Chosen Destiny (6 page)

they hadn’t even introduced themselves. Of course, she hadn’t exactly told them her

name. They’d heard it, but she did didn’t know if they’d realized it was her name.

The stone building of the inn looked better than it had earlier. It still had a small

hole in one side of the wall, but that was being repaired now. She walked up the steps

to the inn. The silver-haired man opened the door and waited for her to enter. She

shook her head. They both acted as if she were going to run away if one of them didn’t

have her in his sight at all times. She just didn’t understand it. There couldn’t be

anything that bad about being a
Tiria
. As long as it wasn’t fatal, she wasn’t going to

worry about it.

The dragon went to the innkeeper to get a room while the silver-haired man waited

with her. She looked at the man then around the empty large dining room.

“Why can’t we talk here? There’s no one here.” She looked up at the man.

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Rebecca Airies

“The innkeeper’s here and we’re going to need the privacy of a room.” The silver-

haired man smiled. “I’m Jaeson Ro’Shan. He’s Samiel. And you’re called Meagan?”

“Meagan Danae.” She nodded returning his smile. She’d bet he had women panting

for him from just that smile. With a mental shake of her head, she told herself she was

stronger than that even if she was drawn by it.

“I’ve secured a room for us. It will do for the short term.” Samiel strolled over to

them.

She raised a brow but shrugged. If they were lucky, it wouldn’t take long to find

and stop the Dark Sorcerer. She wasn’t going to count on it. She’d be surprised if the

dragons stayed more than a night in the town. They seldom did. They preferred to have

their own quarters in an isolated area. Regardless of where they were, they’d be here

when they were needed. She had no idea how they did that and was a bit curious, but

the answer could wait.

She followed Samiel up the stairs, eager to get this finished so that she could get

back to her research. There had to be some reason for the attacks. Maybe it could be

found in one of the histories or on a map. Some kind of treasure or ancient knowledge

the Dark Sorcerer hoped to use.

“You’re suddenly very serious. Are you worrying now what being a
Tiria
means?”

Samiel asked as he opened the door. He led the way into the room.

Meagan followed him. A large, sturdy bed with a polished black wood headboard

dominated the room. A yellow and green blanket had been spread over it and plump

pillows were ready for use. The bright color stood out against the dark stone of the

walls. The way the room was decorated did surprise her. She hadn’t thought that it

would be this nice especially since visitors seldom came through the area.

“Are you thinking about what it means now?” Jaeson stepped up beside her.

She smiled, wondering why they thought she should be worried. “No, I was

actually thinking about what I was doing before you decided talking was so important

it outweighed searching for possible reasons the Dark Sorcerer might be focused on this

area.”

“You can get back to that later. Right now you need to learn just what it means to be

a
Tiria
.” Samiel’s head titled and his lips curved, revealing the points of four fangs.

“Being a
Tiria
isn’t something that’s going to change. As far as I’m concerned it

could wait. This village really can’t.” She lifted a shoulder. “I was just going to learn

what I needed as I went along.”

“For most of the things, that would be a good way to approach it, but there’s

something that’s not going to wait.” Jaeson’s hand rose to her cheek.

She stepped back just before he touched her. They had both been very touchy. Her

arm and her cheek. They hadn’t let her out of their sight. She could read the

possessiveness in their gaze. She just couldn’t understand it. She’d barely met them and

knew nothing about them except their names.

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Chosen Destiny

“What is it that I need to know? Just get it over with so I can get back to what I was

doing.” She put her hands on her hips. She was getting a little tired of their theatrics.

She wasn’t going to run out of the room so they really didn’t need to be watching her so

intently.

“Get it over with.” Jaeson looked over at Samiel, a smile on his lips. “No woman’s

ever said that to me.”

She rolled her eyes. That comment probably hadn’t even made a dent on his ego. It

certainly hadn’t prompted him to get to the point. She just didn’t understand the need

for privacy. Lady, even the talking wasn’t necessary. As far as she was concerned,

everything but the Dark Sorcerer could wait indefinitely. Their priorities were definitely

out of order.

“Why don’t you go sit down? As we said, there are things that we need to talk

about, that are important enough to take you away from your search. In fact, it might

just change the way you think about being a
Tiria
.” Samiel waved a hand toward the

bed.

She sighed. Deciding that it would be faster to do as he asked, she dropped onto the

soft mattress. She shot them both a look from beneath her lashes and tapped her foot.

She wished they’d just say whatever they thought was so important. The more they

delayed, the more nervous she became. Even though she knew it couldn’t be that bad,

her tension was growing.

“Being a
Tiria
gives you the ability to draw power into you. A
Tiria
has special

needs.” Jaeson walked over to stand near her.

She titled her head. At least he wasn’t so close she had to crane her neck to see him.

He looked a little nervous and watchful. Well, more watchful than he had been before

and he looked ready to move. She had the impression he was ready to grab her. She

wasn’t going to make a run for the door. Not unless they didn’t get to the point soon.

“She needs someone to take the power she draws into her, at least some of it.”

Samiel sat down on the end of the bed.

Meagan looked at the dragon and then at the hand’s breadth of space between

them. Close enough to touch and too tempting. She’d been so absorbed in finding some

reason for the attacks that she’d ignored most of their body language. They were

focused on her and their sexual intent seemed so obvious. She licked her lips.

“I did well enough last night. The level was high, but shielding the town took it

down to a bearable level.” She shrugged. She didn’t see the big deal about the power

that she could pull into her now. Maybe if there had been more
merdanons
it would have

been a problem, but she was certain she could have handled it in some way without the

assistance of those two men.

“It was probably a small battle. It won’t be that easy in the future.” Samiel frowned.

“Especially when the Dark Sorcerer learns of you. He’ll do everything he can to kill

you.”

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Rebecca Airies

“I already knew that, expected it.” She shook her head. It was obvious that she’d be

a target.

“Had you expected to have two mates?” Jaeson cupped her chin.

She tensed. She hadn’t heard him move. His words slowly began to filter through

her surprise. Two mates. She looked from Jaeson to Samiel hoping to see a teasing

smile. They both stared at her expectantly.

She shook her head. “I’m not going to have two mates. A witch chooses her wizard.

There might not have been many high wizards here, but you can bet when I’m ready,

I’ll find one.”

Samiel laughed. “High witches might have chosen their mate in the past. There

aren’t that many men here. Aside from that, witches marrying two men isn’t all that

strange. In addition to the dragon and vampire pairs there are wizards who join in

pairs.”

She exhaled heavily. Something didn’t seem right about their explanation to her.

Her eyes narrowed. They had to be lying. Two mates just because she’d picked up the

ancient weapons? How naïve did they think she was?

“Oh, so you two are my mates because I’m a
Tiria
? You’re going to have to come up

with a better story than that. What is it you’re actually angling for? A few nights of sex?

You’re both sexy and probably more than aware of it. You don’t have to pull that kind

of trick.” She felt anger rise as she thought of the game they were trying to play.

“Trick.” Samiel’s voice rumbled with a low growl.

Meagan tried to move back, but Samiel grasped her wrist. Even in that loose grip,

she knew she couldn’t pull free. She squared her shoulders. He wouldn’t intimidate her

so easily. The man might be large and strong, but she could take care of herself.

“This is no trick and it’s not because you’re a
Tiria
. All the
Tiria
will have two

mates, but they would have two mates regardless of if they ever picked up the

weapons. It’s the woman’s magic that matches. Your magic is a match with ours.”

Jaeson slid onto the bed on her other side. His voice sounded determined.

Meagan raised her brows. “My magic matches yours. And how do you know this?”

“I can feel it. If Samiel bit you, he could taste it.” Jaeson cupped her chin.

“You can sense it. I don’t believe you. I don’t have time to waste with this.” She

stood and tried to tug free of Samiel’s loose hold. She didn’t know if they were playing

some kind of game, but this was getting old fast.

Samiel’s grip tightened and he tugged her back to the bed. “Sit down.”

In spite of the growled order, she continued standing. This was outrageous. Did

they actually expect her to accept what they said as fact? Anger rose. She reached up

and grabbed Samiel’s hand. Her nails sank into his skin as she pried at his fingers. She

couldn’t budge his grip and that only made her angrier. She glared at him.

“Sit down.” Samiel spaced the two words precisely. His voice had hardened even

more.

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Chosen Destiny

He reinforced the order by standing. She took a deep breath and gritted her teeth.

The man had domineering down to an art. Dealing with him on a long-term basis

would push anyone’s control. She didn’t plan on dealing with him for long. Definitely

not permanently. She sat, hoping to get this talk finished. She had work to do and

arguing with him wasn’t helping.

“Well, get it over with. I told you I was busy.” She jerked against Samiel’s hold just

to reinforce the fact that she wanted to be released.

“We’re not lying to you. Tell me, is the attraction you feel for us just normal

attraction or is it more intense?” Jaeson asked. His gold eyes flashed with annoyance.

The attraction was intense. She’d admit that. Was the intensity normal or more than

that? She couldn’t say if it was normal or more than that. They were both handsome

and in spite of their arrogance there was something that did pull her to both of them.

And it was the “both” that surprised her. She’d never been attracted to two men at the

same time.

“Look just because I’m attracted to you doesn’t mean you’re my mates. It doesn’t

mean anything except that you’re both very sexy.” She put her free hand on the bed

beside her.

“For now, forget about the long-term aspect. You can confirm we’re telling the truth

later when you’re doing your research.” Samiel ran his thumb up and down the inner

skin of her wrist.

She’d never considered her inner wrist one of the more sensitive parts of her body,

but that light touch sent tingles sizzling up her arm and straight to her core. She

swallowed heavily and tried to ignore the sensation. He seemed determined to distract

her. She wasn’t going to let him do that.

“Just because I’m attracted to you, I’m not going to have sex with both of you.” If

she could have, she’d have crossed her arms and glared at them. She settled for

frowning at him since he wasn’t releasing her wrist.

“We don’t expect you to have sex with us right now, Meagan. We wouldn’t push

you away if you were willing, but it’s probably a little soon for you to be that

accepting.” Jaeson smiled wickedly and his body angled toward hers. “We only want to

touch you, to get to know you a little and then you can return to your coven.”

His eyes dropped to the curved rise of her breasts. The heat in his eyes sparked a

response in her body. She could tell just from that look that he wanted more than just a

little touching. She looked over at Samiel. His brown eyes glittered and his thumb

rubbed in gentle circles on her wrist. She could smell their scents, each distinctive. They

seemed to wrap around her, but one of them sent excitement pulsing through her. The

dragon’s musky sent had a spicy bite that she couldn’t quite identify. She didn’t have

that problem with Jaeson. Just sitting next to him was like walking in a forest in the fall

when the bark of the
cabar
tree was peeled. She loved the spicy, earthy smell before the

bark was dried and ground.

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Rebecca Airies

“And touching me is supposed to help me get to know you. My guess is that once

you touch there won’t be much talking done at all.” She shook her head. At least they’d