Page 57 of Dragon Eternal (Dragon Kings 4)
CHAPTERTWENTY-THREE
“You’re being unreasonable.”
Nia hid her smile as they walked the streets of Stonemore. Shaw had yet to bend to her request. And she had no plans to yield. “I’m not.”
He leaned close so his breath fanned her ear. “I’m no’ leaving this bloody city without you.”
Before she could answer, he pulled her away from two drunken men staggering down the street. For just a moment, she allowed herself to lean in to him, to accept the safety and protection he offered. His large hand slid down her arm. Their fingers twined. Her mind was a whirlwind of information he had shared, most of which she had yet to absorb fully. What she kept tripping over was that the Dragon Kings had given their world to humans without magic.
If his story were true—and she suspected it was—then why did everyone fear the Kings? Why was there such distress and apprehension about magic? There had to be some kind of link. For humans to just show up on Earth and Zora? That wasn’t a coincidence. It couldn’t be. She might not be a scholar, but it seemed logical that they were connected. If someone could find how, then there was a chance for peace.
Or maybe that was just wishful thinking.
Shaw turned her toward a building and jerked Nia out of her thoughts. She recognized it as The Full Fiddler when they entered. They went straight to his room. Shaw opened the door, and she stepped inside to find another man. The same one she had spotted on the street the day before. So, this was Merrill. He was tall and broad-shouldered and dressed similarly to Shaw. That’s where the likenesses ended, though. The man had a mix of brown and blond hair that was on the longer side. Dark blue eyes studied her as he sat in the chair and stretched out his legs to cross them at the ankles.
A slow smile pulled at his lips. “You’re no’ surprised to find me here?”
“Not especially,” she said.
Shaw grunted as he closed the door behind him. “Talk some sense into her.”
“I’m Merrill,” he said and bowed his head.
“Nia, as you well know.”
Merrill chuckled. “You’re taking all of this in stride.”
“Knowledge tends to change things,” she said.
Shaw braced his hands on the window. “Merrill,” he growled.
Merrill glanced at Shaw before motioning for Nia to take the other chair. “Shaw informed me of your request.”
“It wasn’t a request. It was a stipulation.” She wasn’t surprised that Shaw had turned to Merrill. If she were able to speak to someone telepathically, she would, too. “All three of us are being followed. Are you sure it was a good idea to come here?”
Merrill linked his fingers over his stomach. “No one saw me.”
“I did say we’ve been in situations like these before,” Shaw said, his gaze still out the window.
Nia looked at him. She had thought he would balk at her condition, but she hadn’t imagined that he would react so harshly. Her gaze slid back to Merrill to find him watching her. She let out a sigh. “Do you have any idea what it’s like to have something ingrained in you from birth, only to learn it isn’t true? Magic. Dragons. Dragon Kings. I knew of the world but knew very little about it. I’ve always had a healthy respect for those with magic. Just as I do with anyone who has skills with weapons. They can do things I can’t fathom. I never believed anyone should die simply because they have magic, but I learned quickly at the citadel that to speak my opinions would get me killed. I’ve only ever thought them to myself. Until now.”
Shaw slightly turned his head to her, but neither he nor Merrill replied.
She swallowed, shrugging. “When I received the missive informing me of my mission to seduce a Dragon King, I didn’t know what to think. I was scared, of course. What was a King doing in the city? How did the Divine know about it? Why had I been chosen? The offer of freedom sealed it.” Nia paused and glanced at Shaw. “The last person I imagined to offer me protection was a Dragon King. It didn’t take me long to realize that was exactly who Shaw was. The very man I had been sent to seduce had stepped out of the shadows and calmed me. I learned a lot about him that night.”
Merrill raised a brow. “Did you? He doesna like to talk.”
“He talked to me,” she said with a smile.
Merrill’s lips twitched as if he were fighting a grin. He crossed his arms over his chest. “Did he, now?”
Her gaze dropped to her lap. “I’ve been trained to seduce, to entice secrets and information from others. But I didn’t ask Shaw anything. I’m not sure why, other than he kept surprising me. I tried to think of what we had been told about Kings, but I couldn’t pinpoint anything. Just an overall feeling of fear and hatred. The more time I spent with him, the more I wanted to know.” And all that time, she had thought Shaw used magic on her, but he hadn’t. Had everything she’d experienced and felt been real?
Nia looked at Merrill. “I asked him to tell me everything about the Dragon Kings. I know there’s some correlation between your world and ours. That isn’t why I’m holding firm to my condition, however.”
“Then why are you?” Merrill asked.
Shaw lowered his arms and turned to her. Nia felt his gaze on her, and she was powerless to ignore him. She looked into his fern green eyes. “The information we can share with others in the city and around Zora is bigger than me. This is something that can begin to heal the divide between those with magic and those without.”
“You doona need to sacrifice your life for it,” Shaw stated.
