by Donna Grant
“I’m not.”
That got the queen’s attention. “You’re really over him?”
“Yes.”
“Maybe some good came from Balladyn taking you after all. It’s never a good idea for a Light to mix with the Dragon Kings. Return to Ireland soon, Rhi.”
Rhi waited several minutes after Usaeil vanished to make sure the queen hadn’t veiled herself. Then Rhi let her fury show. There were only a handful of Kings who would sleep with a Light, much less contemplate taking on the Queen of the Light.
Kellan was at the top of her list, but since he was mated to Denae, she mentally scratched off his name.
Next up … Con.
The King of Kings would take Usaeil as a lover. The bastard.
“Rhi?”
She was jerked out of her thoughts by the croak from the bed. Rhi jumped up and leaned over Henry who was looking at her through eyelids opened into slits. “How are you feeling?”
That made him frown. “I don’t hurt anymore, but I’m so bloody sleepy.”
“I know. I’m sorry. We had to.”
“We?” he asked as he tried to sit up.
Rhi helped him up. “Yeah, stud. You were surround by Light Fae who healed you.”
“And I slept through the whole damn thing? Just my luck,” he mumbled grumpily.
She sat on the edge of the bed and smiled. “Well, on the plus side, you’re no longer in that prison.”
His hazel eyes went wide as his memories returned. “I need to get to Dreagan. Now.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Lily was idly scrolling through quotes on her phone while Denae was trying on another pair of shoes. She came across one that struck her soul so profoundly that she never wanted to forget it.
Where there is no struggle, there is no strength.
“There’s one more stop I want to make when we’re done here, if you don’t mind,” she said.
“Not at all. Is it wrong that I want all of these shoes?” Denae asked with a grin.
Lily laughed as she shook her head. “Are you really asking me that? Look around me,” she said, indicating the obscene number of bags with all her purchases—clothes, underwear, shoes, and makeup.
“I was hoping you’d buy something, but damn,” Denae said, her Texas accent thickening on the last word. “You really surprised me.”
Lily had surprised herself. “I needed to do it. It’s been a long time coming.”
“Because of your past?” Denae asked as she stood and looked in the full-length mirror to test the Jimmy Choo shoes.
Lily didn’t respond. She simply looked at Denae.
Denae’s face crumpled as she threw up her hands. “I’m sorry. It’s a habit from my days at … from a past job. I don’t know anything, I swear. It’s just things I’ve picked up from your words and actions.”
“No, I’m the one who should be sorry. I’m too defensive about something I want desperately to forget.” Lily squeezed her eyes shut and wished she could make Dennis disappear so easily. When she opened her eyes, Denae’s gaze was locked on her.
Denae walked to Lily and sat in a chair beside her. “We’re your friends, Lily. You can talk to us.”
“Like you feel comfortable telling me about what you did before?” Lily asked with a small smile. “You kept that from me for a reason, just as I’m keeping my past from everyone.”
Denae sighed and glanced away. “I keep it from you not because I want to, but because it protects Dreagan.”
“And I’m protecting myself and my family.”
“Fair enough, but if there ever comes a time you want to talk, please know you can come to me. I won’t let you down.”
Staring into Denae’s eyes, Lily knew she wouldn’t. Though she didn’t know Denae well, there was an honesty about her, a toughness that Lily wished she had. “You don’t happen to know any karate or anything, do you?” Lily asked, thinking how she’d love to be able to defend herself against Dennis.
Denae’s gaze intensified, watching Lily as if she were sizing her up. “I know several forms of martial arts. What do you want to know how to do?”
“Anything. Everything. I’ve always wanted to learn.” It wasn’t a lie. Lily had always wanted to be one of those independent women who could seriously kick some ass when needed. “I’m a woman living alone. I’d feel better if I could defend myself.”
Now that was a partial lie. Today was the first step in preparing for the time when she would kill Dennis. She needed to find the old Lily, and then she needed to learn enough moves to surprise him.
Dennis would never see it coming. He thought of her as helpless, weak. Vulnerable.
Those were three traits she had allowed to manifest within herself, and she was cutting them out—painfully, completely.
“I’d be happy to teach you,” Denae said as she stood and walked back to the mirror to look at the shoes on her feet again. “How about after dinner tonight?”
Lily looked at her watch and cringed. Dennis would be waiting for her at her flat.
“Do you need to return home?” Denae asked.
Lily shook her head. She had to remember she wasn’t going to be scared of Dennis anymore. He wanted something from her. She knew him well enough to know he wouldn’t harm her family—yet. This was her one chance to find a way to get them free. She had to use it wisely. Because once she returned to her flat, she would have no choice but to help him. “I’m free as a bird.”
“Good, because I’ve got a surprise for you.”
They shared a smile. Lily did feel free, and it was exhilarating. Why hadn’t she done this sooner? Why had she held onto the person Dennis turned her into?
Because I was fearful.
The truth slammed into her. She was scared, but Dennis had control over her only as long as she allowed him to. And she had accepted and tolerated all manner of things from him, even after she left.
Lily was so deep in her thoughts that when she looked around again, Denae was at the counter purchasing three pairs of shoes. Lily rose, adjusted her purse on her shoulder, and gathered all her bags in both hands. She was walking toward Denae when the two men in black suits stopped beside Denae. One of the men gathered Denae’s purchases while the second approached Lily.
Lily handed her bags to the man. His blond hair was trimmed close to his head along the sides, and the top of his hair wasn’t much longer. His blue eyes looked at everyone with suspicion. He gave Lily a small smile as he greeted her with a “ma’am” and took the bags.
Denae walked to her, laughing. “I called our driver as I was paying.”
“Those men aren’t just drivers.”
Denae turned and began to walk out of the store. “Nope. They sure aren’t. Dreagan has enemies, Lily, and Kellan wanted to make sure we were safe.”
“I’m surprised he let you come without him.”
“Oh, he didn’t,” Denae said with a chuckle. “He’s near.”
Lily wasn’t surprised by her admission. Kellan was the protective sort. Despite the fact Denae said she could defend herself. To have that kind of relationship. Rhys’s face flashed in Lily’s mind, her soul aching to kiss him again, to touch him and hold him.
“Lady Lily?” said a high-pitched female voice behind them.
Lily froze, her heart thumping wildly in her chest. Her breath came faster, the world spinning. It had been so terribly long since anyone had called her that.
“Oh, my God. It is you,” the woman said as she walked around Lily and stood in front of her. “It’s me, Elizabeth Dabney, though I’m Attwater now.”
That meant she had married James Attwater, Earl Attington, one of the men who once courted Lily. It seemed like a lifetime ago.
Lily plastered a smile on her face. “Hello, Elizabeth. I always knew you would make a lovely countess.”
“He was supposed to have been yours,” Elizabeth said, though there was no heat in her words. “Where have you been, Lily? We’ve not seen you in years.”
“Hi,” Denae said and stuck out her hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“An American,” Elizabeth said with a brow raised.
Denae glanced at Lily. “I’m from Texas, yes.”
“Are you visiting?”
“I live here. Have for some time actually.”
Elizabeth was intrigued now. “Really? What do you do?”
Denae’s smile was slow. “I’m married to one of the owners of Dreagan Industries.”
“Oh,” Elizabeth exclaimed, her eyes looking at Denae with new interest. “How exciting. My husband loves Dreagan whisky. We must have you and your husband to dinner if you’re ever in London.”
“Of course.”
Lily watched the exchange with curiosity. Denae could handle herself with the peerage, especially someone like Elizabeth who liked to flaunt the fact she was a countess. Then again, Denae seemed comfortable in any scenario.
“Please forgive us,” Denae said. “Lily and I really must go. We have another appointment.”
Elizabeth stepped aside. “It was good to see you, Lily.”
Lily waved, throwing a good-bye over her shoulder as she followed Denae out the door and to the car awaiting them. Once they were inside, Lily drew in a deep breath and said, “I can explain.”
“No need,” Denae interrupted her. “Your past is your past. You’ll share when you want to.”
Lily looked away, tears gathering in her eyes. She had fully expected Denae to grill her on Elizabeth calling her Lady Lily, and yet Denae didn’t say a word. “I didn’t run away from my family,” she suddenly said, needing to fill the silence.
“When is the last time you saw them?”
Lily looked straight ahead. “Four years ago.”
There was a stretch of silence before Denae said, “I know there’s somewhere else you want to go. Before that, I wanted to tell you my surprise.”
“Which is?” Lily asked as she looked at her.
“We have rooms at Radisson Blu Hotel. We’ve had a long day, and I’m exhausted. That is, if you want to stay. If not, we can return to Dreagan right now.”
Lily shook her head, grinning again. “I think it’s a fabulous idea.”
They talked of nothing and everything during the ride to the hotel. It wasn’t until Denae was out and all the bags had been unloaded that Lily remained standing in the open door of the car.
“Is everything all right?” Denae asked.
“That one other place I wanted to go? Do you mind if I do it alone?”
Denae gave her a comforting smile. “Tell the driver where you want to go. He’ll take you anywhere and bring you back.”
Lily waited until Denae was inside the hotel before she got back in the car. She pulled out her phone and touched the screen so the quote was visible. “Take me to the best tattoo place you know, please.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Rhys pushed his shadows again and again at Ulrik, but no matter how much Ulrik was injured, he didn’t answer a single question Rhys threw at him.
Rhys stood amid the shadows watching them tear at Ulrik. The King of Silvers fought them, and if Ulrik had all his magic, he could easily best them. What Rhys was learning was that Ulrik somehow was able to have a portion of his magic, but not nearly as much as Rhys originally feared.
Suddenly, Ulrik shot Rhys a cold smile. “Did you really think you could have Warrick sneak in without me knowing?”
There was no way Ulrik should’ve known Warrick was there. Rhys had kept Ulrik detained, and yet Ulrik knew not just that there was someone else there, but who it was. “How do you know it’s Warrick?”
Ulrik threw out his hands, and Rhys’s shadows were shoved away. Rhys pulled them back, waiting to see what Ulrik would do next.
Ulrik ran his hand through his hair, smoothing it down as he glared at Rhys. “Warrick, why don’t you come join us?”
A moment later Warrick came around the front to stand near Rhys. “Ulrik. It’s been a long time.”
Ulrik looked at him as if he was absurd. Then he looked back at Rhys, and dropped all pretense of his British accent. “You’d think Con would learn that he willna see inside this store. No’ through cameras he put in himself, or through any Kings he sends.”
“How did you know it was Con who installed the cameras?” Warrick asked.
Ulrik cut his eyes to Warrick. “I’m smart like that.”
“You’re going to tell me why you took my ability to shift,” Rhys stated.
Ulrik straightened his shirt. “And I need to know why the Kings feel the need to continue coming to my store.”
“We come because you’ve aligned with the Dark,” Warrick said.
Rhys glanced at Warrick and nodded. “We come because you want to expose us. You want us to stop paying you these visits? Then quit what you’re doing.”
“Doing?” Ulrik said with a laugh. “I warned Con that judgment day was coming. He must pay for what he did.”
Warrick snorted in derision. “We all did it, Ulrik. You should be coming for all of us.”
“Oh, all of you will pay for taking my magic, but I’m going after Con for something else.”
Rhys felt as if the ground had been yanked from beneath him. “What are you talking about?”
“Con knows. Ask him.”
“You know he willna tell us,” Warrick said.
Ulrik turned and walked around his desk. “That’s my problem how? You’re the ones who allow him to keep such secrets. Perhaps you should think about who is ruling the Kings.”
“We rule ourselves,” Rhys said.
Ulrik looked up, a smirk pulling at his lips. “I remember the moment Constantine decided he wanted to be King of Kings. He was ruthless in his endeavor to get that position. Would he no’ be just as ruthless in keeping it?”
Every ounce of anger left Rhys. He was frustrated, exhausted, and weary. He wanted to see Lily, to have her near and soothe his anger. The idea of remaining in human form for eternity was appalling. “What do I need to do for you to reverse the curse on me?”
Ulrik looked him up and down. “Get out.”
Rhys briefly thought of remaining and calling to his shadows again, but all it would do was bring their battle to the attention of the humans. This fight needed to remain private. As much as Rhys wanted to know why Ulrik had targeted him, it wouldn’t change his circumstances.
He glared at Ulrik. “This isna over.”
* * *
Henry sat on the edge of the bed still a little amazed he wasn’t in any more pain. He blinked at Rhi. “Did you hear me? I have to get to Dreagan. I need to talk to Banan.”
“First, I need to know what you remember about your capture and imprisonment.”
Henry’s lips turned up. “You mean Ulrik? He gave me a choice to join him or die.”
“You chose death.”
“Of course,” he said with a frown. “I’d never sell my soul to someone like him.”
Rhi’s wealth of black hair moved as she nodded. “No, you wouldn’t. Why not? Most humans would do anything to remain living.”
Henry paused as he considered her words. “Do you have such a bad view of us mortals?”
She shrugged one delicate shoulder. “I’ve been around a long time and seen many things. You’re different than other humans.”
“In my line of work, every day could be my last. I stopped worrying about dying and concentrated on helping my country. That’s the only way I could be a spy. I’m now focusing my energy on helping Earth, not just my country.”
“So you expect to die?”
Henry chuckled and glanced down at himself to see he was naked, with only the edge of the sheets covering him. “Yes, and I suspect it’ll be violent and painf
ul. Now, where are my clothes?”
Rhi snapped her fingers and a pair of dark jeans and a black sweater appeared on the bed, along with socks and a pair of black boots.
Henry raised his brows as he looked at her. “Really? With just a snap of your fingers?”
“Yes,” she replied with a vibrant smile that made his breath hitch. “Oh, one more thing,” she said with another snap of her fingers.
A pair of black boxers with a silver skull and crossbones across the front appeared.
He looked at the clothes. “This is what you see me wearing?”
“Would you rather another gray suit?”
Actually, he wouldn’t. “Thanks, Rhi.”
“My pleasure,” she said and turned her back to him as she walked to the windows and looked out over Edinburgh.
She was waiting for him to continue with his answer. Henry dressed, shaking his head at how well everything fit, and then sat to put on the socks and boots. “I was in a lot of pain at Ulrik’s. I tried to find a way out, but there were no windows, just that one door.”
“You remember me coming to you?”
“Yes.” Henry stood and then pulled on the sweater. He ran his hands through his hair. “I thought I was dreaming you. What were you doing there?”
“I … don’t know.”
“Did you go to visit Ulrik? Is that why you knew where I was?”
Her shoulders sagged. “No, I wasn’t visiting Ulrik. If you must know, I check in on you from time to time. When I couldn’t find you, I called in a favor from a friend.”
“A friend? Who the hell would know where I was? If Banan couldn’t find me, how did you?”
Rhi turned and leaned back against the window. “His name is Broc. He’s a Warrior and able to locate anyone, anywhere.”
Henry nodded, remembering how Banan had explained about the immortal Highlanders who had primeval gods inside them and their Druid wives. “Ah. How did you get me out?”
“You don’t remember?”
“No,” he said and frowned. “One minute I was there, and the next I was … I don’t know where. The place was bright. It hurt my eyes.”
Rhi didn’t hide her relief quickly enough from Henry. She had something to do with his escape, but whatever it was, she didn’t want him to know the particulars.