Devil With Benefits (Gods & Guardians)

Jackson clears his throat and puffs out his chest. In many ways, he looks like a general about to give a big speech before the battle. But then why does everyone look so damn sad?

"Many of you know that we've had troubles. Recently, we've had some success with bringing our portfolios back into the clear, but the recession hasn't been as accommodating as we hoped," he says.

"But we knew it would be like this," I interrupted. "We had a plan in place, remember? It's working. Check the reports. The new accounts are bringing our overall funds back up. Our bottom line has nearly doubled."

The sadness in the room turns into palpable anger. A false hope sweeps right through everyone. Others join me with facts and figures as if that will solve the problem.

Jackson raises his hands to calm us down. "I didn't organize this meeting to argue. In December, we all agreed that if we didn't hit a certain number, we'd look into other options. One of those options was to solicit some outside help."

"We are about to hit that number, Jackson," I reiterate.

He stares at me like he wants to kill me. It becomes completely apparent that I am long since fired. He growls, "With some outside help, we have found a new direction for the company to take."

I turn my head and eye the front revolving doors. The homeless man from before is still there. He's staring directly at me, and he's not smiling.

He knows something, but what? Does he know what my boss is about to do? That would be crazy...

Suddenly, I know, too.

Last December, there was a rumor of a merger with another top firm, Legalt & Hornsted. Everyone shrugged it off as an impossibility. They were our competitors. We even had more liquidity.

Now, it's crystal fucking clear they are joining forces. Everyone at the bottom is expendable.

Even me.

I start to walk toward the clear glass elevator, eyeing the tight wires that lead to the top floor. I imagine them snapping and whipping across the entire building, somehow taking down the ceiling with it.

I imagine destroying this entire place.

This is it - the day I lose everything. I knew this day might come eventually, but I didn't think it would hit so fast.

"Raven, stop. I'm not finished giving the speech," Jackson says.

I need to make sure they are held accountable.

"Fuck you, Jackson," I growl as tears fill the brim of my eyes. "And fuck your speech, too."

My upper body freezes, but my rigid legs carry me forward until I reach the inside of the elevator. As if it is fate guiding me, I hit the button for the doors to close.

"You're not weak," I tell myself. "You're a strong and capable woman."

I hear him shout for security but I'm already moving up the elevator, toward my office. I just need it to move a little bit faster.

The boys in blue come running to the bastard's aid. He points in my direction, and they move like attack dogs to the stairwell.

I only have so much time.

Everything is so obvious to me now. What I have to do. What I have to get to make sure I survive without a job on the outside. I wasted eight years of my life working for this firm. I practically sold my soul to the devil to get it, too.

If they are firing all of the account managers at once, as I assume they are, I'm going to make sure Jackson and the corrupt board of directors gets what they deserve.

I'm going to bring everyone down.

The bell rings. The doors slide open.

It's go time.

Running through the hall, I slam into one of the security guards. He trips backward and crashes against a filing cabinet. A secretary moves out of the way, back sliding against the wall. Papers go flying. It's total chaos, and it's the type of situation I had been avoiding for nearly a decade.