When Jason awoke a few hours later, he couldn't help but watch Anna sleep for a time. He was completely taken by her beauty, and despite only having known her for a brief period of time, he felt drawn to her in a way he'd never felt before.
They told me this would happen, he though. They told me I needed to be vigilant.
He checked his phone and saw that the hour for the meeting was near. The sky through the window was still dark as coal; the sun hadn't even begun to come up.
He hopped in the shower, took a quick rinse, and dressed in a navy suit. Standing in front of the full-length mirror in his bedroom, he gave his appearance a quick once-over. He needed to look his best- after all, he was meeting with his clients, the Abraxis Clan, this morning in order to discuss his current mission. One of the oldest dragon clans in the city; he knew that they were sticklers for appearance.
Anna shifted in bed as Jason tied his tie, and he watched her out of the corner of his eye.
Still asleep, he thought. Hopefully, I can be back before she wakes up.
Once Jason was satisfied with his appearance, he took the elevator to the roof where the helicopter awaited him. He knew he could've simply shifted and flown, but he didn't feel like dealing with the hassle of preparing the spell that would hide him from human eyes; he knew he had enough to worry about today.
As soon as he took his seat, he gave the signal to the pilot and they were off. Jason settled into his seat, his eyes on the city below as it passed by at a hurried pace. The helicopter flew east, and soon, they were over the long stretch of Queens, the dense, gray city eventually giving way to the green of the suburbs. Then they were out of the city and over Long Island. Jason watched as the tight clusters of apartments and streets changed to vast tracts of green, dotted with large estates. They were traveling to where the money on Long Island lived.
After a time, they arrived at the Abraxis Estate. It was an old building, of solid gray stone, one of the first estates built out in the Hamptons. The Abraxis Clan had been able to easily afford it, and Jason knew that however expensive it might be, it only hinted at the wealth the clan had been able to accumulate over the last millennium and a half.
The helicopter landed on the lawn and the pilot killed the engine.
"See you here in a bit, boss," said the pilot.
"Here's hoping," said Jason with a sardonic tone.
Jason crossed the long stretch of property that led to the stately building, the large half-circle of the driveway flanked by two grand fountains and surrounded with lawn work that looked straight out of Versailles. No one was there to greet him.
He approached the massive wooden front doors and knocked using the large, gold door knocker that was cast in the shape of a dragon's head.
Not very subtle, he thought, but then again, who the hell would guess actual dragons lived here?
A butler arrived and opened the door, leading him into the vast, museum-like entryway. The butler said nothing as they walked, and soon, they approached a large hall lit with several chandeliers that hung from a dizzyingly tall arched ceiling.
In the hall, seated like royalty, in three chairs on a dais, were the leaders of the Abraxis Clan.
The Abraxis Clan was one of the oldest and most powerful clans in the United States, and possibly even the world. Tracing their lineage back to the fall of the Roman Empire, the clan was the sort to have had their hands in just about every major event of human civilization they could, tipping the balance of conflict and struggle in whatever way might result in more power and glory for their clan.
And now, for reasons Jason could only guess, they had enlisted him for a very particular job: to get close to Anna Clinton.
Jason's footsteps echoed on the hard floor as he approached the clan leaders.
"There's our boy," said Mendian Abraxis, a woman who appeared to be in her mid-thirties but was, in truth, much older. She was a trim woman with a stern demeanor, her dark blonde hair worn in a short, cropped cut that framed her striking features.
"And right on time, as always," said Lenorian, the elder and leader of the clan. Lenorian was a slim-bodied man with long, silver hair and a face that was so slim and fair that it was almost feminine.
"Not sure why I have to be here for this," said Ionian, the eldest son of the two elders, a beefy young-looking man with his father's silver hair –though, cut very short- and his mother's stern demeanor.
"Hush, boy," said Lenorian. "You want to rule this clan one day, then you sit and watch how it's done."
Ionian quieted, tightening his body language.
Jason, remembering where he was, gave a formal bow to the elders.
"A pleasure, as always," he said.
Jason hated the formality that clans like the Abraxis demanded, but that was part and parcel of working the elder clans; they were sticklers for rules and traditions. He was surprised they didn't have the full court here with them.
"I'll get right to it," said Lenorian, his legs crossed and his hands folded on his lap. "I want to know what the status is of the target. I want to know if you've made progress."
"I have," said Jason. "I currently have her employed, and things are progressing on the…romantic front quite well."
Ionian snickered.
"That's quite the euphemism," he said, his tone snotty.
Jason shot him a narrow-eyed look at the same time Lenorian did. The boy quieted again.
"And everything came back as we were expecting with the background and DNA test, correct?" asked Mendian.
"Just as you said," said Jason. "The girl has a hell of a lineage."
"Which clan is she associated with?" asked Lenorian.
"The Garamundi Clan, some long-extinct, but very powerful, Italian clan of gray dragons."
And this was the heart of the matter.
"And she still thinks you've brought her on board as a nanny and nothing else?" asked Mendian.
"That's right," said Jason. "It was good timing since I have needed someone to look out for the kids for a while. And she's not bad at it, actually."
"But she doesn't suspect anything, does she?" asked Lenorian. "Anything of her heritage?"
"No," said Jason. "In fact, last night was the night she learned about my true nature. She hadn't heard a thing about dragons before that; still thought that they were nothing more than fairy tales."
"Typical human," said Ionian. "Never once stop to think there are things in this world that go beyond what they can see in front of them."
Lenorian said nothing to this, and Jason knew it was likely because he shared the same sentiments about humans.
"Well," said Lenorian, "I'm pleased to know everything seems to be going as planned. The next step will be to solidify your relationship with Anna, to have her believe that what's…going on between you two is nothing more than natural feelings developing. And you'll continue this for as long as it takes for the true mission to be accomplished."
"And then the debt will be paid?" asked Jason.
"Once the child is born and in our possession, then yes, the debt will be paid."
Ionian snickered again; Jason realized he likely thought it was pretty funny that being forced to sleep with a beautiful woman was his father's idea of getting someone to pay their debts, especially one as great as Jason's.
"And have you spoken to the rest of your mercenaries?" asked Mendian. "I want them to know about this mission so that when the time comes, we can take Anna into custody as easily as possible. I don't want her getting wind of this plan and running off."
"I have, and she won't," said Jason. "The rest of the team is away on other missions, and they all know about the plan. They're interested in payment, above all; they'll do whatever you want as long as there's a payout at the end of the mission."
"That there will be," said Lenorian. "They can rest assured about that."
A moment of silence hung in the air.
"Well, then," said Lenorian, "it appears we were right to trust you with a mission of such importance. That child is the key to our plans in the city. As soon as we have word that it has taken root inside Anna, then we'll begin the next phase of our operation. For now, we rule this tiny sliver of land. But soon, the entire city will be ours."
"And then, who knows?" said Mendian, a sly smile on her otherworldly beautiful face.
"Then, is that all?" asked Jason.
"That is all," said Lenorian. "I hope to hear very good things at our next little update. Now, be gone."
Jason bowed one last time before turning to leave. As he left, he felt the eyes of the Abraxis family on his back, and once he'd returned to the entrance, a wave of relief washed over him. The Abraxis Clan gave him the chills. To Jason, they all seemed to have been unstuck from time; they were the kind of shifters who'd made no efforts to remain contemporary in their behavior and dress. Jason figured that when you get that old, you stop caring about the trends of whatever decade you're in. After all, given a century or two, things will cycle right back around to how they were before.
"All go good in there, boss?" asked the pilot.
"Fine," said Jason. "Now let's get the hell out of here. I want to be back in the city."
"You got it," said the pilot.
Minutes later, they were airborne.
Jason spent the flight back considering his situation. It had only been a few days since he'd met Anna, the woman he'd been keeping tabs on for the last several months, and now that she was in his life and the deception underway, guilt was already beginning to eat away at him. But there was no way he'd share these concerns with the Abraxis Clan. He had a mission to accomplish, after all, and to an elder clan like them, being concerned about the emotional well-being of a human was no different than being bothered by the troubles of an insect. When you live to be a millennia-old, how can you be expected to care about a being that lives for ninety, at the most?
Jason, despite his age, hadn't been able to harden his heart in that way, but he knew that, if he were to complete the mission and be free of the debt incurred by his wife, he would have to steel himself. Part of him wondered if the job he was enlisted for by the Abraxis was some kind of revenge. How else could they send someone like him, the wounds of his wife's murder still fresh, on a mission to deceive a girl into loving him and bearing his child? He couldn't pretend to understand the ways of the elders.
All he needed to know was that he had a mission: to impregnate Anna, a human with dragon blood in her veins, with the child that would bring about the rebirth of an extinct lineage. And once the child was born, it would be taken by the Abraxis clan and mated with their son or daughter, in hopes of bringing about a clan hybrid that would be powerful enough to see to fruition their goal of supreme power over the city.
He was a pawn, just like Anna. And he hated every moment of it.
When he landed Jason made his way back to the bedroom, where he dressed in casual clothes so as not to appear that he'd gone out. He sighed with relief when he saw that Anna was still asleep. But as he changed, she rolled over in bed and looked up at him with bleary eyes.
"You been up for a while?" she asked.
"No," he said, the lie leaving a bitter taste in his mouth as soon as it left his mouth. "Now get up; we've got a busy day ahead of us."