“This must be the guest bedroom. Everything looks so clean and unused,” I said to her, looking around.
“Whatever, just get on with it. I can sense someone in the house—someone really powerful.”
“No way. Lincoln told Nicolas yesterday that the house was going to be empty. The owners were supposed to be going to some sort of party in the city,” I explained, but she didn’t seem to believe me.
I hoped she was wrong, because I really wasn’t ready for any kind of unexpected surprises. I walked across the bedroom with my heart thundering in my chest, and opened the door. The corridor was filled with various kinds of furniture in odd shapes and sizes. The smell was sweet, almost citrusy. I recognised it to be lemon, or maybe orange. Avianna was a little sensitive to everything that was going on around her, maybe because she was in the heart of the city where all the technology was able to interfere with my inner magic.
I looked through every room, trying to figure out where the owner might have hidden the amber necklace. An hour later, I finally discovered the door to the basement, and by that time, I was pretty well pissed off that this was taking so long. Nicolas was most likely wondering what the hell was wrong with me.
At the same time, I had this odd sensation in the back of my neck, almost as if someone had been watching me this entire time, but of course, that was impossible. We didn’t see anyone on the streets, and I knew that I was beginning to get paranoid.
I touched the door handle and concentrated on the flow of magic, fiddling with the lock. Finally, I heard a loud click and the door opened. It was a large room, decorated with fancy lights that were built into the floor. There was a small glass cabinet in the centre, but unfortunately, the whole thing was empty.
“Is this what you are looking for?” a voice echoed in the room, and my heart skipped a beat. Then I saw him walking into the light, and blood rushed to my ears. I realised that I had met him before. It was the stranger from the other night—the man with the beautiful dark blue eyes—he was holding the necklace in his hand.
16
Idris.
He was tall, maybe even taller than Nicolas, dressed in dark pants and a military-style jacket. His hair was thick, spiky, and I really liked the shade of his olive skin. It wasn’t dark—it was shimmering slightly in the dim lights.
I swallowed hard, telling myself to keep it together. My eyes lowered to the necklace that was hanging from his forefinger, then rose meeting the darkness of his rich pupils. Desire stirred within me, rising fast, lancing into every nook and cranny of my body.
Instantly, I sensed that the man standing in front of me couldn’t be a warden, or even a Dark One. He was something else—someone entirely different. He was drop-dead gorgeous, making my mouth water. His face was lean, his skin looked soft, and his body was perfectly sculptured. I could almost imagine him standing in front of me naked. His eyes suddenly narrowed, and the blue colour deepened. My heart was beating so fast that I thought it was going to explode in my chest. He smiled at me and I thought that my legs were going to give out at any moment. I felt thunderstruck. Electricity was zooming around me, crackling on the surface of my skin. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t even breathe.
“Fran, what is going on? Your emotions are all over the place. I feel like you’re slowly turning into a storm,” Avianna’s voice cut through my raging thoughts.
A wave of heat crawled up my neck. Avianna asked me a question, but I didn’t know how to answer her. For a moment, I kind of forgot that she was with me in my backpack. I knew that if I wanted to leave London, I needed to get my hands on that charmed necklace.
Then I realised that I was staring at him like an idiot, with my mouth hanging wide open this entire time, so I finally snapped out of it.
“Who are you? And what do you want from me?” I asked, and my voice broke halfway through the question. He tilted his head to the side and placed the necklace on the floor beside the empty case. My heart stopped and then sped up again. I wanted him. I needed to be close to him, touch him. It was hard to explain, but I was instantly attracted to him. More heat flared between my breasts, and then my breathing became uneven.
“Not now, Avianna. There is someone here and he’s not our friend,” I finally found my voice and answered her.
“Then why are you so excited? Your body temperature keeps rising. I’m kind of getting a vibe like you want to jump his bones,” she giggled, and I wiped the sweat off my forehead.
“I have no idea where you heard that saying, but you really need to get out of my head. I need to focus.”
“I’m here for you, Francesca. My father gave me an order. He wanted me to arrest you. So, are you going to be a good girl and come with me?” he asked, taking a step towards me. A bright light shot across the room in what looked like a bolt of lightning, and I jumped, startled.
Then he stepped closer, and I thought that his lips looked kissable. The desire raging in my body began drawing static energy inside me. I imagined him ripping off my clothes, devouring my mouth. My body involuntarily reacted as heat gathered below my belly and steam moved up my neck. For Qesborth, I really needed to gain control of myself. What the hell was going on?
“What? Who is your father?” I demanded.
“The Dark One, Magnus, the leader of the council,” he said and frowned, like he sensed that my magic was out of control, circling around him, permeating the room. I was standing close to the door, and I just needed to back away a little to give myself some space. Either way, I couldn’t afford to leave. I needed that damned necklace.
“How did you know that I would be here tonight? That damn warlock set me up as bait,” I barked, shaking my head. Of course, Harvey used me. He was never planning to help me. Otherwise, how would this stranger have known that I’d be here tonight?
I was trying really hard to ignore the onslaught of emotions that were turning me into someone that I didn’t even recognise anymore. None of this made any sense. He was a Dark One, but he didn’t look like the two that I had killed. For starters, he was too good looking, and his skin didn’t sparkle.
“You’re curious, little one, and our time is running out. They are expecting us,” he said, caressing his jaw. He was assuming that I was going to just leave with him. He was definitely deluded.
“Avianna, get ready. The shit is just about to hit the fan. I need as much magic as possible,” I used the voice in my head to communicate with my dragon egg.
“Aye, aye, sister.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” I roared, and then released explosive energy that began bouncing around the walls. I blasted the magic toward him, but it didn’t hit him like I expected. Instead, he caught it in midair and turned it into a ball of light, then started moving it around in his hands, redirecting the magic, mixing it with his own. I had never seen anything like it. He was staring at me with his magnetic eyes, tilting the corners of his mouth into an arrogant smile.
“We are in a hell of a lot of trouble. I hope you can charge me with more magic, because this guy is powerful,” I told her, thinking that he was definitely not like any warden I was used to back in Draconia.
“That’s too bad, because I was truly hoping that we could avoid any kind of confrontation,” he said and then he threw the magical sphere in my direction. I dodged to the side, slamming on to the marble floor. My heart was racing and Avianna was asking me if I was all right. She sounded panicky.
I jumped back on my feet and felt static energy rushing through me once again. I quickly released several fireballs in his direction—I had to have that necklace. There was no way that I was going anywhere with him, although my body was strongly disagreeing with me.
He started waving his hands around like a maniac and my fire magic never touched him. My heart was pounding away when a sudden electrifying force knocked me off my feet. I was thrown backwards, slamming into the wall, landing painfully in the corner of the room. I must have lost consciousness for more than several seconds, because whe
n I opened my eyes, the gorgeous mage who called himself a Dark One, was sitting on top of me straddling my waist.
“You’re much stronger than when you left Draconia. What happened? What’s changed?” he asked, looking down at me.
He was heavy, and his weight was slowly squashing me. I tried to push him off, but I wasn’t strong enough. A wave of desire zoomed down my body—it felt unbelievably pleasant. My mind was telling me to kick him, but my heart… my heart wanted to bring his mouth down to mine. I wanted him, and raw fire blazed inside my core, moving throughout my entire body.
His eyes were beautiful, wide-set and so dark. I was seeing my own scared reflection in them. There was a spark of instant attraction between me and Victor, then Nicolas, but this guy—it was like my hormones were making me lose my freaking mind.
I could actually see the lust in the air, tiny sparkles of desire shimmering around me. It was impossible, but he looked like he was sensing it too.
“Like I’m going to explain myself to you,” I snapped, knowing that I was squashing the egg, but it seemed that Avianna didn’t care. She was mumbling something about the heat being heavenly and she could feel it radiating through me. I had to do something to get him off me. My body was melting under the enormous pressure, and I liked it. Suddenly, I had a crazy thought. My heart was jumping around with excitement, because I knew it was a hell of a risk. It was something I thought that I wasn’t capable of doing, but it was worth a shot.
“Screw you,” I said, and then pressed my mouth firmly to his. It was a kiss—yeah, this was completely bonkers. After all, he was the enemy, but hell, he tasted good; like heated chocolate melting in my mouth. Savage heat made my toes curl. My mind began to shut down as I started properly enjoying the kiss. I only needed him to be distracted a little and the kiss seemed to work. Seconds later, I kicked him as hard as I could, but he didn’t let go of me as I expected. We started rolling on the floor, our bodies entangled with one another. This went on for some time. I finally managed to punch him, most likely cracking a few bones in my knuckles.
I glanced over at the stranger, seeing that blood had started dripping from his lip and his eyes were wild.
He wiped his mouth and smiled brightly.
“We are both strong and stubborn,” I said. “There is no way that I’m going anywhere with you. How about we make some sort of deal?” I was breathing hard, and out of the corner of my eye I saw the necklace. I just had to get to it, and not die in the process.
The earlier kiss blew my mind. I had never felt so aroused in my life. Even his magic was pulling me towards him, but I knew this had something to do with the fact that he was a Dark One. I didn’t believe him. His energy was different, wilder and much more exciting.
“I normally don’t listen to wardens who I’m supposed to arrest, but an enormous source of energy keeps telling me that maybe I should make an exception this time,” he said, and I switched my weight to the side. He touched his lips, and my skin tingled. I was wet, yeah, and I didn’t feel embarrassed about it one bit.
Avianna was mine, but was it possible that he could hear her too?
“My name is Francesca, by the way, and I really need that amber necklace,” I said. I wasn’t going to tell him anything else.
Despite the trigger warning, I felt like I could trust him. The man in front of me seemed to care about my magic. Any other Dark One would have killed me already, but him… he seemed to just want to know the real me.
His magic descended when he approached me, it was silent and quiet. He was even more good-looking when he stood right in front of me. His smoky eyes were going to haunt me forever.
“Idris,” he introduced himself, and I instantly liked his name. “And they told me that you didn’t have magic, that you were going to be an easy target.”
“Tell him about me. I’m fine, Francesca, and that kiss—wow. I can hear your heart jackhammering in your chest. He’s different than any other Dark One that I’ve ever been around,” the egg said to me.
“Are you crazy? No. What if he is wants to take you away?”
“What’s going on? You’re communicating with something or someone. What’s in your backpack?” he asked, and for a split second I forgot that he was standing next to me.
I lifted my gaze to his, staring yet again into eyes that were seeing everything—the real me. The vulnerable part of me that I had never shown anyone.
I bit my bottom lip and he moved his eyes down to my mouth. He smiled again, and I melted inside.
“Fine,” I said. “Come here, and I will show you something, or someone rather, really special, but you’re not allowed to touch it.”
My mind was screaming that I was risking too much. It was crazy that I wanted to show him Avianna—the person that was supposed to want it for himself. And yet, I had a good feeling about this. I wanted to trust him.
When he knelt down, I caught a waft of his cologne. It was smooth, musky and incredibly arousing. He smelled like tea tree oil, sun and my favourite chocolate. My hands were a little shaky when I unhooked the straps of the rucksack and revealed its contents.
“For Qesborth, this is impossible,” he whispered, staring at Avianna. Her golden shell was shimmering in the dim lighting of the room. I looked around, realising that we caused quite a lot of devastation in the room, a lot of furniture and statues were damaged.
“We are connected and I’m her host. We will never be separated. I’m ready to die for her,” I said, noticing that his pupils suddenly dilated.
“I heard about the eggs, but I thought the dragons were extinct. How is this even possible?” he asked, and I wondered if he was truly a Dark One. He was supposed to know more than me, but he was brainwashed too, like the others.
“Have you ever been to Draconia?” I asked, thinking that this was a reasonable question after all.
He dragged his hand through his thick hair and the shade of blue in his eyes deepened. “No, I’m half human and my father is a Dark One. I have never travelled to the Lower World,” he answered. “How did you get your hands on the egg?”
“I’m a thief, and now I know that your father didn’t tell you much about me. This egg belongs to me and I promised to take care of it,” I said. He needed to understand that whatever happened, I would kill him if I had to. His orders didn’t mean anything to me.
“You like him, don’t you? Oh, Fran, maybe you finally found someone right for you, and that’s huge. You and a Dark One,” Avianna said, throwing me completely off guard. I was broadcasting my emotions way too intensely.
“Don’t be silly. He’s not on our side and I don’t like the way he is looking at you right now,” I told her.
“I’ve heard about the connection that you speak of—from my grandmother. She used to tell me tales about dragons when I was a child. She said that there were wardens who were supposed to be the dragon keepers, that they could connect with them on an emotional level. I always thought that she was making up stories. No one in this world has ever heard about that kind of magic. My father must have known about this. The cracks keep opening all the time, and other wardens are able to pass through. That old bastard was most likely testing me again,” he said, sounding angry, like he suddenly found the final piece to a missing puzzle—his father’s game. I kind of felt bad for him.
“Listen, I would love to stay and chat about your strange relationship with your father, but there is someone waiting for me outside. I have to get going,” I told him, closing the backpack. This was just too odd, and Nicolas was most likely worried about me. I didn’t want to leave Idris, and yet I had to.
Then Idris did something that I wasn’t expecting. He leaned over, overwhelming me with his irresistible scent, and whispered in my ear.
“I don’t think that I can let you leave, little one.”
17
Drama.
He was so close, and his cheek was touching mine. My heart had been beating a mile a minute for the past hour. Nervous heat streamed
through my body at his proximity. I didn’t want to desire him—this was completely crazy—and yet I couldn’t help but enjoy his touch.
“What’s happening? What’s he doing? Is he kissing you? Ohh, that is so romantic.”
“I don’t think you have a choice,” I said, finally finding the strength to pull away from him. Goose bumps appeared along the surface of my skin.
Idris didn’t scare me, but he fascinated me in a way that no one ever had before. Maybe deep down he knew that he couldn’t force me to do anything that I didn’t want to do.
I turned towards the centre of the room and walked to the white pillar next to the gleaming empty glass showcase. I felt a little dizzy, mainly from the desire pooling inside of me. I needed to get myself together.
The amber necklace was still in the same spot. I picked it up, holding my breath, aware that he was still watching my every move. The Dark Ones in Draconia must have had a way to communicate with each other. His father sent Idris after me for a reason, and he claimed that he had no idea that the egg existed. Maybe I had this all wrong the entire time, maybe the Dark Ones didn’t steal the eggs from us, and there was someone else that was in charge of them.
I put the necklace inside my pocket, thinking about other creatures that lived in the Lower World. I felt stupid now because I knew so little, and for years, I just accepted it. Idris was still watching me, and I knew that I had to get out of there. Time was running out, and I knew Nicolas had to be freaking out by now.
Harvey told me that the necklace was protected by spells, but Idris had taken it first. He must have used his own magic to damage the wards and deactivate the spells. Maybe Harvey didn’t sell me out, maybe someone else was listening in while I was in his office. Either way, I could always ask him about it later. Idris’s father was the leader, but I had a feeling that the two of them didn’t agree on most things. After all, he was letting me leave with the necklace.
Hatched (Draconia World Book 1) Page 12
