“This shirt was eighty dollars, you dick!” She spat into the sink and glowered at Greyson. “I told you, I don’t know anything!”

  Maddy rubbed her back, holding a bunch of paper towels in his free hand in case she needed them. His head was spinning with the same word swirling around and around: Family.

  He had a family. But why had no one ever come to claim him?

  “You spent eighty dollars on an anime shirt?” Greyson scoffed as he whipped down his shoes. “Are you a child?”

  “Sorry, I am not like a thousand years old!” Dee threw her hands up in the air. “Maybe your kind should stop hanging out with children, you pervert.”

  “One, not a thousand. And two, at least I’m not a failure for my species.” Greyson’s lips curled cruelly as Dee snapped her mouth shut.

  “Fuck you!” Dee grabbed Maddy’s hand and walked toward the door.

  He felt his stomach twist. Why did every conversation have to lead to an argument? He looked over at Bill who went back to eating his sandwich when Dee had insisted she didn’t need his help. He knew trying to get him involved would only lead to more chaos. He glanced over at Taiyo. It was a brief contact, but it was enough.

  With arms crossed and outstretched legs, Taiyo, who had taken a seat when Dee pushed him out of the way toward the sink, made a show of making his chair squeak along the floor.

  Everyone looked over at him.

  “I do believe things have gotten off track.” Taiyo began. Maddy noticed there was an air of authority in the room, one which even Greyson didn’t try to challenge with petty comments. He turned to Dee, “Whether you are under a spell or not, I’m sure there are things you are not telling us. And frankly, I don’t care.”

  Dee opened her mouth, but Taiyo raised a hand to stop her. “I said, I don’t care. You can go home, change, and not come back.”

  “Rude…” She commented.

  Taiyo ignored her remark and held his gaze on Maddy. “What I do care about is an uneducated, spellbound Belvie with a target on his back is in my kitchen. Something, I very much didn’t sign up for.”

  “Wait...” Bill said swallowing his sandwich. “Wait… Are you suggesting he leave, too?”

  Maddy swallowed. This wasn’t the help he was asking for.

  “It’s hardly been two days and you’ve already turned my house into the set of a K-drama.” Taiyo continued he turned to Greyson. “And for your information, I choose to live all the way out here because I like to be alone. I follow our laws because if Maddy is truly in danger than he should be seeking help from Compass Court not hiding out here.”

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  “It’s not against the law to kill a Belvie.” Greyson crushed the paper towels in his hand. His gaze narrowed.

  “Not my problem.” Taiyo squared his shoulders. His expression was indifferent.

  “Taiyo, please,” Bill said looking at his roommate with worry in his eyes. “It wouldn’t be right not to help him. And he’s got nowhere to go.”

  “He will stay with me,” Dee said firmly. “We should have left ages ago.”

  “Yeah? How will that play out?” Greyson quizzed. “The boy your parents Houdinied in magic is now coming back with half the spell broken. I’m sure they’ll be real cool with that.”

  “Taiyo,” Bill asked tentatively. “If we can break the spell completely, would that be enough to have him stay?”

  “Yes, I agree, he should have the spell broken.” Greyson nodded. “I am family friends with a witch, I’m sure he’d be more than willing to take the spell off.

  “No!” Dee grabbed Maddy’s hand. “You can’t take him there. It’s not safe.”

  “For who?” Greyson challenged.

  “For Maddy!” Dee argued, her soft hands squeezing tightly in his. “If he has to hide this much in the human world for being a Belvie imagine how much more he will have to in Nellz?”

  “Isn’t being free worth it?” Greyson turned toward Maddy. “You’re the byproduct of two different species! You don’t think, if we found one of them they could help you figure out how to control your magic?”

  He pressed his lips together and looked over at Dee. She had pulled her hair up in a messy bun and her usual complexion looked more flushed. He gripped her hand tightly and she looked up at him with glossy eyes. She had reached her breaking point. Another minute here and she would be in tears. He had only seen her like this a few times and he hated having to witness it now.

  He looked back at Greyson. The rope around his heart felt like it was twisted and double-knotted. If he went with Greyson he would know the truth about himself and he could finally take control of the beast inside of him. A not-so-small piece of him also liked the idea that he would do all this with Greyson. But a bigger part of him knew that he could never leave Dee behind and from the way she was acting now, she’d never agree to join him.

  Straightening his back and letting out a deep breath through his nose. He said, “If I do have a family, none of them bothered to claim me, so I highly doubt they’d be happy to see me, if I found them now. But Dee has always been by my side. She’s the only one who ever told me I’ll be okay and she’s the only family I need.”

  He headed for the door with Dee still holding onto his hand and refusing to face Greyson as he passed by him. He picked up his sneakers and looked back at Taiyo and Bill. “Thank you for letting me stay here. Bill, I’ll text you about what I’ll do with my things.”

  Maddy opened the door and clicked his tongue when he saw the rain was still coming down hard. He asked Dee, “You left your car here before the party?”

  She nodded and he reached out with his other hand for her keys.

  “So that’s it?” Greyson asked from behind them. “You’re just going to suffer through endless spells and hope Dr. Tarkirk is strong enough to fight off anyone who figures out what you are?”

  “Ugh,” Dee groaned. “Yes! It’s that simple, Greyson. Now, we are leaving!”

  Greyson opened his mouth but Maddy cut him off. “I said I’m taking Dee home.”

  Greyson narrowed his gaze. “You would really sacrifice your safety for her?”

  “For Dee? Over and over again.” He turned and walked out into the rain.