Dragon Blood

Chapter 3

The office felt too full and cramped. Rhia's chair was a hard-plastic folding thing they must have pulled out of her old high school auditorium, and her ass was already going numb. 

Sitting across the desk from her was Lieutenant Carla Davis, Maddox's immediate supervisor. She was a good woman, a little young for most officers in her position. Maddox liked her, and she was one of only two people he fully trusted to take care of Nova when he couldn't. The large animal was currently laying beside her, loyally waiting for a command.

Sitting next to Rhia was a tall elven lawyer. Her traditional name from her clan was so full of soft vowels it made her feel like she was chewing on marbles. She tried to pronounce it out of respect, but quickly reverted to what the elves called their "mortal names". 

Ethel Powell sat impressively graceful in the uncomfortable plastic chair with one long leg crossed over the other. Her faintly olive-green skin was paler than that of some of the rest of her clan, which was probably why she had taken a position within human relations. Easier to work with humans if you looked like them. There was little she could do about the sharp point of her ears or the earthy green of her hair to make it look more human. She kept her hair pulled back in a professional bun, and Rhia tried to imagine what it looked like when it was loose. Elves were everything every story had ever said about them. Tall, intimidatingly ethereal, and arrogantly intelligent.

It was the third participant that had Rhia on edge. Captain Mark Landon. Carla's boss's boss. Rhia and Maddox's godfather. Compared to the elegant Ancient next to Rhia and the young lieutenant behind the desk, Mark was old, grizzled, and past his prime. But Rhia had known this man most of her life. He was a lot stronger than he looked. 

Besides physical strength, he was politically connected and motivated. He could ruin any human life and make a serious dent in an Ancient's. He had a temper constantly bubbling just under a surface of calm that he had spent decades perfecting. Rhia had seen that side of him blow up. He had no love for Rhia in that cold heart if his. He scared the shit out of her.

When she finished telling the small group hat happened the night Maddox was shot, she waited for the questions to start. They were going to pick her story apart until they had every detail. Carla would look for the truth, as it was her department under fire, and she was a genuinely good person. Mark would look for anyway to blame it either on the Ancient or the E.M.S. staff, as long as it wasn't any of his precious officers, even a no-name rookie like Brown. And Ethel would look for any way to make the cops to look and sound as racist as possible and get her client a nice payout if they ended up in court. It was a game that no one wins.

"Alright, Rhia," Carla said with a poorly concealed sigh. "Just a few questions for clarification. Sergeant Kincaid called for E.M.S. backup. Did he call you specifically?"

"No." she answered immediately. "Ma- Sergeant Kincaid called dispatch, dispatch called the nearest station, the station sent out the first team ready to go. That just happened to be me, Ian, and Lisa."

"Ian McSorley and Lisa Germaine?"

"Yes."

"How long have you been working with them?"

"Lisa; on and off for about three, maybe four years. She mostly drives. Ian has been my partner for two years. Before that I trained him, and I vouched for him when he decided to take his paramedic certifications."

"You're awfully invested in this kid." Mark said emotionlessly from his spot in the corner. "Something we should know about your relationship?"

Rhia bristled defensively. "Ian is a friend and a colleague." her voice bordered on disrespectful, her eyes focused on Carla's desk. "He is someone I can trust, and he can trust me in return. Just like the police, we can't work with someone we can't trust."