Shadow of Flame

by Caitlyn McFarland

  He turned. Kai came down the beach toward him, her arms crossed over her breasts, cheeks flaming pink. “Um. I just need some clothes.”

  He didn’t want her to put on clothes. He wanted to strip and find out what it was like to make love to her in the surf.

  Her blush deepened when she sensed the thought, but her voice was tart. “Yeah, with shells sticking in my back and water crashing down over my head and salt in my lady bits. The sand was interesting enough, thanks. Next time, let’s do it in a bed.”

  “Next time. Cariad, we will have so many next times.” He bent to kiss her. “You can be on top if you want. Shells don’t bother me.”

  She melted into him, and he almost decided to stay. They deserved to be happy for one sundering moment...unless, of course, that moment ended with another attack. He broke from her with a sigh, the weight of duty settling on his shoulders.

  She smiled sadly. “How does it go again?”

  “I lywodraethu yw gwasanaethu. To rule is to serve.”

  “You’re a good king, Rhys.”

  “And you will be an excellent queen.”

  Nervousness colored her thoughts. “We’ll see.”

  Kai dressed while Rhys shook out the sand-covered blanket, stowing it in Kai’s bag. He checked the harness. She braided her hair, muttering darkly as she attempted to tame the unruly mass. The harness’s leather straps were a little worse for the wear, but the rope was still intact. It would hold up if the flight was a quiet one. He told himself it would be.

  “Are you ready?” Kai asked, her white raven mask perched on top of her head.

  Rhys nodded, wondering again at Cadoc giving her that name. The raven was a harbinger of war. White ravens doubly so. But perhaps this time a white raven could mean victory. Perhaps, eventually, it could mean peace.

  Kai raised an eyebrow. “Or it could just mean I’m a pasty girl with black hair and Cadoc likes to give people nicknames.”

  Rhys laughed. Kai stretched onto her tiptoes. He wrapped his arms around her waist, lifting her and kissing her deeply. Finally, he set her down. Kai retreated a little way up the beach, and he called the fire.

  * * *

  They’d slept much of the day, so it was close to sunset when the archipelago appeared. A sentry roared a greeting when she saw them, then immediately dove for some location he couldn’t see. Rhys landed on the ledge outside his rooms.

  Kai slid off, and he became human.

  “Finally!” She jumped on him, wrapping her legs around his hips.

  Surprised and pleased, Rhys pulled her closer, holding her up. Their lips met. He stumbled forward until he found the stone archway with his hand and pressed her against it, relishing the feel of her. She moaned, squirming against him, tugging his shirt. Their kissing became frantic, their breathing ragged. Surely, he could wait to inform the Council of the attack for another hour...

  “Rhys!”

  Sunder me. Rhys broke from her, panting.

  “Rhys!” Ffion’s voice bordered on shrill.

  Kai gave him a regretful look, and he let her slide to the ground.

  Ffion appeared in the wide cave mouth, followed by a young girl with brown hair braided in a crown around her head.

  Ffion’s face crumpled as if she were about to cry. “Thank the Ancients! You’re alive. You’re here! Where are your guards?”

  Sorrow washed over Rhys. In all that had happened, he’d forgotten about them so easily.

  “You aren’t the only one.” Kai’s mental voice was sober. “Ffion looks terrified. They must have realized we weren’t where we were supposed to be.”

  Rhys ducked his head. “We were attacked. Driven away from the Sacred Isle. Nye and Yunru fly with the Stars.”

  Ffion put a hand to her mouth. “Ancients. I’ll have to inform their vee commander. I’m glad you’re back. Safe.”

  Something was wrong. Ffion was relieved to see them, but she wasn’t any less agitated, and she’d hardly reacted to news of the attack. Foreboding welled up inside him. “Ffion, what happened?”

  She shook her head, tears overflowing her eyes and spilling down her face. “What happened? Everyone is sundering gone! There are whole vees out looking for you. The Council is in uproar. When you weren’t on the Sacred Isle, I thought you were dead.” Her pale eyes flashed. “Next time take your sundering communicator!”

  He took both of Ffion’s hands in his, praying for calm. “Tell me.”

  “Both of your sisters are gone.”

  His heart beat once. Twice. He couldn’t speak. He felt Kai reach out, mentally and physically, to keep him upright. He found his voice. “Gone? They went out for a flight?”

  Or maybe Seren had taken another one of her trips. But no, she wouldn’t. Not now. Not when things were so unsettled.

  “Were they kidnapped?” Kai asked, her voice tight with shock and terror that twined along their bond like strangling vines.

  Rhys blinked. Ancients, it wasn’t coming from her, it was coming from him. She was the one keeping them at bay, keeping him from collapsing in on himself.

  “No, Majesty.” The juvenile girl pulled at her braided hair. “Or at least, not from here. The Golden Lady thought that Princess Aderyn was acting oddly, so she had me and a few other juveniles keep an eye on her. Then last night, when everyone was asleep, she left. I ran to tell the Protector, but Lady Seren was the one who came out. She went after the princess herself and told me to wake up Subcommander Ffion.”

  Kai squeezed Rhys’s fingers, trying to hold back her fear, offering comfort and hope. Rhys latched onto that support hauled himself out of the darkness. But he couldn’t banish it the fear. It pulled at him, tightening in bands around his chest until he could barely breathe. “Ffion?”

  Ffion wrung her hands. “I woke Iolani. She gathered the Council while I sent Evan after Deryn and Seren, but they haven’t returned. Evan contacted me by communicator a few hours ago to say he’d checked the waystations from the northeast to the northwest. One was covered in claw marks. At least a dozen dragons. They found a few scales in the trees. They aren’t sure, but from the color, it looks like they’re Deryn’s.” She took a breath, tears in her voice. “And there was a message.”

  The dark current surged. “What message?”

  Ffion broke down. “It was Owain. He took them to an island in the Bering Sea.”

  The world dropped out from beneath him. His blood pounded, raging through his brain.

  “Sunder me,” Rhys swore. Ancients, Deryn could be dead already. Why would Owain keep her alive?

  “As bait.” Kai answered his unspoken question, face pale. “He needs to kill Deryn, but he also needs to kill you. He’s keeping her alive to draw you out.”

  He had to move. To do something. Right now. “Contact Ashem. The Unsworn and the Invisible can carry out the mission by themselves. I need him here.”

  He strode toward the ledge.

  “I have.” Ffion scurried after him. “But he’s halfway to Asia. He’ll be facing headwinds flying back, so he won’t be able to get here for two days, and he’ll be exhausted.”

  Rhys ran a hand through his hair. “Ancients, why did Deryn leave in the first place?”

  He didn’t expect an answer, but the brown-haired girl had one. “The Golden Lady gave me a message for you, Majesty! She said it was for your ears only.” She looked apologetically at Ffion. “She said bad things might happen if people knew where the princess was going.”

  Rhys dropped to one knee and took the girl gently by the shoulders. “Where?”

  The girl cast doubtful looks at Kai and Ffion. She leaned forward to whisper loudly in Rhys’s ear. “She said that Princess Aderyn was going to see the Warbringer. Lady Seren went after her to bring her home.”

  “Oh, Stars.” Ffion went pale a
nd she put one hand on her belly. “Owain’s soldiers must have intercepted them on the way.

  Rhys fought all-out panic, still mentally leaning on Kai for support. He could sense that she was afraid, as well, but was offering every ounce of calm and comfort she could muster to him through their bond. “When can we have vees in the air?”

  “Ten can be ready within the hour. We only stopped preparing to go after them when we discovered that you and Kai were also missing.”

  He moved away from them again, preparing to transform. “Gather the vees and tell the Council. I don’t care if I have to use the mantle on every single one of them. Tell Ashem to meet us in the north instead of coming back to Eryri. We are bringing my sisters home.”

  “Wait, Rhys.” Ffion rubbed her eyes. “There’s one more thing.”

  His patience snapped. There was no time. “Nothing else could possibly matter!”

  Tears welled in Ffion’s eyes again. “It’s Morwenna. After you left, Henry Harrow came to me with evidence...a message sent to Owain through one of the computers telling him that you’d left and where you were going. It was sent through her login. I didn’t want to believe it, but...” She shook her head, the tears spilling over onto her cheeks. “Then all this happened. I had to lock her in the cells.”

  Kai stared at Rhys, her green eyes round as full moons. “A message...that we were leaving? Holy hell. It was Morwenna. That’s why we were attacked.”

  There was no sense of triumph from her, only a sick, mournful kind of surety.

  “What? No.” It was impossible. He’d known her too long. They’d been through too much. She couldn’t be the spy. Grief sharper than teeth tore at him. His friend, Iain’s mate. A traitor. Another member of his vee lost.

  He was going to die beneath this mountain of responsibility and pain.

  “Oh, Rhys,” Kai murmured in his mind, aching for him.

  Rhys closed his eyes. Collected himself. Exhaled. “I’ll look at the evidence against her myself, but not now. Keep Morwenna in the cells until I return. Don’t let anyone question her. Make sure she’s treated well. Right now, I have to find a way to bring my sisters home.”

  * * *

  Everything was ready just after sunset. Dragons ranged across the beach, saying goodbye to children and mates. A hard breeze blew along the shore, laden with salt. The temperature had dropped with the sun, but heat was still heavy in the humid air. Loud waves crashed on the shore, mixing with the sound of scales dragging though damp sand and voices, both mental and spoken, shouting questions and orders as all the dragons Rhys could muster prepared to leave.

  “Are you sure you want to do this, Kai?” Jiang asked, walking by Kai’s side.

  Kai tightened her grip on the leather of the new harness slung over her shoulders. “I just found him. He’s not going to leave me behind.”

  They wove through the crowd of multi-hued, scaled legs and bodies. Kai caught sight of Rhys, still human, standing in the midst of a cluster of vee commanders farthest from the mountain. She froze. Some of those dragons had been among those who wanted her imprisoned. None of them looked friendly.

  “Go.” Jiang gave her a gentle shove forward. “He needs you now more than ever.”

  Kai nodded. With all the preparation—tents and food and most importantly, how and where to move such a huge force of dragons without humans noticing—Rhys had been too busy to truly pay attention to her for hours. She knew he was planning on leaving her behind with Ffion. After all, Wingless didn’t fight.

  Well, screw that.

  Kai walked right into the middle of the hostile cluster of dragons, who fell silent. Rhys had his back to her, talking to a large Polynesian-looking man with a gray-streaked ponytail and tattoos on his cheeks she recognized as Tane, the commander of the Invisible. She tightened her grip on the new harness. “Rhys?”

  He took one look and turned away. “No.”

  She grabbed his arm and spun him back around. “I’m going.”

  Rhys ran a hand through his hair and cast an apologetic glace at the dragons he’d been talking to. Faintly, she felt him wonder where Ffion was.

  Kai’s anger flared. “It might have taken me a while to warm up to this whole you-and-me idea, but I have. Just like you wanted. And I’m not a stay-at-home-and-wait-for-my-man kind of girl. I killed that assassin who came after me in the gym and I’m pretty sure we killed two of the dragons who came after us last night. You’re alive because I was there.”

  Several dragons along the beach turned to look at them.

  Rhys took a step toward her, his voice low. “It’s not done, Kai. Wingless don’t fight.”

  Kai raised her chin. “I don’t give a damn what the others do. I’ve proven that I’m good backup, and you aren’t going into a fight without me.”

  Rhys took her hand and tugged her toward the surf, away from the small crowd. “I know you’re a warrior, cariad. But my entire family is out there.” He stopped, swallowed. Couldn’t get words past the tightness in his throat. “Please don’t ask me to risk you, too.”

  The tenderness and fear in his words pierced Kai’s soul. Her anger dissipated, though her determination was undiminished. She put a hand to Rhys’s cheek. “I love you. Don’t leave me behind. Imagine if I tried to do the same to you. Hell, the only reason this is even an issue is because you’re my ride.”

  His breath hitched in a choked, desperate sort of laugh.

  She pressed. “I may not be a dragon, but I am a dragon rider, and I’m supposed to be a leader. Let me show these people that I’m not afraid to fight for them.”

  Dread and uncertainty and love swirling though their bond, he grasped her hand and pressed a kiss to her palm. “Sunder me, I am going to regret this.” He tilted her chin up for a desperate, fervent kiss, then murmured in her ear, “Dw i’n di garu di, Kai.”

  Knowing she’d won, Kai grinned. “I love you, too.”

  She was flooded with his desperate desire to keep her home and safe. She hugged him tightly. “We’ll keep each other safe.”

  “I swear it.” He turned to the waiting crowd, raised a fist, and shouted, “Bydd eich frenhines marchogaeth!”

  Your queen will ride!

  Pandemonium. Kai couldn’t tell which dragons were roaring in triumph and which were roaring in rage. And she felt the exact moment that Rhys had had enough.

  “Be still.” Rhys’s voice rang out, harsh and echoing. The power of the mantle burst forth like a breaking storm. Noise ceased. The crown, which Ffion had insisted he jam on his head, glinted red in the light of the dying sun.

  He walked among them, meeting their eyes. Almost all of them wore the bodies of dragons, but there was no question who was king. “For a thousand years, I have shared my power with the Council. I do so willingly. But you will remember that I am king. The queen has chosen to risk her life for you. My father controlled my mother, and that sparked a war that has lasted a thousand years. I am not that kind of king.”

  The power that held the dragons still released, rolling away like a reverse shockwave. They stirred, but didn’t speak.

  Kai realized her jaw was hanging open, and she snapped her mouth shut. She’d seen him bicker with the Council once or twice since Morwenna had exposed her, and at times she had wondered how much power Rhys really had. Now she knew.

  Rhys changed. With the help of two dragons who stood close by, he and Kai put on the new harness.

  “Jiang!” Rhys called.

  “Majesty?” Jiang stepped out of the crowd.

  “Fly by my side. You’re Kai’s bodyguard. If anything happens to me, you’re in charge of the queen.”

  Jiang lowered her muzzle in a bow. “I will exert every ounce of my power to bring her home for my king.”

  Kai pulled down the raven mask. “Where are we going?”


  “We’ll meet Ashem over the Bering Sea and scout things out. Once we’re there, we’ll have a better idea of what needs to be done.”

  Kai shifted in anticipated discomfort. They’d had so little sleep, and there was a long journey ahead. “No matter what, I’m with you. And hey, look at the bright side. We can have sexytime when we set up camp. It’ll be great. I mean, we know I’m not going to die a virgin—which is awesome, by the way—but we should probably do it again. Just to make sure I’ve had the full experience. Thoroughly sure. Every night.”

  Rhys let out a low, rumbling laugh, but Kai could sense that her words made him even more desperate to leave her where it was safe. That loving her was like taking his own heart and offering it to the world on a platter. If anything happened to her...

  “Sunder it, Kai.”

  She sent him an answering surge of love. “Don’t jinx it. Let’s just do this.”

  He opened his wings and leaped into the sky.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Something a Bit Grander

  The messenger cowered on the ice. “Majesty Owain, I bring a message from Queen Dowager Mair ferch Aeronwen of the Wingless.”

  Owain nodded, his tail scraping across the snow. It angered him that he could only see the world from one eye. That was a debt that should—and would—be paid. “What does she want now?”

  The messenger, a fat old Fire Elemental with a face like a kicked mule, curled his tail close to his side and dropped his head. “To send warning. She honors your pact of the past. She wants you to know that her patrol found the guards of one of your caches massacred, its contents stolen. She suspects it was Cadoc ap Brychan, perhaps in an act of vengeance for his torture.”

  Owain dug his claws into the ice. He should have killed Cadoc when he had him in the pit. “Where?”

  The messenger bowed lower. “On the far northwestern side of the North American continent.”

  Owain growled. The news wasn’t as bad as it could have been, but neither was it good. That cache had held only one weapon: an obscure, nearly useless device that strapped onto the user’s arm and shot magic-laden bolts up to a few hundred yards.