Selfless : Emotionless book two Page 3

  “What're all these colours mean?”

  “There’s anger, frustration, annoyance, but don’t worry about them, those are the usual. It’s the little hint in the centre where I have guessed was his mood and emotion of Eileen. Ah, they have – changed.” He grimaced, and within a second, he had a phone in his hands.

  “What does that mean?” Donte demanded. “What’s this weird yellow colour!”

  “Worry.’

  Worry? What the heck would that dragon be worried about!

  Chapter Six.

  Lawliet – Pendant.

  The coffee was tasteless, and the food was unsurprisingly cold and mushy. The first time that I have stepped foot inside of a mundane hospital, and it was everything that I expected it to be.

  There was a family near the back. They were all crying, and it was prominent to the ears. One was more of a shrieking cry of despair that made my head hurt. I watched, as all of them crowded around her in some support system. That was foreign to me. How compassionate they all were. Then I have this human, who perfectly knows who I am, yet was still sitting across from me and having a coffee.

  He spoke, but I didn’t care to listen all too well. My eyes were consistently on the lookout for the doctor I handed Eileen over to. When there were no signs, I downed more of the coffee with annoyance and looked in another direction impatiently.

  “Why did you come in?” I asked suddenly in the hopes that this stupid human could keep my mind from drifting. “You could have driven off or called the police about a strange mage taking over your car.”

  “For one, you scare the shit out of me,” he replied, and I breathed an acidly laugh. “Second, you seemed to care a lot for that girl. You looked desperate.”

  Desperate? Maybe Mika would love to see my desperate look, considering he wanted me to show more than anger. Amused, I touched the foam cup and looked back at the door when the nurse who shoved me away from the doors walked in. Abruptly standing, I walked over and was glad when she smiled and made me follow her out the cafeteria and through the doors before.

  She was sleeping, but it frightened me. There was a mask over her face, and her steamed breaths lingered out and were raspy and shallow. Angered, I grabbed the doctor that was about to stick something in her by the neck and shoved him away.

  I felt the anger rising, and I couldn’t help but snarl.

  “Be careful, young mage, she’s fine for now.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” I demanded.

  “Let’s speak outside for a moment,” he grimaced. When we stood outside, he pressed fingers to glasses and asked, “What are you to this girl?”

  “Eileen is her name, and she is my wife.” He gave me a strange look, and I said through clenched teeth, “Mages laws are profoundly different to yours. Now, tell me what’s wrong with her!”

  “This girl has an ancient heart. Roughly an eighty-year-old heart.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “There’s no evidence of a transplant, but – um – mages have powers to erase things we cannot. Has there been a dramatic incident that has happened in this girl’s life for her heart to be so fragile?”

  “I don’t know,” I murmured.

  “Perhaps someone cut her throat and punctured her heart deep enough under someone’s basement that her family were desperate enough to abuse the gift of exchange to save her?”

  “What?”

  I looked away from the room Eileen was in and at the doctor. His appearance shifted, and soft light brown hair replaced greying gelled back hair. His eyes softened to a hazel colour, and his skin darkened into a tan, which revealed his heightened veins more prominently and runes that went along with them.

  “My name is Shion, and I am the third founder of ‘Organisation’.” I felt the veins shine and runes activate when he suddenly grabbed my arm and slipped a needle through my skin before the scales could appear for protection. “Don’t worry. This will control you for some time so that you won’t –” My fist collided with his face in a fit filled with rage, but when I tried to tackle him to the ground, he grabbed my arm, kicked Eileen’s door open and pushed me through with ease. “Before you draw more attention to yourself, I am not here to kill or send you to the Organisation. I am here to help.”

  “Lies.” I stood before Eileen’s bed, but when I tried to activate my protection rune, my veins didn’t sense a threat. Whatever was in that needle sucked all my mage magic out of me, and I am rendered useless. Unless I want to burst into a dragon and break down these walls, I would need to haggle my way for a means to escape instead. Shit. “What was inside that needle?”

  “It nullifies runes and veins, just like in the underground club filled with creatures. You should know about that rave and those crystals that filled the cave walls. Anyways, that doesn’t matter. I work for the Frost family. I was the one who placed Eileen under Type-One. I was the one who made sure Nysa and Orjan never found out that it was Eileen who put their boss in a comatose state. I was the one who sacrificed another family to save theirs. I am here to help. I am no enemy. Can you understand that, Lawliet The Dragon? The one that was raised by mages that unfortunately, were sentenced to death for stealing a young dragon they assumed was a mage child. This is you, correct?”

  “How do you know who I am? And they did not steal me. They saved me.”

  “Because your foster parents were very dear to me, like Eileen and her family. I do all the documents. It was easy for me to change you from, blood type – dragon, to Type-One. Again, I am not an enemy, I am a friend, and every second I have to waste telling you this is another second gone of Eileen’s. She’s sick, and she needs that Pendant she always wears. Where is it?”

  “On her?” I looked back but then realised that I have never seen her necklace since we left. Then I recalled her conversation with that stupid hare and gave a bitter sigh. “The fucking rabbit. Why would she give her necklace to the stupid servant?”

  “Because Nysa can track it, would be the right answer,” Shion answered with a grimace. “Suppose we would need to do this the hard way.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “There’s a pair of earrings in one of The Organisations branches not that far from here. It’s actually perfect. Has the same magic essence as her necklace and will do until I find a suitable exchange.”

  “Exchange?”

  “Has Mika taught you everything but an exchange,” he smiled warmly. “When one can transfer a body part, any body part, to another mage.”

  “Could I?”

  “A creature is much more problematic,” he grimaced. “If it were a vital organ that they needed, you would surely die, and they could reject the offering and die as well. That’s why mages exchange with one another because they wouldn’t want to take the risk. Anyways, Eileen’s case is much more challenging. She would need one before her grandmother’s heart evidently gives out. But she should be okay with those earrings until then.”

  “Who would be her match?” I asked with curiosity. I knew now that this mage wasn’t that much of a threat and more knowledgeable.

  “Best suitor that wouldn’t be rejected would be someone from her family. I believe Mason wanted that transfer, but Chantelle and Gospel Frost agreed to do it themselves. Nonetheless, if it comes down to it, we have someone from her family to abuse.”

  “What’s so special about Eileen? Why does everyone want to protect her?”

  “That doesn’t concern you. What is concerning right now is that you need to find a human that could sneak into Organisation's branch to get the earrings.”

  “You left your wallet on the counter.” I looked back towards the entrance and grimaced.

  This young human’s day was just about to get much worse.

  Chapter Seven.

  Conner – They were dangerously beautiful.

  He had a determined look. The same desperate one that he had in the car. As much as I wanted to cower, or to run away, this was the first i
nteraction that I have had in a very long time, and it was with a mage. Some magical human out of the blue came to my car and demanded a lift to the hospital. There was this thrill, and I was caught in a rush and let him in without caring for my own safety or others around me. And when he got out of the car, the emptiness and the silence I have seemed to know suffocated so much that I had to get out and follow. I had to know what it was like to be around them.

  Unfortunately, I bumped into the wrong type of mage. He now insists that I risk my life again to steal a pair of earrings from some shop in this city. Grimacing, I touched my coffee cup again. I knew that every time that I had done it, he looked down and then back up. It made me squirm, but I didn’t stand up, and I didn’t run away to cry like most I assume would have done once laying eyes on him.

  The coffee was cold as it slipped down my throat and turned bitter and disturbingly disgusting. The cup went back to the table, and then the boy handed me the cup he had. I knew he had his as long as mine, but it was scorching to touch. Amazed, I wondered what ability he used, or how he could keep the liquid hot in his hands. However, the look on his face pretty much told me, ‘Don’t fucking ask questions. Give me an answer’ but how could I give someone that answer. To steal something from an expensive jewellery shop that probably has alarms and security camera’s continuously on the lookout for thieves. Thieves like he wants me to be.

  “Answer, now,” he said through clenched teeth.

  “I don’t know!” I blurted out and looked away.

  “Then you’re wasting my time, and you can go while I find someone else.” He went to stand, but my hands reacted without me, and I grabbed hold of his arm before he could leave. “What?”

  “Why do you need this jewellery? For your wife when she wakes up?” I asked. Now it seemed like I was the desperate one.

  “This is no ordinary set of earrings. They have powers to make someone that has an illness stronger, and I need that for her so that I can keep Eileen healthy.”

  Everything he has said since I met him was, ‘her’ and that annoyed me. These mages have more compassion than any person I have been around, and with awe, it made me wish that I was born one. Besides the fact that they look cool with their runes and tattoos, his determination to make his wife healthy and safe was more than I could say about my family that doesn’t call.

  The man that he was with sat silently and waited for my answer. It wasn’t as if I was being pinned to the spot. The hot-headed mage nearly left when he assumed I wasn’t going to do as he said. Knowing what I had to do, I nodded slowly because there was no way that I would be able to drive away after this without the guilt of what may happen to them if I said no.

  His shoulders relaxed, and I released my grip on his arm and moved back with a sigh.

  “Excellent. Could you meet us at Crystal Hearts at nine, tomorrow morning?” The man asked, and I slowly nodded my head. “It would be easier to have some rest before then, isn’t that right, Lawliet?”

  Lawliet, the hothead, curled his lip, pushed the chair in and walked back to the entrance to the ICU. The man that was with him sighed stood as well. That was when I knew that this conversation was over and that I should rest for the few hours that I have before I have to steal something from them.

  “I have spent too much time here. I will talk you through what you need to do tomorrow morning. But once you’re inside, you’re on your own.”

  “Okay. Got it.”

  “Please don’t talk to anyone about this. It would be unfortunate for you if you did.” He raised his hand in an awkward wave and said, “Have a lovely night. Sleep well.”

  Sleep well. I breathed a laugh because after hearing what those mages wanted from me, I doubt I would sleep at all. However, when I drove my car on the curb and unlocked my door to the empty darkened home, my head hit the pillows, and I was able to sleep soundly for the first time in a long time.

  ***

  Crystal hearts. For me, personally, it was easy to find. The biggest leading jewellery store on the main street of the city. The glass was tinted pink, and everything inside sparkled expensively. There was a gleam that reminded me of the movies they make of mages. How everything was sparkling, extravagant and beautiful.

  The doors opened automatically, and I stepped in cautiously. A hissed annoyed breath from my ear made me realise that I was acting suspiciously. Already, I felt out of place. I always had, and just like two years ago, when I first walked through these doors, they had the same snot-nosed looks of repulsive disgust at me. It was because I wasn’t dressed like them. I didn’t have a flashy watch, nor a nice suit and polished black shoes and expensive tie. I didn’t look well shaven, as I scratched the scraggly patches on my cheeks and I shuffled away from the door that kept opening and closing.

  What was a looking for again? A silver pair of earrings with an aqua colour in the middle. That man that was with Lawliet told me I would know what the jewellery looked like when I saw it. Apparently, the earrings wouldn’t be someplace hidden, but in plain sight, however, it would be away from any humans’ eyesight.

  That was when I shuddered, as he handed me contact lenses and said, ‘wear these and we will both be your eyes and ears.’ It was daunting, as I slipped them in and blinked rapidly. They stung, and I had to rub a few times when the man touched my arm and tore my fingers away from the sockets. They still hurt now and were watery.

  I walked over to the first glass podium with gleaming jewellery inside. My eyes bulged, and that made me look even more out of place when I smoothed down the jacket I have had for years. My jacket was a now-faded grey that was black maybe a year or so ago.

  ‘None,’ the man whispered in my ear, and I went to look somewhere else when someone called my name.

  “Conner, is that you?” Every fibre of my body stiffened. I slowly turned around and saw Julie. Her hair bounced, and she wrapped arms around neck and embraced me. I was lost for words, and a wave of sadness swept when she asked, “How have you been?” When she stepped back, I noticed the tall, muscular man in a dapper black suit beside her. “Oh, you remember Harry?”

  He raised his arm to me, and as I shook, there he was, pinning her against the wall of my apartment, near the bedroom door with one of her legs up and was pounding into her. Retracting the hold, I scratched my hair and weakly laughed. I wanted to leave. I wanted to escape this store, but the heaving demonic breathing in my ear was frightening me more than my ex-fiancé and the boy-toy she was fucking behind my back.

  “Hey, how are you?” I asked politely, and it made her turn a rose red. A honey glow as she raised her hand and showed me the large rock on her finger. “Ah – that is . . . an engagement ring.”

  “Harry proposed four days ago,” she squealed with delight. “We came here to get it resized because the ring was too big. What a coincidence that we bumped into you. Why are you here? Don’t tell me you have a girlfriend you’re proposing to, Conner!”

  “Yes,” I blurted out.

  “Aww, congratulations! Who is she?” She suddenly asked, and Harry beside her glared down at Julie. “Would I know her?”

  “No, you wouldn’t.”

  “Oh, such a shame.”

  I knew what Julie was doing. High school sweethearts, I knew all of her. She wanted to know who I was dating and if they were prettier than her or irrelevant to her extravagant and now opulent lifestyle. Julie wanted to see if I upsized after her, or if I was still depressed after her. It was what gets her heart racing when she knows that every guy she broke up with was doing it worse than her. It pissed me off, and the words that came out of my mouth angered everyone who was hearing.

  “You wouldn’t know who she is because she is a mage,” I said with a smug look that made her eyes bulge out of her head.

  “Wow,” she stretched the word out. “You don’t have to feel bad that you’re dating a nobody that you have to say she is one of those things.”

  “She is. Eileen Frost.”

  ‘Huh?’ Lawliet
growled.

  “We can go on a double date tomorrow. Café Lavrence at ten in the morning, yeah?”

  Her eyes narrowed, and the bitch side of Julie came out, as she snapped, “Fine.”

  Angry, she stormed off dragging Harry with her and out the doors.

  Ah, she was that bothered she even decided to leave instead of resizing her ring. Saying that made me feel revitalised. That was until I heard the heaving breaths in my ear.

  ‘I am going to fucking kill you when you come out, do you know that?’

  Wearily laughing to myself like a lunatic, Shion pressured me to keep looking and to avoid the one that apparently needs anger management.

  Going along the rows, one of the salesmen wanted to come up and help but thought better of it when I kept shifting further and further away from him every time he got too close. They were all sparkly, and with these contacts, everything was blurry and crystallised. Orange, red, purple, pink, green, aqua, yellow and they went on. Constantly, continuously, they meshed together until Shion snapped, that one. My eyes stopped short at nothing. There was nothing in the box he demanded was there. Confused, I looked away when he told me to go back. Blinking rapidly, it wasn’t until the seventh blink when something small and diamond-like came into focus. They were beautiful blue earrings that were in front of my eyes, and they were shining brightly. Captivated by them, I suddenly became flustered because I didn’t know what to do.

  “Could you show me that rack there.” A man from beside me, tall and well-built pointed to the rows that I needed, and my heart lifted.

  Just my luck. I looked up when I heard Shion suck in a breath. It made me wonder what was wrong with him. There wasn’t anything shockingly different about him. Dark brown hair that was gelled back and brown eyes and pinkish looking skin. However, when I looked down, I saw the staff that made him something to be dangerous of. I didn’t know what to do, but I knew I couldn’t steal when there is a mage before me and could see all. Heart pounding in my chest, I wanted to run when an arm blocked me from his view once the rack was set out of sight.