Night's Awakening by Donna Grant Page A

and size ruled the skies, the water, and the land.”
    He pulled himself back from the memory he had held on to through the passage of time. “In dragon form, another dragon can kill us. It isna easy because we’re Kings, but it can be done. It has been done. We lost many Kings during the war before we contained it.”
    “What happened to the dragons who lost their King?” she asked as she slowly stroked the Silver.
    “Other Kings stepped in to rule them. We didna think any more Kings would ever be made, until Tristan showed up five months ago.”
    She frowned and bit her lip. “Is that a good sign?”
    “No, especially when it coincided with two other events.”
    “Which where?”
    Guy knelt beside the Silver closest to him and put his hand in front of the dragon’s nose as a rush of wind blasted his hand from the dragon’s breath.
    “The Silvers moved.”
    Elena yanked her hand away and took a step back. “They moved?”
    “Aye. We doona know how. It was just an instant, but they moved. It shouldna have happened.”
    “And the second event?”
    Guy rubbed the Silver’s snout and straightened. “With the betrayal of Ulrik’s woman, it did something to Con. He didna want us to ever be in that position again. So, we all joined our dragon magic and bound our emotions.”
    “Excuse me?” she said in half surprise, half outrage.
    “We feel things like hunger, laughter, anger, happiness, and such. What we did was prevent ourselves from becoming entangled with a human.”
    “You have no human friends or lovers?”
    He shook his head slowly. “None. Until five months ago when Hal, another King, fell in love with a human. Hal wouldna give Cassie up, and she wouldna give him up. Con tested her to see if she could love the man and the dragon.”
    “Did she pass?”
    “Aye,” Guy said with a smile. “They are bonded. I can no’ remember the last time I saw a King bonded to a human.”
    “Is the magic used to sever your emotions gone?”
    This was what Guy had dreaded answering, the question he knew she would ask.
    “For five months, my answer would have been the magic is still in place. And then I met you. I feel things I’m no’ supposed to. Things that I doona know what to make of.”
    She looked away before walking around the great cage. For several minutes, he watched her, waiting and hoping for her to say something.
    When she didn’t, he asked, “Do you no’ have anything to say?”
    “I don’t know what to say. These past couple of days have turned my world upside down again and again. I hate Con for keeping me here against my will, but when you wanted me to leave, I’ve never felt so crushed in my life.”
    She stopped as she made her way back to him. “I thought what was between us was just physical. All I can think about is you. When you’re near, I want to be beside you, I want you touching me, even if it’s just holding my hand.”
    “Is that all you want from me?”
    “No,” she said, her eyes wide with torment. She lifted her face to the ceiling of the cavern. “Oh, God. This is happening too fast. I can’t wrap my head around it.”
    Guy pulled her into his arms and simply held her. He closed his eyes when her arms wrapped around him. “I’ve never told a human I was immortal before. You believed me. Even when you saw Tristan and then me change into a dragon, you didna run away in fear. Why?”
    “I was scared, which is why I couldn’t move. I just knew Tristan was going to eat me. And then I saw you, before I knew it was you. You protected me, fought for me. No man has ever done that.”
    “I’m no’ just a man.”
    “No,” she said, and leaned back to look at him. “You’re dragon. Maybe that’s what’s different about you. Maybe that’s why I’m drawn to you so.”
    He tucked a wavy blond lock behind her ear. “Doona leave me yet, Elena. Give me time to win you.”
    “That’s the problem,” she said with a small laugh as her eyes filled with tears. “You