“She’s not there, she went to bingo. I told her she needed to relax,” a voice said, starling me. It was Idris and he was standing next to the street lamp. My breathing was still irregular as the image of that Dark One shifted in front of my eyes.
“What the hell do you want?” I barked, trembling. There was something wrong with me. I shouldn’t have ran away leaving her in the dirty hands of that fancy-looking creature.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, narrowing his eyes. “Where the hell is your backpack?”
I glared at him until some humans moved past us. First Nicolas, now Avianna.
“Don’t act like you don’t know what happened.”
“I don’t, and I’m just about to lose it with you, little one,” he said, and I wanted to laugh. I didn’t sense that he was lying to me, so I started telling him everything that had happened. My heart was breaking all over again, and I nodded to him to get inside the house. The smell of custard made my mouth water, and I realised I hadn’t eaten anything since this afternoon. Avianna had polished off all of the sandwiches and that just made me feel shitty all over again.
Idris was truly unaware of what had happened at the pub. He kept breathing in and out a little, dragging his hand through his hair.
“Fucking Baxley. Someone must have given him a tip that you were going to be there,” he snapped. “Come on, let’s go to my place. I can’t think straight in here.”
I was just about to say no, but then I knew I wouldn’t be able to cope well alone. Besides, Aly was going to be disappointed. She had bonded with my dragon and I had lost her.
I went upstairs and changed; my clothes stunk of beer. Idris waited for me in the car. I got in and the tension between us was apparent. We didn’t talk. I didn’t think there were enough words to explain what had happened. Eventually I must have dozed off. Maybe it was the heat or the fact that all of my adrenaline had worn off.
The sleep was blissful, and, in that world, I had forgotten all about the bad things that had happened recently. Avianna was back and she was sitting on my shoulder. We were back in Draconia and Dara was there, too. We were sitting outside that rich warden’s house; the one I’d broken into where I’d found Avianna’s egg. At the time, she was still inside the egg.
Even the moment of truth made me feel like someone else, like a Dark One in warden’s skin. Was that even possible? My mind was in despair, until there was nothing else.
I must have slept for a really long time, maybe even fourteen hours straight, because when I woke up I had no idea where I was. The room was dark, the shades were closed. My arm felt sore, well, my whole body felt like I had been hit by a truck.
The smell was musky and manly.
“Idris,” I whispered as memories from the day before floated through my head. My chest tightened, because I realised everything I thought was just a temporary nightmare turned out to be true. Avianna was gone, and I had been sleeping peacefully for over fourteen hours. I had wasted too much time resting.
I pushed the covers off of me, swinging my legs over the side of the bed, and stood up. When I looked down at myself I realised I was only in my underwear. This was happening way too often.
Seconds later, there was a knock at my door, so I crawled back in bed, trying to cover myself. The half Dark One walked in with a tray of food. I smelled toast and coffee; my mouth watered instantly.
“I hoped you slept well, that wound on your leg was pretty nasty,” he said, sounding wired. I dragged my hand through my hair, trying to keep myself in line, but deep inside I was furious. I was already missing Avianna like crazy.
He stood by my bed, watching me.
“How could you let me sleep? We were supposed to work out a plan,” I said.
“You obviously needed to rest,” he muttered and then tried to place the tray with food on my lap. I pushed it away and threw it against the wall with rage, then got out of the bed. Idris backed away a little.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” he asked me, but my breathing was irregular. There was something inside me, an unexplained rage that kept growing with every heartbeat. I jumped back on my feet and pushed Idris towards the wall.
“It’s all your fault that Avianna was taken from me, it’s all your doing!” I shouted, shaking with unexplained fury. Idris looked confused and the fire in the pit of my stomach started changing me. Maybe it was because of the fact that my baby dragon wasn’t connected to me, but I was losing complete control of myself.
“My fault? I had no idea you were even attacked. Several hours ago, you mentioned it to me, and that’s the first time I heard about it,” he shouted back.
“Bullshit!”
I punched him, again and again, wanting to kill him, wanting to hurt him. My hands were charged with energy that felt foreign to me.
“Listen to me for a second, little one,” he told me, but I kept punching him. Every hit made me feel worse, more vulnerable. I wanted to rip his face off, but then he held my wrists, squeezing them tight.
“Stop it, little one; you’re hurting yourself. Listen to what I have to tell you, its—”
“No, no, you’re the traitor and you have manipulated me into being here. I’m going to kill you!” I screamed with rage.
Then he moved my body around his, blocking my movements. I was ready to blow up, kill him, slaughter him—whatever. I just needed him to let go of me, because his touch was burning my skin and not in a good way.
“Don’t struggle, calm down—listen to your voice. Avianna wouldn’t want this,” he was saying. I kept struggling, but he was so strong.
The pain was spreading faster than I wanted and needed. The hate for Idris was unbelievable, but the warmth from his body and soul was doing something to me. The foreign energy slowly began to fade; the nasty anger, that gripping rage inside of me wasn’t there anymore. Something or someone made me do this.
I started sobbing, the tears started falling involuntarily, spreading down my cheeks.
“She’s gone. I can’t take it; she’s no longer with me. I ran away like a coward,” I was saying, sobbing like a little girl.
The rage was gone as fast it had appeared, but I felt so empty.
Idris placed his cheek next to mine; his voice was soft and smoothing.
“There’s a way to get her back, but first I need to know if you’re calm?” he asked, and I kept crying. My mind seemed blank, like someone had removed the part of my brain responsible for logical thought. It wasn’t Idris’s fault, but for a moment, I was convinced that he was the one who had betrayed me.
I shouldn’t have blamed him, because I went to that pub looking to have a drink, and ran into Darius. Maybe it was him who had sold me out, who knew?
Slowly, after he released me, I started taking deep breaths.
“Yes, I’m calm. You were right. I don’t know what got into me,” I whispered back. I felt our connection and it was unfair that I’d said all those horrible things to him.
“Your emotions took over, but I did my own investigation while you were asleep. Baxley has Avianna, and he hasn’t handed her over to my father yet. I might have bought us some time,” he continued.
I glanced at him, feeling lightheaded, but there was no time for passing out. His eyes were penetrating, and my heart was swelling in my chest. My skin was buzzing, almost shimmering with magic
“What do you mean? Why didn’t he hand Avianna over to your father?” I asked, with a spark of hope. Idris tilted his lips to the side; he was trying to hide a smile.
“My father travelled back to Lower world. Something happened there, but my sister is getting involved. Baxley is her fiancé; the perfect son-in-law,” Idris said, then helped me back to my feet.
He was bitter, too, and this was personal for him. I didn’t even know my family, but Idris was suffering. His father left the human world for a reason and it was a bad sign. I no longer knew what to think about the future.
Chapter Fourteen
New plan.
I felt so ashamed of myself, staring at the mess on the carpet. Something happened. I snapped and lost control, but the energy that rose within me wasn’t mine. It felt like someone had spellbound me. Was this even possible?
Even now, I felt misery and resentment. Idris was so good to me, and I had attacked him in his own home. What the hell was wrong with me?
I started cleaning, picking up bits of food from the sheet and floor.
“Just leave it, Fran. Let’s go downstairs and have some breakfast. I’m sure you haven’t eaten anything since yesterday morning,” he told me. He was right, my stomach was growling, and I had completely forgotten about food. Heat rushed to my cheeks. Things were weird between us right now. I screwed up, but I needed to show him that I trusted him. Idris didn’t care about his family. He showed me that he believed in me.
“You lost your dragon, so you might feel overwhelmed. I guess you lost sense of yourself,” he told me, but that wasn’t it. Earlier on my energy changed, I lost control. Someone must have interfered with my magic. Maybe this had something to do with Avianna, maybe not. Either way, I hoped this never happened to me again.
Even before I showed up in this world, I was always withdrawn and distant. People annoyed me in general. Wardens had always been nosey. They all wanted to know how I survived all this time, without family or magic.
I picked only a few more bits and put them back on the plate. He told me that he would wait for me downstairs. I quickly put some clothes on and went downstairs. Idris was very tidy, everything in his house was always in order.
Everything about yesterday was still a little blurry. Idris must have taken me to his apartment in the city.
He obviously risked a lot by having me here, but in the living room or kitchen I didn’t bump into any strangers. His sister was gone, and I truly hoped that I didn’t have to deal with her again anytime soon. Idris was pottering around the kitchen, probably making me more food that I could actually eat. I picked up some toast from the table and ate it straight away. I didn’t even realise how hungry I was.
“Tell me about your plan?” I asked him.
“Baxley is planning to deliver the dragon to the Lower World. My father has left London and he’s doing some sort of visitation at the prison in Sepulcrum. Yeah, I was surprised. I could accompany him, but you have to become one of us,” he told me, and I frowned, not understanding what he meant.
“Everyone in the office knows who I am. Well, at least most of the Dark Ones, so I have no idea what you are talking about,” I said, wondering what Baxley was doing to Avianna. I hoped he wasn’t planning to hurt her.
Idris gestured for me to sit down on his slick black chair. Everything in his apartment looked new. He placed a cup of coffee in front of me, and a plate filled with eggs, sausages and more toast. My stomach growled; I was starving.
“Eat,” he told me. Everything tasted delicious and by the time my stomach was full I felt much better. He sat opposite me, drinking coffee.
“Tell me more about your plan?”
“There’s a warlock who can change your appearance. You could play the role of my father’s new assistant. They always quit because of his short temper. They believe I’ve never been in the Lower World before, but my sister will approve of this idea. My family likes seeing me more involved,” he explained winking at me.
I was confused, but I was willing to do anything to be reunited with my dragon.
“How can a warlock change my appearance?” I asked, staring at his wide chest. He was so devilishly handsome, and yet for a very long time I believed he was the enemy. Nicolas had kissed me, and he wanted me.
I shouldn’t have turned him down. We were good match.
“We would need to pay him and there is a slight risk, but it’s the perfect plan. Baxley will keep hold of Avianna for few days. She’s his trophy. There’s a reason why he hasn’t handed her back to the council yet. My father made too many strategic errors and Baxley wants to gain something in exchange for Avianna. I know him too well, he has a huge ego,” he explained.
I heard about this in the past, but never believed something like that could be real. Most Warlocks had escaped from the Lower World forever. Now I knew they’d all vanished to the human world. They must have figured out the way by using the cracks; there wasn’t many of them. The Dark Ones used them, but none of them were as weak as wardens, that’s why they escaped when the opportunity arose.
“What risk are we talking about here?” I pressed on, chewing another bite of toast. Now my body was filled with energy, and I felt more like myself again.
“Well, for starters, he’ll weaken your energy. And I guess he’ll ask for a favour, too, like Harvey did.”
It was a good plan and I didn’t care about the risk. I didn’t have any human money and I wasn’t entirely comfortable with the fact that Idris was willing to foot the bill. It was yet another favour that I would have to owe him.
“I’ll do whatever it takes. It’s a solid plan. Once we get inside the prison, we should be able to get Nicolas out. This way we can catch two birds with one stone,” I said, thinking out loud.
Idris got up and picked up the pan. He placed more eggs on my plate. He was obviously a good cook. Lately I hadn’t experienced much of normality, and he was still standing by me. I needed to be more grateful for everything that he had done for me in the past.
“You will be weaker and more vulnerable, so if anything goes wrong—”
“Nothing will go wrong, Idris. This is an excellent idea. I think we should head to see the warlock straight away,” I told him, wanting to apologise again for what happened earlier, but for some reason I felt awkward
“We could go see the warlock tonight, but for that we need a special passcode. We should go back to Aly; she needs to know what happened,” he reminded me, and my stomach contracted with discomfort. He was right: Aly needed to know that my plan backfired. She was like the family I never had back in Draconia.
I nodded and finished eating the eggs. Everything tasted delicious. We had a lot of things in common, but the tiny voice in my head reminded me that I couldn’t think about this life now. This wasn’t fair to Idris.
“You’re going to pick me up later on, right? Do you need anything else from me?” I asked him. He stared at me for a long time in silence. The heat from his gaze sent a cold shiver down my spine. Idris obviously wasn’t a man that held a grudge.
“Yes, but I’m going to drive you home right away. There are just too many Dark Ones in the city and too many of them will recognise you. We don’t want to take any unnecessary risks,” he said, more firmly that I expected. Maybe he thought I was going to fight him over it. Deep down I wasn’t ready to be stuck in his presence within the small confines of his car for longer than a minute or so, but I guessed I didn’t really have much choice. For now, I needed to forget about my own desires.
Aly was great. She didn’t shout or looked disappointed, and I didn’t know why I expected that from her anyway. My mind was made up: I wanted to see the warlock. I couldn’t see any flaws in Idris’s plan. We discussed it a bit further while he was driving through the city.
Then Aly and I spent a nice evening together, but we both noticed that the house seemed too quiet without Avianna.
I couldn’t imagine life without my little dragon. Back in Draconia, I got used to not having magic. I suspected that sooner or later, someone would have infected me with Dragon Fever. It was because of her that I became stronger. It’s like she had become a part of me, and I wasn’t dealing well with the fact that we were separated.
I had shared my new plan with Aly. She didn’t think that going back to the Lower World was such a great idea. At the same time, my and Idris’s options were limited.
I had to stop Baxley from delivering Avianna to Magnus. Even Idris believed his father had other intentions. I was never supposed to find that egg.
I went to bed early that evening, but I couldn’t sleep. I kept tossing and turning,
feeling on edge. My thoughts were racing. I wasn’t afraid of the warlock. I was just worried that something might go wrong once we went back to Sepulcrum again.
Eventually, I must have drifted off to sleep sometime in the early hours of the morning. Aly prepared breakfast when I woke up as usual. She even set a plate out for Avianna.
“I forgot she’s not here… Oh, dear,” she muttered, placing her hand over mouth with tears welling in her eyes.
“I’m going to get her back tonight. I promise you,” I said to her with determination in my voice. She put the TV on and a pretty human started talking about a building that had caught fire somewhere in East London. Apparently, seven people had died, and a lot of them had been wounded.
Fires were very common in Draconia, especially in the poorer areas of the city. The Dark Ones showed up there often, attempting to deal with wardens who didn’t obey to their rules. They would also be searching for illegal magical artefacts. Everyone knew that was just their excuse. The council just wanted to make sure the population of wardens wasn’t growing stronger. The Dark Ones were afraid of an uprising.
In the late morning, I was getting ready when Aly handed me a bag and said,
“I made you some sandwiches. Anything could go wrong out there and it’s better if you’re well fed.”
She was such a sweetheart. I sighed loudly and then hugged her.
“Thank you, Aly, but please try not to worry. Everything will go smoothly this time,” I assured her and then packed a few more things in her old backpack.
Idris picked me up an hour later. It had rained earlier on, but the blazing heat was back.
“Are you sure you’re ready for this?” Idris asked when I got into his car. I fanned myself with a stack of papers from his back seat for a little while, but when I glanced at him I noticed his eyes moving over my cleavage. There was something wrong with me. I didn’t intend to show off my boobs, but it was so hot. I ignored the tingling sensations around my whole body and told myself he was just being playful. The heat was getting to him, too.
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