Dragon Lords Blood Contract

by Rylee Winters

  I bit down on my bottom lip, feeling vulnerable for the first time since entering this house. I could feel tears prickling behind the back of my eyes, but I shoved them right back down inside me, down into the deepest, darkest hole there was, and buried them there along with all my other bad memories.

  It was too late to despair, too late to regret, and no use feeling sorry for myself.

  All I had was myself to depend on now. No friends. No family.

  If I lost the fight with Drake, and died from breaking the blood contract, I doubt there would be one person who’d attend my funeral.

  I felt a void of loneliness growing inside me, and it threatened to engulf me if I allowed it to, but I told myself sternly this wasn’t the time to wallow in self-pity. I had to survive this fight and win this bet no matter what. Both my life, and my mother – if she was still alive – were depending on it.

  I turned my attention towards the sound of loud grunting. Drake was making a big show of himself warming up. Jumping up and down noisily on the mat, he then dropped to the ground and started doing rapid fire push-ups like some sped lunatic. Even though I was in a crappy mood and felt immensely depressed, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at this over-dramatic display of testosterone.

  Suddenly, I was aware of Ethan stepping up beside me, and seconds later, he gave me a solid clap on the shoulder. “Don’t fuck this up…” he murmured just loud enough so I could hear.

  “…Thanks. Great pep talk,” I muttered, shooting him a scathing look, before I went to join Drake on the mat.

  I performed a few light exercises to get my blood pumping, and finished off with some easy stretches. Then rolling my shoulders back a few times, I shook out my limbs to loosen my muscles.

  Even though I didn’t feel remotely ready for this fight, I knew there was no point delaying. It was now or never, and the results wouldn’t change no matter how long I made Drake wait.

  “Hope you’re prepared,” Drake smirked. Cracking his neck and his knuckles, he moved closer into the centre, seeming to have finally finished with his peacock display.

  The smug look curving his lips made me want to carve out that handsome face of his, and stick it in a pile of cow dung. “Let’s just get this over and done with,” I said, already tired of his antics.

  “No killing, and no interfering unless someone is dying,” Ethan announced the rules clearly to everyone in the room. “First to surrender or get knocked out, loses.”

  I grunted in assent, too annoyed at the lunacy of this situation to form words.

  “Fine with me,” Drake replied, his lips drawing back in a feral grin.

  Without further preamble, I placed one leg forward, and got into fighting stance. Taking my cue, Drake also moved into position.

  We began to slowly circle one another.

  I watched Drake warily, my eyes never leaving him, trying to pick up on his every move. It wasn’t a surprise when he attacked me first, and fortunately, I was prepared. I sensed his intention even before he acted.

  Kicking my body into motion, I ducked, swinging myself under and around to his back, as he jumped through the air, lunging at me with his hands raised, black talons out.

  He landed on the floor with a loud, muffled thump, the mat absorbing a good deal of the impact. He knew he’d missed me, and immediately whipped around on the defensive, even as I delivered a well aimed kick to his abdominals.

  Yes, I had him.

  But moving so fast that he was a blur, he twisted to the side and blocked my leg before I was able to connect the blow.

  I grunted, annoyed at not making the hit, and retreated backwards, careful with my footing, not wanting to trip over myself and give Drake an advantage.

  His eyes glimmered with amusement as he looked at me, back hunched over, with my fists raised high, ready to meet his next move.

  As his massive frame stepped leisurely forward, a fiendish grin dripping from his lips, he looked like a demon who’d been conjured from hell’s inferno itself.

  A fierce blaze of flames erupted to surround him, licking up at his body from his feet, and I felt the immense pressure of his magic aura pressing down on me like a heavy weight.

  I gasped. Fear and shock making my eyes go round.

  “There’s no fucking magic allowed! Remember that Drake!” Ethan hollered from the sidelines.

  The warning seemed to fly over Drake’s head. It was clear he didn’t give two shits about what Ethan had just said.

  The flames continued to burn, but they didn’t seem to scorch Drake or his surroundings as the soles of his combat boots touched the matted floor with each and every step.

  “Are you scared now? Ready to apologize?” Drake chided, tilting his chin up slightly and giving me a haughty look, as he continued to stalk towards me, closing in.

  Something riled inside me, Drake’s goading making me act stupid.

  Responding, I blew him a raspberry. “Dream on,” I retorted, feeling a brief moment of bravery as anger spiked inside me.

  Drake sneered, shaking his head. “Keep talking crap, crazy woman. Believe me, when I say you’re going to regret it. You haven’t seen even half of my strength. Yet.”

  I shuddered at this new piece of information, wondering how much more power he was keeping leashed. Lifting my eyes up to meet his, I found myself staring into beautiful reptilian eyes aglow with a mesmerizing light silver. My eyes took the rest of him in, and I couldn’t help feeling like I was staring at a magnificent battle-god hewn from hot, fiery steel. His eyes were hard, unapologetic, speaking the language of command and dominance, and I knew he was a conqueror.

  His presence inspired both dread and cold fear to eat at my gut, while at the same time, I couldn’t help but feel drawn to this dazzling monster.

  Was this attraction? If it was, then this was fucked. Shaking my head, I tried to rid these crazy, useless thoughts from rattling inside my skull.

  “You’re shit out of luck, Sherlock,” I muttered to myself. “Better say my prayers now…”

  Swallowing hard, I took in a deep breath, thoughts racing as I tried to come up with a solution out of this mess. Drake was only seconds away, and I was soon going to be backed into a corner. It was now all or nothing.

  So, I took a risk and decided to attack first. Maybe he’d be surprised and I would somehow get the upper hand.

  Or maybe not.

  I felt my eyes glow golden as the shift came upon me. Partially morphing, I let out a loud cry as I charged towards Drake like my life depended on it. My transformation was so sudden, I could still feel the electric tingles along my arm as I thrusted it forward, white claws extended, and tried to gouge them into his flesh.

  But before my claws could even touch Drake, scales appeared, shimmering like a gilded shield across his chest. The sharp tips of my claws raked over his hard armor, making a sound like nails scraping down a chalkboard, only with more of a metal twang.

  Mid-way through, I felt a splintering pain. The sound of bones snapping suddenly punctuated the air, making me cringe, and I realized too late that my claws had broken, as pieces of them splintered off Drake’s scales and went flying into the air.

  I cried out loudly from the excruciating pain. Stars flooding into my vision, as I squeezed my eyes tight shut, stumbling back.

  “Is that the best you got?” Drake mocked, his chest not spotting a single mark, as I cupped my injured hand in my other palm, taking in short, shaky breaths. Sweat beaded my forehead, as the synapses in my brain fired one after the other, triggered by the shooting pain in my fingers.

  What should I do? I wondered as panic squeezed tightly around my heart.

  My blood rushed to my ears, beating loudly inside my eardrums. I was severely injured and there was no where to run. Drake’s massive form was stalking ruthlessly closer to me, and it was like a horror scene playing out in slow motion.

  I didn’t dare to hope for any mercy – he would definitely give me none.

  I need to figure
out a way to distract him. It’s the only way I’ll get to fight back.

  My mind trembled. He was going to snap me like a twig. I didn’t know why I even thought I had a chance. The difference between our strength was so ludicrously clear. Only a blind idiot would think otherwise.

  A blind idiot like me.

  Adrenaline rushed to my head, and I felt something stir, deep down inside of me, a presence in the darkest depths of my core. There was an unfamiliar voice there, and it didn’t sound like my inner fox…

  No. it was much older, much fiercer, and many more times dominating.

  The voice was urgent, begging me to release it from some invisible trap. But confusion laced my mind – I didn’t know how or where to even begin! I could sense an enormous power coiling behind it, in the pit of my gut. My inner senses could just touch the edges of it, when I felt the entity pushing against some sort of barrier separating us.

  The power was tantalizing, seductive even, like drinking on some rare, expensive wine – but also fearsome, at the same time. The mysterious voice reached its hand out to me…

  Suddenly, I sensed something powerful moving through the air, and snapped to attention as Drake’s fist swung towards me, trying to connect to my gut.

  My body responded automatically, and my leg kicked out to block it. The impact jarred me out of my thoughts, which was just as well. Because the next thing I knew, he’d grabbed hold of my leg in his big hand.

  My eyes widened, while with a violent tug, he brought me crashing into him, smacking hard against his broad, solid chest.

  For a moment, it almost looked like we were embracing, as he grabbed the back of my head, leant in and pushed my ear right up against his lips. But things couldn’t be more further from the truth.

  Squirming and kicking, I tried to break free. But then I felt his other arm snake out behind me, enclosing around my waist at the back. The next thing I knew, he was pressing me even harder into the curve of his body, and I could feel the firm ridges of his strong muscles through the thin fabric of my top as he held me in place.

  “It’s over. You’ve lost,” his low voice proclaimed, deep and rough, and a sickening feeling began to pool inside my stomach. “Are you ready to apologize?”

  “Go to hell,” I replied through gritted teeth, too stubborn to admit defeat.

  Drake grunted, narrowing his eyes into slits, his voice becoming harsh. “Then prepare yourself – you’re about to feel a pain worse than death.”

  Truly he must be exaggerating.

  I gasped in surprise, as I felt my body being lifted up off the ground. My high-pitched shriek pierced through the air, and before I was able to blink my eyes, Drake was throwing me over his shoulder. I felt a blaze of searing heat burst along the flesh of my arm at the point Drake’s hand was gripping it.

  The intense fire of pain raced down my limbs, tunneling through my bones, as Drake slammed my body down hard, against the floor.

  There was a cracking and splitting sound, and I was almost certain I’d broken some ribs.

  I heard myself groan and felt a terrible pain shoot from my chest to radiate out across my body, overloading my senses so much I was unable to register much else.

  My eyes were squeezed shut, but I could sense Drake’s shadow looming over me, as he stood there looking down at my body all curled up, and writhing in pain.

  Oh the irony. Five-hundred years of intense, lethal training by my cruel, unrelenting, former masters, only to be reduced to this pitiful state.

  Like a distant ringing, I thought I could just make out someone calling out my name. But I wasn’t completely sure given my muddled state.

  My heart was racing, and I had a terrible feeling that at best, I was about to be crippled – or at worst, I was about to be made dead. Even my shifter healing powers couldn’t save me now. Not from the curse of a blood contract.

  Drake crouched down next to me, and leant in so close to my face, I could feel the scorching heat of his breath. “Say goodnight,” he whispered softly and I felt a mighty power surge through his body.

  The strange voice inside me rushed with panic, and it urgently reached its spectral hands out to me again. I scrambled desperately to grab onto them, only to feel the tips of its fingers slipping out of my grasp, just as a searing pain burned along my jawline where Drake’s hand grabbed on to it. He squeezed my jaw firmly, and I felt the sharp ends of his talons just nick my skin.

  “Drake, stop!” A voice that I recognized belonging to Damien, yelled out. “The scroll’s surfaced at an auction. We need to go now.”

  A growl rumbled from Drake’s chest, and I felt it reverberate through the air. He tightened his grip on my face, clearly reluctant to let go of his prey.

  “Now, Drake!” The voice sounded pissed and imposing at the same time.

  Drake grunted, but finally released me, and my head slumped back onto the ground.

  For a few brief moments afterwards, I heard footsteps running towards me. But the pain shooting through my body and its joints was now so intense I could barely open my eyes.

  I heard Ethan’s faraway voice, and felt rough hands squeezing my shoulders and brushing my hair back, just before I lost consciousness and my vision tunneled into black.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Jasmine

  My mind faded in and out of consciousness, vaguely registering the echo of voices talking around me, while I distantly felt my body throbbing with pain.

  Ever so slowly, I became aware that the voices above me were whispering and hissing at each other like they were in a heated argument. But in my half-deranged state, I struggled to make out what they were saying, catching only scattered pieces of the conversation.

  “…we need to neutralize the fire in her body…”

  “…you do it.”

  “Fuck, off…”

  “…but you’re responsible…”

  The chatter of voices made little sense to me, and it was tiring to just grasp on to the few words I could make out.

  There was a pause and then I heard someone finally let out an agitated sigh. “Fine, I’ll do it. You chicken shits…”

  Something warm and soft suddenly pressed itself against my lips, making the entire area of mouth tingle. A small part in the back of my mind told me I should be startled and afraid, but no...I felt completely calm.

  Before I could work out what was happening my mind faded out again, back into the darkness.

  The last thing I remembered was a comforting coolness spreading all over my body, across my limbs, numbing the pain.

  ❖❖❖

  “We don’t have bloody time for this,” a gruff voice complained as I felt myself slowly regaining consciousness. My head felt heavy and foggy, and it pounded like someone had taken a hammer to it and gone for gold.

  There was a feeling of static buzzing behind my eyes, like little pricks of fine needles, and I tried to blink the discomfort away, but found it difficult to lift open my eyelids.

  Unseen voices rang in my ears as they talked around me. This time, I was conscious enough to recognize the voice belonged Knox. He sounded irritated.

  “Shut it Liam, just give the girl some space,” he snapped. The sound of his voice was close, like he was just hovering above me.

  “But we’re using up so much of the healing serum. It’s such a waste,” Liam whined, disgruntled.

  “If you guys aren’t planning on helping, I suggest you leave now,” Ethan snapped out loud. He heaved out an exasperated sigh. “I’ve already got my hands full trying to fix this shit.”

  A warm cocoon of energy began to slowly surround me, then the air around me started to hum. The sound was light and soothing, and made me want to go back to sleep.

  But the voices around me continued, becoming louder and more difficult to ignore.

  “It’s all Drake’s fault. He fucking cheated. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be in this mess,” Liam said, scolding the other man.

  “The fuck it’s my fault. She should
n’t have fought me if she knew she was this weak. Besides, it was you who suggested she should fight me in the first place.”

  There was a groaning noise which I barely registered was coming from me, and it seemed like they were going to continue arguing when Knox’s voice rose above the squabble. “Shhh…! Shut the fuck up everyone! I think she’s waking…”

  My body stirred and I moaned as I felt a hand slip beneath my shoulders to support my head up, and then something cold and glassy was pressed against my lips.

  “Drink,” came Ethan’s instruction. “It’ll make you feel better.”

  The vial smelt foul, but I was too weak to protest or to disobey. Besides – at this point, I was almost willing to try anything if it’d get rid of the throbbing pain coursing through my entire body. So, I co-operated like a good little girl and swallowed when Ethan tipped the warm, bitter liquid into my mouth.

  It tasted vile, and I almost ended up spluttering it out. “What is this disgusting shit?” I gasped, coughing as I rolled onto my side, my eyes still sealed shut.

  Feeling blind at this point, I tried to force my eyelids open again. It was a difficult feat. They felt thick and heavy, like a pair of iron curtains had come down. But I managed somehow – after a few failed attempts.

  Bleary-eyed, I could only make out two roundish blobs of color bobbing up and down in the space right in front of me. The blobs hovered above me, and I felt one of them poke and prod me, asking me if I was okay.

  I think I gave a response, but my mind was too foggy for me to be sure.

  Straining my eyes to see behind one of the big blobs in front of me, I could make out two other floating blobs hanging near the back.

  I started blinking, trying to get rid of the dusty feeling in my pupils, and slowly the colors began to swim into sharper focus, and the blobs began to shape into faces I recognized. Before long, I saw Ethan and Knox were standing above me, peering down anxiously at my waking face, while Liam and Drake were standing near the wall at the back.

  Moaning from the discomfort in my muscles, I rolled myself onto my side and tried to push myself up.