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

Annabel followed Crispin to a testing area they set up for her. It consisted of three chairs and a table with various objects on it. A few of them looked pointy and she didn’t want to get too closer to them. “What tests are you planning on running?” She wanted to be informed.

  “We're not sure why the Unseen is interested in you.” Jules sat opposite her and placed the clipboard he held earlier upon the table. “I'm running a few basic tests to see if anything shows up immediately.” He positioned one of the devices towards her and clicked it on.

  “Basic tests?” She looked to Crispin for any indication what these tests might be. He was the person she trusted in this scenario. He saved her life twice and didn’t demand anything out of her because of it. He could be trusted.

  “The tests are to see why the Unseen decided to invest its energy into finding you. We'll be able to figure out the exact cause from the results and hopefully stop it from being able to find you again,” Crispin explained. He took a seat opposite her. He grinned and watched the information being transmitted across the nearby screen.

  Annabel crossed her arms in the chair. She was nervous about the process. She hadn’t been checked before for Unseen attracting properties and wasn’t sure how involved the process was. Exhaling, she said, “I trust you. Let's figure this out. Do I need to look at pictures and tell you the meaning or how does this go?”

  “A Rorschach test? I never understood the importance of those tests. It’s just lots of blobs with nothing behind them. These are nothing like that. They are more scientific.” Jules reached for her hand. His glasses hung off the edge of his nose.

  She gave her hand to him and smiled. “Palm reading?” She relaxed. This was easy so far.

  Jules poked her finger with a small pin he held in his other hand. She hadn't seen it earlier.

  “Ow,” she said, instinctively pulling her hand back. He held strongly onto on her and kept her finger in his hand.

  He squeezed a drop of her blood. “I need to take a better look at this sample,” he explained. He scraped it onto a glass slide and placed it on the table.

  “You should warn me before drawing my blood. It's not nice to poke people,” she said when released. She was curious to see he was going to find. She placed her finger in her mouth. The pin left a mark.

  Jules slid his chair to a microscope he had at a counter nearby. He looked at the slide, adjusting the controls multiple times before telling them, “I don't see anything unusual. I'm going to experiment with the Unseen material. I want to see if anything happens.” He grabbed a small jar from the table. Its contents were pure black, swirling around behind the glass. Annabel had seen it before. It was the same darkness as the Unseen.

  She felt nervous. She looked at Crispin. He was fixated on the jar and her blood near Jules. He realized Annabel was looking at him and knew she was scared about everything happening. He calmed her by saying, “Don't worry. It's not enough to attack you. He wants to see what happens when it comes in contact with your blood."

  Annabel nodded as though she understood the explanation. “I'm holding you responsible then. You fight it if it tries attacking me,” she joked. If it tried attacking her, she was running out the room. Dealing with an Unseen today was off her to-do list.

  He smiled. “I wouldn't have to. It dies off since it doesn't have a host.”

  She nodded again. She didn’t understand what he said but she didn’t probe the question. It was one occasion she would take his word on the subject. He was the experienced one in this scenario. She was learning at a steep curve.

  Jules opened the jar and put a small amount of dark material next to the slide. The dark material swirled around the drop of blood. The spinning increased as the seconds passed. Annabel and Crispin saw this happen from their positions. It continued for a few minutes before directly attacking her blood. The slide cracked from the force. The swirling ceased once the blood dissipated.

  As Crispin had said, in a few seconds the material wore itself out. It disappeared into a thin, white smoke after it finished the attack as though it had never been in front of them.

  “That doesn't look good,” Annabel said aloud. She worried the Unseen would attack her in the same way. If it was after her blood, she was doomed to keep fighting the Unseen over and over. She couldn’t get rid of her blood without dying. There had to be another way to avoid dealing with the problem. Her attention drifted back to the men in the room. They were her best options.

  Crispin and Jules exchanged looks with one another. They knew it was a bad result. They didn't know how to explain the results to Annabel positively. She kept looking to them for answers. “That sample was taken from the same Unseen we fought last night. He was destroyed so I wouldn't worry about it attacking you again. Jules, do we have a jar from another Unseen?” Crispin asked. He smiled at Annabel to reassure her.

  “There's one in the back of the storage room. Can you help me get it?” Jules stood up and started towards the room. Crispin stood and walked in the same direction as well.

  “Are you positive the Unseen is gone?” Annabel asked before they left. She fidgeted in her chair. She could be in danger right now. The Unseen might enter the room at any moment.

  “I'm positive about that. Four dragons can destroy any Unseen,” Crispin said. He followed Jules through the door. They stood in the kitchen and looked at one another.

  The situation was serious yet they were both excited at the findings.

  “Did you see that?” Jules asked. He wanted to be certain he didn't imagine that happening. This was a new discovery.

  “I know. What are we going to do? I can't tell her what the results are.”

  “I don't know what we can. It's hard to stop an Unseen once it chooses its prey. They'll travel across continents if they have to until they kill that person. I wish I had more time to explore the options. This is completely new territory for me.” He sounded giddy as he talked. No doubt countless potential projects raced through his mind.

  Crispin ran his fingers through her curly black hair. He thought about several paths he could take but none of them seemed promising. He didn't want to put her in danger. He needed more information. “Why do you believe this happened?”

  “I think she lied.”

  “About what?”

  “I think the Unseen did touch her earlier and that's how it can track her. It has a sample of her essence and it will go after her until it completes its task of killing her.” If Jules said it, there was a good certainty it was the truth.

  Crispin bobbed his head in agreement. “That makes sense but she told me she wasn't.”

  “She could be scared. You can be intimidating. We could force the information from her. I have something for that.”

  “We're not going to force her to tell us. You might be right. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. Let's go into the room and see if she was touched.” He grabbed a jar from inside a cabinet. He pulled off the label and shoved it into his pocket.

  Jules raised his eyebrow.

  “We said we were coming in here for something. It would be suspicious if we didn't bring anything.” They exchanged a nervous laugh as they headed back towards Annabel. Hopefully the Unseen hadn't attacked her while they were away.