Bloodfire: Other Realm, Frost Family Series Book 2

Burn 32

Jack sucked in a long, deep breath. "Alright, Bren. I'm going to go ahead with the summoning now. So...just keep yourself in check and remember to be respectful, okay?"

Bren nodded, swallowing. "Y-yes, my lord."

The lord closed his eyes for two more seconds before slowly opening them. He pointed a finger towards one of the chairs in front of his desk. "Hey! Kazuo Chester, get your sorry ass over here!"

Jaw dropping in confusion, Bren blinked, staring at Jack like he was insane. "M-my lord, what happened to being respectful?!"

Jack turned and gave him a saucy grin. "Oh, I'm respecting the right that I have to be a sarcastic ass right now," he explained around a chuckle. "Besides, I'm sorry, but it was really funny to see how freaked out you got." Abruptly his voice shifted to a cuttingly serious tone once more. "But I wasn't lying about not using your Sight, okay? Just...just don't, for your own safety." He tilted his head to the side slightly, eyes closing. After another second, he nodded his head. "Yep. He's coming. You don't have to be crazy stiff if you don't want to, Bren," he told the boy.

Eyes shooting to the chair Jack had been pointing to a moment before, Bren felt his confusion prick at his temper. "Isn't this person 'The Death God'? Doesn't that mean I should be polite and stuff?"

Jack shrugged. "Maybe? You'll see. He's not that bad, really. Just make sure you don't say anything offensive and you'll be just fine."

Groaning, fed up with Jack's carelessly casual attitude, Bren turned to face the chair once more. He expected it to be as empty as just a second ago, but he was startled to find he was wrong. At the seat of the chair a black, silver, swirling, mist-like substance was slowly growing larger and larger. As the mist continued to grow, it stretched out into a human-sized shape. Then, very abruptly, making Bren jump, it was all sucked back into the bare chest of a man, a little older than Jack.

The stranger was built lean, maybe twenty-seven or twenty-eight. He had close-cropped black hair, a clean-shaven face, and dark brown eyes. He had Asian roots, as his eyes were slightly oval shaped and his complexion was a bit more olive than white. Bren didn't know what form of Asian blood the man held, but by guessing from the sound of his name, he though perhaps Japanese or Korean. The man was surprisingly shorter than Bren was expecting, looking about five' nine", though it was a little hard to tell with the man sitting down. He was shirtless, wearing a pair of loose black pants.

Even the man's feet were bare, which Bren couldn't help but think must be cold, since the man's feet were touching the floor of Jack's study. Without a shirt, you could see many scars and cuts all over the man's chest, sides, and back. Honestly, the only 'scary' thing about this guy was his scars. But for Bren, he felt more of a sympathetic understanding. Bren had no idea if the man had been tortured, like he had, but he could still sympathize with the amount of pain a lot of those scars must have brought. "This guy is the...The Death God?" he asked in confused shock.

Jack grinned widely. "Kazuo, what's been shaking, man?" he asked warmly.

Kazuo's brown gaze hardened. "Jack...you little bastard. You still owe me from our last card game," he growled.

Very slowly, Jack opened up a drawer from behind his desk and pulled out a deck of playing cards. "Bring it, bitch!" he snarled in challenge. "I'll bet if I beat you, I don't have to pay back anything and I'm allowed one favor from you."

Kazuo's eyes sparked with an intense glow. "Oh, yeah, baby. And if I win, you have to pay with twenty-five percent interest."

The two held their hands out over the desk and shook hands. "Deal!" they both growled.