Dragon Blood

Chapter 19

Concern laced the eyes of the young dragonkin. "Etienne?" Rhia gasped.

She hardly recognized him compared to how beat up he'd been the day before. The cuts and scrapes across his face were gone, there wasn't any sign of bruising from the seatbelt from what little she could see of his chest, and he seemed to be walking just fine, as if he hadn't had a piece of metal threatening to cut open his femoral artery. "Are you okay, Rhia?" he asked.

"What are you doing here?" she gaped at him. "How are you here?"

The front door burst open and Maddox stormed out, his face red with anger. "Nova!" he shouted. "Heel!"

For the first time in the four years Rhia had known the dog, Nova didn't respond to Maddox's order. He made the command a second time, the fury in his voice making Rhia flinch. Nova reluctantly backed off from Church and returned to her master's side. Maddox stormed up to Church. Even with one arm in a sling and a noticeable limp, he was an intimidating man. "If you ever touch my sister again,"

"I didn't do anything," Church barked, slapping Maddox's hands away. "That thing..."

Church turned to throw an insult at Etienne, saw the distinctive pupils of a dragonkin, and closed his mouth. Maddox also gave Etienne a wary look. Rhia reached out to touch his arm. "I know him." she told her brother before looking up at the young male. "Come with me."

She led him out the gate and across the street before turning to look at him again. "Are you alright?" he asked her again.

"I'm fine, Etienne," she brushed off the question. "Why are you here?"

"I..." he hesitated. "I don't know. I just... I knew I needed to be here."

"You needed to be here? What does that mean?"

He didn't answer right away. He narrowed his eyes in confusion and looked down at his hands. "I don't... know..."

Rhia glanced nervously back at the house. Maddox and Church were arguing. Madeline, Richard, Mark, and Ashton were filing out of the house to see what all the commotion was about. Richard started walking towards them, his eyes flicking between Rhia and the dragonkin. "Etienne," she said quickly in a low voice. "My father is not a tolerant man. If he does or say something to offend you, please don't take it personally."

"Is everything alright, Rhia." Richard asked.

He stopped a few feet further than he might have normally when he saw Etienne's eyes. "Yeah." She told him. "He's a patient. I pulled him out of the accident yesterday."

"What are you doing here, kid?" Richard asked with more respect she'd ever heard him use with an Ancient.

Etienne looked over his shoulder to lock eyes with Church. He blinked and looked away. "I don't know, sir." He said softly.

"I don't think they should have let you out of the hospital so early." Rhia took his chin and turned his head to look into his eyes. "You must have hit your head pretty bad. Is there someone we can call? Your parents, or an elder, or something?"

Etienne nodded and pulled a card out of his wallet. "I'm sorry," he muttered. "I didn't mean to cause any trouble."

"It's no trouble." Rhia dialed the number and put the phone to her ear. "Who am I calling?"

"My community leader."

"Richard!" Mark called, opening the gate to join them.

"Everything's fine, Mark." Richard called back. "Go back inside."

"That thing attacked one of my officers. I have to..."

Richard whirled around and met Mark halfway across the road, placing his hand on the other man's shoulder. Rhia didn't have a chance to listen in as the call was answered. "Hello?" came a sweet, cheery voice she didn't expect from another dragonkin.