by Donna Grant
“Where is she?” Rhys bellowed. He pivoted and found Rhi blocking his way. “Who was here? Who took Lily?”
“Took her?” Rhi asked, her brow furrowed. She leaned to the side and looked around Rhys. “How is she gone?”
He gently pushed Rhi out of the way and walked out. Whoever took her couldn’t have gone far. Since Rhi was there, he knew she hadn’t taken Lily. But whoever did was going to be beaten to a pulp.
Rhys was so distraught, he almost missed the movement in the shadows of the tip of a black boot. He slowed and then stopped. He knew those boots. Slowly he turned and faced the shadow. “Lily?”
With his heart pounding in his chest, Rhys anxiously waited for a response. He stumbled backward when she stepped out of the shadows.
“How?” he asked hoarsely.
If it was a trick, it was the cruelest form. His vision blurred as tears gathered along with hope that she might truly have returned to him. Could she have some Fae blood that brought her back?
“I’m going to get Lily some clean clothes,” Rhi said and vanished.
Lily’s eyes widened.
Henry chuckled as he walked to Lily. “I’m fairly certain that was my reaction the first time I saw Rhi as well. She’s a Fae, a Light Fae, that is. I’m Henry North, just a common mortal.”
Rhys had never been so jealous of Henry as he was when Lily shook his hand. She had yet to come to Rhys, and he couldn’t fathom why she’d left the chamber instead of calling his name. He was right outside. She had to have heard his conversation, she had to know how broken he was.
Henry glanced at Rhys and lightly placed an arm on Lily’s back to return her to the chamber. “I didn’t get the chance to meet you earlier, Lady Lily, but it’s a pleasure.”
Rhys watched them, unable to move. He was ecstatic that Lily was alive, but concerned with how she was. And he was hurt because it appeared as if she were running from him. Him. Of all people.
Did she blame him for her death? Was she angry that he had failed her? She couldn’t possibly hold more contempt for him than he did himself. He’d promised her she would be safe, and yet she died.
Ever since Ireland, his life had been unraveling. Lily was the only thing that kept him together. He’d taken it for granted that he could win her. His plan to stop Ulrik had failed spectacularly, and it was the one person he cared for above all others that got hurt.
The one who wasn’t even supposed to have been there.
“I should’ve thought of it,” he said.
Rhys should’ve taken the time to think through every possible scenario. He thought he knew Dennis and Ulrik. He assumed their methods would be repeated from the past, but he had been wrong.
So very wrong.
Con often called him reckless and rash. He’d proven that day that he was both of those things, even with his mate.
He looked up when Rhi appeared in front of him. Her face was lined with regret. “She’s done changing if you want to talk to her.”
Rhys lifted his gaze to the doorway. He went to Lily as Rhi and Henry walked away. Rhys stopped at the door. Lily was leaning against the slab she’d previously lain dead on. She looked at her hands, which held a string in her fingers that she twirled.
“I’ve never been so happy as I am to see you alive.”
Lily lifted her head, and for the first time he noticed the bruise completely gone from her cheek. Would the wound from the bullet be as well?
“Me too.”
He tried to catch her gaze, but her eyes went anywhere but him. It was like a dagger to his heart that she wouldn’t look at him. “I was about to take your body to your family.”
“I’d like to see them.”
“Of course.”
“Can we leave now?”
Rhys nodded, unable to find any words his throat was so swollen with emotions. The fact she was so anxious to leave wasn’t a good sign. “Lily, please,” he begged when she turned her head away. “I thought I’d lost you forever. Talk to me, please. How are you here?”
She blew out a breath. “I was dead. I was shot by my brother and died.”
It was like being stabbed with each word she spoke. But Rhys would gladly listen to anything she had to say because she was talking to him.
“I ended up in a place I can only describe as purgatory. That’s when he came to me.”
That got Rhys’s attention. “He?”
“Yes.” Lily looked back down at her hands. “He offered to bring me back.”
“In exchange for what?”
She shrugged. “He never asked for anything.”
“Who was this man?”
“I don’t know, and it doesn’t matter. He gave me a second chance at life.”
Rhys shrugged out of his suit jacket and tossed it aside. He’d worn it for Lily and her family, but it felt too restrictive now. “For that, I’ll be eternally grateful to him, but I’ve learned with such gifts there are consequences.”
Finally she lifted her gaze to his. He stared into her bottomless black eyes. “Kyle and Dennis were coming for me. I saw them. The man told me how a soul could be killed and never return in another life.”
“In all of my endless years of life, I’ve never been as happy as I am to be talking with you.”
She didn’t return his smile.
Rhys rubbed his jaw and felt all of his hope and happiness slipping through his fingers like the sands of time. “You must know I never expected Dennis to keep you with him. We brought Kyle here so we could break whatever hold Dennis had over him.”
Lily held up her hand to stop him. “You couldn’t think of everything, Rhys. I don’t blame you for what happened with Kyle. That lies with me. Had I spoken with my parents, I might have guessed he’d changed.”
“You were supposed to be safe on Dreagan.”
“Is anyone really safe here?” she asked softly. “You have many enemies. This won’t be the last time something happens when it involves the Dragon Kings.”
Rhys dropped his chin to his chest. “It’s too much for you, is it no’?”
“I died!”
It was her first real show of emotion, and it made him cringe. He lifted his gaze to her and winced when he saw the despair on her face.
“I was dead,” she repeated in a hard tone. “All I wanted was to finally be happy. I thought I’d found that with you, but you’re immortal, for the love of God. You’re a Dragon King. And I’m just a mortal.”
He’d had all he could take. Rhys took the three steps separating them and grasped her arms. It felt so good to feel her warmth again that it nearly brought him to his knees.
“You knew what kind of man I was from the beginning,” he told her. “You saw everything bad about me. Then you showed me a part of yourself you kept secret. You let me in when I didna want it.”
Rhys swallowed and licked his lips. “You scare me. You always have. From the moment you arrived at Dreagan all I’ve done is think of you. You fill my thoughts constantly. It was you I turned to in my darkest hours after Ireland. It was the verra thought of you that pulled me through it all.”
Her eyes filled with tears, but he wasn’t going to stop.
“I knew in Edinburgh that I was wholly under your spell. It wasna when we made love, but before when you smiled at me. I quit pretending you didna affect me. And I admitted then what I knew to be truth—you’re meant to be mine.”
“Stop. Please,” she said, freely crying now. “I can’t be what you need.”
Rhys cupped her face. “Ah, sweetheart. You’re what I need just standing there. I love you. I’ve never spoken those words to another woman before, and I’ll never speak them to anyone else. I love you, Lily Ross. Whether you remain with me or leave, I will always love you.”
She ducked her head, her shoulders shaking.
“I’ll never give up on you. Never,” he whispered as he kissed the top of her head. He tilted her face up to his. “One day I’ll convince you that we’re meant to be together.
One day I’ll make you fall in love with me.”
She shook her head.
He held her gaze, sinking into the dark depths. “Aye. I’ll prove I can be a good man. I’ll prove that you can depend on me and that I’ll keep you safe. I doona care how many years it takes. I’ll show you my love, and then perhaps you’ll love me.”
She sniffed. “It’s too late.”
Rhys parted his lips, but he no longer knew what to say. She couldn’t be lost to him.
“I already love you.”
For the second time that day, his heart stopped. Rhys searched her eyes and sighed when he saw the truth in them. “Doona leave me, Lily.”
“I can’t,” she said and sniffed again. “I tried. But I’m scared of all of this, Rhys. It terrifies me.”
He softly kissed her lips. “Let me protect you. Be mine, Lily. Be my mate and stay with me for eternity.”
“Eternity is a very long time.”
“It’s no’ nearly long enough, lass.” He caressed her cheek. “Say you’ll stay. Say you willna leave me.”
“I could never refuse you,” she murmured before wrapping her arms around his neck.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Ulrik didn’t knock as he walked into Mikkel’s house near St. Andrews. He strolled into his uncle’s office and poured himself some whisky even as the Dark Fae who had teleported him to Dreagan was arguing with Mikkel.
“Where the hell have you been?” Mikkel demanded of Ulrik.
Ulrik turned and raised his glass to his uncle. “I’m recently back from Dreagan.”
“Why didn’t you return to the designated place?”
“That would’ve been difficult seeing as how there were Kings everywhere. I choose no’ to be seen rather than return to you quicker.”
The Dark made a sound of contempt before he vanished. Ulrik cut his eyes to his uncle who sat behind his desk with his elbows resting on the arms of the chair and his fingers steepled.
“The Dark found Kyle wandering the village outside Dreagan and brought him here. Where is Dennis?”
Ulrik lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “I was barely able to bring Kyle back. Dennis was in pieces. It would’ve taken me much, much longer.”
It was an outright lie, but since no one else could bring back the dead, they had no idea if what he said was true or not.
“Damn,” Mikkel said and slammed a hand on his desk. “Dennis was one of my best men here in Britain. Can’t you find his soul without touching him?”
Ulrik shook his head.
“Bloody hell.”
He finished his whisky and set the glass down before he started walking out.
“Where are you going?” Mikkel demanded.
“To Perth. I’ll be getting a visit soon,” Ulrik said over his shoulder.
He didn’t wait on Mikkel’s response. Ulrik was happy he’d driven his own car. He got behind the wheel and quickly drove off. Ulrik knew Rhys would come to Perth, and he was sure Rhys wouldn’t be alone.
It was a half-hour later as he drove down the road that Rhi appeared in his passenger seat. He did a double take and flattened his lips in irritation. “That would’ve been awkward had someone been there.”
“Perhaps,” she said flippantly. “I want to know why you really brought Lily back.”
Ulrik sighed heavily. “I’m fairly certain we’ve already been over this.”
“You glossed over it with your pretty words. I want the truth.”
“I told you the truth,” he said and glanced at her.
She snorted. “You gave me enough bullshit that I believed you.”
“What does it matter what I say? You willna believe it anyway.”
“I have a theory,” Rhi said as she crossed her arms over her chest.
Ulrik smiled and motioned for her to talk. “By all means, tell me.”
Rhi shifted in the seat so she was half-facing him to better see his face. She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Ulrik’s reasons since she’d agreed to help him. And she wanted her answers. “I think you felt bad for Lily dying. I think you know all too well what it feels like to lose the love of your life.”
His hands tightened briefly on the steering wheel. “You know how it feels to have love betray you.”
“We’re not talking about me, Ulrik. This is about you. Why would you send your men to Dreagan and kill Lily only to bring her back?”
That’s the part that kept confusing Rhi.
“Tell me you’re not working alone. Tell me someone else had Lily killed.”
“You think too much.”
“And you wiped every shred of emotion from your face,” she said with a smile.
He threw her a dark look. “And that means what?”
“That you’re trying to be careful about what you say or do. I know you want to kill Con. I know you want your vengeance. What I could never understand is why you would target Rhys or anyone other than Con. If you wanted one of the Kings to suffer the inability to shift, that would’ve been directed straight at Con.”
The tires squealed on the McLaren as Ulrik slammed on the brakes and jerked the wheel so the car pulled to the side of the road. He looked at Rhi with fury in his gold eyes. “Enough!”
“Because I’m right?”
“No’ even close. What do you want, Rhi?”
She refused to look away from him. “I want to know if someone can do bad things and still be decent.”
His anger faded, replaced with unease. “You broke free of the Chains of Mordare. You held out against Balladyn turning you Dark.”
“Did I?” she asked in a soft voice. “I’m not so sure.”
Ulrik put the car in park and ran a hand through his hair. “I’m no’ a good man. I have no’ been for a verra long time, and I’ve accepted that.”
“You saved Lily. That was good.”
“It was for my own interests. I knew Rhys would come for me, as well as the others. I know I’ll die, but I refuse to do it until I take Con out.”
Rhi scoffed at him. “Are you telling me you brought Lily back from the dead to save your own ass?”
“I am.”
It was a valid reason, but she still believed there was more. “And?”
“And?” he repeated with a frown. “There is nothing else.”
Rhi looked out the windshield to the dark blue waters of the North Sea. “I can spot a liar easily, Ulrik.”
“I’ve told you the truth.”
“You told me part of it.”
“That’s all there is.”
She turned her head to him, and was surprised when he suddenly leaned over and kissed her. When he pulled back, she asked, “What was that for?”
“I’ve always wanted to know if your kiss would taste as spirited as your words, or as sweet as your walk.”
“And?” she asked, unable to keep her curiosity at bay.
He licked his lips. “It’s a wee bit of both.”
“That’s all you’ll ever know,” she said and teleported out.
Rhi returned to Dreagan in the hopes of discovering that Rhys and Lily had worked everything out. And because it wasn’t a good day unless she irritated Con, she popped into his office and leaned casually against the wall.
His black gaze immediately went to her. “Rhys told me you were unable to get into the cottage to save Lily. Is that true?”
“It is,” she answered snippily.
“So it was warded,” Constantine said with a grin. “I’ll need to learn what was used to ward the manor—my office especially—against you.”
Rhi was taken aback by the fury that rose so quickly within her. It was the darkness. It always answered swiftly. She turned her face away so Con wouldn’t see the anger—or her fear of it.
“This is a private place,” Con said, unaware of her turmoil. “I doona appreciate you coming in whenever you damned well feel like it.”
The more he talked, the more her temper grew. She had to get away from him and calm dow
n before she did something stupid.
“You’ve always overstepped our boundaries,” Con continued.
Rhi whirled around, only belatedly realizing that she’d begun to glow. “Do you ever shut up?”
Before he could answer, the door opened and a man walked in.
She gaped. It couldn’t be Darius.
All of her anger vanished in an instant.
He started to say something to Con, but he paused and turned his head to her. “Rhi.”
She was too shocked to even speak. No one had told her Darius had woken. Rhi lifted her chin and pulled her gaze away from Darius. That’s when she saw a hint of a frown on Con’s face as he regarded her.
A moment later, Henry walked into Con’s office. His face brightened when he saw her. “Rhi,” he said in a whisper.
It was too much. All of it. She really did need to stay away from Dreagan from now on.
Without a word to anyone, Rhi teleported away.
* * *
Henry was more than a little disappointed when Rhi disappeared yet again. He was falling hard for the Light Fae, and the more the Kings warned him away from her, the more he wanted her. Their kiss in the mountain had been breathtaking. It had ended way too soon, but he hoped it wouldn’t be the last. Rhi was too amazing a find for him not to pursue her.
“I know that look,” Con said to him. “You do understand what the Fae do with humans, right?”
Henry nodded, scratching his chin. “Banan has explained it multiple times, but that’s the Dark. The Light only sleep with a human once.”
“That’s all it takes,” Darius said as he sank into one of the two chairs before Con’s desk.
Con nodded. “One time with a Light, and you’ll never find satisfaction with a mortal female again.”
“Who would want to after someone like Rhi?”
Darius leaned back in the chair. “All Fae are forbidden from a relationship with a human. There’s nothing that can come of this infatuation with Rhi.”