Firebinders: Marek (The Firebinders Book 1)

by Isobelle Cate

  And here I was thinking you were a decent guy.

  Surprise filled his face again. “Excuse me?”

  “I didn’t say anything.”

  Sebastian continued to chuckle. Something dark crossed his face before it disappeared but it was enough for Gwen to realise she might be treading on dangerous ground.

  “I thought I heard you say that I was a decent guy,” he drawled, remnants of his amusement still threading through his voice. “I am pretty decent, Doctor Fraser, provided no one crosses me.”

  Gwen straightened. Her stomach churned and her chest felt like it was going to fall onto itself. She swallowed through the lump in her throat.

  “Did I just hear you threaten me, Mr. Highmore? I assure you, I have no intention of crossing you.” He was not the only one who could throw a cold glare. “But I don’t take kindly to threats.”

  Right. That just put her on Sebastian Highmore’s shit list. Her heart thudded hard inside her rib cage. She was about to join the long line of the unemployed. Not that it would really matter. Frugality won the day every time. Being a trust fund baby did not hurt either. She just was not going to sit it out and party until inhaled snow stormed her veins. Her father always told her she had a brilliant mind, to put it to good use to save humanity. She never forgot that so it pissed her off that this man, who could have contributed to answering the world’s clamour for medicines had no actual intention of doing so. Instead he was a walking billboard for self-absorbed megalomaniacs with nothing better to do than splurge on a scientific project just for the sake of it.

  “This project,” Gwen lifted her arms and encompassed the room voicing her sentiment, “I thought you wanted to change the world and find a cure for a lot of diseases.”

  “Eventually, it will.” Sebastian sounded bored. “Red tape makes sure this won’t see the light of day for some time yet. So in the meantime, I shall use it.”

  “You can’t—” she began, aghast then stiffened when Sebastian pinned her with a glacial stare she felt down to the marrow of her bones.

  “I can’t what?”

  Gwen looked down. He owned the bloody company. Of course he could do whatever he wanted if he had a rubber stamp board. “I spoke out of line. I’m sorry.” She stood taking a deep breath. If this was how it was going to be she didn’t think she’d be able to live with herself if she finalised the report and nothing came out of it. “Mr. Highmore, I can’t work like this.”

  “Sebastian.”

  She ignored him. “I can’t do this. You’ll have my resignation on your desk by daybreak.”

  Sebastian’s brow rose in amusement. “That’s being overly dramatic, Gwen. I accept your apology for your outburst.”

  She did not give him permission to call her by her first name. Oh yes, he was a dick who did whatever the bloody hell he wanted.

  “The apology was not for the outburst, sir. I can’t be a part of this team any longer. I can’t stand back and allow someone to steal my work let alone the team’s contribution only to find out that you do not find any urgency in putting this to good use.”

  Sebastian’s narrowed gaze told her she hit a nerve. Who cares? Treating her as though she was not an integral part of the team was one thing she brushed off from the get go. But to steal her report and the contributions of the team while Digna, who was hardly ever there took all the credit? She and the other scientists spent too many sleepless nights trying to unravel the baffling blood sample for someone else to take all the credit. Digna always had something against her and Gwen had no clue what it was. But why add the team into the mix?

  “Let’s not be hasty, Gwen.”

  “Yes, lets,” she said right after short of calling him by his first name.

  “No, let’s not. I’ll speak to Digna.” Sebastian stood and the authority emanating from him made Gwen reconsider her position. Almost. Just the thought of being Digna’s pawn was enough reason to cut ties.

  “You can speak to her all you like,” she said. “My mind’s made up. Goodbye, Mr. Highmore.”

  Gwen wrenched the door open infuriated that it did not slam behind her. Instead, the weight nearly pulled her arm from her shoulder socket when it refused to close with speed. Every day saw her cooped up inside the sterile lab with refrigeration units, centrifuges, powerful microscopes, and the most advanced medical computer programmes at her disposal. Her team members had started joking that she did not have a social life at all but Digna had come to her rescue, telling everyone to leave Gwen alone.

  No wonder.

  The unfairness of everything happening was tempting enough for her to go to her special place in the dead of the predawn and let all her aggression out. She hadn’t been to the firing range as much as she wanted since she worked on the blood sample. And bloody hell, she needed her Sig right now like she needed a shot of snow up her vein. Almost everyone carried a firearm in Texas, but the pharma company’s policy was that no employee, save for security, packed a piece. Gwen did not want the world to know she knew how to use one. A guilty pleasure brought on by reasons of survival. She was handy with a knife too but not as savvy than when she had a gun.

  Her heels clicked on the marble floor echoing how insignificant and alone she was. An unwelcome chill traipsed down her backbone not even the sight of the Christmas tree could dispel. There was something about being the solitary figure amid opulent surroundings with the sound of her shoes her only companion that made it eerier than if she was alone in her lab. Not even Kerri was around.

  She pressed for the elevator, watching the digital numbers announce its presence on each floor. She looked around. A camera stared down at her from the corner of the ceiling. Averting her gaze, she willed the elevator to hurry. As though answering her, a soft chime sounded and the doors opened. Her sudden exhale caught in her throat in a near squeak when she saw Kerry watching her from one of the windows. The statuesque beauty a cold dark shadow framed in glass and backlit by the lights in her office. Gwen turned away as nonchalantly as her erratic heart allowed. It was just a fast trip down to the ground floor, right? It was not as if someone was out to get her. Highmore must be relieved that she was leaving. The request not to be hasty was just an act. Gwen knew when a person was displeased. She’d had a lot of experience in that department.

  She looked at Austin’s skyline assisted by the lights left on in buildings and street lamps. Overhead, the sky was clear and a million stars hang out over the city. For some bizarre reason, Gwen pictured Sebastian Pharma’s main building as some sort of concrete representation of loud and quiet, noise and silence. She noticed the moment the elevator rose to take her to the top because the sounds around her dropped. A sensation that everything she knew about the world was being left behind on the lower floors. Now that she was descending, noise intruded into the elevator, joining the strains of Chopin this time. As if the rest of humanity had been left suspended somewhere between the twenty-fifth and thirtieth floors. Even the lights were brighter upon descent, granting her reprieve to allow her heartbeat to slow down. She was in control once more.

  Gwen left the main building, nodding to the security on duty who hardly glanced at her, past the lobby where another huge Christmas tree stood, twinkling within the vast expanse of marble and steel. She was never as thankful as she was the moment her shoes landed on terra firma. The chill in the air was welcome, thawing whatever ice her blood had picked up while she was within Sebastian Highmore’s sanctum. She let herself into the lab via the iris scanner and met Ken Nishioka swinging his backpack onto his shoulder.

  “Shouldn’t you have gone already?” Gwen smiled lifting a brow in gentle mockery. “You’ve clocked too many hours now, Ken. Your baby girl is not going to like that.”

  Ken laughed, his dark eyes brimming with joy.

  “She’ll still be asleep.” He locked his desk, pocketing the key. “The more important thing is that she sees me tomorrow.”

  “Indeed.” A smile pulled at her mouth. “Goodnight, Ken.”
<
br />   Ken grinned. “Good morning, Gwen.”

  The moment the pressurized doors closed behind her colleague, Gwen’s shoulders slumped suddenly tired. She sat at her desk and fired off her resignation letter. Five sentences and a signature later, she was done. She looked around the lab that was her second home for the duration she was with the company. Regret landed in the centre of her chest and for one brief moment, she wanted to take her resignation back. But the betrayal was too heavy for her to stay.

  She placed her resignation letter in an envelope then secured her research notes to her cloud. She was principled enough to leave a copy on the desk. After all, whatever she discovered belonged to Sebastian Pharma. But something was bugging her that made her secure her notes as if doing so was going to save her someday.

  She left the lab, a twinge of wistfulness tugging at her heart, before she closed the door with finality behind her. She went back to the lobby. Leaving it with Security at the front desk was not the most professional of actions. Then again, she had no intention of getting caught in the same floor as the head of the company ever again.

  She made her way to the parking lot where, save for the security cruisers, her Porsche was the only one in a black sea of asphalt. As she left the compound, it still smarted that Sebastian Highmore was not willing to listen to her let alone give her the benefit of the doubt. It was no less strong than the humiliation she continued to feel at what Digna had done.

  Cruising towards downtown Austin, Gwen slowed down at an intersection. The strains of New Orleans jazz filled her car soothing her frayed senses that she didn’t notice the black SUVs flanking her car. She gave the SUV to her right then left cursory glances vaguely noticing the shadowed features of the passenger lit by the dashboard lights. The window partially opened giving her a clearer view of the man. Clean cut with a face that looked like it had gone through several rounds in the ring even after the last bell peeled. The traffic light turned green. Gwen shifted gear but a movement inside the SUV to her left made her do a double take. In that split second, her survival instincts kicked in and she gunned down on the accelerator, away from the snout of the silencer. She squealed when the spit shattered the window behind her, instinctively jerking her head away from possible shards. Her suddenly sweaty palms slipped on the steering wheel.

  “Shit!”

  It had been a long time since she’d been in a situation like this. The old adrenalin spike warmed her insides and sharpened her senses. She breathed in the excitement that came with the faint smell of burning rubber on asphalt.

  “You assholes what to play?” she muttered under her breath. “We’ll play.”

  She sped ahead, swearing when she felt the SUV graze the side and bumper of her car. She was either going to get a ginormous repair bill or her baby was going to be a write off before the night was through. She’d never grazed her Porsche, not once! And the dingbats were nipping at her car like hyenas going in for the kill.

  Soon they were on her tail again narrowing the distance. Gwen counted, her ears attuned and waiting for the gears shifting – that dead time when she had few precious seconds to increase the odds in her favour.

  There.

  Pedal to the metal, she left them once more before she slammed on the brakes and the larger vehicles shot forward. Gwen gripped the handbrake and the Porsche spun, tires screeching, and rubber smoking. Holding tight, she swerved around and hit the gas once more, speeding back to where she came from. She didn’t care if she was on the wrong lane and well and good if a police cruiser came along Her goal was to get to the intersection once more. Traffic cameras could kiss her ass but she had no intention of being a dutiful citizen lying six feet under.

  She darted a glance at her rearview mirror. The SUVs were already heading back to her. Heart in her throat, her brain ran through what areas were relatively populated at three in the morning.

  Hotels.

  She shot out of the interstate, her car screaming and eating up the miles as she sped through downtown Austin swerving into a street. Her mouth curled when it took the higher suspension vehicles chasing her slightly more time to follow her without flipping over.

  “C’mon, c’mon. Don’t freeze up, Gwen!” Berating herself added to the adrenalin soaking her veins. It always did. All around her were lights without anyone around. Surreal post-apocalyptic surroundings until she could find the nearest hotel. She had overshot several hotels until she saw the lights of the Four Seasons. She accelerated weaving through one street to the next until she downshifted and swerved in to San Jacinto Boulevard. Her breath suspended when the Porsche narrowly took the corner then she winced the minute she heard the hubcap graze the island.

  “C’mon sweetie, give me some more.” The words passed through her teeth. The homestretch was right in front of her but temporary salvation was still far away. She drove around the huge tree in the courtyard until the Porsche stopped right behind a limousine. Gwen groaned.

  Ten seconds. Nine. Eight. Seven…

  Gwen turned to look through her window. The air-conditioner was blowing. She felt the cold air behind her. And her sweat trickled between her breasts and wet her armpits.

  Six…five…four…three…two…

  The limousine inched its way out of the entrance. Gwen light raised her foot from the clutch and stepped slowly on the gas. The Porsche crawled forward.

  One.

  The concierge returned to her after escorting female guests none the worse for wear into the hotel. He smiled even before Gwen stopped dead smack in the centre of the overhead carport just as the two SUVs crawled into the courtyard.

  “Good morning,” he greeted. “Any luggage?”

  “None, thanks.” Gwen breathed a sigh of relief grabbing her purse as she stepped out. Her sweat mixed with her perfume drifted up to her nose. God, she needed a bath. She didn’t have any mints. If the concierge smelled her, he didn’t react. She didn’t care. She was safe.

  For now.

  Unless the one who was inside the SUV was a crack shot and put one at the back of her skull and risk killing the concierge also. Gwen didn’t dare turn, standing so close to the concierge, their bodies almost touched.

  “Miss?” His eyes widened.

  “I’m sorry,” Gwen spoke on a breath. “Do you see the SUVs that just entered the courtyard?”

  The concierge’s eyes shifted to a point just beside her head. His gathering frown clearing finally seeing the damage done to the Porsche.

  “Abusive husband?”

  Gwen shook her head. “Ex-partner. You wouldn’t mind escorting me inside, would you?” She didn’t have the genteel and southern charm prevalent in many Texans, but she hoped that in the time she’d been in Austin, some of it rubbed off on her.

  “Don’t worry your pretty head over it.” He inflated his chest, his brown uniform stretching over his paunch. “Are you from England?”

  “Does it show?”

  The concierge chortled. “No. Your accent gave you away.”

  Gwen angled her head and gave him a brief smile.

  He closed the Porsche’s door before tucking Gwen’s arm around his. He smiled, brown eyes twinkling. “Shall we?”

  Gwen remained tense all throughout the few short steps into the hotel’s lobby. It felt like an eternity to traverse but the moment they passed through the threshold, the breath she held exited, her shoulders concaving in relief.

  “Thank you.” She squeezed his arm, looking at his nameplate. “Evander.”

  The lilt in her voice made Evander laugh. “Long before the boxing ring saw ear biting as part of the sport.”

  Gwen wracked her brains before her internal Google page brought up a picture. She grinned. Way before her time.

  “I’ll take care of your poor car.” He tutted shaking his head. “Your ex should go to jail for doing that. Give me your keys and I’ll leave it at the front desk for you to pick up when you’re ready.”

  “Thank you.” Heartfelt gratitude made her knees wobble.


  Evander took her all the way to the front desk and tipped his hat before leaving. The only room available was a junior suite but Gwen hardly flinched. There was more than enough money on her credit card and bank to cover her stay for a week though had no intention of staying that long. She just needed to regroup and in a few hours, she’d be back in her apartment. Thanking the woman behind the front desk she turned and stalled, her senses shooting up in alarm. Two men appeared in the lobby and one was the man who had tried to kill her. There was no doubt she was scared shitless but her unrelenting clinical mind begged for answers. First, who were these men who wanted to kill her?

  Second, who wanted her dead?

  Marek still couldn’t sleep. He’d been sitting by the fire pit in the hotel’s grounds for over three hours staring at the stars hoping he’d get bored enough to finally close his eyes. No such luck. Lia was still not returning his phone calls either and it was pissing him off. He didn’t believe she was already asleep because she was a party animal. Still, he understood why Lia refused to have anything to do with him. He couldn’t help it if he wanted to watch over his sister twenty-four seven. The word protection was right up there even before the word ‘apple’. There were so few of them left and to even meet up with the rest of the firebinders entailed security tighter than a goat’s ass – unless they flew under the radar which was what he, Lia, and Rouge had been doing. The best Marek could do was hope his sister had the heart and annoyance to just pick up the damn phone.

  He entered the hotel from the garden and a frisson of awareness raised the hairs on the back of his neck. He scanned the gardens, the lobby lounge before he made a double take at seeing a woman frozen by the front desk. From his vantage point, Marek saw the pallor of her skin, the loose tendrils of her sleek dark brown hair that had escaped her ponytail, and her pinched mouth that could have been kissable if she allowed it to soften. Her body language reminded him of a sleek cat, tensed in readiness to pounce in the way she fisted her key card. Another movement caught his attention, this time from two men coming into view behind the fire place that divided the lobby lounge from the main foyer.