Firebinders: Marek (The Firebinders Book 1)

by Isobelle Cate

  Marek was slowly warming to the idea. Like what Jarred said, what was the harm? Skeptic that he was, he couldn’t deny the sincerity in Dani’s voice. There was something about her that made Marek feel that Dani’s words equalled their weight in gold.

  “I’ll talk to Lia,” Marek said. “If she agrees then we’ll meet you at your ranch and speak to Janka.”

  “Right.” Jarred stood putting an arm around his wife. “We better get back home.” Then at Marek. “Call me when you’ve decided.”

  “Will do.” He shook Jarred’s hand. “Dani.”

  Marek exited the ballroom, unravelling his black tie to unbutton his white shirt. Catching up on the sleep he needed was foremost on his mind but for some reason he was on edge. Maybe a stroll in the hotel’s gardens would do him good.

  A fire pit blazed surrounded by lounge chairs to stave the cold away. Lady Bird Lake was calm with the water occasionally lapping on the lake shore. He often stayed at the Four Seasons when he had business in Austin. Home was in New Orleans.

  For now.

  He knew that Jarred was true to his word. He could always argue that he didn’t want to expose who he was to someone he didn’t know. But what was one more seer? One he knew was quite powerful. Marek didn’t let Jarred and Dani know that he already knew of Janka St Cyr. She was not one who offered her services to anyone and Marek didn’t know whom to approach until tonight. He shook his head. His parents always believed that things happened for a reason and that there were no coincidences.

  Could have fooled him after finding out that Janka was Dani’s cousin.

  The seed of hope that refused to die inside him nudged at him once more. Every time he went to someone who practiced esoterica that seed made an appearance as though it was sitting beside him, waiting to see what the medium would do. And every time Marek’s hopes were dashed, that seed retreated to the shadows. It never gave up. It had a life of its own and continued to show up even when Marek was too dead tired to even believe he’d be able to find the rest of the firebinders.

  If only he could share the seed’s enthusiasm.

  Gwen was in deep conversation with her lab team, having just pulled another all-nighter before she told them to go home and get some sleep. The moment her phone office rang, they dispersed, everyone gratefully removing their white lab coats while making their way to their desks to shut down their laptops and grab their belongings. Gwen entered the glass enclosure that separated her from the main laboratory floor.

  “Gwen Fraser.”

  “Doctor Fraser, it’s Kerri, Mr. Highmore’s secretary.” A high pitched voice filtered through. An image of a girl in pigtails came to mind. “Mr. Highmore would like to see you when you have a moment.”

  “Really? I mean me? I mean…why?” Gwen let out a disbelieving laugh. To say she was gobsmacked was an understatement.

  The sound of someone typing on a keyboard greeted her question and she heard shuffling in the background.

  “Why not, Doctor?” Kerri asked in a curious tone.

  “Did Mr. Highmore finally agree to see me?”

  “Did you ask to see him?”

  Gwen’s relief slowly deflated like a balloon. Her lips pursed as she exhaled nosily. Simmering anger had a way of skewing reality.

  Breathe in. Out. In. Out. You’re doing fine.

  “Digna Manson was supposed secure a meeting with Mr. Highmore for me.”

  “The only thing Dr. Manson did was to hand in the report,” Kerri replied. “Since you requested to meet Mr. Highmore, now’s a good time as any.”

  Screw calming down!

  Just like her associate to leave out things Gwen had requested. Her ten fingers were not enough to count the number of times Digna, Sebastian Pharma’s Lead scientist let her down as though Gwen’s request was not important. She also lied through her teeth saying that Gwen had never sent her requisitions needed for the project. Gwen had the emails to prove it and that they had been received. But Gwen couldn’t rock the boat. If the project didn’t have any potential for leading to a breakthrough, she would have resigned six months into the trial study.

  “Dr. Fraser, are you still there?”

  Gwen could just imagine Kerri playing office. She was brightness and light, the kind found enjoying a bouncy castle.

  “Sorry, yes. I am.”

  “What time shall I tell Mr. Highmore you’ll be arriving?”

  Gwen looked at her watch. This was her big break. She could tell Sebastian Highmore what she had unearthed after Digna submitted their team report. It was incredible she could hardly believe her findings. She kept it to herself. Call it a sixth sense but her gut strongly cautioned her from letting Digna know about her discovery. She could tell the team but that would eventually get to her colleague whom Gwen thought looked more and more like a huge snake than a person. Okay, she was being a bitch. And she hated snakes.

  Digna still reminded her of a snake.

  “I’ll be up in fifteen minutes.”

  “Good.” Gwen imagined Kerri jumping up and down, her hands clapping with glee. “Do you know where to go?”

  “I do.”

  “Thank you, Doctor. See you in fifteen.”

  Now, five minutes before the appointed time, Gwen was fidgeting. The fiberglass elevator rose sedately, Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini keeping her company. Sebastian Pharma was located in an industrial compound south of Austin’s business district. Cooped inside her lab for almost the entire day, Gwen hadn’t been able to appreciate the spectacular skyline of the city since she arrived a year and a half ago from the UK. She was given that chance now as the elevator rose higher towards Sebastian Highmore’s office like a mortal trekking up Olympus to meet Zeus. From her vantage point, she saw the State Capitol and the financial district. Street lamps dotting downtown made them glow like a city rising up from the ground. Since taking her post as Associate Scientist for Research, she hardly had the time to experience what Austin had to offer. The moment she arrived home, she only had enough energy to care for her bonsai tree before her head became too heavy between her shoulders. Microwave meals were a godsend though not the healthiest of choices. Good thing Sebastian Pharma fed their people very well. That was if she could pull herself away from work. It was her tenacity and attention to detail that got the attention of the company’s headhunters. She was deep selected a few weeks shy of receiving her doctorate from the University of Manchester. Her thesis about the blood’s molecular structure, separating its components to extract a uniquely individual cure for the disease ravaging a person’s body, led to ridicule in the scientific community but a job at Sebastian Pharma which was like the Holy Grail where lucrative scientific jobs were concerned. When she was told that she was going to be part of a team studying blood that could be used as a conduit for healing, she couldn’t let the opportunity pass her by. Gwen had never heard of that before and believed all of it to be poppycock. But just the thought…the possibility. It would put the medical world on its head. How Sebastian Pharma was able to procure this strain of blood let alone try to replicate the substance also had its pitfalls, too. For one, the person from whom the blood came from would be used as a main source for harvesting this rare life essence. It sounded cruel, barbaric. Gwen had no idea who the person was and far be it for her to deny taking the risks leading to scientific breakthroughs, just the thought of using the unnamed person as a finite source for the whole of humanity didn’t sit well with her. Yet here she was, a part of the team studying it.

  So much for scruples.

  The elevator dinged.

  “Mr. Highmore’s office,” the disembodied voice announced.

  Who the hell programmed the elevator to say the person’s name?

  Gwen’s brow flickered. Narcissistic much?

  Her opulent surroundings made Gwen feel very insignificant. Marble floors, a wide lobby with a half-moon shaped reception at the far end of the waiting area. It was empty. Of course it was. Time ceased to have any meanin
g when she was inside the lab and Kerri must have gone home after placing the call to her. After all, it was two in the morning. The only merry fixture in the austere place was the Christmas tree bedecked with crystal and lights located in a corner of the lobby.

  A woman emerged from behind the reception’s wall. Gwen wiped her sweaty palms on the sides of her skirt suddenly conscious of what she was wearing. Plain white silk blouse and a gray pencil skirt was a sharp contrast to the woman wearing a cream dress that fit to perfection and red bottom four inch heels. Flawless skin, perfectly formed brows and lips, a straight nose and a blonde silk curtain of hair. She was like an actress from Hollywood’s Golden Age. Joan Fontaine or Grace Kelly immediately came to mind.

  “Doctor Fraser.”

  Gwen’s eyes rounded. Seriously? The pigtails and clapping hands her imagination conjured dissolved to be replaced by the vision who stood before her. Kerri’s blue eyes were warm and welcoming as she extended her hand.

  “Thank you for coming at such short notice.”

  “No trouble at all,” Gwen said surprised that Kerri’s hand was the opposite of her smile.

  Dead cold. A problem with blood circulation maybe?

  “Mr. Highmore is expecting you. Please follow me.”

  As soon as Kerri turned, Gwen attempted to straighten her hair in some semblance of order, running her fingers through her tresses to untangle the snagged parts of her mane. She was regretting not bringing a brush but what was the point? Who would see her inside the lab? Unless the bloods they were studying morphed into a homunculus. Besides, she was not ready for another relationship. Her last relationship had fizzled when she spent more time completing her doctorate than be with her ex. Taking a break from her research, she decided to surprise Tim by coming home early only to see him going down on a busty blonde in their bed. Too shocked to scream the house down, she left slamming the door behind her. Tim ran after her and she gave him a slap so hard he whirled and lost his balance. Her heart had been battered too much because she believed him when he said he was there for her. Because that was what he told her and stupid her believed him. She didn’t return to the flat she shared with him. She made arrangements for the flat to be sold and her belongings there to be given to charity. Any attempts by Tim to speak to her were futile until he gave up.

  Microscopes and blood vials were safer.

  She followed Kerri behind the reception area towards a large door at the end of the hallway. Kerri didn’t announce her but merely opened the door and left.

  Gwen’s vocal chords seized the moment the man behind the desk approached her.

  This is Sebastian Highmore?

  He was as reclusive as they came. There were hardly any pictures of Sebastian Pharma’s CEO. If anyone wanted to invite him to a fund raising event, mobile phones and cameras were left at the door. Tight security gave each guest a body scan. Anyone enterprising enough to slip a hidden camera was politely requested to leave the hall, their phone destroyed and replaced with a brand new phone. Any pictures taken from afar were grainy at best. It didn’t matter how powerful the lenses were, the end result was always grainy as though taken with a very dirty lens.

  Now she was facing one of the most elusive bachelors this side of the planet. Sebastian Highmore was a Nordic god. His custom made suit fitted him perfectly from his broad shoulders to his lean waist. He had a straight nose and clean cut platinum to nearly white hair. His firm jaw was smooth, his lips full and hinted of every erotic delight Gwen thought of, making her blush. With brooding features enough to make a woman’s panties melt, Sebastian Highmore could have just walked out of the catwalk for men’s haute couture. But what arrested Gwen was the colour of his eyes – a dark black, if there was such a colour. It looked…soulless.

  “Doctor Fraser, please have a seat.” He gestured towards the chair facing his desk. “Drink?”

  “No thank you.” Gwen sat on the edge of the plush wingback chair. She was afraid that if she sat back, she’d sink into the centre of the seat and never see the light of day again.

  Sebastian’s mouth twitched, whether in amusement or if it was out of habit, Gwen didn’t know. Unless he read minds, he wouldn’t know she was thinking of getting lost in an alternate dimension in the middle of her chair. She forced herself not to fidget when he sat on the edge of the table right in front of her, yet how couldn’t she, when his scent was heady? Intoxicating. An attractive scent that could have made her swoon hadn’t it been for the fact that she was talking to him about the research.

  “Digna’s report said that you had a breakthrough on the specimen you were provided with?”

  “Yes.” Gwen nodded liking it that Sebastian was straight to the point. “It was in my report I submitted to Digna.”

  “Your report?” Sebastian’s eyebrow arched at the same time as the shadow of confusion passed his face. He twisted around to get a folder from his desk and flicked through the pages. “The only report I have here is Dr. Manson’s.”

  Gwen stared at him blankly for a split second before she felt her stomach plummet to the ground floor. She became lightheaded as blood drained from her face and simmering anger replaced it. What. The. Hell? Her mouth moved but she was sure she looked like a flounder at that very minute.

  “Doctor Fraser?”

  “May I please see the report?” Her voice was barely above a whisper, but Sebastian handed it to her, watching her every move. Gwen stared at the report, her fingers slowly sliding through the pages. Her eyes misted with rage.

  Digna had the gall to take her report word for word and placed her name on it.

  “This is my report, Mr. Highmore.” She managed to get through her locked voice box. “Everything here, these are my words. Digna never made one. She told me she’d send it to you. I included the team’s contributions and cited them as was the right thing to do. She was hardly in the laboratory. She never slaved on any of the experiments as much as the rest of the team did.” Words came in a rush as her voice rose. Shit, that was unprofessional. She sounded like a harpy.

  But so was copying someone else’s work.

  “Well.” Sebastian expelled a breath. “That does complicated things a bit.”

  “A bit?” She stared at the man who emanated so much power, the room was not big enough to contain it.

  “Whether it’s yours or Digna’s it doesn’t matter.” He lifted a nonchalant shoulder.

  Disbelief whooshed out of her. “Doesn’t matter? This is plagiarism! Intellectual property theft! The least she could have done was to acknowledge us in the report!” She stood and glimpsed the surprise in Sebastian’s dark gaze before disdainful amusement replaced it. Guess His Highness Highmore never experienced someone correcting him before. H.H.H. The moniker suited him more and more.

  “Really?” he murmured thoughtfully. “How could this be theft when you work for me?”

  Gwen’s cheeks heated. “Did I say you stole my work?” At Sebastian’s cool glare, she recovered quickly. “Of course any research belongs to you. That’s what you paid me and my team to do. Where I take exception is Doctor Manson making it appear that everything the team worked hard for is hers. Surely as the CEO of a pharmaceutical company, you’d understand the importance of intellectual property.”

  “True.” Sebastian dipped his head. “If someone stole from my company, I’d probably like to see them dead.”

  Gwen had no doubt he’d do what he’d just said.

  “This is different.” He resumed. “This is within the company and what’s yours is mine and what’s mine is mine. So...” He stood so close that Gwen had to step back to look up at him. “Yours, hers. I don’t care. I didn’t ask you to come here to thresh out your differences with Digna Manson. I want to know what you found out.”

  They were so close that she could feel…ice come out of him. His eyes glittered with black fire that Gwen was positive she was looking at the eyes of the devil himself.

  Who the heck is this man?

  As much as it
bristled and her ego was shot at the moment, Gwen knew that fighting over words and results stolen from her was nothing compared to the possibility of eradicating present day diseases that had no known cure. If her findings were bang on the buck, the blood could be synthesized to make antidotes or even make a person immune to the diseases that were already part of their genome. People with a family history of cancer need no longer be worried about contracting the disease because the antidote could completely eradicate their predisposition for generations. The experimental phase would take a long time, maybe even years. Then there was the review of the scientific community. But if she worked harder at getting the results and her team was on board, it would hopefully cut time and manufacturing the antidote could start. She was just going to make damn sure this time that she handed her findings directly to Sebastian Highmore and not fall for Digna’s bureaucratic and egotistical crap.

  “I’m still writing the report.” She hated backing down, detested the feeling she had between her shoulder blades that tasted much like the humiliation slithering down her throat. “What you have is the bulk of it.”

  “I see.” Sebastian moved so fluidly, Gwen didn’t realize he was gone from her personal space and she could breathe again. Sebastian’s devastatingly handsome persona suddenly felt…oppressive.

  “I’ll have the report ready in two days.” She added, tucking an errant tendril that escaped her ponytail. “Hopefully, manufacturing a possible antidote for the diseases that I’ve been able to identify is in the near future.”

  “Manufacturing?” Sebastian sat down on his chair, the fine leather creaking under his weight. He tilted his head in inquiry. “Of what antidote exactly?”

  “This.” Gwen indicated to the folder with her other hand. “The blood. This project.”

  Laughter rumbled out of Sebastian’s throat. Glee meant for hilarity after several shots of tequila was not in place and it left Gwen cold.