With no time to lose, I used my fingers as a hairbrush, raking them through the tangles in my hair, trying to undo the larger knots. Then, rushing over to the dresser, I swiped the blood contract from where it sat on top, and scrambled out the door, still tugging on my boots, my hands fumbling around to do up the zippers, as I slammed the door shut.
Beast Lord’s giant balls. I swore as my boots thwacked against the hard pavement, my feet weaving past cars and pedestrians, as I sprinted down the block.
The streets and roads were teeming with early morning commuters on their way to work, but hardly any of them paid me much attention as I jostled my way through the throngs, rushing towards my office building to meet Ethan.
I was just two blocks away from my destination when suddenly, out of nowhere, I heard the blare of a car horn pierce through the air. I jumped back just as a white Mercedes Benz screeched to a high-pitched squealing halt, its bumper mere inches away from my body.
My heart thudded to a gut renching stop as I stopped breathing, holding in my breath. Seconds ticked by, when I felt the pounding of my heart start up again, erratic and wild. Loosening a shaky breath, I stared down at the fingers-width between me and the car, as blood and adrenaline pumped furiously through my veins.
Fuck, that was a close call.
The car emitted a loud honk, and I straightened up to glare at the driver, only to find the dark tint of the windshield glass preventing me from seeing through inside.
“Yo asshole! Are you even looking where you’re going!” Snapping in the heat of anger, I thumped the hood of the car with the palm of my hand, and leaned forward to bare my teeth aggressively at the driver.
The dickhead behind the wheel beeped the horn again, and lowered his window just enough so I could hear his voice. “Get off the road, you crazy woman!”
His words sent me spluttering in outrage – the blind idiot had almost run into me – not the other way around! About to round the car to the driver’s side to give him a piece of my mind, I halted mid-step when my phone started ringing.
All of a sudden, I was reminded of the time, and that I was running late for my meeting. Ethan was probably calling to see how far I was on my way.
Damn my luck. I swore, feeling super annoyed I wouldn’t have time to teach this prick a lesson.
Because there was nothing else I could do, I flipped him the finger, and was about to walk away when he responded with another honk of his horn, giving me the shits. And so I delivered a swift kick to his bumper with the heel of my boot, and loped angrily away towards the footpath on the other side.
Out of the corner of my eye, from behind me, I saw the driver step out of his vehicle, and with a deep, angry, male voice he growled at me to come back. Hurling insults through the air behind my shoulder, I didn’t even bother sparing him a final glance as I jogged away, making sure to check both sides of the road for oncoming traffic.
Speeding down the footpath, I glanced down at my watch to check the time, and hissed as I realized I should have been at my office six minutes ago. As I turned the corner, I kicked my legs into a sprint, and my strides ate up the remaining distance.
Before long, I spotted my building, instantly recognizing the familiar ruddy brown façade.
My feet skidded to a halt before the entrance. With heart thudding, and veins pumping with adrenaline, I straightened my back and looked up, arm raised to block out the glaring light of the sun, wondering if Ethan was already waiting upstairs.
There was a Maserati parked in the carpark out front that I was almost certain was his – I pictured it was his type type of car. And being familiar with the vehicles belonging to the other tenants of the building, I knew it was none of theirs.
I decided to use an alternative route to avoid Ethan in case he was on the way upstairs. So, instead of entering directly from the front entrance through the glass doors, I rounded the building to the back, and opened the door to the fire stairwell. Hoping perhaps I’d be able to slip past him and get inside my office first.
Clambering loudly up the stairs, I made no efforts to muffle my sound, my mind’s eye focused on the door six floors above. As it emerged into sight, I bounded up the last couple of steps, and then reached out to grab the door handle with my hand, to throw open the heavy door with the words ‘Emergency Exit’ emblazoned across its surface.
The corridor the door directly opened out to was empty. Inside my chest, hope fluttered up like a butterfly – only to die immediately as I rounded the corner and spotted Ethan standing in the hallway adjoining my office. My feet ground to halt as he turned his head in my direction, hearing the sound of my arrival.
At that precise moment when our gazes met, I abandoned all previous notions of possibly slipping past him to get inside. Quickly thinking of an idea, I changed tact, straightening myself up and with steady, unhurried steps, strode purposefully towards him.
“Ahem,” I cleared my throat. “Ermmm…thanks for waiting.” The words were difficult to get out, given I was secretly irritated at him for having foiled my plans.
Ethan returned my greeting with a gracious smile, which only served to grate my nerves even more.
“Did you find what you were after at home?” he asked with a bright tone that was much too high to be sincere, as he stood aside to let me unlock the door.
“Of course,” I replied, refusing to look at him, concentrating instead on jabbing my key into the lock, and twisting the door knob open.
“After you,” I offered with a tightly clenched smile, pushing open the door, and watching as Ethan stepped languidly inside the room, holding the same brown leather briefcase he’d had with him the previous day.
Entering behind him, I swore, feeling barbs of regret as I spotted the pile of mess still left on my desk from the day before. While I’d originally intended to clean up first thing this morning, my sleep-in disaster had put a wrench in things.
Ethan stood, scrutinizing my desk, then lifting his gaze he surveyed the immediate furniture and objects in the surrounding area, rudely appraising my housekeeping abilities. His brows were slightly raised as his judgy eyes landed back on me, just as I rounded my desk to stand behind it.
I returned his gaze by smiling with fake sincerity.
“Why don’t we get down to business?” I suggested, bending my arm to reach behind my back and pulling out the sheaf of papers rolled up, and tucked inside the waist of my jeans. “Blood contract.” I lightly tossed the document down on the tabletop in front of him, and jerked the chair out from underneath my desk so I could sit down.
Mirroring my action, Ethan seated himself on the opposite side, putting his briefcase down on the floor next to his leg.
“I assume you’ve had enough time to think it over?” he asked, pulling the document closer to him.
Leaning forward in my chair, I nodded in the affirmative. “I have some questions.”
Ethan was unsurprised, and sat back against his chair, crossing over his legs and making himself comfortable. “Naturally. Go ahead.”
“Who’s in your team and what’s their background?”
“I’m currently unable to reveal that information, unfortunately,” Ethan said apologetically. “It’s highly sensitive information – I hope you can understand.”
“I don’t take on jobs for people I haven’t met in person,” I insisted, frowning.
“I expend a great deal of effort to keep my team’s privacy – something I’m sure you’ll appreciate when you join us. Once the contract’s signed, I’ll be more than happy to introduce them to you. Don’t worry – they don’t bite…much anyway,” he mumbled the last past softly, so low I almost didn’t hear.
I crossed my arms over my chest with a surly look. “How do I know you’re not just a whole bunch of psychos?”
Ethan’s lips spread into a smile, his eyes glinting with dry amusement. “Do I come across as a crazy person to you?”
My left eye twitched at his response. “I don’t know…you’re after a never seen
before, long lost, magical amulet created by a mythical wizard, whose existence has never been able to be proven. Some may say you’re stark, raving mad.”
Ethan burst into a laugh, and gave me a rueful smile. “And yet, I get the feeling the challenge of it is spurring you even more to take on this job.”
I snorted. “Don’t presume to know what I’m thinking,” I scoffed back, despite Ethan being spot on. He was trying to provoke me, and it was working.
Swiveling three-hundred-and-sixty degrees in my chair, I exhaled a frustrated sigh. “Flick to the back page,” I directed and Ethan obliged, picking the blood contract up off the desk.
“You’ve signed it already,” he murmured sounding pleasantly surprised, before placing it down in front of him again.
“So, now can you give me the information I want?” By nature I wasn’t a very patient person, and his elusiveness was treading dangerously along the thin edge of my tolerance.
“Of course,” he said, placing the contract in his lap and resting a hand on top of it. “Better yet – how about I bring you to meet them now, and you can form your own opinions about each of them?”
I quirked up an eyebrow, mildly surprised at the offer. “Is that even possible? They won’t be expecting me.”
“Sure,” Ethan said casually. “We’re all living in the same house at the moment, and I know for a fact they’re at home today.”
He looked to my face to see me nod my head in an affirmative.
“There is one minor thing I need to add though – but I’m sure your experience with difficult clients in the past will make this easy for you to handle,” he commented. “The men in my team don’t always get along with each other…so I’m going to have to count on you to keep them in check when they get out of line. Do you think you’ll be able to manage that?”
“Sure,” I grunted. “I don’t have a problem toeing people in line if necessary.”
“Great,” Ethan said, and proceeded to bend forward, so his head was positioned directly over the contract.
“Anything else you want to know before I sign this and seal the deal?”
“Yes – does this job come with a meal and travel allowance?” I had the nerve to ask. Since this guy looked like he was minted, there was no shame in taking advantage of the situation. After all, who knew how much work this job would be, and if he was willing to pay the amount he was offering for my services, I was sure he could more than afford it.
Ethan dipped his head, nodding slowly in agreement. “I suppose…that could be easily arranged…”
“Then we have a deal.” I cut in before he could change his mind.
“Yes, it seems we do,” Ethan replied, preparing to sign. Slipping his hand into what I presumed was a pocket inside his dark navy blazer, I was expecting him to pull out a swiss army knife, or a needle – something small and sharp to help him slice open his skin, but instead he took out a strange looking, ornate black and gold fountain pen, and uncapped the lid.
Red blood flowed freely from the elegant tip, as Ethan put pen to paper and signed his name next to mine on the contract. It was difficult for me to contain my curiosity.
“Did you fill the pen with your blood instead of ink?” I blurted out my question without thinking, the idea bringing a sick feeling of disgust to travel up my throat.
“Yes – and no. This is an Orbist pen. A magical artifact. It’s able to extract the blood of the user as they write without creating a wound in the skin,” Ethan replied without looking up.
“Does it hurt when you use it?” I couldn’t help but ask.
Ethan merely shrugged. “Depends on your level of magic,” he explained, finishing off his signature neatly with a flourish.
My eyes glued themselves to the page, as our signatures momentarily blazed with a goldish-white light. I blinked, taken aback, but in the next second the light died down and then it completely disappeared, leaving two crimson red signatures sitting on the page. My eyelids fluttered as I stared appalling at the contract.
The contrast was stark. Next to Ethan’s distinguished signature, mine looked like a pre-schooler’s crappy drawing using fat, red crayon. Taking account the width of my finger, I’d tried to cram my writing together to fit the space above the signature line, the result of which was not a very pretty sight.
A sense of dissatisfaction bubbled inside my chest, and I’m sure it showed clearly on my face, but Ethan refrained from commenting, and flipped the contract closed. If he’d felt a tingle of the searing magic from the binding process of the blood contract that I’d felt the night before, he didn’t show it.
Smiling in satisfaction, he returned the fountain-like pen to the interior pocket of his jacket, then locked the blood contract away in his briefcase, before standing up, holding the briefcase at his side in his right hand.
“Let’s go,” he said, motioning for me to get up with a small gesture of his head. And without waiting for me, he turned on his heel and casually sauntered towards the door.
I scrambled to my feet, unable to shake off the rising sense of misgiving coiling around and snaking up my gut.
“Too late to regret now,” I muttered derisively, quickly rounding my desk to follow after Ethan.
All I could do now was hope fervently to the celestial deities in heaven that I hadn’t just signed my death warrant.
CHAPTER FOUR
Drake
“What in blazes is going on? Are we being put under house arrest?” Drake exclaimed in dismay, as he stormed into the study, brimming with anger. His eyes swiveled between the figures of his two brothers in the room, looking for an answer.
“No idea,” Knox chirped up, looking unconcerned as he blew out a puff of air at his sandy brown fringe. He swiveled around three-hundred-and-sixty degrees on the black office chair he was sitting on, looking as if he found the spinning motion fun. “Ethan just told me no one’s allowed to leave the house, and for us to meet him in here.”
Hot, angry puffs of steam shot out from Drake’s flared nostrils. “I just got home two hours ago, and when I tried to leave the house again just now; I find out Ethan’s set a spell to bolt all the doors shut. And you can get in, but you can’t get out! Has the old bird gone mad, and lost his damned mind!”
Knox shrugged, plopping his feet carelessly on the polished wood of the large study table, and leaned back comfortably in his chair, bringing his hands up to cushion his head. “I guess we’ll find out once he gets here.”
“I don’t care what he has to say. This is bullshit. What’s worse is, I don’t even think Ethan’s in the house! And where the hell’s Damien? Isn’t he suppose to be here too?”
“Calm down, Drake.” Liam’s voice broke through Drake’s tirade, as he spoke up for the first time. “I’m sure Ethan has his reasons. Just be patient.” He was standing at one of the large windows behind the wooden table Knox was seated at, looking down at the driveway, which circled past the front of the house.
“Here’s here,” Liam announced a moment later, then after pausing a briefly, he added, “…and he’s brought someone with him.”
“Who is it?” Knox asked curiously, lifting up his head, eyes glimmering with excitement and anticipation.
“A girl. Not anyone we know – or seen before. He’s bringing her up with him now.”
“Ohhhh… A new friend! Is she pretty?” he asked, eyes sparkling as his mouth pulled up into a wide grin.
“Don’t get too overexcited Knox. She might be a grade A psycho,” Drake warned, scoffing.
“She is pretty. Very pretty, in fact,” Liam confirmed, ignoring Drake’s remark, and moving away from the windows to take a seat on the couch not far from Knox.
Drake walked over to sit on the opposite end, not wanting to be too close to his brother. “I don’t know what that crafty, old bird is up to, but he better have a damn good reason for locking all of us up in here. I’m suppose to go out and meet a friend tonight.” He folded his arms over his chest, face pinched, looking
cross.
“Play date?” Liam mocked, his words earning him a withering glare from Drake.
“Just cause you don’t have any friends, bookworm.”
“Rather be a bookworm than a stupid muscle head,” Liam quipped back, not missing a beat.
Drake shot to his feet, angry at his brother’s taunt. This was a weak spot of his, and Liam had hit a nerve. He let his canines drop, and baring his sharp white teeth to Liam, he balled his hands into tight fists, about to issue a challenge.
But he was stopped when Liam unexpectedly stuck out his arm, and sent a strong blast of wind his way, hitting him smack in the chest, and knocking him hard onto the ground.
Knox let out a loud gasp.
Drake’s body tumbled and skidded several feet, before he was able to extend his powerful claws out and sink them deep enough into the hardwood floor to anchor himself.
His claws scraped backwards against the floor, gouging out chunks of wood, causing chips to splinter off to fly in all different directions, until he is finally able to bring himself to an abrupt stop.
“You cheating asshole!” Drake growled, rising up from his feet. “Why don’t you face me directly like a real warrior! Instead of attacking me without any warning, like a coward!”
“Have you not read the ‘Art of War’?” Liam drawled, taking zero notice of Drake’s insult. “A great Commander uses the element of surprise to his advantage. Only a dumbass wouldn’t exploit this tactic.”
“Why you little piece of…” Drake snarled, and pulling back his arm, he hurled a green ball of electrified energy at Liam, who leapt up off the couch, barely avoiding it.
Missing its intended target, the ball of energy hit the edge of the couch, burst upon impact and caused instant destruction, burning a good chunk of the top corner off.
Liam gingerly touched the singed tips of his chin length, ashy-blonde hair with his fingers, and glared hatefully at his brother. Drake began to cackle with laughter.
Infusing magic into his palm, Drake conjured another ball of energy and aimed it straight at Liam’s head.
Dragon Lords Blood Contract Page 3