Dragon King: A Dark Kings Novella (1001 Dark Nights) by Donna Grant Page A

Arian in dragon form fighting the Fae. If I’m to believe everything Arian has told me, all of you are in the middle of a war. You should trust your people.”
    There was a push against Arian’s mind and then Con said, “ Ramp up the storm. I need lightning. ”
    Arian hesitated. Never before had he wavered in doing as Con ordered, but now he was having serious doubts. Grace was shaking, her face was white, and she was sweating from her fear. To put her through more was too much. Arian couldn’t take it.
    “ Arian, ” Con urged. “ Trust me. ”
    Trust. That’s what Grace had put in him. Arian had vowed he would protect her from everyone and everything. He wasn’t doing that now. She was innocent. Con would see that. He had to.
    With a deep breath, Arian did as Con requested. The first flash of lightning made Grace jump in her chair and squeeze her eyes closed.
    It killed Arian to purposefully scare her in such a manner, but if it could end the interrogation earlier, then he would make it up to her later and explain his power.
    If she let him.
    “Trust is something I doona give lightly,” Con said as his head leaned to the side while he studied Grace. “What about you?”
    Grace pulled her eyes away from the window to look at Con. Her head nodded jerkingly. “Yeah. I trust easily. Don’t bother to tell me it’s wrong. Plenty of others have.”
    “So you trust Arian?” Con pressed.
    Grace jumped when more lightning flashed, followed by thunder that sounded all around them. She yelped, then said, “Yep. I do.”
    Arian exchanged a look with Con. Would this be all Con needed?
    “ More lightning and thunder, ” Con demanded.
    “ She’s afraid of it. Can you no’ see that? ”
    “ Of course I can. ”
    Arian should’ve known he wouldn’t get an explanation, but then again, it went unsaid. Everything Con did was to ensure their secrecy.
    It hurt Arian physically to put Grace in such fear, but he had no choice. If Con didna get what he needed then Grace would have her memories wiped. She would wake up at the B&B never knowing how deeply she touched his soul when they kissed or how he ached to be buried inside her once more.
    She would never know how much he wanted to be with her.
    Con was in favor of wiping her memories regardless of if she was working with Ulrik or not, but Arian wasn’t going to let that happen.
    He needed Grace. It was because he needed her that he did as Con asked once more.
    After this was all over, Grace might leave and want nothing to do with him. Arian wasn’t about to give up on her that easily though. If something was worth having, it was worth fighting for.
    That meant against his own kind as well as Grace.
    There was something special between him and Grace. It was something profound, something that never came near Arian before.
    Until Grace.
    He watched her complexion pale with each bolt of lightning. Her body tensed as the thunder rumbled loudly around them. Each moment that passed made her curl into herself.
    And it was slowly killing him.
    “ Get on with it, Con! ”
    Con cut him a look before he focused on Grace. “Who do you work for, Ms. Clark?”
    “Myself,” she answered without taking her eyes off the window.
    “That’s no’ true. Who do you work for?”
    She shrugged, slinking farther into the back of the chair. “My pub...publisher. I work for my publisher.”
    “You work for Ulrik, do you no’?” Con pressed.
    “No.” She let out a shriek when several rounds of lightning struck in quick succession.
    The more anxious Grace became, the angrier Arian got. And the more extreme the weather became until he couldn’t get it under control.
    Arian desperately tried to rein the weather in, but it was nearly impossible as he listened to Con push Grace again and again to see if she would change her answer.
    Every trembling “no” that fell from her lips only infuriated Arian more. She gripped the chair so tightly that he heard the wood crack.
    “What are you