Chosen Destiny (33 page)

wait until after the battle.”

She didn’t believe that for a moment. “One of the other dragons will tell him since

you’ve probably already told your vampire friends. He won’t ask and you’ll forget to

tell me. And I’ll be the only one who doesn’t know!” She crossed her arms over her

chest and tried to pout.

He laughed and hooked an arm around her waist. She snuggled up against him.

Her stomach brushed against the hard ridge of his erection. She wriggled a little as if

getting comfortable, just to tease him. He groaned and his hand tightened.

“I’ll tell you, but if you have to hear it again, I don’t want any whining.” His teeth

grazed her shoulder. “Did I tell you how much I missed you?”

She tried to hide the shiver that went through her. Even through the fabric of the

gray shirt she’d put on earlier, she felt the sharp tips of his fangs. The scrape of those

sharp teeth never failed to send a thrill through her. Wearing durable black pants, she

was ready for battle, but looking into his eyes, she’d never felt sexier.

“Yes, but I like hearing it.” She pulled back enough to smile up at him. She loved

hearing that and the many other ways he showed he cared.

“We found something. Well, the others did. We’re fairly sure it’s why the Dark

Sorcerers want those generators,” Jaeson said. “This area is very public place. We’ll go

into the details later.”

“You are such a tease.” She shook her head. She’d really thought he’d tell her what

they’d found. She could understand why he didn’t but there were ways of getting

privacy without going into a building or somewhere isolated especially if it was just for

a short time.

“You need some patience. It’s not going to hurt you to wait until later.” Jaeson

ruffled her hair.

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She glared at him. “I have patience. If I didn’t, I would have done something drastic

to you and Samiel already. You’re not the easiest people to live with, you know.

Demanding, not familiar with the word compromise. Let’s not even get into the fact

that living and working with a woman is something new to you.”

“That doesn’t sound familiar at all. We didn’t haul you off the moment we met you

and believe me the temptation was there.” Jaeson brushed his lips over hers. “Do you

know how much I just wanted to grab you? I was half afraid you’d disappear on us.”

“There are bigger things in life than two arrogant men who think they have a claim

on me. I really wasn’t worried about you.” She nipped his lip to show him that he’d

irritated her.

“Oh, we learned that soon after talking to you. Your focus was entirely on stopping

the Dark Sorcerer. Speaking of him, it’s time to get to work. Three huge tainted bursts of

energy have just popped up within the walls.” Jaeson released her and straightened.

Meagan took a deep breath. She’d known the Dark Sorcerer and Doria would come

after the village with everything they had. It wasn’t only revenge they were after. As far

as they knew the last generator was still held there. It wasn’t anymore, but they

wouldn’t know that the dragons and vampires had taken it away days ago.

Doria had lost all her contacts when it became widely known that she was behind

the attacks on the coven as well as the disappearance of several coven members. They

would want revenge for the way they’d been tricked. It was going to get very busy very

quickly. Meagan just wondered if Doria would continue to flood the area with

merdanons
and
tandini
or if she’d learned from the other battles.
Merdanons
would mean

massive destruction which would undoubtedly be one of their aims. Jaeson squeezed

her shoulder, drawing her thoughts away from the Dark Sorceress and what she might

do.

“Don’t overthink it. We’ll know soon enough and it’ll probably be worse than

you’re imagining. They’re going to think this is their last chance to get one of the

generators.” Jaeson kissed her. “We need to move. The fight is beginning.”

She took a deep breath. She knew he was right. It didn’t make it easier to get her

mind off what would happen. She wouldn’t stop thinking until she began working and

then she’d be too busy to think about what Doria intended.

“Where?” She frowned. There wasn’t any sign that the battled had started. She

hadn’t heard a
merdanon
roar or seen a single flash of magic.

“Up the street and around the corner. We can run there and I’m not sure that the

area’s been cleared.” Jaeson gestured down the street leading closer to the wall.

“There is a vampire or a dragon posted at the coven, so we’ll know if there’s an

attack there?” Meagan looked over at Jaeson. That was one of the things she’d intended

to ask after she’d discovered what the vampires had learned, but had gotten distracted.

“Of course. A vampire and a wizard are guarding it. They’re not happy because

they won’t be involved in most of the battle but they know that a vampire needs to be

there in case it’s the focus of a large attack.” Jaeson nodded, his tone matter of fact.

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They ran down the street. As soon as they turned the corner, Meagan saw a mob of

tandini
pressing toward the other end of the street. The witch and dragon there were

trying to keep the creatures at a distance while they thinned the numbers of the small

beasts. Meagan and Jaeson took a position about a quarter of the way down the street.

Meagan strengthened the shield around them. She wasn’t taking any chances. The

destruction in the village was all Doria was going to get a chance to do.

Meagan summoned her blades. They settled into her hands and she lifted the

sword. She channeled power and sent an arc of energy hurtling down the street. It hit

one of the
tandini
. The mass of beasts split and part of them came down the street. It

was readily apparent that these creations were just meant to harass and distract. They

weren’t controlled or heavily shielded.

“You tell me if there’s trouble in another location, because this is either simply step

one of the plan, or a way to pull others away from what they want.” Meagan glanced

quickly at Jaeson then back at the
tandini
throwing themselves at the shield.

“Of course. Let’s get this done. I think you’re right. The Dark Sorcerer is trying to

test to see what we’ll do. We know they’ll try for the coven, but there’s been no sign of

any activity there yet.” Jaeson formed an arc of magic and hurled it down the street.

“Yes, but a few of the elders are out in the streets helping with the fight. Doria or

her ally might try to go after them,” Meagan said. That was something that worried her

because the elders weren’t with a dragon or vampire, they were with other witches.

“That probably won’t happen until after they make a try at the coven. When they

realize they can’t get what they want.” Jaeson kept sending balls of magic at the swarm

of
tandini
, but she could tell by his tone and the look on his face that he’d given the

answer some thought.

Meagan nodded and continued to work at thinning the number of
tandini
. It took a

while to clear the street and then Meagan began to destroy the creatures. The routine

was familiar, but now that night had fully fallen she could see the flash of magic from

the other parts of the village above the rooftops. They would have to move as soon as

she finished. She hurriedly moved through the downed creations, taking the energy.

The magic inside her grew as power flowed into her. She’d need to give some of it if

this pattern persisted but not just yet. With what she’d used, she could handle the

magic from this batch.

“We’re needed, Meagan.” Jaeson’s voice sounded strained.

She looked up and saw his hand clench. His mouth was compressed into a thin line.

She swallowed at the intensity in his eyes. Something bad had happened. She knew just

from that look. She hurriedly took the magic from the last few
tandini
.

She straightened. “I’m ready. What’s happened?”

“Samiel’s been hurt. There is only a vampire and wizard with him. They’re being

heavily attacked by a Dark Sorcerer.” The words were clipped and precise.

Meagan felt as though her heart had jumped into her throat. Her pulse raced and

pain seared through her. She wanted to scream, but knew she had to keep herself under

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control so that they could help Samiel. She stepped into Jaeson’s arms. He’d get them to

where they needed to be. Her arms tightened and she relished the comfort she found

just being close to him. Samiel had to be all right. She wouldn’t accept anything less.

Jaeson’s arms closed around her. She saw the blackness that surrounded them and

felt the slightest rush of movement before the blackness lifted. At first, she couldn’t see

much beyond the destruction. She saw the flash of magic and turned. Samiel lay on the

ground in dragon form. His body had crushed several buildings. One wing was cocked

at an odd angle. Blood ran down his muzzle and neck from a head wound. Pain and

panic lanced through her. She gulped and ran toward him. The rise and fall of his chest

reassured her. He was alive. She threw up a shield in front of the wizard and the

vampire, Grae, fighting the Dark Sorcerer as she reached Samiel. She put her hand on

him just to reassure herself.

“He’ll be all right,” Jaeson said as he put a hand on her shoulder. His fingers

tightened for a moment focusing her attention on him. “I need you to go up there and

help the wizard while we heal Samiel enough that he can change forms.”

She wanted to stay and help Samiel, but knew that Jaeson and Grae could heal him

better than she could. She hadn’t ever healed a dragon. She nodded and slowly lifted

her hands away from Samiel, then walked over to help the wizard.

She focused her attention down the street. A Dark Sorcerer stood in the shadows.

She could just see his outline near the hulking shape of a
merdanon
. She shook her head.

Anger burned inside her but she kept her emotions under tight control as she moved up

beside the local wizard, Farriss. She couldn’t let rage rule her. From the chunks of

debris on the ground in front of them, she suspected she knew exactly how Samiel had

been hurt. It wasn’t uncommon for
merdanons
to throw chunks of a building. Usually

they threw them at the witches and wizards to test a shield’s strength. She’d never seen

one lobbed up at a dragon. She tossed up a ball of light. It wasn’t only because she

wanted to know who she was fighting. Dark Sorcerers liked anonymity. She wanted to

take that away from him.

The light bobbed as it floated down the street to hover over the Dark Sorcerer. She

didn’t recognize him, but did notice that another of the big creations had been hidden

in the shadows behind him. He didn’t look evil. In fact, in a way, he was an attractive

man. She wouldn’t have even guessed that he was a Dark Sorcerer if she’d just met him

on the street. He had long, blond hair and golden-tan skin. His eyes looked almost icy

in the bright light, but she thought they were probably green. He was tall and thin, but

in no way did he seem feminine. A smirk curved his lips. The man looked too damned

smug for her taste. Time to make him start worrying. He sure wasn’t getting away with

doing that to Samiel.

She formed an energy arc and hurled it toward the
merdanon
at his right. It hit a

shield in front the beast flared and dissipated. She’d expected shielded beasts. This

wasn’t going to be easy. So far the shield appeared to be strong. The only thing that

seemed strange was that there were only two of them. It was just a little unusual

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compared to what they’d faced before. She watched as the second beast lumbered up

beside the Dark Sorcerer.

“So I finally get to see the
Tiria
who’s ruined some of our plans. Did I have the good

fortune to actually hit your dragon?” he asked. His voice was smooth and he looked as

if he was close to laughing.

“I’m sure he’ll be back in fighting shape by the time I take care of you.” She wasn’t

going to let him make her angry with those taunts. It was too common a tactic.

She slammed two bolts of magic down the street. The first hit the shield in front of

the
merdanon
, the second sent a wave of magic flaring as it collided with the Dark

Sorcerer’s shield. She wasn’t going to let him just strengthen the
merdanons’
shield. She

would push him to making a choice between maintaining his shield or strengthening

the shield protecting his creations. He wasn’t just going to stand there smirking at her.

At her side, Farriss began doing the same. Silently, she approved of that move. It

shouldn’t take long. She’d force that Sorcerer to do something.

She saw the moment he decided to go on the attack. The smile faded and his entire

body tensed. Both
merdanons
roared and plodded forward. She slipped a ball of magic

between the lumbering beasts, hitting his shield again. She needed to keep him worried.