New Breed (#1) (Dragon’s Fire) Read online

  Chapter 6

  She felt the heat from the flames rush past her and strike the creature as she remained petrified. She opened her eyes wide. The creature hadn't killed her. She abruptly turned around. Crispin stood behind her, his stance solid as he braced himself for the inevitable fight.

  “What are you doing here?” She asked him. She thought he left the area. She certainly would’ve if she had been him after their last conversation.

  “We'll talk later.”

  Her attention drifted to his hands. She saw a claw where his hand should be. The flames could’ve been explained but to have his body change in a short amount of time was a stretch. He told her the truth earlier. He was seriously a dragon. She knew her mouth was open in disbelief but she couldn’t help herself.

  The Unseen spoke in a cold voice, “Mmm, I’m having dragon tonight. I was thinking it was going to be human. This is such a treat for me.”

  “You're having nothing tonight,” Crispin answered. He advanced closer to the Unseen with his claws ready. The light of the flames reflected off the scales covering them.

  “Exactly. Neither one of us is on the menu for tonight,” Annabel added. She made her way behind Crispin. She was scared of the Unseen attacking her even in this position but she wasn’t bending to its threats. She’d use Crispin for cover. He fought these things before – he’d know how to get out of the way of its attacks.

  Crispin looked at her oddly for a moment before refocusing his attention on the Unseen. The two stared at each other, both intent on destroying the other. The air was noticeably colder than it was moments before.

  The Unseen attacked first. Its dark shape threw itself against Crispin. He was knocked off his feet and against the hard asphalt of the parking lot. Annabel heard his body hit the ground hard and winced. The dark shape collected itself again and hit Crispin while he was on the ground.

  “Pathetic,” the shape said as it swirled around.

  Crispin rolled himself onto his knees and sprang at the dark shape. The swirling darkness went around him and allowed for brief glimpses of his body before being enclosed in pitch black.

  Annabel felt useless. She looked around the lot. There had to be something she could use to help Crispin. All she saw was a stick knocked from one of the oak trees in someone’s nearby backyard. That had to do. She picked it up and charged at the darkness.

  The stick hit against the creature but she wasn't sure if it did any damage. The Unseen remained distracted hitting Crispin in full force. She had to concentrate on using whatever time she had to find a way to help him. When they made it out this fight, she had to remember to ask Crispin or one of the others what weapons were useful against the Unseen. She didn’t want a repeat of this. She wished she had a flame thrower – that seemed important in this situation.

  Two streams of fire came from behind Annabel and struck the Unseen. She turned around and saw Henry and Sera standing there. Both had their claws prepared and Henry was moving fast in her direction. “Out the way,” he told Annabel as he jumped high and launched himself into the fray.

  Annabel moved to the side and watched Henry dive into the fight. Claws from both men sliced through the Unseen, clawing portions of darkness into ribbons. It was difficult telling which claws belonged to whom when they moved swiftly through the target. Patches of darkness fell onto the ground and disappeared. The ones which didn’t instantly vanish were scorched by Sera until they were turned into wisps of smoke.

  When the darkness was destroyed and the final parts whisked away, Annabel watched as the three returned to their normal looking bodies. The claws turned back into regular hands as though it was an everyday occurrence. “Are you okay?” Crispin asked when he walked closer to Annabel. He was visually inspecting her for any damage the Unseen may have caused when he wasn’t looking.

  “I'm fine. What about you?” She saw him thrown against the ground by the Unseen. He should have a few broken bones. The fact he was walking was impressive.

  Henry walked over, checking out the people who started passing in front of the parking lot. “We need to get out of here before another shows up. I don't think we can take two Unseens tonight.”

  “I agree with Henry for once.” Sera looked at them and settled her eyes on Annabel. “Is she coming too?”

  Crispin nodded. “I need to talk with her. She heard what the Unseen was said before you showed up.”

  The others exchanged glances between themselves. There was likely another reason why Crispin chose to bring her along with them. “Okay,” Sera said. “I guess we can start walking back then.”

  “My car’s here. I can give you a ride since we're going to the same place,” Annabel said. It made sense to her for them to travel together. If an Unseen tried attacking her again, she’d feel safer knowing three dragons were with her. It’d work out for her.

  Henry and Sera cast a concerned look at Crispin. He nodded. “I think going with her is the best idea.”

  “Whatever you say,” Sera mumbled under her breath, following Annabel like the others. Everyone piled into Annabel's car and headed back to the house; their gaze shifting backwards every once in a while to ensure no one followed them. The questions started to pour out the moment she sat on their couch once again.

  “When did you first hear the Unseen talk?” Crispin asked.

  “Tonight was the first time. It was talking in my ear,” Annabel answered. She was remembering as best she could what happened.

  “What did the voice sound like?”

  “It was...cold? Is that even possible?” She didn’t know cold was a sound but it was definitely what she heard.

  Crispin nodded. “She definitely heard it. I don't know how she heard it. I was under the impression humans can’t hear the voice of the Unseen."

  “Unless they've been attacked by the Unseen before in which case there's a chance they'll be able to,” the other dark haired man in the room said. He stroked his chin. He scrutinized Annabel as if he expected her to change into an Unseen in front of him.

  “Who are you?” she asked him. She didn't mean to sound rude but she wanted to know who was talking. He was the only one she didn't know and from his tone of questioning, she wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to trust her.

  “I forgot to introduce myself? I always do that. I'm Jules,” he said, standing up to shake her hand.

  Annabel shook his hand. It was still a hand. She looked at the others. Their hands seemed normal. “I have to ask, was I imagining it or can you change your hands into claws?”

  They nodded. “It's one of the few things we still have from our original forms. It's also one of the few things that does damage to an Unseen,” Crispin explained.

  “What happened tonight between you and Crispin?” Sera asked randomly. She seemed like she had been waiting to ask that question since they arrived home.

  “Don't ask that,” Crispin replied for Annabel.

  “Why not? We're trying to determine what made the Unseen come after her. The more we can find out the better. Your date happened right before the Unseen attacked. I think it’s relevant.”

  “You can ask her tomorrow. For now, she's staying here overnight. Is there anyone you need to call?” Crispin asked Annabel. He ignored the dirty look from Sera.

  “Why do I need to stay here?” She wanted to know everything pertaining to her. This was important and she didn’t want there to be any lingering questions on her mind after tonight.

  Crispin and Jules exchanged looks with each other. They knew why she needed to remain nearby. “I want to run tests on you. It'll take a while to get everything ready,” Jules explained. “I do have a pamphlet you can read which outlines the things I'll be checking for if you want to look over it." He shook his head, looking over at Crispin.

  That was an odd thing to hear but she could play along. “That sounds reasonable. Let me make a quick call so no one worries about me tonight,” Annabel said looking from one man to the other. She was expecting them to
say she couldn't or that she needed to remain cryptic about what she said. They were a weird bunch from the short time she spent with them. Who knew what was going to happen next.

  Crispin nodded. “That's good. Let me show you where you're staying for the night.” He stood up and walked with her upstairs, leaving the others to talk amongst themselves.

  “Do you have lots of people staying over here because of Unseen attacks?” She knew the answer.

  He shook his head. “You're the first. You can stay in here tonight. I promise we're not going to attack you or anything. You can lock the door, barricade it, whatever. If you hear the Unseen, let us know. I’ll make sure someone is around at all times just in case. I'm next door so if no one comes running, just knock on the wall and I'll be here in a second.”

  “Thanks,” she said slipping inside the room. As soon as she was positive he left the upstairs area, she closed the door and locked it. This was odd. It was not at all how she thought the day was going to go when she woke up. She was stuck in a house full of dragons and a killer black cloud hovering outside for her. Definitely not what she planned for her day.