Page 63 of Dragon 7

"But you’re truly okay?"

"I'm okay." Another shiver ran through me due to what I’d seen about Yoichi. I swallowed. “Where’s Nika?”

“Shoot. Nika and her new slave left for their flight probably ten minutes before we realized everyone had to evacuate. She’s lucky as hell.”

“I’m glad Nika is safe.” I gestured to the women who were now putting the chairs and cots away. “So you were over there holding a Bad Bitch seminar?”

“One woman asked about how I had Rin on a leash and I answered. Next thing you know more and more women brought over their chairs and kept asking me shit.” She shrugged. “They think I’m some sort of guru.”

“You are though.”

“Naw.” Deja shook her head. “I just come from a long line of strong Black women who learned whatever they could about the game and passed it down.”

She studied me. Then she sat on the edge of the cot and pulled me into a hug and I let her, because I needed it. She was warm, real, and the only piece of home I had inside this basement right now.

“Wait.” I tensed. “You shouldn’t hug me.”

“I wiped it all off. . .just in case.” She pulled back. "I was so scared. They wouldn't tell me what happened. They just brought you in and said you were resting."

"I'm okay, Deja."

"Mm." She narrowed her eyes. "You don't look okay."

Before I could answer, the door at the far end of the basement opened. A nurse came in carrying a stack of folded towels and a small basin. She walked toward us with her head bowed and her steps quick.

I looked up at her.

The basement vanished.

A makeshift delivery room hit me.

White light too bright.

Kiko on her back on a table with her knees up and a sheet over her stomach.

She was screaming.

Two women held her hands.

The nurse stood between her legs with her own hands inside Kiko, working, pulling.

Blood ran down her wrists.

The first tiny baby came out blue and screaming. The nurse handed him to another nurse and went back in for the second one.

More blood and fluids spilled.

The second little baby came out coughing and wet. The nurse cleaned them off and bundled them.

I came back, blinking my eyes. “Oh fuck.”

The nurse was still walking toward us. She had no idea what I'd just seen.

I sat up straighter. "Kiko had the twins?!"

The nurse froze in the middle of the basement. The towels in her arms slipped half an inch.

She looked at the doctor.