Hatched (Draconia World Book 1)

by Joanna Mazurkiewicz

  “Fran, what the hell are you doing? They are still chasing us,” Nicolas’s voice cut right in, pulling me away from those mesmerising eyes.

  I shook my head, wondering what the hell was wrong with me. I pulled away, and jumped back to my feet, hearing humans shouting after us in the distance.

  I didn’t even glance back at the stranger because I was running as fast as my legs could carry me.

  We were speeding through the unknown streets, passing people that were moving aside to give us space. Eventually, the bouncers must have given up, because when I glanced behind me, there was no one chasing us any longer. We finally found some old townhouse located on a back street, and went inside. I was breathing frantically, feeling like I was going to pass out. My chest was burning like hell. Nicolas’s energy was almost absent—this definitely wasn’t a good sign. I still had to get him home safely.

  I sat down on the floor, trying to wrap my head around what just happened. Those eyes; I kept seeing them in my mind. His fingers were touching me, tearing me apart and then putting me back together again—like he was moving each and every magical particle within my body. My magic was linked to that stranger. Was he human or a warden? I had no idea, but I was so turned on just thinking about him.

  “What the hell, Fran? They could have caught us. We need to check her bag for the blood; otherwise all that shit was for nothing,” Nicolas said, raising his voice, reminding me why we even went inside that club in the first place. “But shit, Veronica was so hot… Even if I …”

  My head was pounding, so I knelt down, squeezing my eyes shut and stopped listening to him. No, I couldn’t remember anything. I felt so hot, so damn aroused. Was he even real?

  I grabbed the purse and looked inside. The flask of blood was there, so I exhaled with relief.

  “I didn’t look where I was going, so chill. He won’t even remember me. We have the blood,” I told him.

  I didn’t think it was a good idea for us to head over to see Harvey now. Too many things had gone wrong tonight and we almost got ourselves killed. My magic saved us again, and now, Harvey had no choice but to help me get back to Draconia.

  “Good, and by the way, I’m fine too. Thanks for asking,” he said with obvious sarcasm in his tone. I pulled myself together and walked over to him. He surprised me yet again, because I really thought that he wouldn’t be able to keep up with me.

  “Arch your head back a little,” I told him, and he obeyed me without another snarky comment. There were two small puncture wounds on his neck and some bits of dried blood. The vampire drank from him, but I didn’t know if that was going to affect him in any way later on. I killed that bitch with my magic, and she turned to ash. Well, technically she was already dead, but I was still proud of myself. I kicked ass tonight.

  “How does it look, beauty?” he asked, winking at me.

  “You will survive, and we should head home now. Aly is probably worried about us and we can always get back to Harvey tomorrow,” I suggested. I noticed that he was staring at me intensely, and for a moment, I thought that he was ready to kiss me. He didn’t in the end, and I was a little relieved. It’d been a while since I had been with a guy—any guy, and right now, I didn’t want to screw up whatever was going on between Nicolas and me. I had to admit that he was funny, and he had my back. Maybe if I didn’t have to head home, then I would have been tempted.

  “So, why did you stare at that random dude on the street for so long?” he asked when we left the building and walked towards the tube station. I really had no idea where we were at this point, but moving forward and anywhere other than the club sounded like a good call.

  I kept flicking my band, feeling lightheaded. Something happened earlier, and I had no idea what. Nicolas saw me there, almost losing control of my magic. I didn’t like that new me—the scary Fran.

  “I don’t know. It was strange. Maybe I thought I knew him,” I muttered, wanting to walk away, but he grabbed my hand, forcing me to look at him. I liked the way my hand fit into his much larger one, and the warmth from his fingers. For some reason, Nicolas made me feel secure.

  “Hey, I want to thank you for saving my sexy arse a second time. Seriously, that chick would have killed me if it weren’t for you,” he said, sounding serious. I parted my lips, thinking that I was in a hell of a lot of trouble in this world. Nicolas, Victor, and now, that stranger? There were too many men suddenly interested in me. I would never see that stranger again, so our moment didn’t mean anything.

  “It’s all good, and please don’t start getting emotional. We really need to get going,” I told him, feeling tense.

  He let go of my hand, and we kept moving through the busy streets. Luckily, the tube station wasn’t far from the area where we ended up. No one paid any attention to us, but in the tube, I noticed that Nicolas’s clothes were covered with blood and some passengers saw it too. I handed him my jacket to cover himself. An hour later, after asking a couple of subway workers to direct us back to Clapton Junction station, we arrived at a more familiar location.

  I was exhausted, still thinking about Harvey. He most likely could read minds or at least some of my thoughts. Next time I had to be more careful around him. I didn’t want to see him again if I could help it, but the tiny voice inside my head reminded me that he was the only person who could help me.

  After we finally made it home, Aly fussed around me and Nicolas for a little while. Only then, did I figure out that the vampire woman must have sensed his blood. His stab wound wasn’t completely healed, and her senses must have picked up on it in the club. Aly made us a nice meal, looking happy when I handed her the gun back. I was too exhausted to stay up and talk with them. Avianna was already calling me upstairs, demanding to know what had happened.

  I went over everything: what went on in the club, not sparing any details. Avianna was excited and she debated if the stranger on the street was a warden or simply a human. We kept talking, but I could barely keep my eyes open. Eventually, I must have drifted off. She kept waking me up, and I was lucky that she couldn’t see me, because I really could have stayed up all night talking to her.

  I must have drifted off again at some point, dreaming about smoky eyes and the man who left a permanent mark on me. It was strange, but even then, I was happy.

  “Hey, sleeping beauty. I think you should wake up now. There is shit that has to be done.”

  The voice in my head was talking to me, but I thought it was just a dream. I didn’t want to get up yet, but I had never slept so peacefully, not since I buried Dara. Lately, she was in my head—all I could think about.

  I opened my eyes and it took me several moments to remember that I was still in the non-magical world, in Aly’s place. The back of my head hurt a little, but it was nothing to worry about.

  “Great, you’re up. We need to talk.”

  “Avianna, give me a little break. I need to have a shower and change. I fell asleep wearing my clothes from last night,” I told her.

  “I can’t smell you, so that’s a good thing. I’m still only an egg, so whatever. Do what you need to do. It’s not like I’m going anywhere.”

  I rolled my eyes, wondering where she learned to talk like that, and then went to the bathroom down the hall. Luckily, Nicolas’s room was downstairs, so I didn’t have to worry about being seen looking like I had been hit by one of those large vehicles on the road.

  “Cars, darling. Humans in this world call them cars. Get used to it,” her voice rang in my head.

  My jaw dropped, and I stormed back into the room. This was freaky as hell; the egg didn’t move anywhere.

  “Can you read my mind?” I asked her.

  “Sort of, I can sense your thoughts being projected. We are connected, dude, and I can reach out to you,” she explained.

  “Can you please stay away from my thoughts for now? We can talk about it in a minute, once I SHOWER!”

  “Yeah, okay, okay. You don’t want Nicolas to see you like that. I bet you st
ink.”

  I shut the door to the bathroom, thinking that she was much more powerful than I originally thought. Avianna needed to return to Draconia. Being here was too dangerous for her. Harvey could help, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to face him again. The blood was still in my room.

  It took me a while to figure out how the shower worked, but eventually hot water was streaming down my body. I suddenly remembered the dark-eyed stranger that I ran into on the street. He was in my head, but I couldn’t even recall what he looked like. I kept seeing his blue eyes. It seemed like they were already recorded in my memory. Why couldn’t I remember anything else?

  The shower was great, and I felt better once I was clean. Aly had left me a set of clothes to change into on the chair. I couldn’t be fussy, but I needed to find a way to earn some human money. I had no idea how long I was going to have to stay in this world, but I couldn’t wear the same clothes every single day.

  “Take me with you when you go downstairs. I want to know how you feel when that hottie, Nicolas, shows up.”

  “You really need to quit talking like that. There is nothing going on between Nicolas and me. We ended up in this world together, and that’s it,” I told her.

  “Maybe, but you still haven’t told me who that stranger was that you bumped into last night.”

  Now I was regretting that I even said anything, but she wouldn’t have left me alone otherwise. Deep, heartfelt feelings came rushing back, because I finally realised that I was now surrounded by people who cared about me. Aly, Nicolas, and Avianna—the tiny creature inside the egg that could hatch out at any moment—was my new friend. That made me feel a little emotional.

  Once downstairs, I placed the egg on the table and noticed that the patio doors in the living room were left open. It was just before twelve noon, and it looked like Aly had been up for a while. She was standing in the middle of the garden; it looked like she was dancing or practising some kind of sport.

  The air was warm, and for the first time since I arrived in this world, the sun was shining. Aly noticed me and smiled.

  “Come on, practise some tai chi with me, Fran. It will calm you down,” she said.

  “I don’t know what to do.”

  “Of course, you do. It’s easy. Come on, I will guide you,” she said. She explained how I was supposed to stand in a certain position and showed me a few moves. I didn’t want to be rude, so I agreed and started following her lead. After some time, I switched off, and felt energy flying through me. It amazed me how calm and peaceful these movements made me feel.

  Ten minutes later, we both heard clapping and I quickly opened my eyes, to see Nicolas standing in front of us with that goofy look on his face. He was holding Avianna.

  “Hey, don’t you dare tell him to put me down. I like it when he rubs my shell,” she said.

  “Wow, that was something. Can I try this out tomorrow?” Nicolas asked.

  “Of course, darling, but you need to be careful. You still have a few stitches,” Aly told him. Nicolas wasn’t in great shape when we came back. He didn’t tell me that the vampire had reopened his wound. Avianna must have healed him sometime during the night, because the wound looked a lot better than it did yesterday.

  “Come on. I will make the two of you some breakfast, and then you can tell me all about your plans for later,” Aly said. “Recently, one of the youngsters in the community centre taught me how to use a computer and get online. As it turns out, I now have a date with a gentleman from North London. He is the same age as me, so I’m looking forward to it.”

  “Online? What’s that mean?” I asked.

  She began explaining how a computer worked while puttering around the kitchen. I didn’t really understand the technology. On top of that, Avianna was distracting me. She kept telling me that I should give Nicolas the green light. The subject of discussion then moved over to Victor.

  “He was an idiot and you’re so much better off without him. To be honest with you, I don’t want to go back to Draconia. I want to stay in this world. What if we get separated? I don’t think I could survive without my host again.

  14

  The job offer.

  Avianna was scared about our return and I didn’t know what to say in order to make her feel better. Staying here or going back—either option was dangerous. At the same time, I felt like the wardens in Draconia could help me. I still knew people there that I could trust.

  “We must go back. We don’t know what will happen once you hatch out. I think it’s too dangerous to stay here,” I finally said. I had weighed both options over the past two days and made up my mind.

  “Fran, are you all right? Are you even listening to me?” Nicolas’s voice pulled me away from my thoughts. I really needed to stop doing this, but it was difficult to be focused on Avianna and talk to everyone else at the same time.

  Aly made an early lunch and then she must have left me alone with Nicolas.

  “No, what was it?” I asked, smiling at him. He glanced at my wrist and I pulled my sleeves down, covering the red marks left on my skin from snapping my wristband. Nicolas must have realised what was going on with me, and I was scared that he would start asking questions.

  “Are we taking the blood back to Harvey?” he asked, but I realised that he wasn’t just asking about the blood. He wanted to know if I was planning to head back to Draconia straight away. Part of me liked being in this world, but right now, Avianna’s life was so much more important. Besides, I didn’t want to be a burden on Aly forever. She had done so much for me and I wanted to give her something in return.

  “I am, but you don’t have to go with me. We both know that you’re not planning to go back to Draconia,” I said, and he shook his head, like he was ready to disagree.

  “No, but I still would like to accompany you to see that warlock. I need to find a job, and maybe Harvey can help me somehow,” he said, stretching his arms.

  “Oh my, I’m going to hatch out right now. His body is luscious, and his energy is addictive,” Avianna cut in.

  She must have picked up on his strong energy. Last night, it was almost nonexistent, so he must have regained it during the night, but I had a feeling that Avianna had interfered.

  “Avianna, please stop it. I can’t focus when you’re trying to talk to me too. I promise that I’ll consider taking you with me if you’ll just be quiet for a moment,” I said to her.

  That worked, because she didn’t say another word for several minutes while Nicolas and I discussed other options. She must have sensed that I wasn’t entirely comfortable right now. The point was, Nicolas wasn’t wearing his shirt, and I was distracted by his muscular chest. It was almost like he was intentionally trying to distract me.

  “Fine. We will go see him together. Get dressed,” I told him.

  “Maybe it’s better if you leave me at home. Sometimes my vibes are off, and I don’t want to be around that warlock. It was a warlock who stole me away from my mother’s nest, and I just don’t trust them,” Avianna said later on while I was getting ready.

  I wanted to ask her about other wardens that she had lived with in the past. Now, I was beginning to understand her apprehension. Harvey was dangerous, and I didn’t want him to know that I had the dragon offspring. I had a feeling that he may want to take it from me.

  “All right, so you will stay here. I won’t be gone for long. I still want to say goodbye to Aly. She is an incredible human being.”

  There was still so much that I needed to ask her, but I decided to wait until later. I kept reminding myself that this creature was counting on me and I didn’t want to disappoint her. Dragon Fever was killing a lot of wardens back in Draconia and the egg could cure them all. We just had to make it back safely.

  I kept looking behind me when we were walking away from the house. The roads were much quieter today and the sun was finally shining. This time around, the journey in the tube went without any complications. I felt hot, but I kept my anxiety at bay. People w
ere still rushing around like their houses were on fire, but I knew that I just needed to get used to it. This was how things were here.

  An hour later, we approached the paper factory near the alley where Chris had pulled a gun on us, and my stomach knotted. I didn’t want to see what Harvey was truly capable of. His magic made me sick to my stomach. He could probably see that I had potential, but I needed him to get me home. London never felt like a place where I belonged. I could never get used to the technology, the noise, or the people who walked around like zombies staring at small cell phone devices. This world was much scarier than mine.

  There were even more workers standing outside the gate smoking and laughing. Nicolas and I walked inside, straight to the reception desk. The human woman looked like she was bored out of her mind. She glanced at me, looked me up and down, raised her left eyebrow, and then told us to wait downstairs.

  “You have to chill out, Fran. We have what he asked for. Now you’re in a position to make demands,” Nicolas told me in an attempt to reassure me. His smile made me feel a little better. Lincoln showed up five minutes later. He looked surprised to see us in the lobby.

  “Harvey is asking if you have the blood. He is not going to waste his time with you if you don’t,” he said, working his large jaw.

  “Of course, we have the blood. Fran was a badass last night,” Nicolas said, and I showed him the blood-filled flask. It was strange holding the warm liquid in my hand. The same kind of blood would have saved Dara if I hadn’t accidentally smashed it in the tunnels. It was sad to think that my friend would have still been with me today if not for that.

  Lincoln’s eyes widened in surprise, and he looked at me like I had grown three heads. He gestured for us to follow him. Five minutes later, we entered Harvey’s office. I felt suffocated again and my blood pressure began to rise. Harvey scared the shit out of me, but I couldn’t show signs of weakness or allow him to see that he intimidated me in any way.