Dragon Blood

Chapter 18

"Relax, Madeline." Came Mark's condescending voice. She could almost hear him rolling his eyes.

"No!"

"Mom?"

Rhia followed the voice to the hall by the front door. There Madeline stood, her slender five-foot-six frame ineffectively blocking the much larger police captain from entering her house. A powerful wave of nausea washed over her as she looked at the man slightly behind Mark. Tall, strong, classic surfer good looks with wavy blonde hair, stood Christian Churchill. His light brown eyes slid to Rhia, and an embarrassed smile spread across his face.

A rush of emotions exploded through her. Memories, good and bad, flooded her mind. She couldn't breathe. She turned on her heel and darted to the bathroom and vomited. Her heart slammed painfully against her chest wall. Tears welled up in her eyes. The ribs under her tattoo seemed to ache with the pain in her heart. She knew what he did to her. She knew she had done nothing to deserve it. He was not a good person. But all she could think of was the years they had together before that happened.

The way he held her close, like she was the most precious thing in the world. The way he kissed her cheek before she went to work. The way he whispered in her ear after making love.

Maddox had been thorough in his efforts to purge Church from her life. He deleted old pictures off her phone and computer. He burned any printed photographs. He'd pawned the engagement ring. But as hard as Maddy tried, he couldn't erase the memories. He couldn't fix how Rhia felt about him.

Rhia pushed away from the toilet and leaned against the wall, panting hard. The door opened a crack further and Nova pushed into the small room. The large dog lay down, her large body pressed against Rhia, her head turned towards the door. The presence of the protective animal was a small comfort to Rhia and ran her hands through long silver fur.

There was shouting at the front door, though she couldn't make out the words. Maddox and Mark matched volume and pitch. Madeline was pleading with Richard. Richard was silent. When Rhia was finally able to stand without her legs shaking, the voices fell silent. A door slamming upstairs told her that her mother and brother lost the battle. Just like that, he was back in her life. She rinsed out her mouth until the taste of bile was out of her throat and threw water across her face. She stared at herself in the mirror. Pale skin and bloodshot eyes stared back. She dug her fingers into the porcelain sink. No. She was not the same person she was before. She was stronger now.

She turned and almost jumped out of her skin as she saw Richard standing at the door. "Jesus fucking Christ," She gasped, bracing herself on her knees and willing her heart rate to go down again. "Don't do that!"

"Are you alright?" he asked. There was actually a hint of concern in his voice that she wasn't used to.

She shrugged. "I'm fine."

"Really, Rhia?" he raised an eyebrow. "You don't need to lie."

"What difference does it make?" she snapped, fighting back the tears again. "You're not going to tell him to leave. You're going to do what you always do. You're going to pick your friend over your family, no matter how deliberate he's being in hurting one of your children."

"Rhia..."

"Just leave me alone."

She pushed past him and headed back to the kitchen, Nova at her heels. Richard went back to his mancave with his friends and Church. Maddox had relocated to the kitchen. He was fuming, but blissfully remained silent while Rhia finished getting dinner ready. Madeline reappeared a little while later, a glaze in her eyes telling them that she had dipped into her not-so-secret stash of expensive vodka.