Chapter Two
Vara paced back and forth outside the master’s room. Her teeth dug so deeply into her bottom lip that she tasted the iron tang of blood. But she figured she had a good enough reason to mutilate her lower lip.
The boys had been due back yesterday, but no one had turned up. They still hadn’t appeared, and Vara was seriously thinking about disturbing the master and asking what had gone wrong.
If only she-
She stopped, her eyebrows pulling together in a heavy frown. Thinking she could have done any better wasn’t going to change a thing. They had been sent on the secret, special task and she hadn’t. She needed to accept that.
Yeah, right. Maybe next the master was going to ask her to go into the kitchen and make him a sandwich.
Vara started to pace again, still chewing on her lip. The master hadn’t explained why she had to stay out of it, not that he explained himself to any of them, but she couldn’t help but feel maybe he thought she couldn’t handle something important. This was a ridiculous thing to think. She’d been here since she was six, so of course the master knew what she could do.
By the way Rick, Sven, and Kieran were late coming back; Vara knew at least she could meet the deadlines set.
The doors at the bottom of the hallway burst open. Vara came to a halt as Leo stalked towards her, shoulders rolling with his predator’s walk, and his mouth nothing more than a grim line. He looked slightly sunburnt, so he’d been someplace sunny when he’d gone to fetch the boys. Not the North Pole like Vara had hoped, then.
Her irritation soon turned to anger as she realised he wasn’t actually looking at her, but had his eyes fixed on the master’s door. Once again she was ignored and put to the side. Well, that was going to change, starting now.
“Hey-” She stepped in his way, but he just pushed past her, his pale eyes never leaving the master’s door. As she stumbled backwards, trying to regain her balance, she hissed, “Don’t you dare ignore me!”
Leo kept on walking.
“Hey!” she shouted, so angry steam was practically flying from her ears. “I said don’t ignore me! What’s your problem!”
He reached the master’s door and smoothly pulled it open, acting like she wasn’t even there. It was only when the door slammed shut behind him that it occurred to her maybe the boys were late because something bad had happened. Something really bad. Maybe someone had …died.
Which was impossible. The Black Dragons were stronger and smarter than ever before. They were an influential force in the black market, one you didn’t want as your enemy. No one would dare try to take a single member out, let alone three. So how could something have happened? Had Rick given one order too many and someone had snapped. Hell, it wasn’t like Kieran found jumping through hoops to be a brilliant way to pass the time. Maybe being put on a task with Rick had driven him insane. As for Sven… Vara guessed he’d probably obeyed one stupid order too many and it had gotten him killed.
Right, this was pointless. All she was doing was speculating, and that was getting her nowhere. Leo and the master were going to be a while, and standing outside the master’s room wondering wasn’t going to do a thing. She might as well go to the training basement and take out her anger on a punch bag. Not that her punches needed any practice.
Vara whipped around and stormed down the corridor, heading for the training rooms. As she reached the double doors, they opened, nearly whacking her in the face.
Cherry stepped into the corridor and then stopped, her luscious lips parted in surprise at how close Vara was. Her long, fake lashes framed her widening eyes like thousands of spider legs. They widened even more when Vara grabbed her by the neck and slammed her against the nearest wall.
“You,” Vara snarled, “are not a member of the Black Dragons. What the hell are you doing up here?”
Cherry’s mouth opened and shut, but no words came out. Growling impatiently, Vara relaxed her hold on Cherry’s throat slightly.
In between great lungfuls of air, Cherry wheezed, “Lookin’ … for you…”
“Me?”
“Yeah.” Cherry’s tone sharpened as she began to recover. “God, you didn’t … have to … freakin’ kill me!”
“That’s a good act, but somehow I don’t believe you. Why are you really here? Sneaking around?”
“Jesus, you’re so paranoid. I was lookin’ for you. Kieran ain’t come back yet…”
A twinge of surprise ran through Vara. Kieran was a real pain in the ass, but he didn’t seem the type to get comfy with Cherry. Sure his morals were messed up in the way he could release a rain of bullets on anyone, but he didn’t get mixed up with prostitutes, especially ones like Cherry.
“…And before he went, he gave me his phone. I promised I’d look after it until he got back, but he ain’t here yet. Look, I ain’t a baby-sitter for phones, alright? If I have it one more day, I’m gonna sell it. ”
Once again, Vara had jumped to conclusions, which wasn’t a good thing in the Black Dragons. Assumptions got you killed. “Ah, yeah. Wait, why’d he do that?”
“You can’t take ‘em when you go on tasks, he said. In case you lose ‘em and someone gets all your info off ‘em, and tracks-”
“No, why you? He should’ve left them with the master like everyone else.”
Cherry’s slow smile had Vara feeling like running for the nearest shower. “Maybe he saw somethin’ he likes.”
“You?” Vara snorted and let go of her. “Get outta here before I’m sick.”
Cherry’s eyes narrowed, but her sore throat seemed to make her think twice about saying anything offensive. Smart girl.
“Here.” Cherry pressed something into one of Vara’s hands. “Take it at least.”
Vara glanced down and saw it was Kieran’s phone. As she shoved it in her pocket, Vara said to Cherry, “How about I walk you out.” It wasn’t a question; Vara didn’t trust the girl at all. The fact she was just giving Kieran’s phone to Vara without his go-ahead gave her even more reason not to. They were all in luck it was Vara she wanted to give it to, and not someone else in the black market business. That could’ve been a disaster.
“I don’t go that way, love, but give me the right amount and I might consider it.”
“Vara.”
They both spun around and saw Leo standing not that far away, his arms crossed and mouth drawn into a tight, unhappy line. His practically colourless eyes were fixed on Vara, reminding her of a cobra just before it struck. Then they shifted to Cherry, making her shrink back. “Leave.”
She didn’t need to be told twice. Without a single glance back, she hurried away, nearly breaking her ankles in her high-heeled shoes.
Vara looked back at Leo, her sense of irritation creeping back to her. Yet when his eyes turned back on her, the temperature suddenly plunged. Which annoyed her even more. So what if Leo was one creepy SOB? It wasn’t like the master would ever let him try and take her down.
“You looking at something?” she asked sharply after a moment or two. Predators went for the weak ones more than those who’d give them a hell of a fight back. So Vara always toughened up around him.
“You.”
“Well, do you mind going back to ignoring me if you’re going to be like this? Hell, what was that back there, Leo? You think you can just shut me out like that?”
He didn’t reply. Just stared down at her.
“Hey- You’re doing it again! Christ!” She shook her head, half amazed, half tempted to rip his head off. “You know what – fine. Just fine.” She reached for the door. “I’ve got better things to do.”
She completely intended to storm out then, but as she ripped open the door he said something that made her freeze. Something that made her forget what she had been doing and why she was so wound up. Something that suddenly replaced the irritation and filled her with dread.
“The master wants to see you.”
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