Drakon's Promise (Blood of the Drakon)

by N. J. Walters

  She closed her eyes for a moment and was drifting off when she heard her name being called. She forced her eyes open to find Darius holding out a mug of coffee for her. “Here, you need this.”

  She blinked several times before taking the offering. “Thanks.”

  He motioned to the thick wooden tray in front of her on the coffee table. “Sugar. I didn’t think you take milk.”

  “How did you know?” Her heart skipped a beat before it picked up speed.

  He shrugged. “There wasn’t any in your mug at the diner.”

  Sarah was surprised he’d noticed. The man was certainly observant. “You’re right.” She sat forward and added sugar to her coffee, then stirred before taking her first sip. It warmed her insides, and the delicious flavor made her taste buds come alive. “This is amazing.” She took another sip, careful not to burn her mouth on the hot brew.

  “I get it shipped in special from an organic farmer in Colombia.” He sat in the chair across from her, and she was grateful not to have him so close. Not as distracting. Although maybe it was worse. He slumped in the oversize chair with his mug resting against his flat stomach and his long legs kicked out in front of him.

  She had another mouthful of coffee and then picked up her story. “Everything was going along fine until today.”

  “What changed?”

  The intensity of his stare was making it hard for her to concentrate, so she looked down at the mug in her hands instead. “I was late having lunch. I lost track of time.” She rubbed her thumb around the rim of the heavy ceramic. “That happens when I get into my work.” And he didn’t care about that. She needed to get to the point.

  “I went to the break room to eat, and I heard voices on my way back.” She glanced at Darius. He leaned forward and placed his mug on the table.

  “What happened then?”

  “I hid in an alcove.” Her tone was defensive, but she couldn’t help it. She hated coming across as a coward. “I don’t like confrontation or arguments.”

  “Okay,” he easily agreed. “Then what?”

  “I realized it was Mr. Temple and another man. They were arguing about you. Mr. Temple wants to abduct you and use your blood for experiments. He said something about a military contact, too.” That was the part she didn’t want to believe, but she wasn’t naive enough to think the government wasn’t involved in a lot of shady projects.

  Darius nodded, not seeming the least bit surprised by her outrageous accusations. “Why you?” he asked. “What’s so special about you that this Mr. Temple hired you?”

  This was the tricky part. She licked her lips and set her cup down on the table. “I…uh, I have certain skills,” she began.

  He narrowed his eyes. “What skills?” She shivered at the deadly tone in his voice. This was not a man she wanted as an enemy.

  What if he didn’t believe her? A lot of people didn’t. She glanced at the custom shelves lining the wall and stood. She wiped her damp palms on her jeans and walked toward them. Darius watched her.

  Her knapsack thumped against her stomach, so she readjusted her hold on it. A bead of sweat rolled down her temple. She was wearing her coat inside, but she still felt chilled in spite of the fact she was sweating.

  She chose an object, picking one she thought had some age. The small piece of pottery was perfectly shaped and surprisingly whole. She wrapped her hands around the small pot, closed her eyes, and dropped her shields.

  Immediately, she was sucked back in time. Unlike with the book in her knapsack, this time her gift worked as it usually did. Grainy images, like photos or an old movie, flipped through her mind.

  “You acquired this piece from a dealer in Peru.” She frowned. “That can’t be right.” Her eyes popped open. “You couldn’t have bought this piece off him one hundred years ago.”

  …

  Darius was shocked by Sarah’s declaration. She was dead-on. He had purchased that particular pot a hundred years ago from a rather shady dealer while he was in Peru. He plucked the pot from her hands and returned it to the shelf.

  She glanced away from him, her face pale. He knew she was sweating but wouldn’t remove her coat, knew she was afraid, but she hadn’t backed down from him. She had courage, whether she realized it or not.

  Still, he needed proof this wasn’t just a fluke. Maybe the Knights had been researching him longer than he’d thought, and she’d gotten lucky.

  He took a small, unsigned painting from the shelf. The frame was original to the piece as well. He handed it to her.

  She took a deep breath and wrapped her hands around the aged wood, letting her fingertips barely graze the oil paint. She closed her eyes, and he could almost feel all her attention turning inward. She opened her eyes and stared at the piece. “This is by Leonardo da Vinci.” She shook her head. “He couldn’t have given it to you. That would make you—” She broke off and sat down hard on the coffee table. Darius gently took the priceless masterpiece from her and set it carefully back on the shelf.

  “What did you see?” he asked her.

  “Something impossible.” She rubbed her forehead. “Maybe something has happened to my gift. That would certainly explain what I saw earlier today.”

  He could see the hope in her eyes and hated to dampen it, but he needed the truth. “You have a gift for psychometry?”

  She nodded. “Since I was a child.” She straightened her shoulders and practically glared at him. “Most people don’t believe in it.”

  “I’m not most people,” he reminded her. His easy agreement seemed to take the wind out of her sails, and she slumped a little.

  “Tell me the rest of it.” The clock was ticking. He needed all the facts, and he needed them now.

  Sarah pushed off the table and stumbled back to the sofa. She tilted her head back against the cushions and sighed. “I do freelance work for museums and some private collectors. I research and help authenticate and date artifacts.”

  “And you use your gift.” He sat back in his chair. He wanted to get closer to her but didn’t want to unsettle her. He had the sense she’d been pushed almost to her limits and was barely holding it together.

  She nodded. “Sometimes.” She lifted her head and blinked several times. “I’ve also done work with several prominent rare-book dealers. I think Jeremiah Dent suspected I was using more than just education and research to help authenticate his books. He must have guessed what my gift is, but he never said anything to me.” She sighed. “My gift works with most old things, but I have a special affinity for books.”

  Her brow wrinkled, and Darius wanted to smooth away her concerns and worries. He fisted his hands on his thighs to keep from reaching for her.

  “He must have told Mr. Temple.” She shook her head. “I think he got me fired. Or had my boss give me the impression I was being laid off. When I thought about it today, I realized he never told me I was being fired, just that there were cutbacks. Then he jumped right in and told me to contact Jeremiah Dent about an available position in a private library.”

  “They led you to the job with Herman Temple.” The Knights had always been clever.

  “Yes. That’s exactly it, and I didn’t stop to question it.”

  He heard the disgust in her voice and knew she was feeling at fault about her decision. “If you hadn’t left on your own, they would probably have had you fired for real.” Or worse, but he wasn’t going to tell her that.

  “I figured as much.”

  “And the conversation you overheard?” he prompted.

  “Yeah, they wanted me to find a particular book. The other man seemed to think they needed it in order to kidnap you.” She frowned. “But that can’t be right.”

  Darius didn’t correct her. “Did the other man have a name?”

  “Christian Temple. He’s Mr. Temple’s son.” Sarah unzipped her coat but still didn’t remove it or her knapsack. “Mr. Temple showed up at the library a few minutes after I overheard their conversation. I was catalog
uing the library systematically, but he told me to look around the room and bring anything I found particularly interesting to him.”

  Sarah shivered, and he couldn’t stay put any longer. He stood and went to sit beside her. She nervously scooted to the corner of the sofa, but he followed her. He took her hand in his. It was small and dainty, her skin pale next to his tanned flesh.

  “Did you do as he asked?”

  “I knew I didn’t have a choice. I got the feeling from their conversation that my work environment is going to get a lot more hostile on Monday, which is why I need to get out of town.”

  He felt her hand tremble in his, and his beast roared inside him. No one would hurt her and live. Darius knew his reaction to her was totally out of character, but there was no denying the connection he felt with her.

  He had to pull back and examine it. As much as it pained him to think it, this didn’t change the fact that Sarah could be working with the Knights. He was almost certain she wasn’t, but there was also a chance she was an unwitting pawn in their game. She might be under their control and not know it.

  Darius knew most humans would scoff at the idea, but he’d lived far longer than they had. He knew there were potions and drugs that could be given to a person to change them. Some of the Knights were particularly skilled at mind control, one of many seemingly supernatural gifts the drakon blood they ingested gave them.

  She might honestly believe every word she was telling him, and it might be nothing but lies imparted to her by one of the Knights. The leaders were usually powerful alchemists. In days gone by, they would have been called sorcerers. Nowadays, they were called scientists. Whatever their name, they were self-serving and willing to sacrifice innocent people for their cause.

  “What did you find?” he demanded.

  “I looked around, but all objects give off a glow of energy or memories. The older the object the more potent it is.”

  He nodded his understanding. That made perfect sense.

  “In a library that extensive, there are many powerful books. But there was one that caught my eye. It was a combination of brilliant light and an all-consuming darkness.” She shuddered, and he could see the fear in her eyes. “Anything with that kind of dark power is never good.”

  Darius wanted to shake her to get her to finish her tale, but he held his peace, instinctively knowing if he did such a thing, she’d totally withdraw from him. She needed to trust him if he was to learn everything he needed.

  “It was a Bible from the seventeen hundreds, one with beautiful illustrations.” She rubbed her free hand up and down her thigh. “I was about to put it back when I realized there was a much smaller, thinner book hidden within the pages.”

  A sense of dread filled him. “That was the dark energy.”

  Sarah nodded. “I didn’t want to touch it at first.” She licked her lips. “I didn’t know if it was the book they were looking for, but then the security guard came, and I had to get out of there. Mr. Temple is very strict about staff leaving on time. I even have to leave my coat, purse, and phone with security every morning and pick them up when I leave.” She hesitated, but then plowed onward. “The book is titled Knights of the Dragon: Necessary Incantations and Spells.”

  “Fuck.” Sarah jolted when Darius jumped to his feet and began to pace. “You’re right. That book is incredibly dangerous, especially in the wrong hands.” He quickly formed and rejected plans in his mind. He had to get that book.

  Darius turned back to her. “You need to tell me everything you know about their security layout.”

  She canted her head. “Why?”

  He scowled at her. “Didn’t you hear me? It’s dangerous, and not only to me, but to others.”

  “Others?”

  “You don’t need to know.” No way would he trust her or anyone else with the fact that he had three brothers. “Believe me when I tell you people have been killed because of that book.” The irony wasn’t lost on him. He was asking her to trust him while he couldn’t afford to do the same in return.

  He rubbed the back of his neck and forced himself to calm down. That book was rumored to have been destroyed several centuries ago. To know that it, or a copy of it, still existed was enough to make his blood run cold.

  It was said that inside those pages were recipes for potions that could render a dragon weak, even unconscious in rare cases, and enable the Knights to easily capture them. The ingredients were very rare and costly, but the Knights had ways to get what they needed. No wonder they were so frantic to find the book. He wondered how the hell they’d lost it in the first place.

  He shoved the table out of the way, ignoring the coffee that sloshed over the rims of the mugs and spilled onto the floor. Darius crouched in front of Sarah, this delicate human woman who held the fate of many drakons in her small hands. He put his palms on either side of her and was pleased when she didn’t move away from him.

  “Sarah, it’s vitally important I get that book. I need you to think about the security at work. Cameras, guards, alarms, everything.” He’d need to get schematics of the building and more. But he’d start here, with his best inside source. Of course, if she was working with the Knights, this might be nothing more than an elaborate plot to capture him.

  It was a risk he had to take.

  “You don’t need to know that,” she began.

  Darius caught her face in his hands and cradled her cheeks in his palms. “I do, Sarah, I really do. I’m not worried about my life, but those of people close to me.” That was the most he could give her.

  “No, you don’t.”

  Disappointment seeped into him, and he released her and straightened to his full height. “How much?”

  “What?” She sounded bewildered, but he wasn’t buying it. If she wasn’t willing to give him the information he needed, it was because she wanted something. In his vast experience with humans, that meant money in one form or another. It used to be gold and jewels. Nowadays, it was more likely to be a simple bank transfer.

  He put his hands on his hips and simply stared at her, trying not to get lost in her chocolate-brown eyes. They appeared so innocent. “How much for the information?”

  She jumped to her feet and glared at him. “You son of a bitch. I’m risking a lot to warn you about the book and everything else.”

  “That doesn’t answer my question.” No way could he let her go until he had the information he needed. “The quicker you give it to me, the faster I can pay you. Then you can leave.”

  She fisted her hands at her sides. “I ought to let you pay for it.” Then she fumbled with her knapsack and yanked open the zipper. He wondered if she had a weapon of some kind, and cursed himself for not searching her earlier. Not that it would do her much good. Most conventional weapons, at least any that could fit in her bag, wouldn’t do much damage to him. But it would piss him off.

  She reached inside the bag and, instead of a weapon, pulled out an old, leather-bound book. She thrust it against his stomach, and he caught it before it dropped to the floor.

  “Here’s your damn book. I smuggled it out of work at great personal risk. You’re welcome.” She stepped around him and strode to the elevator. Sarah slapped her palm against the panel, but nothing happened. Only he could make it work.

  Darius stared at the book and then back at the very angry woman waiting for an elevator that would never come.

  An unusual sensation enveloped him, one he’d rarely felt in the thousands of years he’d been alive. It was shame with a hint of bewilderment.

  He might have just made the biggest mistake of his life.

  Chapter Seven

  Sarah was practically vibrating with anger as she waited for the elevator to appear. The arrogant jerk was still standing there holding the book she’d all but thrown at him. How dare he? After everything she’d been through today, all the fear she’d experienced, his accusing her of being mercenary at best, or a blackmailer at worst, was the last straw.

  �
��Come on.” She smacked the pad by the door and a red light scanned her palm, but still nothing happened. Damn it. She was going to have to face Darius again.

  She took a deep breath to settle herself and turned, hoping the anger she felt wasn’t visible on her face. “You want to open this for me?”

  “No.” He shook his head as he came toward her. “It’s not safe for you out there.” He set the book he was still holding on an ornate table just inside the foyer.

  “It’s not safe for me in here, either,” she retorted. She might be physically safer with him, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t hurt her.

  He winced and rubbed his free hand over his face. “Yeah, I’m sorry about that. I’m just used to expecting the worst from people. Less chance of disappointment that way.”

  As apologies went, it was pretty darn weak, but she’d take what she could get. “So you’re sorry. Fine. Now let me go.”

  He cocked his head to one side and studied her. She tried not to fidget, but it wasn’t easy. There was something incredibly personal in the way his gaze traveled over her from head to toe. She was suddenly very hot in her coat and boots. She was dressed for the outside while the temperature in the apartment had skyrocketed in the past few seconds.

  He might be a jerk, but he was a darn good-looking one. There was something so strong and vital about him. He really was a pleasure to look at. Too bad he had to go and open his mouth and ruin it.

  Maybe that wasn’t fair. He’d had a lot thrown at him in the past hour. She couldn’t imagine what it must feel like to find out someone wanted to kidnap you and run experiments. He also didn’t know her from Adam. As much as she hated to admit it, there were a lot of people who would have tried to extort money from him for information.

  Darn her sense of fairness. It was draining the mad right out of her.

  She raked a hand through her hair, brushing the fringed bangs out of her face. “Look, I get that you’re upset. You have every right to be.” Calm and methodical, that was the way she always approached a problem, and this wasn’t any different from any research dilemma she’d ever dealt with. “But it’s time for me to leave.” She had plans to make if she was going to evade Mr. Temple.