Page 48 of Awaken the Dragon
“How did you plan to kill him?”
She couldn’t answer that, because she really didn’t know. There was no doubt she had power, and she knew how to use it. She could harness it, control and deflect. Her mind, body and soul were one with her mission. But it had always been explained to her that when the time came, she would know what needed to be said and done to complete the task. So far, that hadn’t been the case.
“Were the rocks required to help?”
“I thought so, but now I have no idea.” She could admit that now, after taking the time to examine everything that happened.
“But you’re determined to get him anyway.”
“I cannot ignore my destiny any more than you could ignore yours.”
He shook his head as they continued to walk, a gentle breeze blowing around them.
“How could so much be put on one person’s shoulders? Magnum said you have warriors in Mobo. Why weren’t they dispatched? Why is this your job?”
There was an urgency in his tone, an edge that revealed his irritation with the situation. She couldn’t blame him; this wasn’t a normal situation, nor were they normal people for that matter.
“I told you why. And there is no changing what is. But I can handle it. I just need to figure out what the next step is.”
He stopped and turned, taking her by the shoulders. “That’s just it. I don’t want you to have to handle this. I don’t want you to ever know what it feels like to take a life, whether it be preternatural or human. That’s something you carry with you every day you’re allowed to continue breathing.” He gave her shoulders a little shake before sighing heavily.
“I want to just drive up to Camden’s apartment and kill him, ending this for everyone.”
His eyes flickered while he talked, going from man to dragon and back to man in the course of him blinking. In addition to the eye change there was a shift in the air when he was speaking, a definite rise in humidity, as if his dragon was reacting to Theo’s anger.
“He has people or family or whatever you call those things that were on the street coming after me. If you kill him, they will think it a sign of war.”
He shook his head. “A war they’ll never win.”
“Perhaps not, but consider how many might die or be hurt in this city during the battle. No, as I said, this is my destiny. Nobody here knows me, so they will not look for me when I am gone and it will all be over.”
Dropping his hands from her shoulders, he lowered his head to stare down at the ground.
“I know you.” His words were so quiet she almost didn’t hear him.
But then he raised his head, dragon eyes staring into hers. “I will look for you when you’re gone.”
Her chest tightened, warmth spreading through her body at record speed. She didn’t know what to say, or how she was supposed to feel. Finding him was not part of her destiny.
Seconds later, when she still hadn’t found the words to say, he moved to her side and started walking once more. She fell into step beside him because that was easier than confronting her emotions.
“How about you? Do you train to help control the dragon inside of you? How does that work anyway, being more than one person or being?”
He kept staring ahead, his silhouette as imposing and attractive as a full frontal view.
“No training required. I was born this way and therefore grew up knowing how to be what I am.”
“Your parents had to teach you something. And how did you learn to be a businessman? Did you go to college?”
“I’m three hundred years old,” he said. “But in all that time I’ve managed to skip college.”
Shola stopped walking. “You are how old?”
He was a step or two ahead of her, but he stopped and glanced back, an amused look on his face. “Three hundred.”
She blinked and struggled to digest that number. “I’m only twenty-eight.”
“Why do you say it like that’s an issue?”
