Urgent Meetings

MADDIE

I glared at Storm. He grinned down at me from his perch at the head of the table he’d conjured in the alley. His big, gleaming teeth looked nearly as they did in his dragon form.

~I can’t believe I once thought he was sexy.~

Not anymore.

In the past twenty minutes of our meeting, he’d shown me his true colors.

Well, since we were in the Shadow Realm, everything was shades of grey. But even in the real Requiem City, Storm’s heart was as black as tar.

It turned out Loch’s transformation into Lochness had been ~all~ Storm’s fault.

So many innocent people—and some not so innocent—had met their deaths because of Storm’s little game.

And it was all to test my skills.

~What a cold-blooded prick!~

I wanted revenge. But my aching knee reminded me that opposing Storm was futile.

The powerful dragon had sent me flying into the gravel with a simple wave of his hand.

And my knee wasn’t the only thing that hurt. Storm’s new revelations were giving me a massive headache.

He had told me that I might be the second coming of Freesia, the woman who ~killed her baby~ to bind dragons within the borders of Requiem City.

And if I didn’t live up to her twisted legacy, then I wasn’t good for shit.

“In order to know if you’re the chosen one…the one to break the curse,” Storm said, pinning me with his gaze, “you’ll need to learn about those who came before you.”

He snapped his long-nailed fingers. A toothpick materialized, and Storm proceeded to pick his teeth.

“Your ~ancestry~,” he elaborated.

I cleared my throat, glancing down at my hands. We were in the Shadow Realm, but even in color my knuckles would have been white.

“I’m an ~orphan~,” I hissed.

“Precisely,” he went on. “But you are not all alone. I understand that you’ve met your father, Xander…”

I gritted my teeth. I had no interest in discussing my father with anyone, let alone this manipulative snake.

“My father is dead to me.”

Sure, it was harsh.

But Xander was fucking evil. He’d tortured my mates by drugging them and stealing their blood. Now that he’d killed Xythor, just the thought of Xander made me sick.

I wished that I’d never found out that he was my father. I was better off an orphan than the daughter of the devil himself.

“Perhaps to you, little rat,” Storm went on. “But Xander is still very much alive, whether we like it or not.”

I wasn’t the only one who hated my father. He was the mortal enemy of Storm and every other dragon in Requiem City. Xander University was a danger to them all.

“Besides, your task doesn’t regard your father so much as…your ~mother~.”

I narrowed my eyes even further. Anger bloomed inside me.

I didn’t know much of anything about my mother, and I wanted to keep it that way. My brother Mason had said she died giving birth to me. That was it.

Growing up at Greensward, I basically raised myself. And I’d turned out just fine, thanks.

I didn’t need to learn more about the woman who’d willingly fucked a monster like Xander.

Storm seemed to read my mind even though I still had my mint bracelet on.

“You might be surprised at what you discover about the woman…”

His smile made me nauseous. I hated feeling like he knew everything about my ancestry.

I hated feeling like I was beginning another one of his fucked-up tests.

I stood up from my chair.

“This has been nice and all, but I have better—”

But, true to form, Storm didn’t let me get a word in.

“Sit. I’ll keep it brief.”

At that point, I was too tired to fight. I sank back into my velvet chair.

“Though you have demonstrated some of Freesia’s abilities, it’s too soon to know if you’re her second coming.”

“Good!” I shouted. I didn’t care if Storm thought I was throwing a tantrum. “I’m not the second coming of ~anyone!~ I’m ~me!~”

He responded with an infuriating smile, clearly amused.

“We shall see,” he said mysteriously. “All in good time.”

He snapped again, and a piece of cake appeared on a plate before him. There was one in front of me as well, covered in pink frosting.

“In case you’re feeling peckish,” Storm explained.

I pushed the plate away.

“I don’t want your cake,” I spat.

He smiled again through a sugary mouthful.

“Okay, if you’re just going to eat…” I continued, getting to my feet again. This meeting was over as far as I was concerned.

“Yes, you are dismissed, little rat,” Storm said.

His permission only irked me more.

I turned on my heel, ready to leave him in the dust. But then I realized I couldn’t leave this place on my own.

~Damn dragons!~

“Silver will be here in a moment,” Storm called. “Just one more thing: I suggest keeping your friend Zayda close. She could be a useful resource in this quest.”

My hands were balled into fists. I needed to get out of the Shadow Realm—stat.

First Storm told me that Zayda might also be the one to break Freesia’s curse. Now he thought we should ~collaborate?~

In a puff of black mist, Silver’s dragon appeared. I walked over to her and patted her flank. She pulled me onto her back with her winding tail.

“Until next time, Madeline,” Storm shouted.

I didn’t look back as Silver soared into the sky and out of their black and white world.

I hoped Storm choked on his fucking cake.

***

Silver dropped me on top of Req Tower.

She gave me a wink with her big dragon eye and flew away.

Finally, I was alone.

I had the best view of the city from up here, but instead of taking it in, I lay down on my back and looked up at the afternoon sky.

It was grey. Covered with clouds. I could have still been in the Shadow Realm.

I knew I had so much to be happy about. I’d ended Loch’s murderous rampage, and now both of my mates were waiting for me in the penthouse downstairs.

Our relationship certainly had its flaws. But it felt like we were all turning over a new leaf.

Still, I felt a deep exhaustion and an unspeakable sadness.

Was ~this~ why I never spent time thinking about my past? Or my parents? Because it was so painful?

Because the more I knew, the more I saw how fucked-up my history was?

My meeting with Storm had been a disaster.

He wanted so much from me but didn’t consider even for a moment how it would affect my life. To him, I was just some pawn waiting to be played.

I knew I was powerful. Hell, I loved the power I had when I sang.

But did that mean I could be the second coming of ~Freesia?~ Destined to break the curse that trapped my mates and countless other dragons here in Requiem City?

I didn’t know if I could handle that responsibility.

Then again, it wasn’t worth getting too worked up about.

For all I knew, I wasn’t the “chosen one.”

It could be Zayda.

I was finding that the uncertainty made it even more maddening. The thought of Zayda liberating the dragons made an ugly feeling rise up in me.

Was it ~jealousy?~

I didn’t want to listen to any of what Storm had said. I didn’t want to think about war coming. Or about my parents. My mom in particular.

But, of course, I couldn’t think about anything else.

I sighed and pulled myself to my feet.

I knew two things that could help distract me from all these crazy thoughts…and they were both waiting for me downstairs.

ZAYDA

Finally, I could see!

I gasped, able to breathe freely without that suffocating sack over my head.

As my vision adjusted to the fluorescent lighting, I focused on the man sitting in the chair in front of me.

~Xander.~

“How ~fucking~ dare you?” I spat at him. “Kidnapping me? Seriously? How else can you fuck up my life?!”

I tried to spring from my chair, but my wrists were bound to it.

Not only had my ~mentor~ knocked me unconscious, he had thrown me in the trunk of a car and driven around for ~hours~ just to deliver me here. To his fucking ~office.~

“I apologize for the…unpleasantness,” he said, crossing his legs.

“You can say that again, you murdering—”

“Zayda!” Xander shouted. “If you won’t cooperate, I’ll put the sack back on your head.”

I wasn’t moved by his threats. I knew he was capable of basically anything, but all I felt was rage.

“I’m not going to be your fucking protégé anymore, if that’s why you brought me here.”

I glared, wishing I could poison him with my eyes alone.

“The precautions were necessary,” he continued, “considering your new-found strength.”

He was right. My muscles quaked against the ties binding me to the huge wooden chair. Thanks to Xander’s meddling, I still had the dragon strength I’d accidentally absorbed from Xythor.

“I’ll be brief. Mainly, I want to explain what you’re now capable of…now that you have the powers of a dragon ~and~ a Blood Raven,” Xander said gravely.

I let out a dramatic sigh. Xander loved to tell me how powerful I was. But there was always a catch.

“I believe you are the first of your kind,” Xander went on, “so there will be much that you will learn on your own.

“But one thing I can tell you for certain is that the dragons will find out that you absorbed Xythor’s power…and they will not be pleased. They will come for you.”

“And who’s fault is that?” I sneered.

“It matters not how it happened, only that it happened,” Xander continued in a calm voice.

He leaned toward me, which only made me want to strike him more.

“Before, your blood magic bound you to Freesia’s legend.” Xander smiled his sinister smile. “But now that you hold dragon power within you, it is even more likely…”

Xander’s eyes misted over, as if he was lost in some dark, twisted fantasy.

“That you are the second coming of Freesia herself.”

I scoffed.

~Ha!~

Everyone at this fucking institution was obsessed with this crazy bitch who killed her own child.

Now they wanted to find her reincarnation? It was more than a bit creepy…but mainly just pathetic.

“You don’t believe me,” he went on. “But let me assure you, I am not the only one who believes that upon her return, the dragons and mortals of Requiem will clash in a war that could destroy us all. If the dragons get to you first, I hate to think of what they could do to you…”

His last phrase made my stomach flip uncomfortably.

Sure, I had been in love with a dragon.

But that didn’t mean I didn’t know how dangerous they could be. How much you didn’t want a dragon as an enemy.

I’d seen how the Dobrzycka twins treated Maddie. Not to mention the horrifying images of Lochness’ victims in the media.

“I have an offer,” Xander told me, seemingly concluding his speech. “If you let ~me~ protect you, I can promise you something that no one could refuse…”