Night's Awakening by Donna Grant Page B

already have, Guy.”
    He could hardly breathe with her revelation. “If you stay, you need to understand things are changing, and I fear the danger could only get worse.”
    “From Tristan?”
    “Nay. The Silvers. And whoever sent Sloan here. If our secret is discovered, war will come again.”
    She sighed harsley. “And you’ll be killed. You know the weapons humans have developed now. Nuclear bombs, rockets fired from thousands of miles away, and poisonous gases.”
    “We’d survive every one,” he said with a smile. “I told you how we could be killed in dragon form. In human form, the only way to kill us is if another King uses his sword.”
    Elena rolled her eyes. “Oh, please, Guy. Everything immortal has to be killed somehow. I mean, you can’t survive if they cut off your head.”
    “Want to give it a try?”
    Her eyes widened again and she hit his arm. “Uh, thanks but no thanks. Can you be serious?”
    “I am. When I say nothing can kill us besides a King wielding his sword, I mean it, Elena.”
    “How?”
    “Magic. Dragon magic.”
    She lowered her gaze to his chest, her nervousness palpable. “Do you want me to stay?”
    “More than anything,” he said gently as he lifted her face to his. “You’ve made me feel again, and I doona want to ever lose that.”
    “How long?”
    His brow furrowed at her question. “What?”
    “How long do you want me to stay?”
    He gazed into her sage green eyes and wanted to speak from his heart, but he paused. It would be asking too much of her too soon. He realized his feelings for her went deep, deeper than he ever thought to feel for anyone, but she had yet to tell him of her love.
    “I want you to stay as long as I can have you.”
    “I get to choose?”
    “Aye,” he said with a nod. “Understand, Elena, if you stay, you can never bring anyone here. No one can know where you’re at or who you’re with.”
    “I know.”
    “And your job?” He hated asking the question, but she needed to be reminded of why she was in Britain at all.
    The fact she looked away caused his worry to grow.
    “You mean I’d have to give up the job I’ve sacrificed everything for?”
    “Aye.”
    Silence stretched, and it nearly killed Guy. He buried his frustration and forced a smile as he took her hands in his. “This is a big decision, one you shouldna make hastily. Besides, you’ve a lot to take in after today. Let’s get back to the house and get you something to eat.
    When she didn’t pull her hand away as they walked from the cave was the only thing that kept Guy from throwing all caution to the wind and shifting so he could take to the skies.
    At the door to the house, he paused before following her in. When she looked at him and tucked a strand of her blond hair behind her ear, he said, “I need to check on Tristan. Maybe my clobbering jarred his memory, and he can tell us his name.”
    Guy let the door close before she could respond. He walked away, knowing he had lost Elena. He hadn’t wanted the feelings she evoked within him, but now that he’d experienced them, he couldn’t imagine life without her.
    But it was going to be a life without her. Her career was too important. And he…wasn’t enough.
    Guy wasn’t paying attention to where he walked until he found himself blocked in the mountain by Rhys and Tristan.
    “I doona like the name Tristan,” Tristan said.
    Guy shrugged. “Then remember your own name.”
    “I wouldna have harmed her.”
    Guy looped his thumbs in his front pockets of his jeans. “You frightened her. I couldna allow that.”
    Rhys crossed his arms over his chest and stepped in front of Guy when he tried to leave. “What happened?” he demanded.
    Guy laughed as he looked away. He wanted to be alone with his thoughts, but it seemed his friends wouldn’t let him. “It doesna matter.”
    “Is it as Con fears? Does Elena fear you as a dragon?”
    “Nay,” Guy answered softly. “I told her everything, and she accepted it