“Here is a thousand pounds. It’s the currency that humans use here. I would like to hire you full time, Miss Turou,” he said, and I continued to stare at him blankly.
“I don’t want your money. I told you, I need to return to Draconia. This was our agreement.”
“I remember what I said, but we both know that you’re no one there. You have no family or real friends. You’d be better off staying in this world,” he said, placing his hands on the back of his head. I couldn’t believe this. What was wrong with everyone around here? Didn’t they understand that I never wanted to come here in the first place?
“You had me checked, why?” I asked with anger in my voice.
“It’s something that I always do before I hire anyone. Besides, I was surprised because you are from the lower class and, yet your magic is so powerful. I’m telling you, stay here and start over. You can finally have a decent life. The Dark Ones will never leave you alone there.”
“Stay calm, Fran. You got that necklace for him, so he has to fulfill his part of the agreement.”
“I don’t care for your advice. I did what you asked, and I want you to take me back. End of discussion,” I said, through gritted teeth. I was trying hard not to lose control, but my fingers were twitching with static energy. Harvey was powerful, but now I had Avianna with me, so that changed this situation entirely.
“All right, you’re right. I have to do what I said I would, but this isn’t going to be easy. The Dark Ones are guarding all the cracks in the city and some keep disappearing. I won’t guarantee that it will work,” he said, and I thought that I misheard him. This wasn’t happening for real.
“Hold on, so you’re saying that you don’t really know how to take me back?” I asked, ready to lose my shit. I risked my life for that stupid necklace last night.
“Don’t insult me, Miss Turou. That’s not what I said at all. It’s easy to fall through the cracks, but it’s not so easy to return. There is very little magic in this world, and the energy is unstable. Even the Dark Ones cannot fully control it. There are cracks in the underground tunnel. Victor knows a fairy who can distract them. He will show you the way,” Harvey explained. “I’m sorry, but I never thought that you would really want to leave. The Lower World is losing its appeal. No one wants to go back there anymore.”
“Victor? The warden who works for you, as in my ex-boyfriend, Victor?” I asked, and I felt like I was going to be sick.
The warlock scratched his beard, looking surprised.
“You two used to date… hmm interesting. Yeah, there is only one Victor that works for me, and he has to do what I say, so don’t worry,” he assured me, but I wasn’t at all convinced that Victor would listen to anything that I had to say.
At the same time, I reminded myself that he owed me one. I went to prison because he bailed, but I doubted very much that he would look at it that way. Harvey told me to wait for five minutes and then he left me alone in his office. He didn’t ask about the egg and I wondered if he could sense Avianna.
Several minutes later, the door finally opened, and Harvey came back with my arsehole ex-boyfriend. His face was still swollen and that lifted my spirits a little. Victor’s lips twitched when he saw me, and I smiled brightly at him. I really had no idea what I saw in him in the past.
“What is she doing here?” he asked, staring at me like I was a piece of dirt.
“You’re going to take Francesca to Lilly. She needs to pass through the cracks today and we both know that Lilly is the only one who can take care of the Dark Ones.”
I was itching to ask the warlock if there was anyone else who could possibly take me, but at the same I didn’t want Victor to think that I was uncomfortable in his company.
“There is no way—”
“I’m not going to repeat myself twice, Victor. If you want to keep your job, you will do what I say. Are we clear?” Harvey demanded, cutting him off and his magic zoomed around the room.
“Yes, boss. Crystal clear,” he said.
“Think you should take Nicolas with us? I don’t trust that Victor.”
“Neither do I, Avv. Neither do I.”
19
Lilly’s charm.
“Francesca, we both know that this is stupid. I don’t trust that scum. It would be better if I go with you,” Nicolas told me five minutes later when I left Harvey’s office.
Victor stayed inside, sorting some paperwork with the receptionist. I was kind of glad, because I wanted to talk to Nicolas without him listening to every word. We were going to meet outside the gate in ten minutes. I took the money from Harvey. I wasn’t planning to keep it and I wanted Nicolas to give it all to Aly. She most likely needed it more than I did.
I let Nicolas accompany me here, but I didn’t expect him to stay with me until I vanished in the crack.
“No, you’re supposed to start work in a little while. I’ll be fine. Harvey warned Victor. He even threatened to fire him,” I said. “He doesn’t know about the egg, the warlock didn’t even sense it. Apparently, he has a good relationship with the fairy and he is the only one who can take me. Just don’t worry. It will work out.”
“Fine, but keep the backpack safe, as far away from him as physically possible,” he warned, then kissed me. It wasn’t just a peck on the cheek, but a full-blown kiss on the mouth. I was completely caught off guard. For a split second, I was considering pulling away, but Nicolas’s lips felt so warm and pleasant.
When he finally pulled away from me, my knees were a little wobbly and I was breathing hard. My lips were swollen, and Nicolas was grinning at me, obviously aroused. He had no idea that I kissed some stranger last night.
“What the hell was that about?” I asked, knowing that I enjoyed the kiss way too much.
“I want you to remember me when you’re back in Draconia. Earlier on when you weren’t listening, Aly said that we would make a cute couple,” he chuckled. “And you have no idea what I could do to you in bed.”
I rolled my eyes and then sensed that someone was watching us from the distance. I glanced up, seeing Victor. He was standing by the door now, smoking another cigarette. He most likely saw us kissing, but I didn’t care.
“All right, now I definitely will. Just take care of Aly for me. I’m not asking for anything else. And I hope you make it here in this world full of opportunities,” I said and then hugged him tightly. It was strange to part ways with him, but it was better if he didn’t come with me. This was my final journey and I didn’t want to ruin his chance of starting over.
Five minutes later, Victor joined me outside on the street. He barked at me to follow him, glaring back at Nicolas with a mixture of anger and curiosity. Awkward silence stretched between us the entire time we were walking to the underground station. I didn’t care what Victor thought. He didn’t mean anything to me anymore. I kept thinking about Idris, despite the fact that just a moment ago I kissed Nicolas. We rode in the tube towards the outskirts of the city. My magic was more active than before, and Victor must have sensed it.
“I’m surprised that you left your boyfriend behind. Why do you want to get back to Draconia so badly? There is nothing there,” he asked, finally breaking the silence when we were close to our destination.
“It’s none of your business, but if you must know, Nicolas was never my boyfriend. We are friends, but it’s not something that you would ever understand because you only ever think about yourself,” I told him.
“For your information, I’m settled here. I don’t have to worry about cash or freedom. You were always so boring, Fran, and so insecure about your magic. I left because I didn’t want to be miserable for the rest of my life,” he said, and I wanted to punch him.
“Do it, Fran. He really deserves it. He’s poisoning your mind, so stop talking to him. We will be home very soon,” Avianna’s voice rang in my head.
It hurt to hear the truth, but he wasn’t completely right about me. I wasn’t always miserable, and I liked having fun w
ith Dara. We used to go places, and we lived our life to the fullest.
“Do me a favour and shut up. Just take me to the fairy,” I told him, and turned my face towards the other passengers. He kept looking at me, but didn’t say another word.
I felt a faint tingling at the back of my neck, and for a moment, I had a feeling that someone was following me.
I didn’t recognize anyone on the tube, so after a moment, I told myself that I needed to stop being so paranoid. Everything was all right, and Idris had no idea what I was planning.
We finally ended up at the Richmond station. It was extremely busy. It was rush hour and I didn’t know how we were going to access the tunnels with hundreds of humans around us.
Victor must have noticed someone that he knew, because his face brightened up a little.
“There is Lilly,” he muttered to me and I didn’t even have to look around to recognise her. I never thought that there were so many other creatures besides wardens and Dark Ones in this world. The fairy was standing in the crowd and her magic was beaming out of her like a streetlamp. She was stunning: tall, blond and pale. I couldn’t understand how she was able to get away with it, because almost every man that passed by stared at her. She was smiling at them, wearing a red mini skirt and very high heels. Her top didn’t leave much to the imagination. I was shocked seeing her waving and sending kisses around, giggling away. Women were passing indifferently, not saying anything or even noticing how the men were almost walking into each other; they weren’t able to take their eyes off her. This was one of the most bizarre experiences of my life.
“Hello, darling, I see that you aren’t wasting your time here,” Victor said, grabbing her butt, and my jaw dropped. Seconds later, she turned to face him, and they started kissing. They obviously knew each other, and I didn’t know why I was even surprised. Victor was always a player. They kissed for a while and by the time Victor was done, he had this stupid goofy smile on his face.
“Oh, I missed you, my darling boy. And who is that dark creature without any sense of fashion?” the fairy asked, moving her blue eyes up and down my body.
“This is Francesca, and she’s from Draconia. Don’t worry, you don’t have to be in her company for too long. I have a job for you. Harvey is paying the usual rate. She needs to cross through the cracks as soon as possible,” Victor told her, and her face brightened instantly.
“Hi, handsome,” she said loudly to some human in a suit walking past me. Suddenly her attention was solely on him. And I could have sworn that I saw a magical burst of energy that started moving from her ears reaching the random human. His pupils dilated, and he started stripping. Seconds later, someone else walked into him and their connection was lost. My heart skipped a beat, because I suddenly began to understand what was going on. The fairy was charming men, using them to trap parts of their soul.
“Lilly, focus, will you?” Victor reminded her.
“All right, all right. I’ll take her there now, but I don’t know if the crack will be there long enough. Recently, the Dark Ones sent more of their people up there and you know that my magic is limited,” she explained, smoothing her shiny blond hair. She seemed drunk or a little dopey.
“Good, so let’s go,” Victor said and gestured for me to follow them. We walked to the end of the tunnel. I was still aware that there were humans around us, but no one was paying much attention to us. The fairy had a long shiny stick that suddenly appeared in her hands, she started waving it around like a magic wand. The humans at the station slowly began to fade away. Magic rushed down my spine, filling my cells with energy. I could sense it attaching itself to everyone around me, creating an illusion, so the world around us forgot that we were even there.
“Just make sure that you’re all quiet. My magic only works in peace. And if there is more than two of them it may complicate things,” Lilly told us, giggling away and then created some sort of passage that suddenly appeared in the wall.
I had no idea what to expect, but I was nervous about heading home.
“After you, my lady,” Victor chuckled gesturing for me to follow the fairy as she started walking through her magical tunnel. I wondered how she wasn’t struggling walking in the darkness in those high heels. I would have killed myself by now.
Magical energy was tingling in my temple and I didn’t like that Victor was walking behind me. Avianna wasn’t in any distress, but after everything that had happened in the past, I just didn’t trust him.
I heard the trains on the railroad tracks somewhere in the background. The ground beneath my feet was trembling now and again. Lilly must have been feeding on the humans’ energy and being in the tube was the perfect place. There were always so many of them around. She was using her sexuality to steal bits and pieces of their souls. Who knew what else she was capable of doing if we weren’t there with her?
“There are two of them. I can sense them walking around, but the crack hasn’t appeared yet, so we might be lucky,” she whispered when the tunnel in front of us forked to the left and right. I sensed the intensity of another powerful source. She was right; I could feel the Dark Ones. I heard them talking in muffled voices.
This didn’t make much sense. I thought that the Dark Ones weren’t able to control the cracks in a non-magical world, that it was a natural occurrence.
“I’ll release my sexual vibes in a moment, and they should fall asleep instantly. If the crack appears, just jump straight through it to the dark abyss. Remember, do not waste any time. Lately, the cracks have not been functioning properly, so I don’t know what might happen,” she explained, and I had to admit that I was getting a bit scared. Victor grabbed my rucksack from behind and pulled me closer to him.
“Don’t be surprised if you feel a little turned on, too. Fairy magic can be deceitful,” he whispered in my ear.
I moved away from him and a moment later Lilly started shining. Her magic lanced out of her system and her light was blinding me. It spread around like fog on a cold winter day. My pulse was pounding in my ears, because I had never been more ready. I suddenly started smelling roses, lavender and wildflowers. Lilly began humming some kind of song under her breath, and the sound that she was making was incredible.
The waves of her magic were spreading throughout the entire tunnel, and I started having flashbacks about me and Victor. I saw him kissing me in bed, but I quickly pushed that memory away, remembering that it was nothing more than a fairy glamour.
I waited for a moment, and then the ground started trembling again. The electric current crackled and a second later, a crack opened along the wall.
This time around I didn’t hesitate. I moved closer and quickly jumped over the rail tracks with my heart in my throat. The Dark Ones were on the ground, sleeping peacefully as the fairy magic spread around them. This was finally my chance.
As I got closer, the wall cracked like an electric shock moved through it. The crack was uneven, shaking, and I was scared that it might vanish before I had a chance to walk through it. I stopped, breathing hard right in front of it. It was daylight back in Draconia. There were other wardens there, but I didn’t recognise the area. It didn’t matter, this was my chance to finally head home. My heart skipped a beat, then raced triple time. The crack was small, but I knew I could squeeze myself through it.
“Go on, Fran. I know we can do it.”
I launched myself forward knowing that this was it. I held my breath and waited for the fall.
“No, darling. I’m taking the backpack and whatever you’re hiding inside it,” the voice behind me said and then someone pulled me from behind. I felt like someone stuck a needle in my back as pain lanced down my spine, and I screamed.
The crack started closing. I lost my balance, feeling paralysed from head to toe. The backpack was pulled away from my shoulders and I slammed to the ground. My magic didn’t save me this time. Pain shattered my vision and the last thing I saw before I passed out was the crack disappearing in the tunnel wall that was s
upposed to take me home.
Sometime later I must have come around, but the pain nearly knocked me out again. My head hurt like hell and I was shivering with insane cold chills. It took me a while to figure out that I was still in the underground. Slowly and steadily, I began to lift myself up, feeling nauseous.
Then I realised that my backpack was gone, and everything came back in an instant. Victor must have pulled me out when I was just about to walk through the crack. I wasn’t in Draconia, but back in the underground tunnel without my precious egg.
20
Magnus.
I sensed someone approaching in the distance and panic punched a hole in my chest. I tried to gather myself to get up and use my magic, but I couldn’t move. Tiny sparks started crackling over my fingers, but nothing happened and then a loud voice cut through the silence.
“Grab her, before the spell stops working, you fools!”
Then someone kicked me so hard that I thought my ribs shattered. I slammed back to the ground, trying to breathe in, but even a small intake of oxygen caused excruciating pain. I must have passed out for a third time after that, as everything went dark.
Sometime later, I woke up and let go of a sharp gasp. Terror formed painful knots in my stomach. I was in too much pain to even consider fighting with whoever was holding me.
It took me a moment to realise that the Dark Ones were carrying me through the tunnels. Their faces were covered by their thick hoods. I felt so weak. Avianna was taken from me, but I needed her now. Victor was scum, and I should have suspected that he was never planning to let me walk through the crack. I had to hope that he wouldn’t try to sell her, but he always cared about money so much, she was probably already lost.
They took me back to the busy station, but no humans were paying any attention to me. The Dark Ones then pushed me to walk on my own. The other was holding my arm. Their thick hoods vanished and now they were wearing suits, they were able to blend into their surroundings so damn well.
Hatched (Draconia World Book 1) Page 14