Chapter Twelve
After a quick shower, Zarik came out of the back rooms with this clothes on – thankfully. Not that he wasn't pleasing to look at – he was. It was that he was far too pleasing to look at. He was so pleasing to look at, that he was actually a distraction. And given that I was meeting with a man who could transform himself into a freaking dragon, I wanted to be sharp and on my toes.
He finished tugging on his black t-shirt that clung to his solid, sculpted frame enticingly. His jeans hugged his legs and his longish hair was still damp, but combed back nicely. He looked like he could have just stepped out of a freaking fashion magazine or something. I cleared my throat and looked away.
“May I offer you a drink?” he asked. “Soda? Water? Beer?”
“Water,” I said. “Please.”
He nodded and walked into the kitchen. I heard the refrigerator door open and then close. A moment later, he returned and handed me a bottle of water before dropping down into the deep, plush chair across from the matching one I was sitting in. What looked like a beautifully hand-carved oak coffee table sat between us. I was doing my best to avoid meeting his eyes for fear that I'd start blubbering like an idiot. As it was, my heart was already working overtime – and not because I was afraid he was going to incinerate me.
Twisting the cap off the bottle, I took a long drink, doing my best to calm my nerves. I didn't have a lot of experience with men – especially men as attractive as Zarik. Given the life I was in, my options were usually limited to other men within the Order. Not that I hadn't had a couple of boyfriends over the years, because I had. But none of them ever compelled me the way Zarik did. I had never been as intrigued or fascinated by any of them as I was with him.
Maybe it was because I knew he could incinerate me on the spot if he desired – they say that danger heightens one's libido. Although, I didn't think that was necessarily it either. It wasn't something so simple or formulaic. It wasn't something that could be easily explained or understood. It was just something I felt. Something deep down in my soul. Not that he did anything to warrant it, but Zarik stirred something deep within me. Something primal. It was a longing and a desire unlike anything I'd ever felt before – and it was powerful.
Which meant that he was incredibly dangerous to me. It was because he threatened my focus and concentration. I feared having thoughts of him flashing through my brain in the middle of a fight – just long enough to distract me, and just long enough to have one of the monsters we battled take advantage of the opening.
Zarik sat across from me, drinking from his own water bottle, those green eyes of his boring into mine. I wondered what he was thinking – crazily wondering if his thoughts mirrored my own in any way. It was a silly, girly thought – but one I couldn't deny having. I was a trained warrior, able to best many of the men in my own class. I was tough and fierce. I did my best to not give into my emotions, and subordinate those desires to my training and my mission.
But underneath it all, I was still a woman. I still had a woman's thoughts, desires, and longings. And being the object of a man's desire was one of those things.
“So,” I said, clearing my throat again. “You're – a dragon.”
I could see the hesitance in his eyes. He was still doing his best to honor his oath, to not violate the secrets he'd apparently sworn to uphold.
“Look,” I said, “it's not like you're going to tell me something I don't already know. I saw you do it, dude. I saw you in your dragon mode or whatever you call it.”
He laughed softly and ran a hand through his hair. “I suppose so,” he said. “Though, honestly, the proverbial train left the station that first night you saw me fighting the Chokan.”
“That's true,” I replied. “So, what exactly are you? Where do you come from?”
He took another long drink of water, his eyes still focused on mine. There was a subtle, silent intensity about the man that was as compelling as his good looks.
“Let's play a game,” he said.
“A game?”
He nodded. “Twenty questions,” he replied smoothly. “I'll answer your questions, if you answer mine.”
I thought it over for a moment, not sure if that was a game I should be playing. I took my oath to the Order every bit as seriously as Zarik took his oath to – whoever he'd sworn an oath to. But I was also at something of a strange place in my head. Zarik was obviously not going to hurt me. If anything, he was – kind. It clashed with what I'd been taught for so many years.
Despite all of that indoctrination and training, I was having a really difficult time seeing Zarik as the enemy.
“Okay,” I said. “Let's play. What are you and where do you come from?”
“That's two questions, so I'll answer one,” he said, a smile touching his lips. “I am Dragonborn – we are a species of men and women who can shift our forms, becoming dragons. As you saw.”
“And where do you –”
He held up his hand and smiled. “My turn to ask a question.”
“Well, that's not fair,” I huffed. “You pretty much answered a question I already had the answer to.”
Zarik shrugged. “Then perhaps, you should not have asked that question,” he said. “Tell me, are you part of this Order of Midnight?”
I hesitated – he was asking the tough stuff early. And was forcing me to break my oath in the process. The urge to lie, deny involvement, and deny the existence of the Order altogether was strong. It was instinctive. It was as much a part of me as my own name. I was finding that breaking those bonds was tougher than I would have thought.
But, things change. The world changes. Perhaps, having an ally on our side with the power Zarik had at his disposal would aid us in our fight against the Chokan and whatever other dark creatures were arrayed against us.
But to gain allies, you needed to learn to trust – something the Order did not do easily. Still, the world was moving forward and all things changed. Perhaps, it was time that we changed too. Perhaps, I could help them see the wisdom of that simple thought. Show them that no, not all non-human life was a threat to humanity, and that we could in fact, fight alongside them.
It would be about as easy as teaching a pig to dance in high heels, but change had to start somewhere, right? Why not with me?
I cleared my throat and nodded. “Yes, I belong to the Order of Midnight. I was trained by them.”
Zarik nodded. “You were trained well,” he said. “I've seen few fighters who are your equal with a blade. And believe me, Dragonborn Rangers are the most lethal killing machines around. We're trained to fight and kill from a very early age.”
“I can see that,” I said. “I watched you practicing earlier and was impressed with your skill. Where do you come from?”
“I come from a world called Chondelai,” he said. “There are passages we call the Dragon Doors that allow us to move between your world and ours.”
I leaned back in my seat and took a long drink of my water, stunned by what he'd just said. Given all that I'd seen in my life, I knew there were things out there that defied rational explanation. Things that most people would never believe actually existed. And I'd come to learn quickly that not only did they exist, but they bled and could be killed too.
But to hear that there were actually parallel worlds to ours? That was still pretty mind blowing.
“Sorry,” I said, explaining my silence. “I just – I guess I thought that you were of this world. Some species we hadn't accounted for yet.”
“I believe it's my turn,” he said. “So, what is this Order of Midnight, exactly?”
I ran a hand through my hair and crossed my legs, fidgeting. Still not entirely comfortable with everything. But also realizing that I was in too deep to pull out now. I mean he already knew of our existence. Could probably guess what we did. Would I really be revealing all that much?
“As I'm sure you have guessed, we're a society of warriors,” I said. “Our mission is to exterminate non-human life that threatens humanity.”
Zarik nodded. “Yeah, that's sort of what I gathered,” he said. “But, clearly, you see that I'm a non-human life. Does your mission require you to exterminate me?”
I cleared my throat and felt a sense of dread settling down over my shoulders. Or perhaps, it was shame. Shame that I could hold what was clearly a wrong and perhaps even bigoted view – at least, bigoted from a certain perspective.
“By the letter of the Order's laws, yes,” I said quietly.
He looked at me for a long moment. “So, why haven't you tried to kill me yet?” he asked. “In fact, why did you save me from the Chokan?”
I hesitated before speaking, trying to find the right words. “Because, I'm not sure that the laws of the Order are right,” I said softly. “I think that maybe, they served a purpose at one time. But times have changed and – and maybe we need to change with them.”
He nodded and gave me a warm smile. “Perhaps, there is change needed in all of us.”