A Soul Divided (The Blood Fire Trilogy Book 1) by Daniel M. Quilter Read Free Book Online Page B

“Are they hauling blood?”
    “What?” Al said, his wolf ears perking up in surprise at the question.
    “Look in the safe.” Drake said.
    Al walked around the open door that had been obscuring his view and saw the large stack of transparent plastic containers filling the safe. They were big, each one probably held at least ten gallons of blood-red liquid. Since there were over one hundred of the containers, there must have been at least one thousand gallons in this safe.
    The liquid did look very similar to blood; but that made little sense. Why would the Human Empire bother to ship a safe full of blood? And why would Dathan want it? Al glanced over to see how Drake was reacting. He looked distraught and confused.
    “Why in Knune’s name are they shipping blood? And what in Eijhur are we ever going to do with it?” Drake complained to himself.
    “It’s not blood.” Al said as he walked over to the huge jugs of liquid and read the labels attached to them.
    Drake stopped his whining and looked up at Al. The irritation fled from his expression, instead being replaced by a look of intrigue.
    “What is it?”
    “Euphodine.”
    “Euphodine?” Drake exclaimed. “One ounce of that stuff is worth forty golden ghrars on the black market! It’s worth a fortune!”
    “We can’t sell this.” Al responded. “We’re not drug dealers.”
    Al couldn’t blame Drake for thinking about the money. Their ship was in bad condition, and since Drake refused to steal anything that didn’t somehow hurt Dathan, they had to buy their food just like anybody else; and that required money. Fortunately, Drake and Al agreed mostly on their moral standards. Drake’s desire to pedal addictive drugs was as small as Al’s.
    “I know,” Drake answered, “But that’s so much money!”
    “If you make me help you sell this it will mean the end of our friendship.”
    “So you admit we’re friends then, huh?” Drake said with a grin plastered on his face. “Alright, no need to sell the stuff. But if we leave it here for Dathan to get it, He’ll use it as something much worse than a street drug. Let’s get it loaded onto the ship and get out of here.”
    “Yes sir.” Al responded, grabbing two of the containers, his massive arms easily lifting them despite their weight.
    “Don’t make me do all the lifting.” Al said as he walked back toward the ship, “Get the rest of the crew to earn their pay.”
    *********************
    "Ready the boarding ships!" Captain Titus yelled to his crew as their prey came into sight. Titus had been the leader of this crew of Draco's for five years now. He'd come to know all of them very well over the years. He could list all of their interests, facts about their families, and even some of their most personal of stories.  But he still didn't care for a single one of them.
    Like most of the Draco-Hominis people, Titus and his crew were mercenaries. And as such, not a single one of them could be trusted; unless, of course, you paid them more than anybody else could afford, or if you were able to scare them more. As one of the largest and strongest Dracos who hadn’t moved into the Neutral Zone throughout the course of the war, Titus was more inclined toward the second approach.
    "You're sure about this job boss?" One of his crew members asked. "People have impersonated government officials and tried to offer us the king’s money, but it's all fake."
    “People have tried it before, and then died for their mistake.” Titus responded, irritated by this crewman’s questioning attitude. He might have to kill him later to make an example to the crew. “I met with King Dathan himself. He assured me we’ll receive our payment."  
    Their target was in sight, and if this heist was as important as Dathan had made it sound, there was sure to be a good amount of fighting involved. Titus would need every one of his irritatingly simple minded crew to battle if the Humans on this ship had armor piercing