Friend-tervention

MADDIE

It felt like an intervention. Thea, Darshan, and Harry huddled around the living room, staring right at me.

Maybe it was an intervention. After all, I was making a living selling a highly addictive drug to just about anyone who could pay. And yes, a man died because he tried to rob me. I would probably write that off as a plus—one less psycho off the streets.

But I had to admit, the last few weeks of my life seemed like a bus heading full speed into an oncoming train.

But it couldn't be all my fault.

~Could it?~

“Zayda’s moving out,” Thea said.

~Well, I certainly didn’t expect that.~

“And she said you screamed at her about fucking a dragon,” Darshan added. “Is that true? ~Is~ she fucking a dragon? Because Xythor was already cool as hell but that would make him my new favorite person.”

Thea cleared her throat, stopping Darshan from nerding out.

“This is starting to put a strain on our circle of friends,” Thea said.

“I didn’t ask her to move out!” I yelled. “That was a choice she made on her own.”

“But you two were fighting a lot,” Harry added.

I shot him a look, and he replied with a shrug.

Even my comrade in drug-dealing was beginning to turn. This wasn’t looking good.

“It’s getting to the point where we’re going to have to choose sides,” Thea warned.

“What? Now ~you’re~ starting to sound crazy!” I said.

“No, Maddie, she’s not,” Harry added. “We all agree with Zayda. Loch is the most likely culprit behind these murders.”

My jaw dropped. First, it was about selling drugs. Now, it was because one of my ex-mates ~might~ be going on a citywide murder spree?

Okay, technically we were bonded for life, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t call them ex-mates.

“What proof do you have?” I asked, annoyed.

“The burned bodies for one,” Thea said.

“The fact that Loch beat the shit out of me,” Darshan added. “And then tied me up in his penthouse. And then…”

“Okay!” I said.

“Don’t forget that he was controlling ~everything~ you did,” Harry added.

“They both were!” I yelled, realizing too late that wasn’t a great example. “Fine, Hael has been much nicer recently…”

“Nice?!” Thea replied. “Are you nuts? Those asshole dragons don’t even know the meaning of that word! He’s just manipulating you!”

It felt hopeless arguing, but I didn’t know what else to do. They had me cornered like a fucking street rat.

I rolled my eyes at my own terrible comparison.

These dragons were starting to rub off on me in more ways than one...

“I get why you’re mad at Zayda,” Darshan admitted. “She stuck with Xander after everything he’s done to you—and us...”

“But that doesn’t give you an excuse for why you’ve pulled away from us,” Thea interjected.

I sighed.

It was hard to argue that I'd been pulling away, but it wasn’t because of any one thing. It was from a combination of everything: breaking away from Loch and Hael, the dangers of selling overhead, and dealing with my friends’ disapproval.

I watched Thea place her hand on Darshan’s upper thigh and rub it gently.

It also didn’t help that two of my best friends had been fucking right under my nose.

“I don’t know what I can do to make it better,” I said truthfully. “But I know where I can at least begin. I’ll stop selling overhead.”

Harry jolted, realizing that his source of income was about to go out the window.

I broke from my thoughts to see Thea with a slight smile on her face.

“Oh, Maddie. That already makes me feel so much better,” she said.

When we had time alone, I would let Harry in on a little secret—there was no way we could give up yet.

Yes, I'd been threatened twice, but the latest attempt landed the man six feet under. That would hopefully send a message to anyone else out there that I wasn't going away so quickly.

Plus, the money was just too damn good to give up.

Selling overhead also led me into the paths of Dane and Aneurin, something that never would’ve happened if I wasn’t spending all my free time in the Quarter.

The positives defeated the negatives any day of the week.

“Anything for you guys,” I said.

“Are we friends again?” added Darshan. “Please, say that we’re all still friends.”

“We’re still friends,” I said, smiling. “But only if you promise to cook more for us outside of your job.”

Darshan held up three fingers. “Scout’s honor,” he said.

“Now we know he’s lying,” Thea chuckled, “Because he’s not even a scout.”

The group let out a much-needed round of laughter. But it felt like hollow joy. One of us was missing from the circle, and she didn’t look to be coming back anytime soon.

What was Zayda really hoping to get out of her relationship with Xander?

ZAYDA

I looked at the clock and realized it was nearly midnight.

Had I really been here that long?

I moved to the kitchenette and poured another cup of coffee. It took everything I had to gulp down even one measly mouthful.

~Whoever made this coffee needed to stick to their day job.~

It had been a whirlwind few days. Maddie had nearly driven me crazy with her accusations about Xythor.

But what came after was better than I ever could have imagined. Xythor finally opened up and revealed his true self.

I was still a bit stunned to learn that my boyfriend was hiding such a huge secret. It was an even bigger surprise realizing he was the complete opposite in terms of temperament from Loch and Hael.

While they were aggressive and demanding, Xythor was caring and thoughtful.

Maddie's outburst was to thank for Xythor finally opening up, but it would be hard to forgive her.

Which was only helping me in the lab.

I tossed the rest of the coffee down the sink and headed to my station.

The potion was finally starting to come together.

Trial and error were usually the hardest part of any job, but once everything started to work out, it was all the more rewarding.

Of course, I’d never be able to tell the real results until it was field-tested and Xander approved.

I’d recreated my first batch of Dragonsleep Potion without changing anything. Then I compared each subsequent batch to the first one to see the differences.

When run through a computer, the sequencing of compounds seemed to differ with each new batch. With the proper proportions and a little bit of luck, I would hit the perfect blend soon.

I wanted kind dragons like Xythor to be unharmed by my enhanced potion.

Loch, however, was a different story altogether. He’d done far more harm than good in the time that I had known him.

The philanthropic deeds he’d accomplished were greatly overshadowed by his bloodlust and general assholiness.

Paying for the city’s orphanages and putting Maddie through private school were grains of sand on a beach of evil deeds. I one hundred percent believed that he was responsible for all of the recent murders.

Who else could it possibly be? Hael was too busy fawning over Maddie to be the culprit. And Xander wasn’t the kind of fool to risk everything on a gamble.

He might be a jerk, but he was a careful one.

Suddenly, I felt a presence that tore me from my thoughts.

Looking up, I saw Xander staring through the hall window. He waved and smiled.

I returned his greeting and brought my attention back to the computer screen, but the data I read was hard to comprehend with him staring at me.

Xander always seemed to show up when you least expected.

He was the university president and had everything invested in his school. It made sense that he’d want to oversee every little detail.

I could still feel him watching me. I decided to print out the current readings just so I could move to the corner away from the window.

As the printer groaned to life, I turned my back on Xander and waited for the results.

I wanted to kick myself for my unwarranted anxiety.

It wasn’t like he was doing anything sinister. And he had given me a full ride scholarship, plus an internship in which he entrusted me with creating new potions and upgrading the previous stock.

Xander only wanted the best for me. That had to be the reason for his constant watchful eyes.

I took a deep breath and gathered the warm paper in my hands. I was about to return to my desk when a large book at a nearby desk caught my attention.

It was leather-bound and weathered with age. Colored tabs marked various pages. I picked it up and read the title.

~Alchemy of the Middle Ages.~

I looked around, but the old man had disappeared from the window. We were scientists here...did he really trust alchemy to help him make discoveries?

Then again, I did live in a city filled with dragons.

I clutched the book close as I made my way back to my desk.

If these pages held answers, there was only one way to find out...