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And now Leon wanted her to screw over her source.

Well, Winter had more integrity than that. She had a lot of integrity. Her parents had raised her to believe that you were only as good as your word.

Winter looked out at the ocean and sighed. The waves were beautiful, and there were birds flying around, flittering in the sunlight. It was a beautiful world.

Could she really be the reason for more darkness in the world?

Could she really sell someone’s terrible traits to a tabloid for money?

It probably wouldn’t even be a lot of money. Dragons Daily was just having a hard time. The economy sucked, after all, and everyone knew it.

“Leon, I won’t do it.”

“You don’t have a choice,” he said. “I’m your boss.”

“So, you just get to tell me to screw over the people I interview? That’s going to reflect badly on me, Leon.”

If her reputation as a writer was destroyed, she’d have nothing. She didn’t do typical reporting. She was rarely sent out on stories. She was, by all means, a writer who hid behind a desk all day.

She was the one who had come up with the idea to do a feature on shifter companies, and now Leon was trying to hone-in on that and use her knowledge for evil. Well, that wasn’t happening. Not at all.

“It’s not screwing people over,” Leon argued.

“You want me to interview the Monster guy, tell him that the information will be used for good, and then sell it? Not happening.”

A sigh.

A hiss.

Leon was getting agitated, and he was letting his kitty-cat side show even through the phone. Winter could picture him pacing in his office, walking back and forth as he tried to find a way to convince her. Finally, he tried to hit her where it hurt.

“You interview the guy. You write the story. You hand over your notes – all of your notes – to me. Do it, or you won’t be paid.”

“I’ll do you one better,” she said. “I quit.”

Winter ended the call, dropped the phone on the blanket beside her, and looked back at the ocean. She was sitting just outside of her tent on a soft little beach blanket with her laptop in her lap. She looked down at the computer and wondered what the hell she’d just done.

How was she going to pay her rent?

How was she going to buy groceries?

For fuck’s sake, she needed health insurance, and she’d just thrown that away, too. She reached for her inhaler and brought it to her mouth. Two carefully timed puffs of the medication, and her chest loosened. She had been dealing with asthma her entire life, and it never really got easier.

“At least I stood up for what was right,” she muttered to herself.

Winter closed her eyes.

“You can do this,” she said out loud. “What’s the worst that’s going to happen?”

“Well, you could be arrested for trespassing,” a deep voice said.

Winter’s eyes flew open and standing right there in front of her was...

“A penis!”

“Eyes are up here, love,” the deep voice attached to the naked body growled.

Winter slowly dragged her eyes up the most beautiful body she’d ever seen to see the angriest face she’d ever seen.


Tags: Sophie Stern The Feisty Dragons Fantasy