“Well, what is it?” Herman demanded.
“I can’t be 100 percent sure because the lighting is poor between the bookshelves, but when Martin came upon her, he startled her and she dropped the book.” He took a deep breath and continued. “Sir, I think she picked something up and hid it on her person when she bent down to retrieve the Bible.”
“Show me.” Herman pushed out of his chair and motioned to his laptop, which sat on his desk.
Riggs quickly brought up the footage from the day’s security and found the right spot. “Here it is.”
Herman joined Riggs and watched the scene on the laptop unfold. He knew it was just after he’d spoken to her. Like Riggs’s had said, it was hard to see if she had indeed taken anything, but she did seem nervous. Of course, she always seemed nervous around him.
“And that’s not the worst of it, sir.”
Herman stared into Riggs’s glacial-blue eyes. “What is the worst?”
“This.” Riggs tapped the keys several times and brought up footage from earlier in the afternoon. “Because of the lapse when Ms. Anderson was leaving for the day, I went back to review the rest of the footage.”
Herman couldn’t imagine what could be worse than Sarah possibly stealing from him. If she’d found the book he was looking for, she wouldn’t understand the significance of it, so why would she steal it? He didn’t speak, knowing Riggs would tell him the rest.
“It was just after lunch. It seems Ms. Anderson missed hers and went to the break room later than usual.”
Herman knew what Riggs was going to say next. “She was in the hallway when you and Christian were talking. And from the look on her face, she overheard plenty.” His head of security tapped the button to play the footage, and Herman watched and listened to his conversation with his son. Sure enough, there was Sarah walking down the hallway and ducking into an alcove. There was no way she hadn’t heard most of their conversation.
He made himself watch it all. Long minutes after he and Christian had left, Sarah left the alcove and scurried back to the library. Her face was pale and she was shaking.
“Who was the guard on duty?”
“Simms, sir.”
“How did this happen, Riggs?”
“I reviewed the footage from the security room, and Simms was texting, sir.” Riggs didn’t shift or fidget under Herman’s scrutiny.
“Texting?” Their entire mission might be jeopardized by some idiot texting. “Deal with him and find Sarah Anderson. Even if she didn’t take anything from me, she knows too much to be running around free. I need her here to find that bloody missing book.”
“Right away, sir.” Riggs turned and strode toward the door.
“And, Riggs.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Before you arrange for Simms to have an accident, make sure he wasn’t texting anything he shouldn’t have been. I don’t want to discover another potential problem down the road.”
“Yes, sir.” Riggs nodded and reached for the handle.
“One more thing.” His head of security met his gaze. “I don’t have to tell you this had better never happen again.”
“It won’t, sir,” he promised.
“See that it doesn’t.” The door closed silently behind Riggs.
He drew his phone out of his pocket. He dialed the first number in his contacts list, and when his son answered, Herman glanced down at the security feed, with the picture of Sarah Anderson frozen on the screen. “We have a problem.”
Chapter Nine
Sarah’s lips still tingled, and her body was alive with sensation. She’d actually kissed Darius. Now she was letting him take her down a secret staircase to God only knew where. Probably not the smartest thing she’d ever done.
How many people had a secret staircase in their home? Probably only eccentric billionaires.
Her mind whirled with thoughts of secret societies, conspiracies, kidnapping, murder, that particularly nasty book, and drakons. The sexual attraction was the cherry on top of this already out-of-control situation.
The most insane part of all was that she trusted Darius. He’d meant it when he said he’d protect her. In spite of the danger surrounding them, that had made her feel safe.
She put one hand on the wall to keep her balance. The stairs were narrow, and there was no railing. She glanced over her shoulder. Darius was right behind her. He had to duck slightly so he wouldn’t hit his head. It was a tight squeeze for a man of his size. The only light came from the opening above—and then the secret door shut, leaving them in darkness.
She gasped and froze in place, not daring to move. “I can’t see a thing.”
“Give it a moment,” he told her. Sure enough, dim lights illuminated the stairs, but not much else. All sorts of scenarios popped into her head, none of them good. What could he possible show her that would change her mind?
“Keep going,” he told her.
There was no turning back. She certainly couldn’t get around him on this tight staircase. And even if she could, where would she go? The elevator was inaccessible.
There had to be some kind of fire exit. Didn’t there? Maybe she could find that.
Sarah put one foot in front of the other until she reached the base of the stairs. Darkness loomed before her. There didn’t even seem to be a window.
Darius reached around her and must have hit a switch, because suddenly, bright light filled the room, making her blink. The space was gigantic, probably an entire floor of the building. And it was empty. On closer inspection, she noticed there did seem to be windows, but they were covered with heavy metal shutters.
“I don’t understand. What is this place?” It reminded her of an empty parking garage with huge metal supports and a concrete floor. She took a step back up one of the stairs.
Darius left her and walked to the center of the space. The ceiling was way above him. “I own the building and have the top three floors for myself.”
Since his living space seemed to occupy only the highest level, that meant that this space was actually the equivalent of two stories, which explained the crazy high ceiling. “Why?” Curiosity had the better of her. “Why have all this empty space?”
Darius set the book carefully on the floor and began to unbutton his shirt. Sarah took another step back up the stairs but couldn’t tear her gaze away from the swatch of deeply tanned skin he exposed.
“What are you doing?” She winced at the husky sound of her voice.
“Showing you I’m not crazy,” he reminded her.
“Ah, yeah.” She momentarily lost her train of thought when he tossed his shirt aside and then bent to remove his shoes. “Not sure that’s working.” The man was stripping in front of her and she couldn’t take her eyes off him.
When fully dressed, he was impressive. Naked from the waist up, he was breathtaking. The stark lighting hid nothing from her. From his broad shoulders and washboard abs to his tapered waist, he was the most flawless male specimen she’d ever seen. Nothing in a magazine or movie could touch the sheer masculine perfection of Darius Varkas.
And then there was the tattoo that covered the left side of his body—thick lines of rich bronze, outlined in the same green shade as his eyes, swirled over his chest and arm and disappeared into the waistband of his pants. There was no recognizable design, but it was stunning all the same.
His biceps rippled when he shoved his hair away from his face. He was watching her intently as he unbuckled his belt, unzipped his pants, and pushed them down. His boxer briefs went at the same time and, when he straightened, he was totally naked.
Sarah sat down hard on the stairs. She knew she was staring but couldn’t help herself. His eyes seemed to be glowing, which had to be a trick of the light. But it wasn’t his eyes that had captured her attention. No, it was the thick erection spearing upward from the thatch of hair on his groin. Darius was built to scale, which meant he was bigger than any man she’d been with. His tattoo also continued down the left
side of his body all the way to his ankle.
She fanned her hand in front of her face until she realized what she was doing and made herself stop. Darius, the devil, grinned at her.
If he made one move in her direction, she wasn’t sure if she’d race back up the stairs or jump him. At this point, it could go either way. “You’re naked.” Way to state the obvious.
“I know.” He held his arms out by his sides and slowly turned so she could see every inch of him. The tattoo bisected his back into two planes. The design wrapped around the entire left side of his body with the exception of his hand and foot. His face was also unmarked by the spectacular design.
Sarah rubbed her damp palms against her jeans. “Why are you naked?”
“Watch, Sarah.” The way he said her name made her insides melt. “And don’t be afraid.”
With that ominous warning, she watched and waited. Darius seemed to blur in front of her, and she blinked several times. Her breath caught in her throat, as he seemed to transform before her very eyes. His tanned skin thickened, becoming plate-like armor that shimmered a deep metallic bronze and covered a massive body. His head changed shape, flattening on the top and becoming almost wedge-like, with an elongated jaw. Claws that had to be at least eight inches long tipped his front and back feet.
Sarah was breathing fast, coming close to hyperventilating, but she couldn’t help herself. This was impossible. His spine made a cracking sound and an enormous pair of wings emerged. When he spread them, they spanned about thirty feet. The space that had seemed so cavernous only seconds before now seemed way too small to contain such a creature.
When the metamorphosis was complete, the beast leaned his head down and stared at her. The eyes were eerily familiar. They were Darius’s green eyes.
“I have to be dreaming.” That was the only logical explanation.
“You’re not dreaming.” The voice was lower and gruffer, but she recognized it.
If she hadn’t already been sitting down, she would have been flat on her ass. “This isn’t possible.” She shook her head as if to deny the image in front of her.
His gaze narrowed and smoke rolled from his nostrils. “Come and touch me.”
This had to be some kind of trick, even though it didn’t seem like it. Determined to put an end to Darius’s games, she pushed herself upright and carefully went down the two steps. Her entire body was shaking, and there was no way she could stop it. She reached out her hand and touched one of the armor-like plates that covered his body. They were like scales but larger and tougher. She stroked her hand over his thick forearm, amazed by how warm he felt. She’d expected him to be cold to the touch, but he wasn’t the slightest bit cool.
He huffed out a breath and another plume of smoke floated to the ceiling before dissipating. He had to be fifteen feet long, and that didn’t include his tail, which doubled his size.
“I don’t understand.” There was no way for her mind to process what was before her. Dragons were myth. But he wasn’t a dragon, was he? He was a drakon—the son of a dragon and a human.
A scream built inside her, but she swallowed it back. What good would it do? There was no one to hear her. She had no doubt this entire place was soundproofed. As it was, she was having a hard time getting enough air into her lungs to breathe normally.
She was actually touching something from myth and legend. Then she had another thought and withdrew her hand to stare up into his intelligent eyes. “There are more of you, aren’t there?”
…
Darius wasn’t sure what he’d expected from Sarah. She seemed emotionally calm, but her own body betrayed that as a lie. Her hand trembled when she touched him, and her breathing was quick and shallow.
He wanted to stay in his drakon form but decided she’d deal better with the shock if he were human once again. When he began to shift, Sarah jumped back and wrapped her arms around herself. As his body reshaped and reformed, he was reminded just how much this woman had been through in such a short period of time. Her beliefs about the world around her had been completely and utterly shattered.
When he was a man once again, he got dressed, taking his time pulling his clothing back on. When he was fully covered once again, he grabbed the book and walked toward her. She didn’t withdraw or flinch from his touch. He’d take that as a good sign. “Let’s go upstairs, and I’ll answer as many of your questions as I can.”
She nodded and led the way back up the narrow staircase. He walked close behind her, ready to catch her if she faltered, but she needed no help. When they reached the top of the stairs, he deactivated the locking mechanism and the tall painting swung open.
Sarah didn’t wait for him, but headed straight to the study. She dropped into one of the large wingback chairs and closed her eyes. Not surprisingly, she looked extremely pale.
Darius set the book on his desk before he detoured to his liquor cabinet and poured some brandy into a goblet. “Here, drink this. It will help.” She was dealing with quite a shock, whether she realized it or not.
“Thank you.” She wrapped both hands around the glass and took a small sip. “It’s all real, isn’t it? I can’t bury my head in the sand and pretend it’s all a bad dream or just a bunch of crazy people.”
“No, you can’t.” He put his hands on the arms of the chair to keep from touching her. What he really wanted to do was hug her and promise her everything would be okay.
She took another sip of the amber liquid and nodded. “Okay, tell me more.”
He snagged the leather book off his desk, and held it up. “This is dangerous.” He flipped open the pages and studied them one by one, drawn to them in a way he didn’t quite understand. There was no denying the energy pulsing from the book was growing stronger. “Recipes for potions that weaken us, making it easier for them to capture and enslave us. Incantations as well, but I don’t know if those actually work.”
“Incantations? Like sorcerers and wizards?” She dropped her head back against the cushion of the chair. “It sounds crazy when you say it, but this entire situation is like something out of a fantasy novel.” Then she laughed. “And I’m no heroine.”
Darius knew she was wrong. Sarah had already proven her bravery this day. Most people would have taken care of themselves, either by running or extorting money. She’d done neither.
“No. They’re more alchemists and scientists than sorcerers.” These men were smart and ruthless, willing to use whatever was at their disposal to gain their prize.
“Why do they want you?”
Darius shook his head. “Ingesting drakon’s blood cures disease and prolongs the life of the human who drinks it. It also grants some people extra powers. That varies from human to human, but it can be more strength, greater intelligence, keener instincts, and more.”
“Really?” Her eyes widened and she took another sip of the brandy. “Wow. Okay, so they want to study your blood to make some sort of super drug or something?”
Darius straightened and took the chair across from her. “Our blood starts to deteriorate the moment it leaves our body. The Knights of the Dragon drink from the source.”
She swallowed and put her glass on the table beside her chair. “That’s what they were doing in the vision I got from the book, isn’t it? They were making the drakon bleed so they could drink his blood.”
“Yes. It’s what they’ve been doing for century upon century, ever since the first human discovered what our blood could do.”
“But that’s terrible.”
Darius lowered his head in contemplation. So many drakons had died for the lusts of men.
“Mr. Temple and his son mentioned scientists and experiments and a military contact.”
He raised his head and studied Sarah. “That is not new. Such men have been trying for years to duplicate our essence to create more of us. They want to build a private army of drakons, or at least super soldiers, men who will do their bidding and fight their wars. Some of them would sell that knowle
dge to the military for even more money and power. Many wish to become drakons, to be powerful and live for eternity.”
“Eternity?” She grabbed the glass and swallowed the rest of the brandy in one gulp. She wheezed and then began to cough. He was by her side in a heartbeat, carefully tapping her back as she choked on the liquor. When she finally stopped, her cheeks were flushed. “Eternity?” she asked again.
Darius shrugged. “By human standards. Dragons live for a hundred thousand years. We have no idea how long we drakons will live. The only ones of us who have died so far have been those killed by the Knights.” He didn’t tell her about the Deep Sleep that overtook some drakons.
She leaned forward, the empty glass still clutched in her hands. “These men will stop at nothing.”
It wasn’t a question, but he answered her anyway. “No, they will not stop. They’ll use whatever power and influence they have to capture us. And they won’t hesitate to kill anyone who gets in their way.
“Then there’s only one thing we can do.” She pointed at the book. “We need to destroy that.”
Chapter Ten
As much as it hurt her librarian’s soul to even consider destroying a book that old and rare and with such knowledge in it, some things were better left unknown. And any knowledge that could be used to enslave another species should be consigned to a black hole, never to be found again.
It was difficult to believe that drinking a drakon’s blood cured disease and prolonged life. It was much less difficult to believe that humans would covet that power for themselves and destroy every drakon in their lust to obtain their goal—eternal life.
As much as she believed in the goodness of mankind, she also knew they could be a greedy, grasping species. You only had to look at the state of the world or read a newspaper to know that. As for the military, she respected the men and women who protected the country, but she knew there were a handful of men at higher ranks both in the military and in the government who would stop at nothing to gain this kind of power for themselves.
Darius pried the empty glass from her hand and set it aside. The liquor she’d swallowed warmed her stomach, but she was still cold. Sarah didn’t think she’d ever be warm again. Her worldview had been forever shattered.
Drakon's Promise (Blood of the Drakon) Page 9