She seemed to fall asleep, or maybe she’d entered a trance. He got a blanket and tucked her in, then checked his persistent phone.
There was a message from Erik which wasn’t a joy to hear. The leader of the Pyr was annoyed that they’d been seen in their dragon forms in the battle to save Lila, and Rhys guessed that Drake had heard from Erik, too. Erik also told him about Embron’s attack and that the sparking of the firestorm had distracted the dragon prince. And he’d sent Rhys a prophecy.
The gem of the hoard, lost and found;
The fate of Others to it bound.
A Fae treasure, laden with earth magick,
Seized and claimed by a dragon’s trick.
All strains of magick share this trait:
None will share, one must dominate.
Dragon flame and selkie tide,
Will diminish the threat if allied.
Their power can destroy just one stone—
Will their choice save their unborn son?
Rhys pursed his lips as he read it. He didn’t have an unborn son and didn’t welcome the news that he not only had to convince Lila of the merit of the firestorm and conception of that son, but that they were evidently responsible for destroying a stone, too.
The gem of the hoard was amber, which wasn’t a stone although people often called it one. What other stone was there? He certainly wasn’t glad to learn why Maeve and Embron were at odds, although it made sense. Only one of them could triumph over the other, which meant one would have all the magick. Rhys wasn’t sure who he’d prefer to see win.
Could magick itself be destroyed? He had no idea.
Rafferty had been going to see the witch, Eithne. He called the older Pyr and learned that they were together, and wanted to meet as Eithne had things to tell them. Rhys invited them to the restaurant for dinner, then called Drake to invite the other Pyr in town, too. The restaurant was closed on Sundays and Mondays, so they’d have it to themselves.
Since he didn’t know what to do about magick, dragon princes or Fae queens, Rhys pulled up his restaurant inventory and began to plan dinner.
When Lila straightened and opened her eyes, the sunlight was gone. It had to be late afternoon, which explained why she was hungry.
That and the effect of healing.
She was tucked beneath a blanket on Rhys’ couch. Hadrian was dozing before her and the bump on his head was gone. Rhys had apparently made a pot of coffee because Lila could smell it and he was sitting at the counter with his laptop. He noticed immediately that she was awake and brought her a hot mug of tea without saying anything. A spark leapt between their hands when he handed her the mug and Lila caught her breath at the stab of desire that shot through her body.
Rhys’ gaze was simmering, his eyes so dark and his body so taut that she wanted to drag him into the bedroom and have him all over again.
“Do you have foresight?” she asked, because the tea was perfectly steeped.
“Your breathing changed when you started to wake up,” he said with a shake of his head. He smiled, just a little. “Timing is what I do.”
Lila wasn’t going to argue with that. “It certainly is,” she acknowledged with a smile. Their gazes locked and they were captive in a golden moment until she shook her head and looked away. Lila took a big restorative sip of the tea, then wrapped her hands around the mug. She was exhausted but she knew the healing was good.
“You’ve been thinking,” she said, because she sensed that Rhys had decided something.
He nodded and sat down beside her. The strength of his thigh was pressed against her own and the firestorm glowed brightly along the line of contact. It warmed Lila to her toes and turned her thoughts in a predictable direction. Instead of moving away, she leaned against him, drawing strength from him after expending her own, and saw the corner of his mouth lift in a smile. He put his arm around her shoulders and drew her close against his heat. “Are you all right?” It was hard to resist the gentle concern in his tone.
“Healing just leaves me a little tired,” she said. “I’ll be fine in a minute. The tea is perfect.”
“You didn’t have to do it.”
“I wouldn’t have, for one of my own kind,” she admitted and felt his surprise. “He betrayed you. If anyone had betrayed me, I would have let them suffer. You’re nicer than I am.”
“Hadrian was tricked and betrayed himself.”
She shook her head. “You Pyr give each other a lot of latitude.”
“Anyone can make a mistake. Anyone can be deceived or misled. We trust each other and forgive those errors when we can. It makes us stronger together.”
Lila felt him looking at her.
“Don’t you selkies forgive?”
“Not that easily,” Lila admitted. “But we don’t work together much either. Will that philosophy hold true for Alasdair, too? And for Kade?”
“It depends, but they’re not automatically condemned. They get to explain.”
Lila looked into the depths of her tea, knowing that selkies weren’t so kind. “Not us,” she said lightly and took another sip. “I couldn’t do anything with his feet,” she admitted. “They have magick trapped in the wounds, just like yours.”
He nodded and was silent for a long moment, as if deciding whether it was wise to speak. She guessed that he wasn’t thinking about his feet.
“Go on,” she urged with a smile.
“Maybe that unwillingness to forgive is why selkies are cursed in love. If you don’t forgive or trust, then you’re always halfway out the door.”
Lila studied her tea, knowing that was true of her.
Rhys continued. “It’s like you’re not really giving any relationship a chance.”
“There’s nothing wrong with not wanting a relationship.”
“Except it’s lonely. I couldn’t bear to be without the Pyr. They’re the closest thing to family that I have.”
She was startled by his honesty but didn’t doubt his conviction.
“I’d feel like there was a hole in my life again, like I felt after Llewelyn died. Becoming friends with Kristofer wasn’t the same, but it filled the void.”
Lil was surprised that he chose a metaphor that was so resonant for her, but didn’t say as much.
“I can count on them.” Rhys met her gaze steadily. “And that’s because I trust them. I intend to remain friends with them, I trust them, and I have a commitment to our partnership. I expect it to work, and so do they, and it does. I think those things are all bound together.” He sipped his coffee. “Maybe relationships don’t work for the selkies because you’re always waiting for them to fail.”
“Maybe we just have different expectations.”
“Maybe you do. I can’t imagine a Pyr wanting to have sons with every woman who would have him.”
“Nereus is concerned with the survival of our kind,” she said, feeling obliged to defend him.
“And so am I.” He tapped her shoulder. “But you’re not, or you would have welcomed Nereus already.” He watched her, sure of his conclusions and of her. The sight of his confidence amused her. “I think you’re waiting for a better offer.”
“Like yours?”
“Maybe.” He chuckled and clinked their mugs together. The firestorm flared around them with a heat that seemed more invigorating and comforting than it had before. Lila knew she was drawing strength from him and told herself not to get used to it.
Too late. She knew she already was.
Maybe it was time to put a stop to this. Lila closed her eyes, savoring the warmth of the firestorm, feeling it turn her thoughts in a very predictable direction. She turned slightly and touched her lips to Rhys’ throat. She felt his pulse skip, then he pushed to his feet and walked away.
“What about the firestorm?” she asked, hearing the disappointment in her own voice.
“You haven’t decided to conceive yet.”
“We could satisfy the firestorm over and over again until I do,” Lila suggeste
d, keeping her tone playful. “I like sex. Lots of it might convince me.”
Rhys shook his head. “No, next time, if there is a next time, will be the last time.”
“You really are very principled, aren’t you?”
He laughed. “I guess so.” Then he sobered. “But I don’t blame you for being cautious.” He paced a bit, pausing to look down at the sleeping Hadrian. “I was sent a prophecy when you were asleep.”
“A prophecy?”
“They’re often revealed in conjunction with firestorms,” he said, as if this was the most natural thing in the world. He pulled it up on his phone and showed it to her.
The gem of the hoard, lost and found;
The fate of Others to it bound.
A Fae treasure, laden with earth magick,
Seized and claimed by a dragon’s trick.
All strains of magick share this trait:
None will share, one must dominate.
Dragon flame and selkie tide,
Will diminish the threat if allied.
Their power can destroy just one stone—
Will their choice save their unborn son?
More talk about teamwork and that unborn son. Lila might have thought this so-called prophecy was just another convenient argument for the firestorm, but she saw that Rhys believed it.
A battle over magick? She wasn’t sure she wanted to see that—let alone be responsible for stopping it.
She stole a glance at Rhys and knew, though, that he was going to take the challenge.
In fact, she’d guess that he already had.
“Obviously, we haven’t an unborn son,” Rhys said before Lila could make that protest. He raised a hand. “And we might not ever have one. But look at the rest. Do you know what the stones are? It sounds like there’s more than one.”
Lila shook her head, reading it again. “One must be the gem of the hoard. Maybe Embron and the Dark Queen were working together to get it, each planning to betray the other once they found it. Why would Alasdair ally with either of them?”
“Maybe he didn’t have a choice.”
Lila shook her head that he defended one of his own kind. “Maybe there was something in it for him.”
“I can’t see what. We’re all on the list because of our nature. I don’t see how anyone could be made an exception, no matter what he did.”
That made sense. “She resented him when they interrogated me. What if he’d taken the magick and given her only a little bit, maybe to find out what she knew? She looked old, and not having enough magick would also explain her removing the curse on me without demanding a toll.”
Rhys nodded. “Because she had no choice. That makes sense. I wonder what the other stone is and where it is.”
“And who has it.” Lila wondered how something like the gem of the hoard could be destroyed and realized she didn’t know enough about magick to be sure.
“How many selkies are left?” Rhys asked after a moment.
The very question was troubling. “Maybe a dozen. I don’t keep close track. Nyssa does. There’s Sybil and Serena and Salina. Nyssa has three daughters, too.”
“All female?”
“Mostly. When Nereus summoned me last, he was bragging that Twyla and Tawdra were both pregnant. He told me that it was my duty to join with him and breed more selkies.”
“That’s not love,” Rhys said, his eyes flashing. “Just like that Malcolm Ramsay who hid your skin to keep you as his wife. That’s not love either.” He pushed to his feet to pace. “It’s no wonder you don’t trust the firestorm. You’ve only known males who were unworthy of trust.”
Lila couldn’t argue that, but she wasn’t sure it was a good time to admit that she doubted there were any males worthy of trust. Would Rhys change once she agreed to bear his son and he had what he wanted from her?
“The funny thing is that I only met Malcolm because I was fleeing Nereus,” she admitted instead. “I would never have been on that beach otherwise.” Rhys said nothing but he was listening, and that was almost as seductive as the firestorm itself. She cleared her throat and returned to his original question. “There are fewer of us than there are Pyr, that’s for sure.”
There was urgency in Rhys’ tone when he spoke again and she felt additional heat in the glow of the firestorm. “We have to fix this, Lila, for the sake of both our kinds. That’s the only way it’ll be safe for us to bring our son into this world.”
“You just want the chance to argue the merit of permanent alliance,” she argued, trying to sound as if she was teasing him. “I’m not committing to anything like that.”
“No, just this one quest,” Rhys said. “I respect your doubts and wishes.”
“But you reserve the right to try to change my mind.”
He nodded rueful agreement and gave her a little smile. “Spending time with you makes me feel persuasive. I like you. A lot.” His gaze filled with warmth. “I see that we make a good team and I want more of that. I like the sound of this prophecy and of our partnership making the world a better place.” He shrugged. “Call me a romantic.”
Lila would have, but she refused to be seduced just yet. “If you’re beguiling me, I’ll make sure you regret it,” she said and Rhys laughed.
“No flames in my eyes,” he reminded her and pointed.
“Is that always the sign?”
“Always,” he said with conviction.
“You might be just telling me that to make me susceptible.”
He shook his head. “There’s the trust thing again.” Lila would have protested but he raised a hand. “I understand. I promise never to beguile you, or even try.”
Lila felt a glow of pleasure at his vow, but told herself it was a small commitment for him to make. “But if the gem of the hoard is in Fae, we can’t get it back.”
“Sure, we can. We just have to find that portal near your home then go and get it.”
Lila was as startled as Rhys was nonchalant. Hadrian was stirring and Rhys went to his friend, his concern obvious.
“If we find the portal near my home, I want to seal it, not cross it.”
“I think we should go through the portal first.” Rhys had that stubborn look she was starting to recognize. “It’s our duty.”
And deep in her heart, Lila agreed with him.
“She’ll demand something in exchange for our departure. Those are her rules.” Lila knew she’d already entered Fae once and owed the Dark Queen one gift in exchange. She couldn’t think of what she’d surrender, and this would mean giving up two things.
Rhys’ expression turned grim. “If we get the gem of the hoard, maybe we can make some rules of our own.” He drained his mug. “But first, we need to know everything we can about magick. I’ve invited the Pyr in town to come for dinner at the restaurant to share what they know. If we’re going to Scotland, I’ll need to close the restaurant for a few weeks, too.”
“We?” she asked but he’d offered his hand to her.
“We. I’m not letting you go through that portal alone. Until the firestorm is satisfied, and maybe after that, defending you is my primary responsibility.”
“Even above the Pyr?”
“Even that. They’d tell you the same thing.” He nodded, his decision made. “Let’s confer with the Pyr and make our plan. Fortunately, Hadrian won’t be the only one who’s hungry.”
Lila was unable to stop herself from liking the sense that she was part of a team. Maybe not being alone anymore was the most seductive element of what Rhys saw as the promise of the firestorm.
Maybe this Pyr could beguile her without flames in his eyes.
Rhys led Hadrian and Lila back down to his restaurant. Hadrian had been profuse in his thanks to Lila. He’d then set up the tables while Rhys turned on the stoves and grills. Rhys called several of his employees and explained the restaurant would be closed for a couple of weeks, and made arrangements for them to be paid during the closure.
Then he started to cook
.
Hadrian was sitting by himself near the fire, breathing smoke slowly and deeply. Lila hesitated, as if she’d meant to speak to him but realized he was occupied.
“He’s breathing dragonsmoke to create a protective barrier around the restaurant,” Rhys informed her softly, his fingertip on her elbow. “Leave him to it and come help me.”
As the other Pyr arrived, they said little, but joined Hadrian and added their dragonsmoke to his efforts. Within twenty minutes, there were four powerful Pyr, all sitting with their eyes closed and their hands resting on their knees, exhaling in unison.
Rhys meanwhile had gone through the fridges and made a plan. He set Lila to work dicing vegetables and herbs.
“It’s too much food,” she protested but he laughed.
“Wait and see about that.”
She flicked a glance at the Pyr. “Can you tell me who they are?”
“The one who appears older is Drake, leader of the Dragon Legion.”
Rhys watched Lila consider the somber Pyr with dark hair and dark eyes. He’d surveyed the restaurant on his arrival, as if looking for foes in the shadows, which was characteristic of Drake. He was the most observant of any of the Pyr, in Rhys’ view, and always ready for anything. Drake had an olive complexion and there was a bit of silver in his hair. He seemed disinclined to talk much and had just nodded at the other Pyr before joining them.
“The Dragon Legion,” Lila echoed. “Is that a fighting squad?”
“Yes. We fought together against the Slayers in the Dragon’s Tail Wars.” Rhys shrugged. “He’s also the ancestor of Theo Stephens, the Pyr who didn’t return from Fae.”
“Not his father?”
Rhys shook his head. “Drake’s the father of Eric, who is still young, and he also adopted his mate’s human son, Timmy.”
“How can he be an ancestor? How old are you guys?”
Dragon's Heart (The DragonFate Novels Book 3) Page 21