Dragon Lords Blood Contract

by Rylee Winters

  I never imagined his smooth voice could be so guttural and frightening, but it was impossible to deny the palpable threat in the air. It was thick enough to sink your teeth into it, like a soft wheel of brie.

  Except this atmosphere was much more scarier than a simple, mouldy piece of cheese.

  “Good. Now that I have all your attention, let me go into the details. Jasmine will be accompanying us going forward while we look for the amulet, so you are all to make her feel welcome.”

  “No way! She’s not hanging around here or with us – ” Drake burst out angrily, but no one paid him any heed.

  “How’s she suppose to help us? We don’t need a babysitter, and there’s no shortage of shifters out there. Why her?” Liam butted in, his eyes gleaming shrewdly. I was pretty certain he didn’t give a crap about Drake’s beef with me, but that didn’t mean he liked me.

  “Jasmine has an exceptional tracking talent. She can scent magical items,” Ethan explained. “She’s also got impressive fighting skills,” he added.

  His words grabbed everyone’s attention, and all three guys snapped their eyes in my direction to focus on me. They looked at me with a mixture of disbelief and wonder, like I was some sort of alien.

  “Get outta here,” Knox whistled in awe. He rushed over to my side and started to examine me from all different angles, like I was a display at a freak show.

  “Can you please stop it?” I ground my teeth together, annoyed at being examined and scrutinized this way.

  “That’s not possible,” Damien said, looking extremely sceptical.

  “I’ve vouched her capabilities already. I can assure you, without the slightest doubt, it’s true.”

  Ethan sounded damn confident. That’s why I knew his words were a fact. He’d probably researched the fuck out of me to make sure I could do the job, before approaching me with an offer, I thought sourly. And since I’d already signed the blood contract, regardless of how much I didn’t want to do this job now, it was out of my hands.

  …Unless I was prepared to be cursed and die a tragic, magical death.

  “Fine. But that’s hardly sufficient proof that she’s going to be useful in helping us,” Damien argued, clearly holding something against me. And here I was thinking he might not be a jerk like Drake. Guess I was wrong.

  “Besides, Drake doesn’t like her,” he added, like this was a deciding factor.

  Ethan laughed, but the sound was devoid of any amusement. “Since when have you cared whether Drake likes something or not. Quit with the excuses. Jasmine’s joining us. And she’s here to stay.”

  “You can’t just decide that on your own,” Liam snorted. “This isn’t a dictatorship.”

  “Actually – I can,” Ethan stated, then cocking an eyebrow, he added, “And who says this isn’t. None of you outrank me. Not yet anyway.”

  Liam scowled, but was unable to argue with the logic and truth of Ethan’s words.

  “So, as you all can see – I have complete veto power on this decision.”

  “That may be so, but you can’t force any of us to accept her,” Drake retorted.

  Way to make a girl feel welcome. Asshole.

  The shitty attitude I was getting from these guys was really making me regret my decision. And all this rejection was starting to give me the pits.

  “Awww – come on guys. Look at how lovely and pretty she is,” Knox coos, buzzing around me like some big, oversized, annoying fly. He gently picked up a lock of my hair from my shoulder between his long fingers, and started to sniff it.

  I tried to bat him away, and he dropped the strand, raising his hands up in surrender, as his mouth opened into a wide, cheeky smile. Turning to the other guys, he continued to add to his previous words by saying, “Why don’t we let her stay. I think it’ll be nice to have her around.”

  “Shut-up Knox. No one has time for your stupidity right now,” Liam snapped, and I found myself feeling sorry for Knox, as he took on an injured expression.

  “Knox, even though Liam is a dickhead, he’s right. If she can’t help us, and she stays here with us, it’ll just become a burden.” Damien interceded, trying to soothe Knox’s hurt feelings.

  I grunted. At this rate, I was beginning to become concerned whether my ego was going to survive this encounter intact.

  Liam crossed his arms, offended at Damien’s insult. And he wasn’t the only one. What he said really peeved me off. It riled me up to the point where I felt like I was about to do something brash. But both Liam and Ethan beat me to the punch.

  “Alright, how about we make a deal,” Liam said slyly.

  “Yes?” Ethan replied, he’s eyes glinting behind his glasses like a wily, old fox.

  “Why don’t you let us test Jasmine. One of us will fight her, and if she’s able to hold her own decently, then we’ll take her in. Afterall, if she can’t fend for herself, she won’t be much use if we encounter a dangerous situation while she’s helping us with our search.”

  “Wha – ,” I began, my eyes boggling out, thinking I’d misheard, but the shock I felt at hearing Liam’s idea shook all the words out of my mouth.

  I turned my head to see Ethan starting to nod his head slowly, seeing the logic of Liam’s argument. “Okay, fine. But I don’t want to hear any more arguments or complaints after this. Agreed?”

  I opened my mouth to protest.

  Imagining myself issuing a challenge to these A-class jerks and teaching them a lesson was one thing. But actually having Ethan agree to it, was another.

  But before I could get a word in sideways, Damien’s voice cut through.

  “And if she can’t hold her own?” Damien asked coldly, sending a cold bucket of ice over my body.

  “Then I’ll fire her myself,” Ethan stated. My breath hitched as my heart and lungs constricted inside my chest.

  “Wai – wha – ” my mouth stumbles, trying to get the words out.

  What the fuck. Had Ethan conveniently forgotten the fact we’d signed a freaking blood contract? If I didn’t complete my end of the bargain, I was as good as dead.

  My eyes bore a hole into Ethan, as anger bubbled up inside my chest. It threatened to spill over at the thought Ethan was casually wagering with my life.

  The backstabbing son-of-a-bitch.

  As I stepped forward, Ethan must’ve caught the movement out of the corner of his eye, and predicted I’d start protesting. He flicked his wrist in my direction before I could even open my mouth to speak, and I felt a zing of power hit my lips, almost like the feeling of being zapped by static.

  Startled, I made to cry out, only to find myself choking on air. No sound passed through my lips. My eyes widened with fear, as I desperately tried to speak, but no sounds would come out. The realization hit me like a solid brick wall.

  The bastard just magicked me!

  Glowering at Ethan’s stupid head, I was about to rampage towards him and rip him a new one, to find myself helplessly rooted to the floor.

  What the fuck.

  I wanted to know exactly what kind of supernatural Ethan was, and how he had the power to do this shit.

  Everyone was ignoring me, acting like it was normal for a guest of theirs to be silenced and rooted to the spot.

  Meanwhile, Ethan and Damien were negotiating the terms of the fight. A fight involving me, which was happening without my consent!

  My face blanched white. I couldn’t speak and I couldn’t move, which meant I had no way of stopping these two obnoxious assholes from ruining my life.

  I began to twist and squirm earnestly, trying desperately to jerk my legs free of this stupid binding spell Ethan had cast on me. But the magic was too powerful, and my mind already knew what my body couldn’t accept. My fate was sealed, and it was in the hands of two strangers I barely knew, let alone trusted. One of whom had made it pretty obvious, he disliked me.

  The only thing I could do was watch on in abject horror as my life spiraled out of control. Completely helpless and unable to stop a
nything, even though I knew things were about to go horribly wrong.

  “Drake should fight her,” Liam said, making the suggestion out of the blue. “After all, she dishonored him, so he should get a chance to correct that. We couldn’t let her join us, without clearing the air on that issue first.”

  “I’ll fight her,” Drake declared, agreeing to Liam’s proposal without hesitation, as he jutted his jaw out arrogantly.

  “Be my guest,” Damien said. “Are you okay with that Ethan?”

  “That’s fine. But no magic. Only partial shifting allowed. Agreed?” Ethan arched his brow expectantly at Drake.

  Drake scoffed. “Agreed.”

  “It’s a deal then.” Damien looked to Ethan for confirmation.

  “Yes. It’s a deal.”

  Meanwhile, I was being forced to watch this exchange as I stood there, struggling helplessly against my bindings. Feeling sick to the stomach, I almost choked on my own vomit as I watched them shake hands.

  Ethan turned to smile triumphantly at me.

  And it was enough to make me want to gouge his eyes out.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Jasmine

  “Ahhherrm…Ahhermm.” Trying to clear my voice for the sixth time in a row, I gulped down the cold drink in my hands hoping to sooth my hoarse throat.

  “Is there something wrong? Are you sick?” Ethan asked, starting to become concerned. Biting back my unpleasant words, I glared at him and took another drink instead.

  “You were fine this afternoon…how is it possible for you to fall sick in just the space of a few hours?”

  I slammed my bottle down, water splashing over the lip. Sploshes of liquid landed on the bench we were sitting on, that was pushed up against the wall of the gym.

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” I attempted to yell, and the sound of my voice came out loud and raspy.

  Ethan looked at me blankly, I might say, even confused. My shoulders started shaking with anger.

  “This is all your fault! You cast a bloody spell on me, stopping my voice from working, and now I can’t even talk properly,” I wailed, my voice coming out croaky and coarse. The situation was a complete bloody mess. I’d tried to stop this stupid fight from happening earlier, only to end up silently screaming myself hoarse.

  While Ethan and Damien had been busy agreeing on this stupid wager, I’d been shouting soundless curses at them from the sidelines. Try as I did to uproot my feet which seemed glued to the ground, I found my efforts were simply in vain. In the end, I was still forced to participate in this dumb fight with Drake.

  “Then you’re not sick?” Ethan sounded relieved, while I stared daggers at him.

  “If looks could kill,” I muttered, wishfully, before turning away to take another swig of water from my bottle, and flopped back against the wall. The cool liquid hit the back of my throat and I cleared it again with a small cough, finally starting to feel my voice box beginning to return back to normal.

  Ethan brushed his fingers through his hair impatiently. “Look, I promise to make it up to you. But there weren’t many options left for me to get Damien, Drake and Liam to agree to take you in. Knox isn’t an issue, but the other three…”

  “Not my problem,” I said bluntly. “You need to tell me what type of magical fuckers these guys are. Pronto. And explain to me what you’ve actually gotten me into.” My voice was gruff and serious. Ethan needed to know I meant business. That I expected answers, and I expected them now.

  Ethan looked like he’d rather be shovelling out horse shit than continue with the conversation we were having now.

  “Tell me.” I repeated myself, eyes boring into his head, determined to get an answer.

  Running a hand through his hair, Ethan sighed and reluctantly started to talk. “All four of them – well, how do I best put this…?” he said, pausing as he squinted up at the ceiling.

  “Just say it, for heaven’s sake!” I snapped, losing my patience.

  “They’re…they’re ummm…dragons,” he finally revealed, finishing the last word as quickly as possible, as if by doing so I might miss it.

  I gaped at him. The mythical fire-breathing, air flying, human eating, treasure hording motherfuckers?

  My life was over.

  I spun around to face the front, my eyes no longer seeing anything around me, since I was in complete and utter shock.

  Dragons. Dragons. Dragons. Motherfucking dragons…

  “Jasmine. Jasmine. Are you okay?” Ethan shook my shoulders, trying to wake me from my stunned daze, his voice sounding a little panicked. “You need to get your shit together. The fight’s about to start.”

  The fight…the blood contract…my mother…

  It was like a lightbulb flicked on inside my head, and I snapped awake, realizing how dire the situation was. If I didn’t get a handle on things, I was royally screwed.

  My inner fox reared its ugly head, and I bared my sharp teeth to snarl at Ethan in a menacing, animalistic way, looking for all intents like I was about to tear his limbs off.

  Startled by my reaction, he jerked back. “Woah…woah… Down girl. I’m on your side, remember.” He held up both his palms to signal he meant me no harm.

  I emitted a low, animal growl.

  “Good. Very good.” Ethan nodded, as if my animosity was a positive thing. “Seems like you’re ready, Miss Wyatt.” I watched as the condescending bastard moved his hand as if he was about to pat me on the head, and I snapped my teeth at it, forcing him to quickly snatch it away.

  The expression on my face was sending him a message loud and clear: I did not want to cooperate.

  Ethan sighed. “Look, we can argue about this later,” he said, starting to sound a little irritated. “Right now, you need to concentrate on winning this fight. For the moment, how about we just get along, shall we?”

  “What if I refuse to fight,” I threw back at him. He couldn’t very well make me.

  “If you back out, you’ll die,” he stated bluntly, reminding me of the blood contract. The words were like a sharp knife twisting deeper into my gut.

  “Then undo the fucking blood contract. Undo it now.” I said crossly, twisting in my seat.

  “You know that’s not possible.”

  “Bullshit. You’ve got magic powerful enough to restrain a bloody dragon. So, I’m sure you know a way to do it.”

  “Perhaps… Maybe I do. But I don’t want to.”

  “You bastard,” I snarled, and Ethan jumped up with a start, as I lunged for him. I roared as my claws swiped at empty air. “You must think you’re King shit! Are you a fucking dragon too?”

  In an instant, his expression darkened, and the tone of his voice turned hard, but quiet. “I’m not a dragon,” he said, like he was stating a fact. And there was a slight bitterness to his words, so subtle I barely noticed it.

  “Then what are you?” I snapped.

  “That’s not important right now. What you need to do is focus on winning this fight,” he said, then stopped. He tilted his head to one side and perked his ear up.

  “They’re here,” Ethan hissed, and my hearing also picked up on the sound of loud footsteps approaching. “No more talking about the contract – we’ll speak about this later.”

  “You bet your ass we will.” This was not the end of the conversation. Not by a long shot.

  Crossing my arms over my chest, my eyes darted to the large double doors of the gym as they swung open with a mighty thunk.

  “So, are you ready to meet your maker?” Drake’s voice boomed loudly into the gym, as he strode cockily through the door. Liam, Damien and Knox walked in behind him, in tow.

  “Seriously, how the fuck am I suppose to beat a dragon?” I asked Ethan, in a low and harsh whisper. “Don’t most people end up dying?”

  “Prove you’re the exception to the rule,” Ethan replied, sounding unsympathetic. “Besides, you don’t need to win. You just need to prove you have decent fighting ability.”

  “That’s easy for
you to say. You’re on top of the food chain,” I muttered.

  “Again, I’m not a dragon,” Ethan repeated himself. But I only scoffed in response. It was hard to believe him, after how epically he’d screwed me over. Besides, what sort of supernatural beast could he be to outrank four other dragons?

  Speaking of those devils, their entrance was making a whole lot of racket. I turned my attention towards them, and saw they were strolling towards us.

  Drake’s posture was full of arrogant confidence, like his shit didn’t smell. It wasn’t difficult to see what was going through his mind. He was probably thinking this was a golden opportunity to kick my ass, and that this really, was just much too easy.

  Well, fuck him. I was definitely not going down without a fight.

  I glared at him. “Ready when you are.” Motherfucker.

  Sniggering, Drake stepped away from his entourage and onto the mat in the middle of the gym.

  Our chosen battleground was in a room on the ground floor, downstairs from the study. Picked by Ethan largely because it was convenient, but also because for some reason I couldn’t fathom, he didn’t want the boys to leave the house.

  As I stepped forward to make my way to the fighting ground, I could feel rather than see Damien’s eyes raking over me with a hot intensity. I stopped and looked his way, to catch a glimpse of some hidden emotion flickering across his face. Curiosity wriggled in my chest, but there wasn’t any time to dwell on it.

  My gaze fell on Knox next, who was hanging to the side, excited yet anxious. Seeing me looking his way, he gave me two thumbs up, a sign of encouragement. I suppose he was rooting for me to win, but he was probably the only one…aside from Ethan.

  On Damien’s other side, Liam stood by quietly, observing everything with scientific interest. Like none of this involved him. He was just a spectator here for the show. The sight of him made me bitter, as I thought over what was about to come.

  Drake could destroy me, and none of these guys would even bat an eye. To them, I was just another form of entertainment. Some sort of play thing.

  That was all my life was worth to them in their eyes.