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True to Drek's word, there was a car waiting for Blitzø in the parking lot when he emerged. He rode to Harper's estate in silence. All the while, his thoughts raced at a mile a minute.

He found out I'm banging Stolas, and ghosted us for a couple weeks. Now he wants to see me over at his place. Is he mad at me? Oh God, I bet he's mad at me. Fuck, I should've brought more ammo for my pistol. Not like it'll do much good against an Overlord.

So lost in thought and worry was Blitzø that he scarcely was able to appreciate the lavish rolling lawns and attached forestry of the dragon demon's estate, or the elegant Second Empire-style mansion at the top of the hill. The black sedan pulled to a stop under the house's porte-cochère, where Drek was waiting for him.

"Arms out," said the valet, "I need to check you for weapons."

Blitzø sighed and held out his arms. "There's a flintlock in my coat pocket," he said upfront, "I take it everywhere."

Drek fished out the other imp's pistol and then resumed patting down his arms and legs. He confiscated the ammo for the pistol, as well as a couple of knives. "You will get these back once your business with Mr. Harper is concluded," he said. That offered a small ray of hope. That meant that Harper wasn't going to kill him, right?

Nervously, Blitzø stepped into the antechamber. Drek offered to take his coat, but he declined. The two imps walked into the sitting room, where Drek instructed him to wait for Mr. Harper.

Once he was alone, Blitzø finally let himself take in the old-fashioned elegance of the sitting room. The furniture was antique, but comfortable. Colorful flowers and vines were painted on the edges of the ceiling. Brass wall sconces offered dim light to compliment the natural light filtering through the room's tall windows. There were even some signs of renovation, such as the modern gas fireplace that now took up the hearth.

With no sound but the steadfast ticking of the grandfather clock out in the hallway, Blitzø quickly grew bored. His attention was drawn to a painting hanging over the mantle. He got up from the sofa to take a closer look.

The painting was an oil on canvas, and it portrayed a scene from the American Great Plains. A herd of wild mustangs, their coats a diverse patchwork of blacks, whites, browns, and speckled grays, thundered freely through the tall, rolling grass.

Blitzø stood transfixed. He had never seen a painting like this before, and an array of emotions welled up in him. Joy dominated among them, but there was also an element of sadness and longing. The imp reached up to rest a hand on the mantle, and his eyes never left the beautiful landscape portrait.

"Lovely, isn't it?" said Harper, who had at some point appeared right next to Blitzø.

"HOLY SHIT!" shouted Blitzø in alarm, as he almost launched himself straight up to the ceiling. He collapsed into one of the nearby sitting room chairs and panted. "Don't...do that!"

Harper laughed, then stooped down to help Blitzø back upright. "My apologies. You must not have heard me come in. But I am pleased you appreciate my painting. I am quite proud of it."

Blitzø looked back over to the portrait. "Did you draw it yourself?"

"Oh goodness no!" said Harper, "But I did have it commissioned special." He guided Blitzø back over to the mantle and admired it himself for a bit. "Whenever I would visit out West in life, I would sometimes see a herd of these magnificent wild beasts running alongside the train. I would see buffalo too, in even greater numbers." He sighed wistfully. "It was all a magnificent sight to behold."

The two demons stood in silence for another moment, before Harper rested a hand on Blitzø's shoulder. "I suppose we should get down to business. Let's go up to my office."

The apprehension that had melted away while Blitzø was looking at the painting with Harper began to creep back in. He quietly mulled over why the Overlord had brought him here as they made their way upstairs. He didn't seem pissed off, and hadn't made any moves to kick his ass. Well then what was this about?

Harper closed the office door behind them and escorted Blitzø to one of the chairs in front of his desk. Once the draconic demon had taken a seat, he folded his hands and smiled. "No need to worry. I'm not upset with you, if that is what you are thinking."

The sigh of relief from Blitzø was almost deafening. "Ohhhhh thank Lucifer! I was so sure you were gonna rip me a new asshole, possibly literally!"

The Overlord chuckled and shook his head. "I'd never wish to harm my favorite assassin! Though I understand why you would think I might be unhappy, given that I'd found out about your, ah, intimate ties to Prince Stolas."

Blitzø put his hands up defensively. "Okay, okay, I know what it looks like, but I can assure you -" He was silenced when Harper raised a hand.

"Your employees enlightened me on the situation, and you have no need to defend it. It should have been apparent to me that he was involved. How else would you have access to the Living World?" He got up from his chair and walked over to the large window overlooking his grounds. "Tell me Blitzø, are you happy with the arrangement that you have?" He turned to look back at the imp.

"Ehhhhhhhh," said Blitzø, who raised his hand and waggled it from side to side. "I mean, the sex is pretty good, I guess. But I can't say I'm a fan of how clingy he is. I mean, I'm fucking him so that he'll let me use his book, but he seems to think I'm a friend with benefits, or a boyfriend. But at the same time, it doesn't feel like he wants me for more than my body," he flinched as Harper inclined his head. "That makes sense, right? He's sending lots of mixed signals. Oh, that reminds me." The imp quickly pulled out his phone to turn it off. "Can't have him butting in while we're talking."

Harper chuckled again and shook his head. "Of course not! His Highness is not known for being convenient with his timing. But moving along to the reason I brought you here. I have a proposal for you."

With a wave of his hand, the Overlord conjured up a stack of legal documents, which came to rest on his desk as he sat back down behind it. "I wish to invest in I.M.P. Your business with Stolas does not matter to me. In fact, it is my belief that His Highness is overlooking just how valuable your company is to him, me, and Hell as a whole."

Blitzø's eyes widened and his jaw dropped, both at the proposal and Harper's declaration of I.M.P.'s value to Hell. "R-really? You mean it? No fooling?"

Harper offered his warmest smile, which Blitzø couldn't help but return. "No fooling," the Overlord confirmed. "I want a stake in your company, so that you can grow it to its full potential. Together, we can make I.M.P. a juggernaut in Hell's service industry!"

The imp had already pulled over the documents and was patting down his coat. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure Moxxie can make you a steak if you want one. How rare do you like it? Shit! I didn't bring a pen with me."

Harper cocked his head. "You are not going to read the terms of my investment?"

"Hey, I started I.M.P. because I'm good at leading assassins, not reading papers. Do you have a pen I can borrow?"

The Overlord shook his head in amusement and handed over an ebony fountain pen. This imp was lucky that he wasn't being taken advantage of any more than he already was by Stolas. Blitzø started to write his name, then paused. "Hold up, this agreement doesn't require me to have sex with you every month, does it?"

"Certainly not!" Harper said with a slight recoil, "It would be most unprofessional!"

"Great!" exclaimed the imp, who then completed his signature.

Once Blitzø had finished scrawling his name along the dotted line, Harper pulled them over to his side so he could sign his own name.

"It is done," he said, "Moving forward, I will have a non-controlling stake in I.M.P. It will be through one of my shell companies, of course. It wouldn't do for Stolas to find my name among the list of your benefactors." He put his pen away and shuffled the papers. "I will send you copies of these for your own records. In the meantime, we can discuss how we can improve your operations."

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa," Blitzø said, "Back up. You didn't say anything about changing I.M.P. That's my baby we're talking about! Well, my other baby."

Harper raised his hands in a placating gesture. "Now now, none of this will be strictly required. I only wish to assist you in growing I.M.P. to its full potential. You will still be in charge all the way." He leaned back a little in his chair. "See this more as some professional advice, not a request."

Blitzø tilted his head. "Okay, so what do you suggest?"

The dragon got up and returned to pacing before his window. "From my meetings with you, it's apparent that you have a passion both for killing people as well as being in the spotlight. Both will get you far in Hell. However, I've also noticed that when it comes to the more mundane tasks of operating a business day to day, you are much less enthusiastic."

"HA! You can say that again!" Blitzø laughed, "Sometimes feels like I'm herding cats. Would be way easier if I only had to worry about murdering mortals and spending time with my office family."

Harper glanced over his shoulder to Blitzø with a playful grin. "So why don't we change the company to let you do just that! You'll still be owner and CEO of I.M.P., but you can delegate the boring responsibilities to another one of your employees. What about that Moxxie fellow? He seems to have a good head on his shoulders."

"Pffff! Moxxie?" Blitzø scoffed, "That baby wiener-haver might be good with guns, but there's no way he has what it takes to run a successful business! I mean, there's no way the company would be as awesome as it is now with him in charge!"

For several moments, Harper only stared out the window. Then he let out a weary sigh. Even so, he was smiling when he turned back around. "Moxxie would still answer to you, of course," he said. Then he sat down and pulled out a pen and paper and began to write. "I am making a list of the duties and responsibilities he would take on as your Chief of Operations. This will let you focus on all the fun aspects of being the boss."

Understanding dawned on Blitzø's face. "Ohhhhhh, so give all the bitch work to the bitch!" he said as he snatched up the paper Harper offered him. After a quick glance at it, he stuffed it into his coat. "I'll give this to him tomorrow."

"Very good," said Harper. He then stood and extended his hand to Blitzø, who happily took it. "A pleasure doing business with you as always. Since you are here, and our business is concluded, perhaps you would tour the grounds with me? It is not often I have guests."

Blitzø thought for a moment, then shrugged. "Sure, why not? The air's a lot cleaner out here anyways. Just lemme quick call M&M to let them know I'm okay."

Moxxie and Millie were both relieved to hear Blitzø was alive and well, much to Harper's amusement. The imp opted to save the news about their new investor and Moxxie's promotion for the following day. With that taken care of, the Overlord got up and led Blitzø back downstairs and out the back door.

---

The rest of the afternoon, both demons wandered the grounds of Harper's estate (with Drek shadowing them a few paces back). While the land close to the house had carefully maintained lawns and gardens, further out the land had been extensively terraformed to lovingly recreate the natural temperate forests of North America. Harper referred to them as "English gardens," though Blitzø didn't understand what that was supposed to mean.

As beautiful as the gardens were, the two men were more engaged with each other. Conversation focused on horses at first, but then branched out from there. Blitzø spoke at length about his adopted daughter with fawning adoration. Conversation only turned to their surroundings when Harper came to a tree or a plant species he really wanted to show the imp.

By the time Harper and Blitzø returned to the car, the sun was already setting. "Wow, time sure does fly when you're having fun," said Blitzø, "Usually doesn't happen to me unless I'm out killing people."

"I can't remember a more pleasant afternoon myself," agreed Harper, "It was a pleasure having you to accompany me today. Alas, all good things must come to an end."

The car's driver took his seat while Harper opened the back door for Blitzø. The dragon stopped the imp before he could climb in. "Before you go, I have one final proposal. Until now we have only gotten together for matters of business. Perhaps you would like to visit with me again, and not to discuss I.M.P.?"

Blitzø paused as he mulled the suggestion over. Then his face brightened. "You know what? Sure. I'll have to check my schedule, and we probably shouldn't plan anything over the full moon, but I wouldn't mind hanging out with you again."

The Overlord nodded, "I look forward to it. Drek will text you my personal number later today and times I'm available to take your call."

"Cool. Well, I suppose I'll see ya later then?"

"Until next time." Harper stepped back from the car as Blitzø got in, and remained underneath the porte-cochère to watch as the sedan pulled out and followed the winding private road down to the exit.

Inside the car, the imp was practically hugging himself with joy. Oh my God oh my God oh my God! I'm friends with an Overlord!

His glee abruptly faded as he came to another realization. "I'm friends with an Overlord, who is also Stolas's worst enemy," he said aloud. Then, after a moment, came to a conclusion.

"Fuck!"