Garden Expert

MADDIE

“Miss Maddie?” a little, high-pitched voice called, “what’s ~this~ flower?”

I turned to find Angeline, AKA my biggest fan, smiling up at me.

“That is a pink flower…with yellow dots on it,” I replied, flashing her a smile.

Okay, so I wasn’t exactly a nature expert. But I was still leading the garden tour through the grounds of the Dobrzycka mansion, so I had to give her something.

Angeline’s eyes widened with wonder. She smiled her adorable, gap-toothed smile.

“Wow!” she whispered.

The kids in my nature explorers group climbed over the benches in the gazebo.

While many of the children preferred to entertain themselves, Angeline stood by my side.

At six years old, she stood as tall as my thigh. She was rail thin and had freckles across her cheeks and arms.

Because she was an orphan, she reminded me of myself at her age.

But where I was scrappy and spunky, Angeline was tender and sweet.

“For you, Miss Maddie,” Angeline said, tugging on my denim shorts. When I looked down, she was hiding her blushing face behind a pink flower.

I beamed at my favorite little orphan.

“Cowabunga!!” A boy’s voice tore through my thoughts.

“Jimmy! Out of the dirt!” I shouted.

The little boy had jumped from the railing of the gazebo into the flower beds.

Jimmy was a reliable troublemaker.

Maybe I had been more like him when I was a kid…

I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to find Adara standing behind me. She wore a sleek legging and sports bra combo, and her hair was slicked back in a ponytail.

She looked like a celebrity personal trainer, not the gym teacher at an orphanage.

“Time for gymnastics with Miss Adara!” I told the kids.

The girls shrieked with delight. The boys groaned.

Adara blew the golden whistle that hung around her neck and beckoned the children to follow her. Angeline hesitated by my side.

I crouched so I was at her eye level. “Ready to follow your friends?” I asked.

Angeline looked at her feet. She wore dirty pink and white Velcro sneakers that lit up with each step.

She shook her head.

“Could I sit with you, Miss Maddie?” she asked, still not meeting my eye.

“Of course,” I took her little hand in mine and led her toward the mansion.

We passed through the lush gardens along a winding path. To our left, the enormous playscape loomed over us.

I took a seat on the back steps leading to the house and pulled Angeline onto my lap.

“You don’t want to play?” I asked.

Angeline didn’t reply. She just began to touch the mint bracelet on my wrist.

“What’s this?” she asked.

“Uh…”

How could I explain?

I was struck once more by the bizarre circumstances of my relationship.

Angeline was so young and innocent. As she sat on my lap, I felt old. Hardened to the world.

And it made me sad.

It wasn’t like I was mourning the loss of my innocence. I was pretty sure I had never had any to begin with.

But as I held Angeline on my lap, I was overcome with the desire to protect her. I wanted to make sure she never went through what I had.

I didn’t want her to hustle on the streets. I didn’t want her to fight for her freedom in relationships with the people or dragons she loved.

Angeline looked up at me expectantly.

“It’s my special bracelet,” I finally replied.

It was better than: “It keeps my domineering dragon mates from reading my mind and controlling me more than they already do.”

My bracelet was tied to much of my inner conflict, but I couldn’t explain that to a child. I could hardly explain it to myself.

I wanted love but didn’t want to be controlled. But was that possible, even if my mates ~weren’t~ domineering dragons?

I didn’t want to need Hael and Loch so badly because it meant that they were able to control me.

But I was starting to realize that needing someone came along with loving them. And that meant that love was always tied to control.

I sighed, returning to the world after spacing out.

Angeline was still inspecting my wrist, touching the center bead where the liquid mint was kept.

“I like your special bracelet,” she said.

“Thanks, Angeline.”

Though it was silly, my little buddy’s approval made me feel somewhat better.

I didn’t have everything figured out by any means. But even though my life confused me, I knew I was lucky.

“Let’s go inside, huh?” I asked her.

She stood and reached for my hand. We entered the orphanage through the back door. I heard Loch’s and Hael’s voices coming from the library.

When we reached the doorway, I peered in to watch them.

My mates were sitting on a couch. Before them was a handful of older kids who huddled around two boys playing a board game.

“Are you playing chess?” I asked.

Hael turned to me and winked. “Hey, mouse. Something like that.”

“Dragon chess!” the kid with knotty hair cried. “The hardest strategy game in the whole ~world~.”

I lowered my eyes at my mates. What were they up to?

They both smiled at me innocently before returning their attention to the board.

I stepped closer and found that the board itself was made of ivory and dark wood. It was checkered like a chess board, and intricate swirls laced the whole surface.

The pieces were made of gold. Each one was a unique, abstract shape.

I couldn’t take my eyes off of the beautiful game. Something about it entranced me.

When I looked up, I saw my mates staring at a spiky-haired boy named Zak.

There was something strange about this scene.

What did they have up their sleeves? What kind of game were they really playing?

ZAYDA

I held the lavender up to my nose, inhaling the calming scent.

I snipped some stalks and placed them in my bag.

After following my nose through the forest, my bag was full of herbs.

When I had woken up that morning, hungover and anxious, I’d headed to the forest to soothe my mind. My plan was to create a soothing tonic with the herbs I foraged.

The collection of calming plants relaxed me. At least, somewhat.

Celebrating Darshan and Thea’s engagement was just the break from reality that I’d needed.

But even when I got drunk enough to forget my troubles, I still felt something off between me and Maddie. Like we needed to have another talk that neither of us were ready for.

When I woke up with a pounding headache and a nauseous stomach, all my problems came rushing back. My exchange with Maddie made me realize just what I was getting myself into.

It was Saturday, and on Monday I would return to Xander’s lab. Just the thought of returning to XU made me sick.

Especially because I knew what I needed to do…

When Xander had needed my help in the past, it was because I was a star student and a powerful mage. I put in hard work at the lab and was an asset to his team.

But this time would be different.

My role in resurrecting Xythor required no skill. I hardly even had to step foot in the lab.

I just had to give my blood.

Part of me was relieved because I wouldn’t have to spend as much time with Xander. The other part was revolted that I was letting my body be used this way.

I knew Xander was untrustworthy but was trusting him once again.

I knew he was powerful but was giving him power over me.

~When Xythor’s here, it will all be worth it. I won’t even have to think about what I did to bring him back.~

I tried to steady my breathing but was full-on panicking. Anxiety bubbled up inside me.

I stuffed my head back into my bag, inhaling the lavender, marjoram, and birch bark…

I needed to make my soothing tonic stat. I was a mess.

Such a mess that my head spun… I fell onto the forest floor and felt the dead leaves press into my bare skin.

Though the herbs relieved me, I was overcome by a wave of nausea.

I gagged and threw up onto the ground.

I opened my watering eyes.

~What was going on with me?~

Everything felt wrong.

One moment, my body was bursting with unbridled strength. The next, I was on the ground vomiting.

I swallowed the bile that threatened to rise again.

But then I had a terrifying thought:

~What if what happened to Xythor was happening to me?~