by Donna Grant
“How do you know of her scars?”
“I saw them.”
Interesting. Ulrik walked around the parts of Dennis he could find. “Is that why Rhys tore him apart?” When Rhi didn’t answer, Ulrik looked at her. Understanding dawned. “Ah. Rhys didna do this.”
“Con did.”
Now that surprised Ulrik. “Constantine? The King of Kings? The one who doesna want any of the Kings to find mates?”
“Yes,” Rhi answered and looked away.
Ulrik stopped next to the second man. He was young. In his early twenties if Ulrik had to guess. Though he wasn’t dismembered, there were claw marks all over his body, as well as evidence that Rhys’s shadows had had a go at him.
“Who is this?” Ulrik asked.
“Kyle Ross. He was Lily’s brother.”
He looked up at Rhi who stood stoically off to the side. “You’re shocked at this?”
“What kind of monster kills their own family?”
Ulrik pointed to Kyle. “This kind. And you wonder why I abhor humans.”
“You make use of them,” she retorted cheekily.
He shrugged and turned back to Kyle. “That I do.”
“As well as the Fae.”
Now that surprised Ulrik enough that he wrenched his head around to her.
“Don’t act surprised,” she said with a sassy smile. “I know all about your dalliances, stud.”
Ulrik reached behind him and covertly touched Kyle’s shoulder. “Do you follow me, Rhi? Is it my bed you want to share?”
“No. I’ve had my fill of Dragon Kings.”
“Then why are you here?”
She lifted her chin and turned away. “Because I consider a few of them friends.”
Ulrik glanced to see Kyle’s fingers contract. The human would live, but he wasn’t going to be around when Kyle woke. Ulrik stood and walked to stand beside Rhi.
“I can help Rhys’s mate.”
It was Rhi’s turn to be shocked. “You did all of this! Why do you want to help?”
“I never wanted her to die. I know how it feels to have a mate killed,” he said and looked into her eyes. “And you owe me.”
Rhi’s lips parted as if she were about to argue, then she thought better of it. “I don’t know why you’ve targeted Rhys. He didn’t deserve the curse. That alone about did him in. Then you let his mate be killed.”
“I didna.”
The Light Fae’s silver eyes that reminded Ulrik so much of his dragons swung away from him. “Why? Why do you want to bring her back?”
“Because no one else can.”
Rhi shook her head, tucking the long strands of black hair behind her ears as the wind picked up. “I’m crazy for even thinking about doing this. If Con catches us, we’re both dead.”
“Con willna catch us.”
She rolled her eyes and looked at him. “I’m not doing this because I owe you for taking me out of Balladyn’s fortress. I’m doing this for Rhys.”
“Whatever makes you sleep at night, darlin’.”
She huffed and faced him. “She’s in the mountain.”
Ulrik smiled. “I’ll meet you there.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Lily stood still as her mind tried to wrap around why she was suddenly standing in a forest. Except it wasn’t like any forest she had ever seen. Everything was gloomy and dark. The trees, the leaves, the sky. All varying shades of gray. As if not a single stitch of color existed.
She glanced down at her stomach to her wound, but there was nothing there. Not even a spot of blood. Lily listened for birds or even the rustle of leaves from the wind, but it was still as death.
Death.
Her knees went weak and she grew dizzy as she realized she was dead. It seemed … impossible. Yet she recalled everything. Rhys getting shot—in the head—by Kyle, Dennis holding her so she couldn’t go to Rhys, their tearing the cottage apart looking for a weapon, Kyle holding a gun to her as she saw Rhys sitting up, and then her brother shooting her.
The pain of the bullet tearing through her was excruciating. All she’d thought about was Rhys and how she would have to leave him. As she struggled to draw in breath, a beautiful dragon with yellow scales appeared.
The dragon—Rhys—looked at her with the most vivid orange eyes. He had a series of tendrils extended from the back of his head, and his long tail had a bladelike extension on the end. His wings, leathery and huge, were folded against his sides.
Rhys was enormous, bigger than she ever thought possible. He was fierce looking, primal and savage. Terrifying even.
Until he looked at her.
The last thing Lily saw was Rhys’s orange dragon eyes filled with remorse.
Then she ended up … here.
Lily shivered. Where exactly was she? Heaven? Hell? In between?
In the distance she heard someone’s terror-filled scream, the sound echoing around the bleak woods. She wrapped her arms around herself and turned in a circle.
She blew out a shaky breath. Then she chose a direction and started walking. Since she heard a scream, she knew she wasn’t alone. But … she wasn’t alone. Something was out there hurting others. Animal or person, it appeared there was a chance she wouldn’t come away from this unscathed either.
“Wasn’t it enough that I got shot?” she asked herself. “By my brother?”
She still couldn’t get her mind around the fact that Kyle had fallen in with Dennis so easily. Hadn’t her parents seen what was going on?
“It’s not like I can ask them now. Being dead and all,” she said sarcastically.
So much for a happy life with a husband and children with Rhys. She snorted. For all she knew, Rhys would never marry, and it wasn’t like any of the women at Dreagan had children or were even pregnant.
How did it work between a mortal and a Dragon King anyway? Did the Kings simply watch their mates grow old and die before moving on to someone else? If they had been around since the beginning of time, then they had to have had several mates. Which meant Lily was just one of many.
She had known that when she’d thought Rhys was mortal, but his being immortal changed things drastically. It wasn’t just years, it was centuries, millennia of him dating woman after woman. How could she even compare to that?
But she had wanted to try. More than anything else, she wanted Rhys.
“Do you know where you are?”
She whirled around at the male voice behind her. Lily looked at the handsome man with his long black hair and gold eyes. “No.”
“Do you want to know?”
“Yes, but first: where did you come from?”
He leaned back against a tree and hooked a thumb in the front pocket of his jeans. “That doesna matter. You’re in between worlds. Your soul is waiting to go either up,” he said with a finger pointing to the sky. Then his finger turned to the ground. “Or down.”
“How long will I be here?”
The man shrugged, the black T-shirt pulling at his shoulders. “It depends. Sometimes people never leave.”
“Who are you?” she asked, taking a step back.
His smile was kind, but held a hint of cruelty. “Right now, I’m the only friend you have.”
“Why do you want to help me?”
“For several reasons, none of which matter.” He pushed away from the tree. “I can take you out of here. I can bring you back to life.”
She frowned, unsure of what to believe or if she should trust him. Yet the idea of returning held appeal. “Back? Is that what you do? Pick and choose who you want to give a second chance to?”
“Nay.” He chuckled softly and glanced at the ground. “In truth, I’ve no’ done this in a verra, verra long time.”
Did he have a Scottish accent because she loved Rhys’s so much? Is that what her mind was doing? Crafting someone that sounded like him if he couldn’t look like Rhys? “Why now then?”
“As I said. I have my reasons.”
She droppe
d her arms. “I need a reason to trust you.”
“Trust? Lass, you have two choices. Stay here or leave with me.”
“It could be a trick to take me to Hell.”
This made him laugh. “Have you heard the screams yet?”
Lily nodded.
“Those are the poor souls that are being taken to Hell.”
“So nothing can hurt me here?”
“I didna say that,” he said with brows raised. “Dennis and Kyle are roaming around somewhere, and I doona think you want them to find you.”
Lily recalled the knife in her sleeve. She checked, but it was gone. Then she remembered plunging it into her brother’s leg.
“Do you have the strength to kill someone with your bare hands?” the man asked.
She scoffed at him. “I’m already dead. What can happen here?”
“A lot actually. Your body is gone, but you have your soul. Souls can be killed. It ensures the soul never returns reborn. I know this, because I’ve killed a soul.”
Lily looked into his golden eyes and shuddered. “Will I ever be safe?”
“You’re mortal. Since the moment you drew your first breath, you’ve been dying.”
“And you haven’t?”
He lifted a shoulder and gave her a half-smile. “I never said I was mortal.”
“Are you some kind of angel?”
His smile grew as he shook his head at her. “Now I understand what drew Rhys to you.”
“You know Rhys?” She was surprised by the news, but elated that someone knew Rhys.
“Once. Long ago. He loves you, you know?”
Lily sat on a thick root protruding from the ground at the base of an oak tree. “How do you know that?”
“Take my word for it. Do you return his love?”
She clasped her hands together and recalled how he’d lovingly touched her scars, how he’d brought her exquisite pleasure, and how he’d held her so tenderly. For weeks she had watched him, dreaming of being his.
Then it finally happened.
Lily knew how gorgeous Rhys looked with his hair rumpled from sleep and his dark blue eyes watching her drowsily.
She knew the feel of his calloused hands over her body, the touch of his warm lips.
She felt the strength of his body as he thrust inside her, the sway of his masculinity.
She’d glimpsed his pain and heartache, experienced his tenderness and passion, and witnessed his power and command.
“I see that you do,” the man said in a soft voice.
Lily swallowed and bent forward to rest her forehead on her knees. “I didn’t believe him at first when he told me he was a dragon.”
“What changed your mind?”
“His eyes. His voice.” Lily lifted her head. “He believed what he was saying. The conviction I saw and heard made me stop and consider the possibility.”
“Without seeing a dragon yourself?” the man asked with a snort.
Lily straightened. “Rhys told me he would show me a dragon.”
“You still believed him without seeing one?”
“I had some doubts, but I’d been around Dreagan for a while. I knew the people. I knew them to be kind and decent. So, I did what he asked. I trusted him.”
The man moved to sit beside her. “You saw the dragons.”
She nodded woodenly. “I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t … that. They’re colossal.”
“You believed him without seeing anything, but now that you’ve seen, you’re scared?”
“Wouldn’t you be?” she asked as she looked at him.
He considered her words as he took in a deep breath. “Any beings with power are going to be fierce. They’re also going to have many enemies.”
“So even if you brought me back, I could die again?”
He simply returned her look, refusing to answer.
“I see.”
“As I’ve said, you have two choices. I need your decision. Now.”
She frowned at him. “Why the rush?”
The man motioned to the left with his head. Lily turned her gaze to see Dennis and Kyle step around a tree into her line of sight.
Her brother’s malicious smile when he spotted her made her blood run cold. Kyle only got two steps toward her before he simply vanished.
Lily swung her head back to the man. “Where did he go?”
“Your decision,” he pressed.
She glanced back to see Dennis still walking toward her with murder in his eyes. “I don’t want to stay.”
“Then take my hand,” the man urged.
Lily looked down to see his large hand held out to her. She put her palm in his and everything vanished to darkness.
* * *
“Hurry,” Rhi pressed Ulrik.
She couldn’t believe she had actually told him where Lily was. If any of the Dragon Kings discovered what she’d done, she would never be welcome again. But it was worth the cost. Rhys and Lily were meant to be together. She was his mate, and he her match in every way.
Death might have attempted to sever the link between them, but Rhi was going to give them a second chance. One she’d never had.
Or ever would.
She tried not to look around the mountain with the dragons—large and small—etched into the walls of rock. It was a reminder of the first time she and her lover were together. Even now, thousands of years later, her stomach fluttered at the memory of his kisses, of his skill to make her writhe and beg for more.
Rhi’s body tingled just thinking of his expert hands and mouth. But then he’d turned his back on her and their love. He let her go.
She blinked and focused her attention back on Ulrik who stood beside Lily’s body. “Today might be good,” she murmured.
Ulrik lifted his head to look at her over Lily’s body. “Have you ever brought someone back from the dead?”
“No,” she replied icily.
“Then doona question what I’m doing.”
Rhi walked beside the slab of rock where Lily lay. “You’re taking forever. Rhys will be back soon.”
“It’s done.”
She looked Lily over. “She’s not waking.”
“It’s no’ instantaneous, Rhi. Give it some time,” he said and turned on his heel.
Rhi hurried to follow Ulrik. “Where are you going?”
“Worried I might do something crazy like kill Con?”
“I know it’s coming, but you wouldn’t do it now.”
He glanced at her. “That’s right. It’ll happen on my terms.”
She halted and watched him disappear around a corner. There was no need for her to stay. Rhys would have Lily once more. Rhi let her gaze wander the walls and the dragons on the walls. Every time she left Dreagan, a part of her heart remained.
“Rhi?” Henry called as he came around the corner.
She needed something to stop her heart from shattering. She strode to the human and cupped his face a second before she planted her lips on his and kissed him. His arms wound around her, holding her against him as he deepened the kiss.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Rhys wanted to take Lily to his mountain where he could be with her always. Then he remembered her parents and sisters. They would want the body to bury as humans did.
He left Lily only long enough to put on clothes appropriate to face her parents. Rhys would hand over their daughter, but he wasn’t going to destroy them by telling them it was Kyle who had killed her. Con disagreed, but Rhys didn’t care. He knew how much Lily’s family meant to her.
Rhys adjusted his suit jacket and turned the corner of the tunnels in the mountain, only to come to a halt when he saw Rhi and Henry kissing, their hands roaming over each other’s body. Any minute now, their clothes would be coming off.
Rhi was a valued friend, but she was a Fae. Henry, on the other hand, was a mortal who would never be able to break the hold of a Fae once he had a taste of her. He wasn’t the only one who’d warned Henry
away from Rhi, but there were few mortals who could refuse a Fae. The only ones Rhys knew were the women who were first with a Dragon King.
Rhys was sure that was why Denae and Sammi had been able to rebuff the Dark. Both of the women went on to become mates to a Dragon King. As positive as he was that the love that bound a mortal and a King was the answer, he wasn’t ready to test it.
Rhys had to clear his throat twice before Henry looked up from the kiss. As soon as he saw Rhys, he smiled. It was Rhi who hesitated before she faced Rhys. She met his gaze, waiting to see what he would say. Both were adults, and Henry had been warned. Perhaps they were meant to be together. Maybe Rhi could finally find some happiness and let go of the love her King withheld.
“This isn’t the place for such things,” Rhi said as she glanced at the doorway leading to where Lily was held.
Rhys sighed as a fresh wave of pain enveloped him. How was he ever going to face another day without Lily? He no longer cared about Ulrik or the war that was coming. Nothing mattered anymore. Lily had taken the light from his life when she left.
He turned away from the doorway and braced a hand on the wall of the tunnel. The warmth was gone from Lily’s body. She was growing cold.
Rhi walked to him and put an arm around him. “The hurt won’t ever go away. It might lessen, but it’ll always be there.”
“I was meant to protect her,” he ground out, feeling more powerless than he had since Ulrik’s curse.
“You couldn’t know her brother would shoot her,” Henry said.
Rhys slammed a fist into the wall, the force causing a carved bit of a dragon’s wing to break off. “Ulrik won. Or at least he thinks he has. His men got onto Dreagan, they shot me, and they killed my mate.”
“But they didn’t get the weapon,” Henry reminded him.
Rhi leaned back against the wall to look at Rhys. “In case you’ve forgotten, handsome, you broke the spell Ulrik used. You shifted without dying.”
“How does that even matter now?” Rhys asked as he met her gaze.
Henry stepped toward them. “It means you can kill the asshole.”
Rhys pushed away from the wall. “That I already planned to do.”
“Con will stop you,” Rhi said.
“He can try.”
Rhys was tired of talking about all of it. He needed to take Lily’s body to her family and explain as best he could. Then he was going to track down Ulrik. He spun away from Rhi and Henry and strode into the small chamber, only to draw up short. Lily’s body was gone. He stared in shocked confusion as the last shred of his control snapped.