by Blue Saffire
A loud noise erupts and he lurches in my arms. The smell of gunpowder burns my nose as the sound of feet running away becomes the death blow of my stupid decision. I widen my eyes as I realize what has happened.
Craig—being the scum he is—fired the gun. With excruciatingly slowness, Mr. Big turns his head. Meeting my own gawking stare, his gaze burns into mine. My heart stops at the anger in his orbs. His bright eyes are an astonishing violet color, almost purple.
I awkwardly unwrap my arms and try to retreat, but he’s faster. He half turns and grabs my wrist; the force of his strength causing me to cry out.
“Ouch. L… let go.” I struggle. I could kick his ankle and use a dozen little tricks, but the idea of hitting a guy who’s just had a bullet put in him because of me rankles. “Stop.”
He ignores my struggle and drags me close as he turns fully to face me. The wound from the gunshot is obvious as blood oozes from the gaping hole. I’d thought he was impressive from behind, but up close he’s a whole other story. His jaw looks as if it has been carved from granite. His looks are dark, like a prince from a dark fairy tale.
“Human female,” he grits out from between his teeth. “You lost me my prey.”
I have done some pretty stupid stuff in my youth, but this has to take the cake. The minute I’m a forearm distance away from him, he bares his teeth. Jesus. He has fangs, fangs that he seems to be eager to use to rip my throat out.
My heart sounds like a Harley Davidson engine in my ears. I lick my dry lips. “Look I’m sorry for that. I—” Before I can say another word, the door to the foyer bursts in, slamming onto the floor.
A man sans wings, with similar features—except his eyes are glowing the color of the moon—marches inside at high speed. “Radu,” he calls loudly, only to stop when he sees us.
I want to burst into tears, but I won’t because that would be something a princess like Beauty would do, and I’m not some helpless princess in distress. Instead, I have a mini inner breakdown.
“Who is this?” His eyes scan all around us, as if he’s searching for something, or more so, someone. “Where’s Xzith?”
My captor shakes his head, his eyes boring holes into mine. “Ran way. This human helped him. She must be his partner.”
Now wait a whole minute.
“I’m not that scum’s partner,” I snap, happy that my anger has managed to return to my voice.
He raises a single brow in doubt. “Because you would assist one who isn’t your partner?” The sarcasm is thick there, and yes, I’ll mentally admit he has a point.
“I only assisted him because you looked like you were going to kill him.”
“I was.” My lips part in surprise. I don’t know many killers, but the ones I know of wouldn’t admit it out-fucking-right. He dismisses me but keeps a painful hold on my wrist. “Branem, contact—”
I’ve grown up surrounded by people telling me my destiny and where my life would go. From day one, I made every effort to fight against it, figuratively and literally. So without much thought, I make my move.
Stepping forward, I jerk on his hold and with ease, I use my back to bump him slightly off his feet. Pulling as hard I can, I flip my would-be captor over my back, quickly retreating when his hold on my wrist loosens. A perfect example of my martial arts training for the last ten years.
God, the man is heavy. His friend, Branem, looks at me in shock. Taking the opportunity to run, I turn and race for the window. Not having time to crawl through it, I push myself forward through the glass. Crossing my arms before my face, the glass cuts into the sleeves of my leather as I smash through the window.
Landing on the porch, I push to my knees. Shards of glass fall, I give a quick shake getting the stragglers off my arms. I glance over my shoulder, catching the gawping stare of Branem. “See-ya.”
Running, I go down the steps and head for my bike. I grab my helmet and straddle the Ducati without pause. I turn the key. Lady luck is a hooker tonight, because the damn thing turns on with the first try. Without another thought, I’m off.
I will chock this entire experience up to my bad luck. Craig and dragon people? No, this is better shoved in the pretend it didn’t happen column. Sure, I know a few women who’d jump at being involved in something so otherworldly, but my family’s curse is enough for me.
Chapter 2
Annoying Female
Radu
I’ve been humiliated by the human female. The sun has risen on a new day and I still feel angered just thinking about the woman. My ego smarts from being flipped onto my back by such a weak species. I should’ve known following my brother’s request to hunt down Xzith would bring something like this.
Anaes has been leading our people since our father’s assassination a year ago. An assassination that had been planned by that traitor, Kraken. A male who’d been so blinded by his greed for power, he was willing to put our existence on the human plain in jeopardy.
“Does it still hurt when you sit?” Ghin, my best marksman asks as he tosses a short blade in the air.
It flips twice before the handle lands flat in the palm of his hand. He appears almost bored as he throws it at the wall. The blade sinks into its mark to the hilt.
The muscles in his arms ripple with strength, bringing focus to the scorched symbol on his shoulder, the warrior mark, the mark of a Ratnik. I’d been born with the leader’s mark, two braced shields, which makes it more than embarrassing to have been had by the enemy.
“Does your nose still hurt?”
“Wha— Dammit, Radu!”
“That is Ratnik Radu to you, Ghin.”
I feel great satisfaction at the cry of pain Ghin releases as he drops his other blade to cover his now broken nose. He’ll heal, but it’s the action that counts. “Son of a bitch,” his voice muffled by his hands.
I look away from him to the other two in the room. “Xzith got away, but his human partner will not.” I keep my voice expressionless.
Orwain, a brown haired, messy looking male, lifts his hand in question. “We’re capturing a human?” Curiosity shines in his gaze.
“She claimed she wasn’t connected to Xzith, but her actions prove that she must be his partner or share some form of loyalty to him.”
“Do you believe she’s connected to Kraken?” Civic as usual doesn’t care for the formalities that come with being a Ratnik. His eyes are closed, as he leans against the wall. “It’s rare for Kraken to work with humans.”
I become thoughtful. This is true, but if she in anyway is connected with Xzith, then she could still have information she doesn’t know to be important. A flash of terrified brown topaz eyes fills my mind. I frown. Was she Xzith’s lover?
The minute I have the thought I dismiss it. No, she was much too fierce to be a mate to such a weak Drakin. Plus, it would go against our laws for Xzith to mate with a human. Happy with my reasoning, I turn my attention to my men.
“He must be trying a new tactic. We will look into it. I’ll also ask Branem to come. He will need to erase her memory of us.”
With that, they are dismissed. My frustration grows. My brother and I have been searching for Xzith since the rat slipped away the night our father lay dying from wolfsbane poison. Left to die like some weak male, when in fact he’d been the wisest and strongest among us.
The ball of hatred that I keep tightly controlled unfurls. I can’t believe this has happened under our watch. Even now it’s hard to reconcile that the man my father prized even over his own sons had done this to him. Kraken had been taken into our family, like others who’d been birthed without home or nest due to the Magik Users hunting our kind to extinction.
My dragon wrestles within as my thoughts have moved to the dark past. I mentally shake my head and leave the commons area, heading to the headquarters to report my findings to the new lord.
***
“Ha.”
“It’s really not that funny,” I bite out as I watch our Lord, my brother, double over
in laughter. I firmly keep my stance across from his desk while he laughs, looking not at him but out the window behind him to the city below.
I don’t know what the fates had been thinking when they made him the firstborn. My brother, Anaes, is the antithesis of a leader. The only thing impressive about him is his size, though since we’re twins that doesn’t mean much to me.
We share the same midnight colored hair, violet eyes, burnished golden skin and six two height. However, his form is leaner. He carries himself with an air of sarcasm. No one ever knows what he’s truly thinking as his mouth always holds a perfect smirk. My brother is the smooth talker, I’m the muscle that backs him.
He gasps, straightening and turning his bright eyes toward me. I ignore the fact that he’s laughing so hard he has to wipe the tears from his eyes.
“Are you finished?” I ask, barely holding onto my discipline to not throttle him where he stands. “Do you need me to call your assistant?”
“No,” he says, gulping in air before he finally faces me seriously or as seriously as he can while his lips tremble. “It’s hard to believe that the great Ratnik Radu Vadija, got flipped over by a female… and a human female at that.”
He dodges my first punch. There goes my attempt at remaining neutral. Our positions are switched as I now stand on the other side of his desk, my back to him as he chuckles from behind me. “Okay, okay I’ll lay off.”
“Yes, do,” I say as I turn around and cross my arms. I glare at him. “Do you want the report or not?”
He swallows, giving me a nod as he stuffs his hands into his pockets. “Yep, go ahead.”
Shaking off the anger rolling through me, I begin. “We traced Xzith to the abandoned house, but he slipped away again, the rat. I have Civic looking for the female’s whereabouts now, the sooner we find her—”
“The sooner you think we can find Xzith.”
I fold my arms, feeling a bit better now that I’m focused not on my humiliation but work. “Kraken has been keeping low, but he’s clearly recruiting a few Drakin to his side.”
Tapping his chin, Anaes walks over to my side and we both turn for the window. We stare out over our land and clan. The headquarters of our people is hidden in plain sight—a fake security company that we inadvertently started using as a source of income. My brother and I have both been busy building said business, which is why we hadn’t known what Kraken was up to.
“He really intends to turn this into a blood bath,” my brother muses aloud, his tone almost casual, but I can clearly hear the barely held back rage that lies underneath. “That bastard, if only we’d known what he was up to.”
“Don’t waste your time on what-if’s,” I say, turning away from the view and making my way toward the door. “Focus on finding our enemies and crushing them.” Stopping short before the exit, I add. “Your job is to lead our people, and mine is to punish those who threaten that.”
Without another word, I leave the office. I ignore the feeling of eyes on me as I go. Human women always seem to be impressed with our people’s physiques. I have no time to entertain their attention today. I have a traitor to catch.
Exiting the building I make my way toward the parking lot. I spot Civic leaning against my car. “What?”
He pulls a small photo from his pocket. “Your female—”
“She’s not my female.” He blinks at my sharp rebuttal, silently observing me. Frowning, I snatch the photo from his hand. “What about the female?”
Apparently done judging me, Civic continues. “She runs a gym. If we go there now, we should be able to capture her.”
I shove the picture into my pocket. “Good.” Getting into the car, I disregard the sensation of the picture burning a hole in my pocket.
Your female.
Those words have affected me in a way that I don’t want to think too deeply about. She isn’t mine. She’s human and a possible accomplice of Xzith. And again, human females can’t and shouldn’t be claimed.
Deci
“One. Two. One. Two.”
Chewing on the end of my pen, I observe from the front counter as Chelsea puts the ladies through drills in the boxing class. The air is filled with the scent of sweat and Clorox. My staff and I just finished cleaning the mats for the next Karate class. Usually, I’d be down in the pit working out along with them, but I’m not in the mood.
Last night had been a trial I’d sworn to forget, but instead of forgetting I’ve replayed the sight of the purple-eyed bat over and over in my head. I rub my eyes and push up off the counter, shoving away my sad attempt at balancing my checkbook. The numbers have blurred together. I turn away from it and bend to grab the glass cleaning cloth and Windex.
Best thing to do when one can’t think is clean. Moving around the front desk, I head out into the gym I’d painstakingly saved for and built from the bottom up. We call the work floor the pit because it looks like a square fighting pit from the first level.
It boasts enough space for two classes at once. One side is used for kickboxing and the other for karate and taekwondo. On the second floor, there are five classrooms, two are used for morning yoga and cycling. The other three are for whatever classes my team decides to put together. Right now one is being remodeled to be used for flying yoga.
“I’m heading out, Deci.”
I wave over my shoulder at Carla, our dance instructor. She’s a bright-faced college student who needed extra money, so I helped her get her certifications to teach. “Don’t forget to grab one of those lunch boxes on the way out. Adam sent too many again.” I remind her as I stop before my first window.
She laughs loudly, her voice carrying. “I love his never-ending crush on you.”
I pretend she didn’t say anything. All the girls think Adam’s crush on me is funny. Especially since he owns the Korean restaurant across the street. I won’t lie. He is cute, but that doesn’t mean I want to do anything about it.
It isn’t his fault he doesn’t know I hate compliments on my face. Being a La Morta comes with many things: one, a curse, and two, certain attributes of said curse. Mine, being Sleeping Beauty. The beauty part has been heavily pushed on me. Not that I’m not happy for having good looks, but when I was younger it drew people that weren’t the nicest, especially men.
“Yo, hot thang!”
“Hey, girl. Let me holla at you.”
“You’re beautiful, I mean for a black girl.”
I shiver at the memory of the catcalls. Not to mention, it’s only another reminder when I look in the mirror that I have no real control over my life. No matter how many times I do everything in my power to be the complete opposite of some comatose princess, at the end of the day, when I see a needle, I feel a terror so great that I faint every time.
I move my hand faster against the glass, trying to work out the knot of frustration in my stomach. I still need to figure out how to make $120,000 dollars quickly, so I don’t disappoint the kids I promised to take on that trip.
The bell from the front door rings followed by tension that suddenly fills the air, drawing my attention. Releasing a sigh, I drop my arm knowing who it is before she comes through the second set of doors from the foyer.
“Lacey, what brings you here?” I ask not able to hide the irritation from my voice.
Lacey is the baby in the family, whose curse is bad for my business. Her long legs and model-like figure draws eyes like ants to honey, creating envy, and stirring hate. Cinderella’s curse is strong, and Lacey will always be the bell of ball, it also makes her hated by all women.
She leans against the wall eyeing me, forcing me to face her. “Astro told me you went after Craig.”
“So.” I should’ve known she’d come to dig for information. Giving up all pretense of cleaning, I place the rag and spray bottle down.
“So?” She rolls her eyes at me. “Don’t play, Deci. What happened?”’
Straightening, I shrug. “Nothing, he wasn’t there.”
I lie, but the
re isn’t any way I’m going to tell her I got myself into an awkward position with a gun or that there were muscle-headed idiots running around with wings. There can only be so much one is willing to believe in this world. I decide to draw the line at dragon people.
“C’mon. There had to be more to it,” she exclaims, narrowing her suspicion-filled eyes on me. “You’re not the type to quit, unless something made you quit.”
“Exactly. So, if I quit that means there’s a good reason to do it,” I say, placing my hands on my hips.
“See. I knew it.”
“But that doesn’t mean I’ll tell you about it,” I say quickly. Crossing my arms, I look her over not bothering to hide my irritation. “Anyway, you know I don’t like it when you come here. You’re bad for business. Did Astro send you?”
She shifts her weight to one hip, her expression turning from annoyance to sheepishness. “Maybe?”
I suck my teeth. “Tell mother hen, I don’t need you guys dropping in on me. Remember, no news is—”
“Good news.” She huffs glancing around the gym. “And it’s not my fault, the women here aren’t confident. My looks don’t mean anyone else is ugly.”
“Right… and your curse doesn’t make them want to torture you.”
“Now who’s blaming the curse for everything?”
I grimace. She’s right. As the primary one in the family who always pushes for us to take control of our lives, it’s a bit of hypocrisy for me to lean on it in this situation. Still, I’m allowed one chance to slip up. I have a lot on my plate at the moment.
“Why don’t I give you the money?” My sister’s voice cuts through my thoughts like a serrated knife. I easily reach out and flick her on the forehead. “Ouch, what was that for?”
“Flaunting your money,” I say as I bend to grab the spray bottle and cloth. There isn’t any point in cleaning anymore.
Pouting, she follows me back to the front counter. “You always like making everything difficult,” Lacey whines, watching me put away my cleaning supplies. “Use your trust fund and while you’re at it take a vacation. In fact, Mom wishes you’d take a break and relax.”
