Page 9 of Love Fire

Still running towards my car, I turn around to shoot a blast of dark magic at my pursuer. I watch the blast hit its target and continue my sprint to my car. I can’t stick around to see how long it knocks him down for. I hop in my car and speed away.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!”

I have to take the long way to the stash house. As I drive, I continuously check my mirrors. No cars following me on the road and no dragons following me in the sky. At least I don’t think so; dragons are unfortunately much harder to spot than a car.

After I drive about an hour out of the way with no one following, I figure I’m in the clear. I turn back towards the city. I need to pick up the next batch.

Even though my cover at the rehab is blown, I need to act like everything is normal. I can’t have both the Draconis Fire and my father after me. If my father finds out I’m no longer a use for him, I’d honestly be better off with the Draconis Fire.

I just need to follow my usual routes until I can make a plan. I’m lucky that Alessandro’s friend only knows my first name and, if he even escaped, Remy is likely too much of a coward to report any of this to my father. I’ll have the time to come up with something.

I eventually make it to the stash house. I decided to double back a couple times in case I actually was being followed, but I still didn’t see a hint of anything. That seems odd, but I’m not in a place to complain about getting some good luck.

The stash house is an old abandoned house on the outskirts of the city. The place is made of old rotting wood and looks like it is one strong gust of wind from falling over. It should’ve been condemned and torn down a while ago, but I assume my father paid off the right people so he could keep using it.

I shake my head as I get out of my car and grab a duffle bag from my trunk. “Get this over with.”

One of the bright sides about my life being on the verge of crashing down is that I’ll never have to come back here. As soon as I open the front door I am hit by the smell of damp wood and mold. It takes all my focus not to gag.

I make a beeline towards the disgusting kitchen of this house. I once made the mistake of exploring the other rooms here. Each one looks worse than the last. This is the type of house you see in a horror movie and end up yelling at the screen, ‘What are you doing? Get out of there!’

In the kitchen I find the one new thing inside the whole house, a pile of iridescent packets stacked neatly on a dingy table. The pile is actually bigger than usual. Which could only mean one thing, a lot of dragons just died.

That could explain why the Draconis Fire guy came back to the rehab center. They must all be on high alert looking for a way to shut down iridescent production. But that is hardly my biggest issue at the moment.

I just don’t understand how my father expects me to move this much product. Even if I could still go back to the rehab center, this is too much. It’s almost like my father is taunting the Draconis Fire. It’s like he is trying to provoke them and I’ll be the one caught in the crossfire.

That’s all the more reason to get out of town. I can use this batch to get some extra cash to help me out. I’ll need all the money I can get my hands on to get out of this mess.

I really just need to escape my father. The Draconis Fire doesn’t know enough about me to track me. But, if I run away from my father, with his money and product no less, he’ll do whatever it takes to hunt me down.

I start stuffing all the iridescent into my duffle bag and it almost completely fills the bag. Never in the history of drug dealing has something looked more like a bag full of drugs. If I get caught, I’m screwed. So, I guess I better not get caught then. Easy.

It's then that I hear the footsteps behind me. I whip around a second to late. My attacker is at me. He slams me against a wall and holds a hand over my mouth.

I’m screwed.

10

BRENT

For what they sell iridescent for, you’d think they could afford a nicer place to keep it. Apparently not, though. I feel like I’ll need to burn my clothes from just standing in this place. The only thing cutting through the rotting stench of this place is the smell of this woman I have pinned to the wall, Erin.

For some street level drug dealer, she smells quite nice. Lavender, I think. Her smell is almost intoxicating, but I keep her pinned to the wall with my hand on her mouth.

The two of us hold our eyes locked on each other. Up close like this, I can really appreciate her eyes, as green as the trees I used to love flying above back home as a child. Looking into them, I almost forget why I’m even here. Almost.

“By the authority of the Draconis Fire, you are under arrest for the possession and distribution of iridescent.” I deepen my voice to enhance my authority, I don’t want to risk my voice wavering now. I can’t help but be thrown off by her beauty. I caught glimpses of it at the rehab center but here, in this disgusting house, her natural looks are shining through.

She starts to mumble under my hand on her mouth. I slowly remove my hand but my fingers linger on her face. Her skin is as soft as her body smells. Those green eyes dart back and forth from my finger and my eyes. I snap out of it and pull my hand away. She almost distracted me from why I’m here.

“This is all mine,” she says. “I’m not really sober. I don’t know where it all comes from, you won’t be able to get any information-”

“Bullshit.” I let out an intimidating growl. “No way you’re on iridescent. Your skin is too clear, you have all your teeth, and I saw you selling it at the rehab center.”

She goes silent again, her one planned excuse falling on deaf ears. I can’t believe she thought I’d fall for that. The first thing iridescent tends to take is your beauty and she has clearly lost none.

“Well,” she finally says. “Are you going to read me my rights or something?”

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