Chosen Destiny (13 page)

she left. He didn’t seem to be a man who’d quietly take an ultimatum like the one she’d

thrown.

She’d expected an argument or at the very least an explanation. There was more to

it than mere control, probably some incident in his past. She knew it wasn’t fair to

expect him to just change, but she knew she couldn’t accept that little of him. There had

to be some kind of fear or something behind it. There would be no other reason for him

to put up that kind of wall between himself and her. She had thought of little else while

taking the people unable to defend themselves to safety. The duty was tedious and the

time to think hadn’t yielded any answers.

She leaned against the wall. The attack would happen, probably after the moon

rose. That was the usual routine. She looked around, alert to any type of movement.

The sight of two men walking down the street caught her attention. Immediate

recognition sent a thrill of nervousness through her. Jaeson and Samiel walking toward

her. She didn’t know what to say, what to expect. She straightened her shoulders,

pushing the personal thoughts to the back of her mind. The battle had to come first.

She’d have to deal with Samiel and decide what they were going to do later.

“There’s movement outside the walls.
Merdanons
will begin appearing inside the

walls soon. You’ll be with us during the battle.” Jaeson walked over and slipped an arm

around her waist.

Meagan nodded. This should be interesting. She was fairly certain that those two

had never worked with a witch. She’d worked with wizards before and a lot of the

more powerful ones tended to believe that females were weaker and in need of

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Rebecca Airies

protection. The wizards had soon learned she wouldn’t run and hide while they did the

work—the dragon and vampire would have to do the same. She wasn’t going to stand

back and wait for them to kill the
merdanons
. She’d fight at their side or she’d go to

another area where she could be of some help.

“You look serious.” Samiel stopped in front of her. His eyes searched her face as if

looking for some clue to what she was thinking.

She exhaled and titled her head. She ignored the opening to talk about what had

happened earlier. They’d never get through it before the
merdanons
attacked. It would

only frustrate both of them to start before they settled it. Better to wait until after the

town was safe.

“This is a serious situation. Protecting this village has been a duty and honor in my

family for generations.” She crossed her arms over her chest and held his eyes. She

wanted him to know that she wasn’t afraid of him or of meeting any challenge he

offered.

“We’ll protect this town.” Samiel’s mouth kicked up into a smile. “And we’ll talk

afterward.”

“I’m sure we will.” She kept her voice even, but a small thrill went through her.

She’d had a little doubt that he’d press for more. She couldn’t be sure how much

the relationship meant to him. He hadn’t tried to bite her or even given much indication

that he really wanted her. She knew nothing about him and she was fairly sure it was

going to take years to find out what was behind that control thing. She just didn’t know

if she had the patience to work around it or if they’d be together for long after this Dark

Sorcerer was routed.

“The
merdanons
are within the walls as well as at least one Dark Sorcerer.” Jaeson

straightened. His voice had hardened.

Meagan glanced at him. She could almost see the tension rolling off him. Pushing

away from the wall, she summoned the sword and dagger. It was time to go to work.

She stepped forward and looked up and down the street. They’d better get started. The

sooner they began fighting, the less damage the beasts would do to the town.

“Did whoever told you about the
merdanons
give you any hint about where they

are?” She raised an eyebrow. She felt confident that the beasts would be defeated. She

just wanted to get that battle started.

“We’ll be starting at the far end of the village. Come here and I’ll transport us to the

spot.” Jaeson held out his hand.

She stepped forward and slid her hand into his. He drew her close until her body

was pressed against his. Samiel stepped behind her. His muscled thighs pressed against

hers even as she felt his chest against her back and head. She took a deep breath trying

to quiet the sudden sensation of being trapped. Letting it out slowly, she reminded

herself that this was necessary. Jaeson was taking them closer to the fight.

She felt hot moist air puff over the shell of her ear. She knew it was Samiel, because,

she could see Jaeson. Samiel’s tongue flicked over her earlobe.

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Chosen Destiny

“There definitely will be a next time.” His voice rumbled into her ear.

Darkness surrounded them and she felt a light sense of movement as the tunnel

carried them. She saw the streaks of white against the darkness and knew they were

moving even if it didn’t really seem like it. She felt a little as if her stomach flipped as

the black mist dissolved, leaving them on a darkened street. That was definitely weird.

She wondered if she’d be able to learn how to do that. It would be nice not to be

launched out of a spatial tunnel. She waited until Samiel stepped away from her and

then eased away from Jaeson.

The two men took a position side by side. From the first, she saw that the two men

were accustomed to working together. She had no idea how they’d do with her or if

they’d even given it any thought. She didn’t know exactly how they planned to do this

and if they had some sort of strategy for the fight. Opening her mouth to ask them

exactly that, she gaped as they began walking down the street without even a word to

her. She raised her brows. She hurried to catch up to them. Maybe they expected her to

take the first step forward. Even if they didn’t, reminding them that she was there

couldn’t hurt. They might need to see that she would be right at their side.

She stepped up beside Samiel. He looked at her and stopped. His eyes widened and

he looked at her as if he couldn’t believe she was there. She blinked. He couldn’t have

just forgotten about her. He’d just been holding her.

“What are you doing?” he asked. “You stay behind Jaeson and me.”

She stiffened, felt all of her muscles lock tight. He couldn’t have surprised her more

if he’d taken a swing at her. In spite of her doubt about how they’d work with her, she

hadn’t expected her worst fears to be realized.

“No, I don’t stay behind either of you. Not in battle. If either of you think that I’m

going to stand behind you while you fight the
merdanons
and the Dark Sorcerer or even

a minion, you’re both idiots.” She put her hand on hers hips.

“You are not going to get hurt.” Samiel growled.

“I can hold a shield and have been fighting on my own for years. If you can’t treat

me as a partner when we’re fighting, then we won’t be fighting together.” She leaned

closer, not intimidated by his scowl.

“We have work to do. We’re going to work with you. It’s just going to take some

time to get used to it,” Jaeson said.

Meagan glared at him. She knew he’d stopped her from delivering her ultimatum

on purpose. She didn’t know why he was so wary of her angering Samiel. She’d learned

enough to know that whether in dragon form or human form, Samiel’s primary focus

would be on keeping her safe and with him.

“Let’s get started then.” She turned back to face the street.

Samiel nodded, but moved to her other side so that she was between Jaeson and

him. She looked at him, considering the situation. He’d offered a compromise. She’d

take the offer and do her best to make it work. She nodded. They started forward again.

A gray-skinned beast loomed in front of them. Her heart beat faster and her mouth felt

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Rebecca Airies

as dry as the Agrio desert. All thought of her argument with them faded. She

strengthened her shield, expanding it to cover both the men because she knew the

tactics of these creations better than they did.

The
merdanon
ripped a lantern off one of the houses that lined the street and the

hinged hook it was attached to hung precariously until the beast ripped it off too. He

hurled the lantern toward them. Samiel’s hand swept out and he pushed her behind

him. She saw the flare of light even from behind his large body. She slipped away from

his restraining hand. Going around his outstretched hand, she moved back between

them. Fire burned on the ground at the base of the shield.

“Don’t do that again. I know what I’m doing. Nothing’s going to get through my

shield.” She glared at Samiel.

“It was instinct to protect you. I had no idea what your shield could stop. I couldn’t

take the chance.” He put up his hand. “I would have done that for almost any female if

I didn’t know how she fought.”

She took a couple of deep breaths while she thought about it. The explanation made

sense. It would take at least two or three battles before they learned what to expect from

each other. She smiled a little and nodded. Hope that they would be able to work

together rose.

“Let’s take down that
merdanon
.” She looked at the advancing beast which was

getting a little too close for her comfort. She pushed it back.

Jaeson threw a glittering orb of magic. It flew through the air and flared as it hit a

shield in front of the
merdanon
. Magic sparkled as it fell to the ground. Samiel hurled

two quick orbs. Meagan let the energy build inside her. It gathered at the tip of the

sword. The
merdanon
hurled a chunk of rock and Samiel stepped in front of her. Her

eyes widened and her stomach felt heavy. The sick feeling swept through her, leaving a

trail of chill bumps over her arms. She had been preparing to throw a bolt of energy. If

he’d stepped in front of her as she’d thrown that, he could have easily been killed. Her

hand trembled. She stepped around Samiel and threw the bolt of energy. It hit the

shield and flared as the barrier held.

“Don’t ever step in front of me when I’m forming an orb.” She looked at Samiel her

throat felt tight. She wanted to yell at him. Her voice sounded raspy and almost

strangled.

“What?” Samiel’s head titled to the side. He looked confused.

“I had formed an orb to hurl. If you had been a few moments later, it would have

hit you in the back.” She exhaled, trying to get the image out of her head.

“Point taken.” He nodded, glancing down at the sword.

“Get back to work, you two. I’m not going to do all the work during this fight,”

Jaeson growled, grabbing her attention.

Meagan laughed softly at the annoyance she heard in his voice. She let the matter

drop for now.
Give it time,
she reminded herself. She faced the
merdanon
again. She

tossed another orb. The wariness and caution didn’t fade. She swung her sword,

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Chosen Destiny

sending an orb flying down the street. It hit and the beast’s shield finally fell. Jaeson

tossed an orb. It slammed into the beast just before another ball of magic flew down the

street. It hit the
merdanon
and the gray-skinned creation toppled back.

One dead, too many more to go. The thought fluttered through her mind. She saw

movement in the shadowy street ahead of them. She knew another
merdanon
was

already moving toward them even if she couldn’t see it yet. She took a step forward,

drawn to take the energy of the fallen beast so that the wizard couldn’t use it again.

“Slowly. We’ll get to it, but we’re not taking any chances.” Jaeson put his hand on

her arm. “We have time. The sorcerer won’t be close enough to know that his creation

has been defeated already.”

She nodded, but it wasn’t easy. She couldn’t just ignore it completely. Part of her

was hyper-aware of what she needed to do. The other part focused on the shadows

searching for the enemy concealed by the darkness. She formed a small ball of light and

tossed it into the air.

Just as they reached the downed
merdanon
another appeared out of the darkness

ahead of them. She kneeled and drove the blade into the beast. Energy flooded into her.

Her eyes closed as she tried to adjust to the influx of power. She didn’t know if she’d

ever get used to that rushing surge. She slowly stood and fell into step between them.

The beast slowly advanced. Samiel tossed an orb toward the beast. He seemed

tense. She threw a sizzling bolt down the street. The
merdanon
screamed. A man

appeared just behind the beast. The creation didn’t even seem to notice the man.

Meagan didn’t recognize the wizard. He wasn’t one of the locals. She would have

recognized him. There weren’t that many wizards in the area. Most left when they

reached maturity. Normally, there wasn’t enough excitement or challenge here. Judging

from the lack of greeting or even an attempt to kill the
merdanon
, he wasn’t with the