Dragon Heat (25 page)

promptly brought them a round of vodka and Red Bull.

‚It’s not a proper cocktail, my dear, but it is very refreshing,‛

Phillip said, raising his glass in a toast.

Sam raised hers in reply and took a small sip. ‚Phillip, Zoricah

asked me to come to you.‛

‚Indeed? Is she back in London?‛ Phillip asked, looking at her over

the glass’ rim.

‚Yes,‛ Sam lied bluntly and took another small sip.

‚I have heard quite interesting rumors about a mêlée taking place

on the outskirts of New York City. Some even dare suggest she was in

alliance with the vampire king.‛ Sharp blue eyes locked on hers. ‚Is it

true?‛

‚Oh, well, I wouldn’t say ‘alliance’ per se,‛ she lied again. Phillip’s

suspicious glance released hers and slowly moved down to her lips and

her throat and stopped on her breasts.

Shifting on the chair, Sam carried on. ‚King Tardieh just offered his

support. After all, a number of female vampires were abducted, too, not

only draconians.‛ Sam tried to sound nonchalant. Zoricah had warned her

that Phillip was a very good informant, but just like any other snitch, his

loyalties were directly proportional to the size of the reward being offered.

Taking advantage of the fact that his eyes had not left her bosom, Sam

leaned forward, hoping she could pull the voluptuous bimbo act as well

as his companions had done in the past. ‚Phillip, Zoricah is willing to

reward you generously for your services.‛

His eagle eyes took in all she was offering. His thick mouth quirked

upward in a mischievous smile as he reached across the table and took her

hands in his. ‚I’ll tell you what, love. You get rid of your vampire

boyfriend over there, and we can go to my hotel room and discuss what

sort of reward Zoricah has in mind.‛

Sam’s blood ran cold. Turning her head around, she saw who

Phillip meant. A tall man with amazing dark eyes was watching them

from a stool at the far end of the bar. Hikuro.
Bloody hell!
He had

surreptitiously taken a place where his presence was safely hidden in the

shadows, just behind the front door. That’s why she hadn’t seen him

when she first came in.
Damn it, Sam, you should have been more careful
, she

chided herself.

Turning back to face her informant, she returned his smile with one

of her own. ‚He’s not my boyfriend. Don’t worry about him.‛

‚I couldn’t agree more,‛ Phillip replied, caressing her fingers.

‚Let’s go back to my hotel room, love, and

away from prying ears.‛

Sam wasn’t ready for that kind of situation. She had been in the

field, fighting alongside Zoricah and Yara for decades, but Yara was

usually the one sent to engage in those sorts of tricky situations. Sam was

usually the geeky one who did the research and hacked into high security

websites, but since Sam had been the only one besides Zoricah who had

met Phillip before, they had no other option than to send her instead of

Yara.

Taking a deep breath, she tried to incarnate Yara and save her skin.

‚That’s a fantastic idea,‛ she said, lifting her lips in an Angelina Jolie way.

‚It’s a pity I don’t have much time. Why don’t you tell me now what you

know about the razbian’s operations in London and then we’ll set up

another time to

Sam tried to free her hands from his caresses, but his grip

intensified, holding them in place. ‚Hmm, so you want to know about

Yerik’s experiments and his new weapon, hein?‛ he asked, unveiling all

her cards on the table. Raising her hands to his lips, he slowly licked the

joints between her fingers. Sam’s stomach churned in revulsion.
Fuck!
She

had to find a way of convincing him to give her the information they

needed and get out of there ASAP.

Carefully attempting to pull her hands away, she tried to deter his

attentions with one of the only weapons Yara had taught her: the

all-powerful ego massage. ‚I can see your reputation is not unfounded,

Phillip, but a girl has her obligations.‛

Once again, Phillip held on to her hands. ‚Nonsense, love, I am

sure a can convince you that your only obligation is to yourself.‛ He took

her middle finger into his mouth and sucked it deep. Sam swallowed dry.

Strong, cold hands suddenly covered hers. ‚Let go of her.‛

Sam’s head snapped up at the dark command. Hikuro was

standing right beside her with murder in his eyes.

‚Hikuro!‛ Sam barked at him.

‚Let. Her. Go. Now,‛ he repeated the order crushing Phillip’s

wrists.

‚I believe your girl here wants to try other fishes in the sea, my

vampire friend,‛ Phillip replied with a deceivingly laid-back voice, but his

blue eyes were intent on Hikuro.

Sam managed to set her hands free from both men’s grips.

‚Hikuro, leave now,‛ she said, standing up.

Hikuro didn’t even look at her; he kept his gaze pierced on Phillip.

And then Phillip made the biggest mistake in his long life. He

grabbed Sam’s arm and pulled her down to his lap. She had barely found

her ground when Phillip’s lips crashed into hers. She struggled against

him, but he held her in place with an iron-tight embrace.

The next thing Sam felt was her body being swung off Phillip’s

hold and crashed on top of a nearby chair. She managed to stand her

ground and avoid falling on her ass on the lovely chewing-gum-washed

carpet. When she looked up, Hikuro had Phillip’s head pinned down on

the table.

The draco tried to set himself free by elbowing Hikuro’s jaw, but

the vampire was faster. Within seconds, the fight was over with Hikuro

hooking both Phillip’s arms on his back at an impossible angle. Phillip

snarled in pain.

‚Don’t you wanna know why your girlfriend is the key to all of

those abductions?‛ Phillip tried to negotiate desperately. His posh British

accent was nowhere to be found.

‚What?‛ Sam stepped in. ‚What did you say?‛

‚Fucking liar. Stay away from her,‛ Hikuro replied, twisting the

draco’s arms.

Phillip was breathing heavily; sweat broke on his forehead. His

beautiful blue eyes were wide and red. Sam couldn’t take anymore.

Phillip being an alpha male himself was going to push Hikuro until

someone got really hurt, and she would lose the opportunity to know

what in Hiad had he meant by she being the key to the abductions.

‚Hikuro!‛ Sam took a few steps forward, on a feeble attempt to

place herself between Hikuro and Phillip. ‚Let him go, now!‛

Phillip let out another painful howl. He looked up at Hikuro and

said the two words that sealed his fate. ‚Fuck. You.‛

‚What did you say?‛ Hikuro said in the draco’s ears.

Sam averted her eyes just in time. The sound of bones being

snapped echoed across the bar. Anyone who hadn’t stopped to watch the

fight very much tuned in. Phillip let out a loud, agonizing cry.

Hikuro didn’t seem fazed. He kept his gaze locked on his

adversary. Sam could swear he was really thinking of twisting both

Phillip’s arms out of their sockets.
Damn it!
Now there was no way Phillip

would happily tell to her what she wanted to know. Zoricah’s voice came

to her mind: ‚When you find yourself at a crossroads, the best solution is

always the one you can’t see. The wise warrior removes himself from the

situation and examines it from afar.‛

Sam grabbed her overcoat and walked away.

It was still raining outside.
Bloody hell!
Putting her overcoat on, she

started walking toward the tube station. After a few moments, she heard

footsteps approaching fast from behind. Her training kicked in. She

slowed her pace and waited for the attacker to get closer.. Just before he

reached her, she twisted her body sideways, blocking her attacker's arm,

and using the heel of her hand, she hit him hard on the nose.

‚Aww, Sam!‛ Hikuro’s voice was muffled by his broken nose.

‚What the fuck are you doing?‛ Sam asked, not knowing what to

think about having successfully struck the vampire kung fu master.

‚I came looking for you when I realized you had left,‛ Hikuro

answered, holding his bloody nose.

‚Oh yeah?‛ Sam snapped. ‚Then that served you well.‛ She spun

on her heels and walked off.

Hikuro was right behind her again. ‚Wait, Sam!‛

She ignored him and kept on walking, heels stomping hard on the

concrete floor.

‚Damn it, woman, I said wait!‛ Hikuro said, grabbing Sam’s elbow.

She spun around and slapped his hand hard. ‚Do you want me to

break your nose again?‛ She was furious! How dare he ruin her

assignment? How dare he show up like that after everything that had

happened the night before? He had no grounds for being there, no

business following her around.

He raised his hands up in surrender. ‚Let’s talk, okay?‛

‚Oh, you want to talk now,‛ she replied sarcastically. ‚No problem,

Hikuro. We can talk now that you're ready, now that you're not blinded

by your chauvinist ego, now that you're not busy breaking the arms of the

only good lead we’ve had in freaking weeks!‛ She knew she was almost

hysterical, but she didn’t care. She was simply, absolutely, utterly raging.

She started walking again to try and calm down, but it didn’t work.

She spun on her heels yet again and faced him. ‚Why did you do it?‛

‚Why did I do what?‛ His jaw tight with tension.

‚Why did you attack Phillip?‛ Sam tried hard not to shout. ‚I had

the situation under control.‛

‚Oh please!‛ It was Hikuro’s turn to lose his cool. ‚He was all over

you. He was touching you and caressing you. He was fucking licking your

fingers, for crying out loud!‛

‚And why is that so bad, hein, Hikuro? Maybe I liked it. Have you

thought about that?‛

Hikuro lowered his chin and snarled. Sam saw his fangs elongate.

‚Don’t. Say. That.‛

‚Just so you know, a lot of guys find me attractive.‛ She didn't care

if the whole neighborhood was watching them. He could pull the fang act

all he wanted; she would not be intimidated. ‚As a matter of fact, I am

going back to that pub right now and offer my loving help to tend to

Phillip’s wounds.‛

‚Don’t you dare.‛

‚Why, Hikuro? Why?‛

Sam felt strong hands grabbing her arms and pulling her close. His

lips were inches from hers. Hikuro’s beautiful slender eyes flashed red.

‚Because you are mine,‛ he replied darkly.

Her heart skipped a beat.

Author Bio

Ella J. Phoenix was just nine years old when she discovered her

passion for the paranormal world. That passion led her to a bachelor’s

degree in Performing Arts which enabled her to start her first attempts

into the literary world, writing children’s plays and adapting Shakespeare

masterpieces to the modern fast-paced audience.

After years travelling around the world, translating other people’s

novels and devouring paranormal romances, she decided to put her

passion into words and write her first series, Dragon Heat.

She is currently living in Queenstown, New Zealand, with her

husband of six years.