Bloodline World Seven Book Bundle: 7 Books from the Bloodline Awakened Series and Scarlet Dragon Saga

by J. P. Rice

  “I have literature for you to study about the land of Sleepy Willow. It will either impart some knowledge to benefit your trip or it will scare you right enough to pull out of this foolish plan. When are you planning on leaving?”

  We stopped near the main entrance of the mansion.

  I slammed the rest of my drink as I stumbled over to the receptionist’s desk. I set down the empty glass and nodded at her. Turning around, I answered, “We are leaving soon. I didn’t know what you would say so obviously I didn’t make any firm plans. I can’t imagine waiting more than a day or two. People are trapped within the city and I need to act fast on this.”

  Jonathan snapped his fingers at the valet, who came running over and waited diligently for his orders. Jonathan said, “Understandable. I’ll have my associates drop off the books. My schedule is rather thin over the next few days so you are in luck, my friend.”

  “All right, you have yourself a good night.” I swung my keys around my finger until the ring slipped off and they fell to the floor.

  Jonathan closed his eyes, pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. “You are not driving anywhere tonight. I won’t allow it.”

  I objected, “Jonathan, I have to get home.”

  He explained, calmly, “I will have one of my guys drive your car with you in the passenger’s seat. I’ll send another person to pick him up from your house. Take it easy with the sauce, Micheal.”

  “Thanks, Jonathan.”

  “You take care now, young man.” The elder vamp turned to the valet. Jonathan instructed him to get me home. It was probably a good idea since I had hit the rumble strip several times on the drive over and I felt more buzzed now.

  As I sat down on the steps and waited for the valets, my buzzed mind tried to put everything together. Jonathan promised to help, which was great, but I worried about the plan to get to the lake. It seemed flimsy at best.

  Choices were slim, and without a better option, we needed Jonathan to get us in. Dealing with the insanity of the otherworld and navigating the land by a hand-drawn map was a whole different story. If anything, this meeting had sealed the deal. We were going to Sleepy Willow.

  Now I just had to put a team together. Jogging my brain, I couldn’t come up with anyone to call for help. Felix had said no and Burn would cause too much friction with Alayna. What the hell was I going to do?

  I jumped to my feet when the valet pulled up in my car. Stumbling to my left, I grabbed the railing for balance. I had stood up a bit too fast, but everything sorted itself out within twenty seconds.

  Everything was fuzzy when I got into my car and the vampire valet started it. The events of the past few days swirled around my head until everything went dark as a cloudy night sky.

  Chapter 10

  A naked female form rolled on top of me, jolting my systems awake. My eyes fluttered open. Burn planted a soft, moist kiss on my stubbly cheek. “Morning, mister. Thanks for the fabulous coitus. I’ve never felt better about myself.”

  What happened last night? What the hell had I done? Other than the obvious, of course.

  “Wake up, sleepyhead. I’m cooking breakfast down here,” Alayna’s voice ran up the stairs and into my room.

  “Be right down,” I yelled in response.

  “I want to go meet your friend.” Burn rolled off me and the bed. She landed on her feet and stretched out her arms.

  “Wait a second.” I sat up in bed as my hangover rippled in my head. “First, put on some clothes. Second, do not, I repeat, do not tell her you’re a demon. She hates demons and vampires.”

  “So I have to stay quiet during the entire trip to Sleepy Willow? And didn’t you say a vampire could get us in?”

  Oh shit. What had I promised this girl last night? I couldn’t remember anything after getting into my car at Jonathan’s mansion. “Yes on both counts. I love drama, it should seem.” My crusty lips curled up into a smirk. “Keep it under wraps until I figure something out. I’ll be down in a minute.”

  “Okay.” She threw on her clothes, turned on her right heel, walked out of the room and stomped down the stairs.

  I sat up in bed and rubbed my temples. The room started shaking violently, and I knew it could only mean one thing. As soon as the quaking stopped, a holographic image of my convivial guardian angel appeared in the middle of my room.

  Artoise Saint Delacroix (he swore he was related to the famous painter) was an olive-skinned Parisian. His normally clean-shaven face and head were covered in dark stubble and a glaze of sweat. He wore his signature burgundy robe and leather sandals as he staggered back and forth. He’d told me he was from Paris and spoke with an accent, although when I’d asked him to speak French in the past, he couldn’t do it.

  I barked at him, “Where have you been, you bibulous jagoff?”

  “What the hell does that mean?” he asked, curling up one side of his mouth and closing his left eye.

  I spoke quickly, “It means dipsomaniacal. It’s a delicate way of calling you a drunk and subtly letting you know that I’m pissed.” I loved knowledge and learning new words to add to my vocabulary. I just hoped I was using them correctly.

  He pointed a long index finger at me, and growled, “You know I suffer from polydipsia, asshole. And I meant the word jagoff. The hell is that?” He settled down and added, “I’ll just assume it’s derogatory.”

  I stared into his glossy green eyes and said, “Good assumption.” I snapped at him. “Where the hell have you been? I had a hell of a run-in with my father that I could have used your help with. Almost died a few times over.” I hated to scold someone tasked with protecting me, but he’d been derelict in his duty.

  He tilted his head to the side and bobbed it around. “I was watching most of it, but I need to apologize. I fell off the wagon again. And I’m sorry for that. But you keep turning in performances like last night and I’ll be sure to stay tuned in.”

  I knew it by his disheveled appearance. That fucking lush. “Oh, so you were watching last night?”

  Artoise nodded, licking his lips. “Man, was I. I had Carolee over and it helped—uh, get her in the mood.” He waggled his dark eyebrows.

  Maybe he could be of service. “Great for you. Did I use a condom?”

  “Nah, man. I’ll bet it felt much better too.” He gestured with his hands as he spoke, “Like when you had her pinned in the corner of your bed with her legs...” He pantomimed a rhythmic slapping motion with his right hand.

  I went to slap his hand down, but it ran right through the image. “All right. Enough of that. We don’t need a play-by-play recount of last night’s events. Why are you here right now?”

  He shrugged his shoulders and walked toward my bookshelf. He said nonchalantly, “I wanted to congratulate you for finally giving me some good content.”

  I growled, “So this is another social call. Not cool. What if I get into trouble in the next twenty-three hours and need your help?”

  He continued looking at my books and spoke defensively, “I guess I hadn’t really thought about it. It’s just that you basically don’t need me. When I give you advice, you never follow it. So I’m just wasting my time preaching to you. Now you’re mad at me for not giving advice that you won’t follow anyway. I’m in a lose-lose situation here.”

  “It’s not that I don’t take your counsel seriously, but you aren’t in the situation.” I knew of a way to possibly cheer him up. It would involve doing his job and staying sober, though. “Speaking of situations, I’m going to Sleepy Willow soon.”

  My guardian angel turned to face me, “I heard you talking about that to the vampire and the demon maîtresse.” He smiled smugly.

  Oh ho, had he finally learned a few French words? Terrible pronunciation for a proud Frenchman, though. Artoise continued, “Why, s'il vous plaît, would you do that?”

  I grinned at his sudden zest for his mother language. “Apparently, you haven’t tuned in to the dragon episode. The sidhe from Sleepy Willow have brou
ght their dragons to Pittsburgh.”

  “Oh shit. Best of luck down there.” He turned back to the bookshelf.

  Fucking coward. He was supposed to be looking out for me. “Best of luck? That’s all you got? I want to know if I can count on your help while I’m there.”

  He moseyed over to my bed. “Sorry, boss. That’s one place I can’t get into like this. I’ve tried it before and no luck.”

  I huffed and asked, “What the hell are you good for, anyway?”

  “That hurts.” He leaned over my bed, looking for something.

  “I’m just kidding. Look, you’re fading out. I’ll see you when I see you.”

  The pervert took a few audible sniffs of my sheets although I didn’t think he could smell anything. “Be safe. And keep getting laid. It was excellent viewing.” He waved goodbye as the holographic image of his fingers disappeared, one by one.

  “I’ll try. Au revoir, Artoise, au revoir.” I’d almost said Ricky Bobby instead of Artoise because I had that phrase from the movie stuck in my head.

  Artoise Saint Delocroix’s extremities vanished, followed by his head and core.

  I yawned, threw on some plaid pajama pants and walked down the steps. When I reached the bottom, I heard murmuring between Alayna and Burn. I crept back up a few stairs and listened.

  Alayna said, “He is a truly remarkable man. He’s been through so much already in life with the cancer and his parents leaving him at a young age. His mother died when he was only ten years old. After that, he bounced around from house to house, never finding a permanent home. That’s why he’s kind of a loner. Then he finds out he has cancer at twenty-one. He’s had a rougher life than most people will ever imagine. Now he has an entire city’s safety thrust onto his shoulders which includes about three-hundred thousand citizens.”

  Burn spoke in a loud whisper, “I’m just getting to know him, but he seems like a wonderful person. Does he still have cancer?”

  “He’s cancer free right now. He was treated by the God of Healing, Dian Cécht, as well as the master physicians and the healing witches of the Deep Burrow. He had the best treatment but that can always change. He is very humble considering the massive amount of magic ability he possesses. A bit of a smart ass, but he’s young.” Alayna coughed.

  That was enough of that. I let out a loud yawn to make my presence known and the two women quieted down. Alayna met me as I reached the bottom of the stairs and Burn scurried into the kitchen to play with Colossus.

  “What’s with the shades? And I’ve never seen you without the purple dress. I can’t believe you’re wearing jeans and, of course, a Beatles Revolver hoodie.” I stepped back and shook my head, convinced I was hallucinating. Alayna had cut her long braids. The three-and-a-half-foot faerie had chopped her locks into a pixie cut and then dyed it bright red.

  “I’m rolling incognito right now. But let’s not focus on that.” Alayna lowered her sunglasses and her eyes widened with concern. She spoke softly, “What is going on here? You have a girlfriend, remember?”

  I pursed my lips and shook my lowered head. “Not anymore. She dropped me like a bad habit. Actually, dropping bad habits are hard. She dropped me like a rock. She’s going to Princeton and leaving my life forever.”

  “I am so sorry.” Alayna moved closer and hugged me. “This might be better for you in the long run. Satoku was a bit—bumptious—shall I say?” She looked up at me with twinkling eyes.

  I squinted at her and backed out of the hug. “What? You didn’t like her? Not surprised. You never like my girlfriends.”

  “I’m your friend and I want the best for you.” She paused, trying to gather the correct words before speaking again. “You have a habit of falling in love too easily. I’ve warned you about this. I think you use imagery to paint these women in the light you like, but eventually the light burns out. And then you get an honest image of these women. Too much light can be blinding and cause distortion.”

  I defended myself, “I don’t—fall in love too easily.”

  She rubbed her chin with her index finger and thumb. “Really. What’s going on here? Is this that ‘rebound’ thing that I’ve heard about?”

  I smirked, tilted my head and raised my shoulders. “Sometimes things just happen.”

  “Well, I have to warn you about her too.”

  I laughed. “Here we go.”

  She moved closer and whispered, “Mike, I can see dark magic vines slipping from her person and she has a Dank Artistry tattoo. She practices dark magic.”

  Shit. How was I going to talk my way out of this one? I had to change the subject. “I talked to Jonathan and he can get us in.”

  She peered at me with narrowed eyes. “I know that. Our new friend, Burn, told me all about it.” She gestured with her head toward the kitchen. “Apparently, you promised her you would take her.”

  The crusty, old light bulb flickered on in my hungover head. Despite the poor blood flow to my brain, I had the answer. “You said to find people who know magic and will be of great service on our endeavor. Found someone.”

  “She practices dark magic.” She caught herself speaking a bit too loud and covered her mouth. She moved closer and whispered, “Is she a demon?”

  Uh oh. “No. She isn’t a demon. Look, here’s the deal. She came to me because she had fallen in with the wrong crowd that was teaching her about dark magic. She wants me to help her get rid of the dark spirits and teach her pure magic. I’m just helping her.” I held out two open palms. “That’s all.”

  Alayna stared at me for several seconds before speaking, “Looks like she was helping you too. Licking your wounds, perhaps?” She smiled.

  I shook my head, trying not to crack a smirk. “I see the bard in you never sleeps. Nothing against you and me, but I think we might need help. Are the Celtic Gods going to give us any manpower to help?”

  “As usual, they are not.”

  A loud knock on my front door shook the huge piece of wood on the hinges. Who was knocking like the damn police? It spooked Alayna enough to back into the kitchen. I could see enormous vines of magic coming from the faerie as she readied herself for battle.

  I peeked through my window and noticed a herd of people on my porch. I brought my magic to the surface as well. It appeared to be people from the local papers and news stations. Assuming they wanted to talk about the million-dollar offer from the mayor, I contemplated not answering the door.

  Tentatively, I cracked the door and found the reporters with microphones and note pads huddled around someone. Felix the mage emerged from the middle of the pack and pushed his pink-framed sunglasses to the top of his head. What the hell was he doing?

  Chapter 11

  Looking past Felix, I noticed his restored purple hearse from the sixties. Crazy plum purple to be exact. I knew that because he reminded me of it every time he talked about the vehicle. The short, stocky magic practitioner was part Japanese, part American with dark gelled hair styled circularly, like a cyclone surrounding his head.

  He loved the attention of the press and dressed to impress. He owned an emerald one-piece slip on suit that zipped up the front and was embellished in so many rhinestones that it could raise Elvis from the dead. Currently dressed in a tight red spandex suit that left little to the imagination, the young man had panache.

  Felix put his back near my door, and orated over the small crowd, “Listen up. I’m going on my secret journey, but I will be dishing out exclusives upon return. Get ready for the front page.” He blew kisses to the throng of mostly female reporters and slid inside the door.

  “What are you doing here?”

  He had trouble extracting his vape machine from his tight pants pocket. “I’m here to offer you help on the mission. Unless you don’t want it.” He pressed the button on the machine and took a hit.

  I stared at the crowd, still huddled on my small porch and turned to Felix. “No, I do. Minus the spectacle though.”

  He clapped his hands. “All right.
Time for you all to leave the magicians alone to plot our murderous quest.” He flashed a smile while raising one eyebrow at the same time. I’d bet he had practiced the look routinely in front of the mirror.

  “What about the picture you promised us?” one reporter yelled.

  “Yeah.” “You promised.” A few more people chimed in.

  “Oh yeah. Mike. They just need a quick pic of us.” He gestured toward the throng with his head.

  “Us? Dude, I’m not even wearing a shirt.”

  “Perfect. You can drive the ladies wild.” He laughed.

  Wondering if it would be worth all Felix’s baggage, I contemplated telling him no thanks. On second thought, we needed all the manpower we could muster.

  I leaned in and put my arm around Felix. The cameras snapped away, one woman even used her cell phone. I pulled Felix into my house and slammed the door.

  “Bro. Don’t be rude to them.” He adjusted his collar. “That’s the link between our world and the normal world. Plus, you don’t want them writing nasty shit about you.”

  “Felix, I couldn’t care less what they write about me. Are you here because you want to be part of this team?”

  “I am. I think we should talk quiche first.” Felix hit his vape machine and exhaled a huge hit that covered me in lingering smoke.

  “Whoa, easy with that shit.” I fanned it away from my face, but that proved to be futile so I took a few steps back. “Alayna’s cooking breakfast in the kitchen right now. As far as quiche, I don’t think she’s taking requests.”

  His dark, playful eyes were suddenly serious. “No. I’m talking about getting paid on this venture. I hate to even bring it up, but it’s just business.”

  Flabbergasted that he was asking for money, I began getting angry. Wizards and mages were supposed to work together for the good of the people. Preparing to tell him to take a hike, I relaxed and thought critically.

  I would receive two million dollars at the completion of this mission so I had room to work with. It just chapped my ass because I would never ask him to get paid for a job. “What did you have in mind?”