Page 219 of Johnny

top sheet, please.” I do. And slip it off to the side. “Thank you. I’ll give you time and read it over

carefully. Let me know if there are any errors. I’m sure there aren’t. But you are free to protest if you

find anything unfair in there.”

She is as cool as they come when she says this and it makes me cautious. But then she begins to

absently play with the white satin ribbon in front of her and I adjust my perception of her.

Maybe she’s more nervous about this than she’s letting on.

I read over the papers. It lists all the money-making ceremonies I’ve taken part in over the years.

The problems I solved, the things I took care of, and then the few recent transgressions at the end.

Then I read the offer.

And look up at her. “What the fuck is this?”

Her smile falls and she is suddenly very serious. “It’s exactly what it says.”

“It says I’m to marry Megan Machette.”

“Oh, it says much more than that, Johnny. It says you’ve been promoted to upper circle. It says

you’re no longer in charge of the banking, but you must allow the ceremony to continue in the spire. It

says you will take Megan Machette home to your lake house and start a family. And it says that Megan

will be pregnant within one year or this contract will be invalidated and you will both be replaced

with two other up-and-comers. Now, as far as Monty goes. He put up a fight over this, but I think we

both agree that it’s turning out for the best. Don’t we Monty?” She glances at him and smiles. “He’ll

go back to his lab on Osprey Cay. He will recover. And then he will resume his work and all. Will.

Be. Well.”

Megan grabs the folio from my plate and starts scanning it.

But that is what it says.

“I don’t understand,” I whisper.

“I don’t know how much clearer I can make it, Johnny.”

And then… then she does something weird. She nods her head. Just a very small nod in the

direction of a drone hovering nearby. And she covers it up by tossing her hair.

And then she puts the white ribbon down and almost imperceptibly pushes it. Just slightly. Across

the table in my direction.

I just stare at the ribbon for a moment. Because she’d made it into a bracelet. One figure eight knot

on the bottom. And one sliding knot on the top. Just like the one I made for Megan two nights ago