail cell. She lay there most of the night, thoughts whirling around in her head about what she would do when she got out of here.
By the time she was released the following day, she had no more of a clue about how she would manage than she had in the months she’d had to think about it already. She had dropped out of college after her parents died and taken a job as a cocktail waitress. That had been how she had met William in the first place. They had bonded over shots and the commonality of being adult orphans.
Walking out to the parking lot, she quickly realized her car was gone. For a split second, she thought it had been stolen, but then she realized he had most likely already taken that too. On the off chance she was wrong and it had been stolen, it might as well go ahead and be his problem. It was more likely that he used his spare key and took it on his way out of court or had someone pick it up. So much for forty-eight hours. Great. She had three dollars to her name and no car.
“Bastard,” she muttered under her breath as she made her way for the bus stop near the courthouse. She might have just enough to catch the crosstown bus to Holly’s house if she tossed in the change in her pocket.
And so it began, her journey toward her new life with just her purse, the clothes on her back and the two nickels left over after bus fare.
The trip to Holly’s house took nearly an hour on the bus, by the time you figured in traffic and multiple stops along the route. She arrived at nearly noon, not quite at the doorstep, but nearly a mile away from the brownstone Holly had purchased fresh out of law school. Mystic found herself wishing she had done more with her life than married well. It would have panned out a sight better for her, no doubt.
She stepped off the bus and began making her way across the bridge that ran along the river embankment and down toward the suburban neighborhood Holly called home. It was her home too now, she guessed. At least until she could figure out how to get herself out of this mess. The fresh air was nice, at least. The warmth of early April spilling across her as she made her way along the sidewalks that bordered her destination.
Finally arriving at the front door, she fished around in her purse for her keys. Pulling them free, she separated the house key Holly had given her ages ago from the rest and tossed the remainder in the grass behind her before letting herself in and making her way to the kitchen. The candy bar she had snuck out and eaten in the early morning hours had worn off long ago. Foraging in Holly’s fridge, she found some entrees on the freezer side and pulled one free, stripping off the plastic and popping it in the microwave before moving on to the wine cabinet.
Five minutes later, she was parked at the kitchen bar eating zucchini lasagna and drinking a glass of port. It was early in the day, sure, but after the night she had just experienced, she felt it was justified. Finishing off the lasagna, she moved on to Holly’s candy drawer, where she retrieved a chocolate cupcake from the stash of cakes that were her friend’s secret weakness. It was hardly a feast fit for a queen, but it would do in a pinch. Finishing off the last bites of the cake, she tossed her remnants in the trash and retrieved the bottle of port and her glass, carting them up to the spare bedroom with her.
Two more glasses and she was not feeling nearly as anxious and depressed. She succumbed to her fatigue and slipped between the fresh, clean sheets, falling fast asleep. She was still asleep when she heard Holly speaking to her from the side of the bed.
“Mystic? You okay? Wake up,” Holly urged, shaking her gently.
“Ugh. Not now, Mom. I don’t want to go to school.”
“I’ll Mom you. Come on. Let’s get up and go get your stuff before shit head decides to burn it and claim it was stolen. We’ll stop by the liquor store on the way back, as we seem to be out of port.”
“Yeah, funny how that happened,” Mystic said, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. “You got a t-shirt and some jeans I can borrow? I slept in this suit last night, and well, today.”
“You are kidding, right? You’re like four inches taller than me and have actual curves. How about some yoga pants? They’ll stretch.”
“Right. Might as well go for looking the part of a homeless person.”
“They are yoga pants, not second hand jogging pants. You’ll look fine. At least we have the same shoe size, so you won’t have to wear heels with them.”
“Ah, yes. That’ll be one bonus to living here. I have full access to the massive shoe closet.”
“Don’t push your luck, sister. Now get up and we’ll go find you some clothes. Get a shower. You smell like armpits and vomit.”
“I found some keys out on the front lawn,” Bob told them once she was clean and changed into an oversize t-shirt, stretch pants and sneakers and making her way down the stairs behind Holly.
“I won’t be needing those anymore. You can toss them,” Mystic told him.
“Hold up,” Holly said, walking over to retrieve the keys from Bob. “Are these the keys to the house and the car?”
“And some other things.”
“You can’t throw them away, Mystic. He’ll be looking for them back.”
“So?”
“So? Haven’t you had enough with fighting him?”
Mystic shrugged, causing Holly to roll her eyes. She tossed the keys in her own bag and motioned for everyone to follow her out the door.
An hour later, they were on their way to William’s house with Holly’s brother, Bob, in his crew cab F-250. In all honestly, the amount of stuff she would get from this visit would probably fit in the trunk of Holly’s car, but they needed to make only one trip, so it was better to have too much room than too little and Bob was a big guy, so he was there to make sure nothing went wrong. William himself was harmless, but he was prone to employing some pretty nasty pieces of work if he felt the need for intimidation.
As it turned out, the exchange was uneventful. As suspected, William had installed a couple of pit bulls outside the garage to make sure she didn’t try to go in and touch anything he hadn’t left for her and they stood looking menacing while the trio loaded boxes onto Bob’s truck. Each box was taped shut, so none of them had any idea what they were loading up. For all she knew, they were full of manure or explosives.
“Will be interesting to get this stuff home and see what he actually gave you,” Holly remarked as they loaded up the last of it.
“Or infuriating,” Mystic shot back. “Better make that pit stop at the liquor store on the way home.”
“Consider it done. We’ll have a little pity party and then get an early start on the new and fabulous Mystic Jansen.”
“Mystic Carlton.”
“What?”
“Mystic Carlton. Don’t you read your legal documents? I don’t even get to keep his last name. He took that too. I’m back to my maiden name, not that I mind being shut of that asshole’s surname.”
“Of course, Ms. Carlton,” Holly said, climbing into the cab of the truck.
Mystic shot the goons in front of the garage a bird, dancing her middle finger around outside the truck window to make sure they saw it as Bob pulled away.
“Classy,” Holly said, rolling her eyes as she was prone to doing.
“That’s me. Always a class act,” Mystic told her, smiling proudly as she rolled the window up and faced the front.
Stopping only at the liquor store, they drove the forty miles back to the suburbs, unloading the mystery boxes into Holly’s garage, stacking them up and down one side so they would be out of the way while she went through them to see what she needed to unpack and what could stay until she found a place to move in to. Looking over them, she felt overcome by a sense of melancholy. This was it. It was truly over, and she was on her own, broke and homeless.
“Come on, girl. Let’s not worry about what is in those right now. Let’s make some dinner and have some drinks. Bob’s going to eat with us and then head home. After that, we’ll get fucked up and put this behind us. You can wait and go through those tomorrow.”
“Easy for you to say. You have a job and a home.”
“And you will too, but we’re not going to sweat that tonight. How about a steak? Bob will fire up the grill and cook them for us. He is a master at it.”
“Sounds good. Make mine a smaller one, though. I still don’t have a huge appetite. I’ve only eaten one of your frozen lunch lasagnas today and still a little full from it.”
“Fair enough. How about we open a bottle of wine to sip while we make dinner? It’ll calm your nerves a bit more.”
“I drank a whole bottle of port for lunch,” Mystic noted.
“I know. I saw the empty bottle. So, hair of the dog?”
“Sure, why not.”
Two hours later, dinner was past, Bob was long gone, and the two women were on their own. A second bottle of wine was almost empty, and they were well on their way to being tipsy. They sat giggling on the sofa at random ideas for employment.
“You’ve got a killer body. You could make a killing as a stripper.”
“Oh yeah. I could pay my rent in single bills every month. I can’t think of anything that appeals less to me than being groped by strange men.”
Holly laughed, picking up her tablet and opening the Craigslist ads. She squinted at the screen a little as she read off some of the ads.
“You can sell cosmetics,” she said.
“That’s pretty much a guarantee that I’ll be living in your backyard in a box until I die.”
“But you’ll have loads of free samples to keep you looking hot.”
“Let’s face it. I’m qualified for fuck all. I’m almost thirty years old with almost zero job skills.”
“Maybe no formal job skills and experience, but you have great people skills and you’re very smart.”
“That’ll get me a job as a department store greeter.”
“People survive doing that.”
“Not very well, though.”
“Well, you have to start somewhere, Mystic. Here, you take a look and see if any of these strike your fancy. I’ll get us another bottle of wine.”
Mystic took the tablet and began scrolling through the ads. Virtually everything there was either way beyond her qualifications or menial. It wasn’t that she was below getting a regular job like normal people, but these were on the bottom of the pay scale. No way would she have enough money to do anything but live in Holly’s spare bedroom for a very long time and she didn’t want to put that sort of strain on their friendship. Being here temporarily was one thing, but eventually, it would wear on both of them. Holly was very private, having always been single and preferring it that way. Having Mystic underfoot would grate on her, no matter how hard she tried to accommodate her situation.
“Hey, here’s one. Listen to this,” she told Mystic, reading the text of the ad.
Surrogates wanted. Serious applicants only. Please send resume and full-length photo to be considered. Top dollar paid to those who qualify. NDA required.
Holly laughed, topping off her glass with fresh wine. She stopped when she realized that Mystic seemed to be seriously contemplating it.
“You can’t be for real. A surrogate? You’re going to ruin your body for a stranger?”
“Why not? I always wanted kids and William always put it off, said he didn’t have time for the burden. If these people want to pay me to pop out a kid, why not?”
“You’ve lost your damned mind.”
“I’m sending them my resume,” Mystic told her, opening up her cloud account and attaching a copy to a response. “Here, take a photo of me and Bluetooth it to your tablet.”
“You’re drunk.”
“I’m not. Just a bit tipsy. Come on. Take my picture.”
Holly shook her head and took a photo of her, shooting it over to her tablet, even while protesting that this was a bad idea.
“So, they probably won’t even call me. Surrogacy pays pretty well, usually a healthy fee on top of covering all the expenses. It might give me enough to get on my feet.”
“More like on your back, considering the nature of the job.”
“Don’t be silly. I’m sure they do artificial insemination or something.”
“I would hope so. Come one, put that aside. Maybe it was a bad idea to let you look for jobs after too much wine.”
Mystic hit send and put the tablet aside. She and Holly continued drinking for a while, but eventually, headed off to bed. Holly had to work tomorrow, and she had all those boxes to look through, so she could see what she was starting over with.
“I’m carpooling with Devon, across the street, the rest of this week, so the car is in the garage if you need to go anywhere. It should have plenty of gas in it and I’ve left you some cash on the kitchen counter. I know you’re busted. You can pay me back for whatever you use when you can,” Holly told her the following morning.
Mystic looked her over. She had her hair in a loose bun and a pair of sunglasses on even though she hadn’t gone out into the sun yet. It was a sure sign that she was hungover, and Mystic wasn’t much better herself.
“Thanks, Holly. Hopefully, I’ll just be here going through boxes today.”
“I’ll see you this afternoon,” Holly replied, picking up her briefcase and heading for the front door.
Once she was gone, Mystic made her way to the garage to start on the boxes. There was no point in showering until she found some clothes and such. She groaned as she went through what William had packed up for her. There were none of the nice dresses or expensive shoes he had purchased for her during the marriage. Only jeans, t-shirts, and less expensive items. It was if he made sure not to include anything that might be of value, anything she might sell to make a little money to get by on. She noted that he had even kept her electronics. The only reason her phone was still working was that she had purchased it on a contract in her name a few months before the split.
That was another worry. The payment would be due in a couple of weeks and she had nothing to pay it with. She had hoped there would be something of value in the boxes, but after sifting through more than ten of them, she knew she would find nothing in the final two. William was a jackass to the very end. She picked up a stack of clothes she had gathered and took them upstairs with her, showering and changing. At least she was in her own things again.
The phone vibrated beside her as she sat on the bed brushing out her hair. She looked down at the blocked number and started not to answer it, but curiosity won over in the end and she clicked the button to accept the call.
“Hello?”
“Hello. Is this Mystic Jansen?”
“Carlton,” Mystic groaned.
“Excuse me?”
“My last name is Carlton.”
“Oh. I, well, uh . . . I’m confused. I have the name Mystic Jansen in front of me.”
“What is this about?” Mystic groaned, expecting some cold call or more bad news.
“This is Margaret Stanford with Specialty Surrogates. We received your photo and resume last night. The name on it was Mystic Jansen. Is that you?”
Mystic’s brow knotted together for a moment. Then, she remembered the ad. She had sent in her resume but hadn’t had time to update it before doing so. It still said Jansen.
“Yes. I’m sorry. That’s me. I am newly divorced and just need to update my resume.”
“Ah, very good then. We’d like to talk to you about becoming a surrogate if you have time to meet today.”
“Today?” Mystic replied. “That’s quick.”
“Yes. Well, we have a very high demand for our services and finding qualified candidates can be difficult.”
“Right. What, exactly, are the qualifications required?”
“I’ll be more than happy to discuss that with you in person. Can you come in today?”
“Look. I appreciate the call, but I think that maybe I’m not the person you are looking for. I really can’t afford to be pregnant for nine months while trying to re-establish myself.”
“I see. It’s not for everyone. I find that a lot of people will even come for the initial meeting, mostly lured in by the $250,000 payment for completed pregnancy, but back out when faced with actually going through with everything.”
“I’m sorry. Did you say $250,000?” Mystic gasped.
“Yes. Double for multiple births, triple for beyond that.”
“That’s insane.”
“Well, there is a lot to be discussed beyond just payment that might make the payment sound less appealing.”
“What time would you like to meet?” Mystic asked.
“Is one p.m. good for you? Our offices are located at the Masterson Clinic. Are you familiar with the location?”
“Yes,” Mystic replied, feeling a little apprehensive.
The Masterson Clinic was the subject of much speculation. There were rumors that they did weird human experiments there and other horror stories. None of it had been proven beyond just local lore, but most people steered clear of the place. The fact that they were willing to offer five times the amount most places would pay for a surrogate spoke volumes, as far as she was concerned.
“Then I will see you at one?”
“Sure. I mean, yes. I’ll see you then. Thank you, Ms. Stanford.”
They said their goodbyes and hung up. Mystic sat and looked at her cell phone for a moment, debating whether she was going to go through with the meeting. In the end, the money was just too good to ignore. It was worth at least going in to find out more about it. She contemplated it some more as she hung her clothes in the closet, debating it all the way up until the time she needed to leave if she was going to arrive on time.
“What the hell?” she asked herself, grabbing Holly’s money and car keys from the kitchen counter and heading toward the garage.
The drive into the city gave her more time to think about this. It was nine months of her life, maybe ten, a year at most, depending on how long it took for the insemination to work. In the end, she would have two hundred and fifty thousand to show for it, maybe more. No menial job she could get was going to pay her nearly that much. If she was lucky, she might make it in ten years time.
So, what was a year to put herself ahead of the game? That much money would buy her a decent house and a new car with money left over to put in the bank and subsidize her income, even if she couldn’t find anything more than a low paying job. Unless there was something incredibly weird about this, it would be hard to pass up that kind of money.
She found herself even daring to feel optimistic. Holly was going to go ballistic about this, but she’d calm down. She was just protective of Mystic and always had been. They had grown up together, both coming from poor families and making their own way. It was just that Holly had been the smart one and gotten scholarships to go to college, while Mystic had been stupid enough to drop out of college her sophomore year and marry someone who was all wrong for her and left her with the same nothing she had come to him with.
Her heart was thudding as she pulled up to the gates of the Masterson Clinic and waited for the guard to come out to her window. He motioned for her to roll down the window.
“May I help you?”
“I have a one p.m. appointment with Margaret Stanford at Specialty Surrogates.”
“Name?”
“Mystic Jansen, uh, Carlton.”
“Which is it? Jansen or Carlton?”
“Um, Carlton, I guess.”
The guard looked at her with a disdained expression and then looked down his chart. After a moment, he pushed a button and the gates in front of her opened.
“Go in the front doors, cross the lobby and take the elevator to the eighth floor. Room 810 will be to your left on the right side of the hallway.”
“Thank you,” she replied.
Her pulse was still racing even as she made her way up the elevator. Stepping off, she was immediately aware of how sterile it all looked. Everything was white and stainless steel. It looked out of place compared to the opulence she had noted in the lobby. The entrance had been filled with statues and paintings done in gothic tones, rich with touches of antique brass and gold. It was like walking into a castle from days gone by. In stark contrast was the incredibly pristine hallway of the eighth floor, with its frosted glass doors and lack of decor.
Stepping into room 810, she found herself facing a young woman at a desk that was equally clean. There were no papers of any kind, only a phone and a computer. No photos of family or cute little creations made by children who originated in the clinic. It was perhaps the most sterile environment she had ever been to and that bothered her in a way she couldn’t put her finger on. The young woman looked up at her and smiled without really seeing her.
“How can I assist you?”
“Mystic Carlton. I have an appointment.”
“Of course. Come with me.”
Mystic’s heart hammered violently against her chest as she followed her to an adjoining room and had a seat in front of a desk at which no one sat. The young woman instructed her to wait.
“Ms. Stanford will be with you in just a moment.”
“Ms. Carlton?” came a voice from behind Mystic as she sat looking out the windows behind the desk, feeling like she might jump out of her skin at any moment and fighting the urge to just get up and leave.
“Yes,” she replied, standing and turning to see an older woman standing behind her. She was maybe five feet tall, if that. Mystic towered over her at her five-foot-ten stature. She was taller than most of the women she knew, but it was especially noticeable when standing next to someone so petite.
“Please, sit down. Let’s have a bit of a chat,” the woman replied.
It was only then that Mystic realized she spoke in what sounded like a Scottish accent. She was wearing a doctor’s lab coat and it was only then that Mystic noted the name plate said she was “Dr. Margaret Stanford.”
“I know you are very curious about what you are possibly signing up for, but I’m afraid that unless you qualify, there isn’t going to be a lot I can tell you. So, here is the bare bones of it. We are looking for a surrogate with a very special DNA sequence in their blood type. It is a rare gene that is a requirement to participate in our program. What I am going to ask you for initially is merely a blood test. I will draw a vile of blood for testing and while that is being processed, we will discuss the program a bit further.”
“I think I’d like to know a bit more before allowing blood to be taken.”
“While I do understand your being hesitant, I must insist. It is the starting point for this interview. If you are not a match, you’ll go home with a fee of $100, just for coming in. That’s more than they’ll give you for a full pint at the plasma center.”
This was all sounding incredibly weird to Mystic, but what did she have to lose. The money would pay her cell phone bill, at the very least and she could learn a bit more about what might be expected of her if she was a match.
“Okay. That’s fine.”
“Fantastic.”
Dr. Stanford pushed a button on her phone and asked someone named Todd to come in. A young man in another white lab coat came in and cleaned the crook of her elbow before inserting a needle and filling a small red capped vile with her blood. The doctor handed him some sort of paperwork and he pulled a strip from it, applying it to the vile and wrapping the rest around it. He cleaned off her arm, holding it high over her head as he applied a cotton ball and a band-aid.
“See. Not so bad,” Margaret observed as Todd left the room.
“No. What do we do now?”
“I will tell you what I can about our surrogacy program and, if you are a match and interested in going through with this, I will ask you to sign a non-disclosure agreement and contract.”
Mystic listened as the doctor began explaining the basics of how their surrogate program worked. They would provide all medical expenses, housing and personal needs for the duration of the pregnancy. Once the baby, or babies, were born, her duties would be complete and she would be paid the appropriate fees. On the surface, it sounded like a very good deal for her. She would have to worry about nothing during the pregnancy and then walk away with enough money to start a pretty decent life for herself.
“And if something happens? If I fail to conceive or if I miscarry?”
“The odds of that happening with our procedures is next to nothing, but, in the unlikely event that one of those things happened, we would discuss options. Fertilization would be attempted up to three times with no further compensation. After that, you would be given the choice to make additional attempts or walk away with a much smaller fee. It varies depending on the particulars, but would fall between $20,000 and $50,000. In the event of miscarriage, the procedure is the same. Fees would be negotiated based on whether you choose to attempt fertilization and how far along you were in the first pregnancy. Compensation would vary between $50,000 and $100,000, in addition to the full $250,000 if a subsequent pregnancy occurs to full term.”
“That’s a lot of variables to consider.”
“Yes. The thing you need to understand here, is that this is a very special circumstance and money is no object. No matter what happens, you will be adequately compensated as long as you have abided by all the rules of the contract.”
“And what are those rules?”
“Some of them can only be discussed if your blood comes back as a match, but the ones we can talk about now are essentially what you would expect with any surrogacy. No drinking, smoking, taking medications not approved by your doctors here. You would be required to keep yourself healthy and eat properly. That sort of thing.”
Mystic sat looking at her. This all sounded too good to be true and usually, things that sounded that way . . . weren’t.
“What’s the catch?”
“There is no catch, just some very special circumstances to consider.”
The conversation was interrupted by a knock at the door. Dr. Stanford excused herself to answer it, speaking quietly to someone outside and returning with a piece of paper in her hands.
“Well, it looks like we can move on to stage two of this conversation, if you are interested. It seems that your blood is a fantastic match for what we are looking for.”
“Really?” Mystic replied, shocked that something might actually work out for her, even more shocked that something about her was considered rare.
“Yes. Would you like to continue?”
Now, faced with the very real possibility of going through with this, Mystic found she was terrified. It was a lot of money to pass us, but having someone else’s child for them seemed a bit overwhelming. Her head was spinning with all the thoughts of how this might go wrong, even as she heard herself telling the doctor she would like to know more.
That meant paperwork, it seemed. Mystic found herself looking over paperwork explained to her by the doctor. It still wasn’t the contract to go through with things, but a non-disclosure guaranteeing she would not discuss what was about to be disclosed to her in the final discussion. Mystic looked over it and signed it, eager to learn more about what she would be facing if she chose to go through with things.
What she heard next was bewildering. She began to learn about things she had never known existed, like the fact that dragons exist as humans and shift into dragon form on command. Once again, she found herself unable to believe any of this was for real or suspecting that it was just a weird hoax or, even worse, some creepy experiment on unsuspecting women.
“Pardon me if I seem a little skeptical, but that all sounds really farfetched. I mean, first you are asking me to believe that dragons exist, but on top of that, you expect me to accept that there are humans that change into them?”
“Not humans, shifters. They are neither human nor dragons, but something in between. You aren’t the first one to doubt what I am saying and I’m fully prepared to demonstrate, if you’d like.”
“Yes. I think I would.”
“Follow me,” the doctor replied, leading her down the hallways to a large, empty room without windows and only two doors, one through which they had entered and another on the other side of the room. Once inside, the doctor pushed an intercom button and spoke to someone outside the room. “Could one of you step inside for a quick surrogate demo?”
She let go of the button and smiled softly at Mystic before speaking again.
“Do not be alarmed. The dragon is perfectly harmless. He possesses all the self-control that he does in human form and is only here to show you that this is not fake or magic.”
Mystic’s eyes widened as a young man stepped in from the outer door. She watched as he quietly stepped out of the gray scrubs he wore, seeming like he was in no way embarrassed or surprised by the request the doctor had made. Mystic, however, flushed a bright shade of crimson as she tried not to stare at his ripped abs or ample endowment.
“Don’t avert your eyes. You’ll want to see all of this,” Dr. Stanford cautioned.
Mystic looked back up at the young man. He smiled at her and then, he was changing in some weird way that she found it hard to understand. His arms were raised and spread outward, his feet positioned far apart and his body was changing. Loud snapping and cracking noises reverberated throughout the room as he seemed to break apart and expand, his shape shifting into that of what appeared to be a large bird, but there were no feathers. Instead, large scales began to populate all over the huge, looming figure as a tail spread out from behind and curled lazily to one side. She gasped and let out a little scream.
It happened in a matter of seconds and then stopped. The man that had once stood there was gone and she was looking at what appeared to be a dragon. It’s large oval eyes seemed to almost glow a bright greenish yellow as it lowered its powerful looking wings slowly to the ground in a peaceful demeanor. The creature made no effort to advance on them, but stood there waiting.
“Would you like to touch it?”
“No. I don’t think so,” Mystic replied.
“He won’t hurt you. Go ahead. It will help you to process that what you are seeing is real and not some sort of illusion.”
Reluctantly, Mystic stepped toward the dragon and put her hand on one leg. It didn’t move as she ran her hand down the rough edge of its scales and touched one of the huge claws that rested against the floor. She walked around it slowly, touching it as she moved to stand beneath a huge wing, her tiny frame almost concealed between its appendage and body.
“Satisfied?” Dr. Stanford asked.
“I, I guess,” she replied, stepping out and returning to her side.
Dr. Stanford nodded at the dragon and Mystic watched as the process took place in reverse, the large creature breaking apart, losing its scales and returning to its previous human form. He quietly slipped his clothes back on and exited the room wordlessly.
“That was incredible. Are there a lot of those in the world?”
“More than you know. Shall we continue then?”
Mystic nodded, though she wasn’t sure how she felt about this now. They walked back to the doctor’s office and sat down to discuss things further.
“How are those things born?” she asked.
“Those things are shifters. They are born like any human child. You would carry the baby as a human child and then hand him over to his father, who is a shifter. During the time you are pregnant, you would live with the father, get to know him and he would protect and care for you until the baby is born. Once you’ve given birth, you’ll be transferred to a private care facility for a few days to recover and then you would be paid and allowed to return home.”
“Would I be able to visit home during the course of the pregnancy?”
“Absolutely. We have no desire to alienate you from your friends and family. However, you would take your father home with you, as it is essential that you be protected during the pregnancy. In the event that you experience problems, he will know how to best care for you and will get you here to the clinic, if necessary.”
“That seems a bit weird.”
“Yes, I can see that it would, from your point of view, but it is absolutely necessary. Our special requirements are the reason for the high rate of payment for participation in our surrogacy program. I can give you a week to think about it, if you’d like. You can call at any time prior to the end of that period to accept or decline, but you must honor the terms of the non-disclosure if you choose not to participate.”
“I think I would like to think it over and I may have more questions.”
“Here is my card and the $100 for your sample. Just give me a call to discuss anything you’d like. It has my office hours on there, as well as my private cell number.”
“Thank you,” Mystic replied, accepting the business card and crisp bill being offered.
“No, thank you. I hope to be seeing you again soon.”
“Likewise,” Mystic replied, standing and walking out of the room, still feeling more disconcerted than curious, but that began to change as she drove back to Holly’s house. Her anxiety about such a huge undertaking began to subside in favor of what felt like hope. There was so much she could do with that money. It was enough to change her life, literally.
She stopped at a thrift store and purchased a couple of large suitcases and a sizable backpack with the money the clinic had given her and then stopped by the cell phone store to pay her bill before driving back to Holly’s. She parked the car in the garage and resumed going through the boxes for anything she had missed the first time that she might want to have access to for the next year, transferring some to other boxes and putting the rest in one of the empty suitcases to take to her room.
Sitting on the bed, she took a deep breath and called Dr. Stanford. Her heart raced as she waited for her to answer the phone, which she finally did.
“Dr. Stanford, I’ve thought it through and I’d like to join your surrogacy program, but I need something from you first.”
“What is it that you need?”
“I will need a thousand dollars up front to take care of a few things.”
“I don’t see a problem with that at all. When would you like to come in, sign the final contract and meet your birth partner?”
“I’m ready whenever you are.”
“Very well. Let me give him a call and then I will call you back.”
“Thank you. I will talk to you soon.”
“You will. Goodbye.”
Mystic hung up the phone and began packing the two suitcases with things she didn’t perceive needing in the next few days. If she worked this right, she could get straight into this and get it out of the way. Turns out, she was right, as the phone rang less than an hour later. It was Dr. Stanford asking if she could meet with her, the potential father and an attorney the following morning. She agreed and hung up the phone. Now, her biggest dread was telling Holly, who was not going to like it at all.
“Ms. Carlton, I’d like for you to meet Rocco Belue. He will be your birth partner, if you choose to accept the terms of the agreement.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” she replied, trying not to stare.
He was gorgeous, dark, and mysterious. Unlike the slender young man that had demonstrated his ability to shift into a dragon, Rocco was tall and broad shouldered, buff in a way that inspired her to imagine perfect abs rippling beneath his tailored suit. Her hormones felt enraged just from being near him. She found herself wishing this was a matter of conception taking place the old-fashioned way rather than with some sort of high-tech turkey baster.
“It’s nice to meet you, as well,” he replied.
“Mr. Belue has read your resume and has a few questions for you. I apologize if they seem a bit invasive to you, but we want both of you to feel comfortable with this pairing. You will also have an opportunity to ask him any questions you feel need answered prior to completion of this transaction,” Dr. Stanford explained.
Rocco proceeded to ask a dozen or so questions about her background and education, intelligence, and personal habits. At some points, it did feel very much too personal to be answering for a stranger, but she was determined to make this work. It was important to her. When he was done, she asked only a few questions of him, and most were in reference to the circumstances she would be residing under during the pregnancy. Anything else was of no consequence, since he would be retaining the child without her in the picture.
“Well, how are you both feeling about this? Would you each like to proceed to the next step?”
“I am very satisfied with your choice in a surrogate,” Rocco replied, much to Mystic’s relief.
“I’m on board, as well,” she replied, clasping her hands together to hide her nervousness.
“Very well. Let me get the lawyer in here with the paperwork. I’ve given each of you an overview of what will happen, but he will finalize everything with you.”
She stepped out and was replaced a few minutes later by a diminutive little man with wire rimmed glasses and a cane. He sat across from them and began to go through each section of the paperwork, asking them to initial or sign where appropriate. When everything was done, he pulled all the papers back and smiled at them.
“That’s it. Let us get each of you a copy and a check for Ms. Carlton. Dr. Stanford will oversee the final arrangements for you to begin the process.”
Everything was a whirlwind after that. Rocco left with instructions to return the following day for the first insemination attempt. There was a portion of Mystic that felt like she wanted to back out of this, but she had already signed off and she knew it was just anxiety. This was something she needed to see through. In the long run, she’d be all the better for it.
“Mystic, here is a list of instructions for what you can and cannot do prior to the insemination tomorrow. You will come here at 9 a.m. and we will begin the process as laid out in the information I am giving you. Before you leave, I am going to give you an injection. According to the information you’ve already given me, you should be at peak fertility right now, so I’m not going to administer any additional fertility treatments as we would for some surrogates. If this doesn’t take, that may become something we reconsider.”
“I understand.”
Mystic left the clinic after a shot and a rundown of the instructions, which were pretty much what she would expect them to be. Probably the hardest portion of this entire agreement was going to be the no alcohol clause that took effect immediately. Her only thought on the way back home was that Holly was going to kill her. She stopped by her bank to deposit the initial payment she had asked for and by a self-service facility to sign up for a unit in which to store her things so they weren’t taking up real estate in Holly’s garage.
Back at the house, she perused the Craigslist ads and found a man with a truck to help her move the boxes into storage. With that done, she replaced the money Holly had left her yesterday and settled into her bed for a nap until her friend arrived home. This wasn’t going to be a pleasant conversation, but every fiber of her being told her it was the right thing for her, and Holly would understand that.
As it turned out, the biggest complaint Holly had was her not having let her look over the contract first.
“Damnit, Mystic. This is what got you into the mess with William! You signed off on a pre-nup that gave you nothing, despite the fact that he rode more nags than a Kentucky Derby jockey.”
“I know, but I looked over it and it seems pretty straight forward. It’s a lot of money, Holly. It’s what I need to get on my feet.”
“You’re going to be living with a man you don’t know and carrying his baby. You’re going to be subjected to who knows how many inseminations before one takes. Are you sure it’s worth it?”
“No, but I’m sure that I don’t want to spend the next ten years of my life just trying to make ends meet, Holly. I’m almost thirty years old and have nothing to show for the years I’ve spent on this earth. This money will put me in a position to do what I want, how I want. It’s not a fortune, but it’s enough to get me off to a good start.”
“I know you’ve been through it, but I’m just scared for you, Mystic.”
“I know you are, but you can’t take care of me forever, Holly. I have to make my own way. I’ve already had my things from the garage put into storage and, as soon as I’m pregnant, I’ll be moving into the father’s home until the baby is born. I’ll be just fine.”
“What is his name? At least tell me who this guy is?”
“I can’t. I can’t tell you anything more than what I’ve already revealed per the agreement. Trust me, Holly. I’ll be just fine. This is a good thing for me. A good opportunity.”
“I sure hope so, Mystic. I sure hope so,” Holly told her.
The two of them went out to eat at a local Japanese restaurant they had been frequenting for years. It was without the usual paring of Sake, but Mystic had no intention of sabotaging things. Instead, they settled for water with lime and enjoyed their meals. The last one they might share together for some time if she was lucky enough to get pregnant on the first go. Mystic had moved beyond feeling anxious or dubious. If anything, she was downright exhilarated at the thought of things to come.
If there was any going back from this, it was ended quickly. Mystic had no problems getting pregnant on the first try and was quickly moved from the spare room at Holly’s to the sprawling estate owned by Rocco Belue. She couldn’t believe her eyes as she stepped into the place for the first time.
“Your room is ready for you,” Rocco told her, escorting her up a massive spiraling staircase.
“I need to get my bags,” she replied.
“They’ll be brought up for you.”
Mystic shrugged and followed him up the staircase. The house was massive, but hardly a place you’d consider cozy. It seemed like a horrible place to raise a child, even one who would have the special abilities this one would possess. She had to remind herself that it wasn’t her problem. Her only portion of this transaction was to carry this child to full term. It seemed so surreal knowing she was carrying a child inside her that wasn’t truly hers, that she would never know, but that was something she would have to accept.
“Here you go. Your room is right down the hall from mine, so I won’t be far away if there are any problems. The room across the hall is empty right now, but there is a nurse coming within the week. She will keep a check on your vitals and nutrition, handle any medical issues that may arise. Anything of consequence will require you go to the clinic, but having her on staff will prevent you from having to visit there so much for routine blood work. She’ll gather it and take it in, as necessary.”
“Okay. Thank you,” Mystic responded.
It was going to be a long nine months with him. She could see that much now. Though he wasn’t rude or unkind, he was not incredibly personable. She couldn’t envision someone with so little warmth as a father. Perhaps he was just slow to get to know people, she told herself.
“I’ll let you get settled in. I’ve some meetings to attend the rest of the afternoon, but I’ll be back later, and we will have dinner together, get to know one another a little better.”
“That will be nice,” she replied, not really certain if it was or not, but hopeful that their relationship might become a little less strained during her time here.
“Have one of the staff show you around. Feel free to make use of anything you like, the pool, the sauna, the gardens. I only ask that you stay clear of my personal spaces like my bedroom and my study.”
“No problem. I’m sure there is a lot to see,” she replied.
“There is,” he said, nodding his head in her direction before walking down the hall and disappearing down the staircase. His footsteps echoed through the house as he made his way to the door and left.
“I’ve got your bags for you,” came a young man’s voice from nearby.
Mystic turned to see the thin young man she had noticed earlier bringing the bags from down a separate hallways. She assumed there was a servant’s stairwell or perhaps an elevator.
“Great. Thank you so much! If you’ll just put them in my room, I’ll get them unpacked. Listen, I don’t suppose you’d want to show me around the place? Rocco said just to ask someone.”
“I’d love to,” he replied, smiling broadly to reveal a slight gap between his front teeth. Combined with the smattering of freckles across his nose, he reminded her a bit of the guy that was always on the covers of the old Mad Magazines her father used to have in their den.
“What is your name?” she asked.
“I’m Todd. Todd Schubert,” he replied happily.
“Well, Todd. I’m Mystic and it looks like we are going to be spending some time together for the next nine months.”
“That’s what I hear. A baby! Isn’t it exciting?” he squealed.
“Yes, I suppose it is.”
Mystic had already figured out a couple of things about Todd. He was not extremely bright, but he was very content with himself. Perhaps Rocco wasn’t such a hard nose, after all, if he was willing to give someone like Todd a job. Many people steered clear from young men like Todd, who were limited in intellect and thus, abilities. He pulled her suitcases into her room and returned to the doorway to look at her.
“When do you wanna go?” he asked.
“Is now okay?”
“Yes. I’ll tell Mom on our way so she don’t get worried.”
“Mom?” Mystic asked.
“Yes. My mom works here too. She cleans stuff up. I help her.”
Mystic thought perhaps she had gotten the wrong idea. Rocco hadn’t hired Todd. He merely allowed his mother to bring him to work with her, which still said a lot for him.
“Oh. I thought you worked for Rocco, but you are just helping out your mom. Perhaps I should ask someone else.”
“No. I work. Rocco pays me to help Mom and some other things.”
“Ah, okay,” she returned. “Shall we go then?”
“Yes. You wanna ride on the elevator with me? It’s fun.”
“That would be nice.”
Todd took her to the elevator and pushed the button, smiling happily as they waited. When it stopped, he waited for her to get in and then stepped in behind her, pushing a button that said T on it. She was confused until the elevator stopped several floors up and she found herself standing in a large round room. On one side was a woman, pulling books off shelves to dust.
“Mom, I’m showing Mystic where stuff is!”
“Is that so?” the woman replied, not turning around but continuing to go about her work. “Just be careful around the pool. You can’t swim, and I don’t know if she can or not.”
“I can,” Mystic replied.
The woman whirled around, obviously caught off guard. The armful of books she had pulled from the shelf clattered to the floor heavily. She looked down at them with a frown, her brow knitted together in dismay.
“I’ll get them, Mom,” Todd screeched.
“No. No. I’ll need to check them for damage. Some of them are very old,” she said, waving him off.
Mystic understood now why she was caught off guard by her being there.
“Oh no. This is the study. I’m not supposed to be here. I didn’t know. There was only a T on the elevator button,” Mystic said.
Todd’s eyes widened. He looked at his mom as if to see whether he was in trouble. She smiled and nodded her head softly, reaching out to stroke his hair thoughtfully.
“It’s okay, Todd. You didn’t know and neither did she. It’s okay for her to see it. Mr. Belue just prefers no one come here when he’s working.”
“Mr. Belue is Rocco,” Todd told Mystic, seeming calmer.
“Anyway, I’m Todd’s mother, Nancy Schubert. Please don’t let him walk too close to the pool,” she said with a smile.
“I will keep an eye on him,” Mystic told her.
“Okay, Todd. Take Mystic and show her the rest of the place, all but Rocco’s bedroom. That’s the other place people aren’t supposed to go. Right?”
“Right,” Todd said.
Mystic noted a bit of sullenness in his voice and wondered if perhaps he had been in trouble for going there too. She was guessing that there were things he sometimes forgot. Physically, she’d guess his age at roughly nineteen or twenty, but mentally she was putting him on the level of a second grader.
“Thank you, Mrs. Schubert,” Mystic replied.
“Miss,” the woman countered in a kind tone.
“Sorry. Miss.”
The woman returned to her work, beginning to pick up the dropped books and look through them for any harm. Todd led Mystic back to the elevator quickly, barely affording her a glimpse of the rest of the room around them. Back on it, he skipped the button below the T and went to the one with a 3 on it, instead.
“What was on that other floor?” Mystic asked.
“I don’t know. No one goes there. Rocco said so.”
“I see,” Mystic replied, looking back at the button. She noted that it had a space for a small key in the center, so apparently there was another place she shouldn’t go on Rocco’s list, one that was precious enough to be locked. It wasn’t something she should worry about, she supposed, but she had always been the curious sort and couldn’t help but wonder.
The rest of the tour was uneventful other than just how impressive the place was. Anything you could want in your house to relax, Rocco had. The pool was Olympic size, with a jacuzzi in a glass room nearby. The garden was perfectly pruned and alive with color and what she was guessing were very expensive outdoor art.
Back in the house, there was a kitchen fit for cooking for a small army. Off of the large formal living room was a massive den with a huge screen on one end and a smaller one on the other. The smaller one was still larger than most people’s primary TV and seemed to be set up for gaming, while the larger one had a few rows of movie style seating. On the upper floors, below the mystery one, there were just bedrooms and bathrooms more worthy of being called a spa, with oversize tubs and large dressing tables. They dwarfed the one in her bedroom, which she had thought large until she had seen them.
Mystic wondered what it was that Rocco actually did for a living. He was a dragon shifter, but that was convert, not something he could make money doing. What was it that he did to afford him such a lavish lifestyle? Perhaps he wasn’t Mr. Personality, but he was certainly an enigma. It would be interesting to see how much she could find out about him over the coming months.
Then again, she wasn’t really sure why she cared. Especially after he blew her off for dinner, instead having one of the staff members come to tell her that he wouldn’t be back and ask what she’d like for dinner. Figuring her days of eating what she wanted were nearing a close, she decided she’s go for something as gluttonous as she could manage.
“I don’t suppose ordering a deep-dish sausage and mushroom pizza is an option?” she said.
The woman smiled and shook her head, but then surprised her by telling her that while no one delivered this far out of town, she could send someone to pick one up or they could make her one from scratch.
“That would be wonderful. It’s not too much trouble.”
“It’s nothing. We’ve gotten far more difficult requests. It’ll give me an excuse to fire up the brick oven and sit by it for a while.”
“I didn’t see a brick oven in the kitchen. It looks all modern and industrial.”
“It’s not in the kitchen. Would you like to see?”
“Sure.”
Mystic was surprised to learn they had walked right past it without noticing it. Because it was just outside the patio doors, she had thought it was perhaps a bar area. Instead, the rounded brick inset with the pull down metal doors was revealed to be a wood fired stove. When you opened the metal door on the bottom, there were wire racks, while the upper level held a brick oven for cooking like some of the older pizza places she’d frequented.
The woman, who eventually told her that her name was Joan, got the grill started and returned to the kitchen to put together the pizza, leaving Mystic to sit by the warmth of the growing fire. It was a fantastic idea, sort of a grill, flat stove and fire pit all in one. Though it was warm during the daytime, it was still that part of spring when the nights were cooler, so it felt wonderful to be beside the fire as the sun began to fade away in the distance.
It was only when Mystic looked up toward the sky that she realized something. The rounded structure that served as part of the oven went all the way up to the top of the house. It appeared to be connected only narrowly to the rest of the house and, as she considered this, it dawned on her that the size of his study had been inconsistent with the rest of the house. When she and Todd had stepped out of the elevator, they were only in this large tower hidden behind the front of the house. So, not only was there a mystery floor, but there was also a large portion at the top front of the main house that wasn’t accessible from the elevator.
She looked toward the pool, realizing that the pool house and separate guest house that sat beside it prevented exploring any further than just this side of the round structure. It was obvious that the hallway she and Todd had walked down to get to the elevator was inside the tower and that the elevator shaft took up a portion of it, but the tower was much larger than just the elevator, though she couldn’t quite work out how the schematics of it made good sense.
She was tempted to ask Joan when she returned to put the prepared pizza into the oven, but decided it might be best not to make any waves when she was barely in the house herself. Instead, she thought it was maybe best to just let the mystery reveal itself as her time here went on. Perhaps there was nothing to it. Maybe she would find out, in the end, that it had been fascination over nothing. After all, how much more exciting could things get beyond having the baby of a dragon shifter?
The pizza was delicious, and she found herself feeling incredibly tired from the day after the somewhat heavy meal. Rather than waiting for Rocco to come home, she decided to make use of one of the large bathrooms and soak in the tub for a while before calling it an early night.
It was only after her long, hot bath that she realized she hadn’t brought in any clean clothes. Drying off, she wrapped herself in a towel and padded down the hallway toward her room. She was startled to find herself meeting Rocco on his way to his room. The heat of embarrassment flooded her cheeks as she stood there in nothing but the towel, but he didn’t seemed phased by it.
“I’m sorry I missed our dinner. I’ll make up for it at breakfast, if that’s okay,” he told her.
“Sure. Of course,” she replied, feeling incredibly awkward.
“I will see you at eight then. Someone will wake you,” he told her, turning and retreating toward his own room.
Mystic went to her room and set her phone alarm, not relishing the idea of strangers wandering into her room waking her. There was a text on her phone from Holly, checking on her. She let her know she was okay, leaving off the parts about Rocco’s standoffish nature and the hidden rooms within his house. No need to concern her with things that probably equated to nothing.
In her pajamas and slipping into the bed, she fell quickly asleep, much faster than she had thought she would in a strange place. The sheets were so soft and there seemed to be some sort of light heating within the mattress that lulled her into the darkness and hugged her comfortably until the morning came to break its spell.