Smoldering Hunger

by Donna Grant

“Where did that leave me?” he asked. He spread his hands wide. “Right here.”

  “Then challenge Con. Stop taking your petty revenge out on us.”

  Sophie knew it was the wrong thing to say the moment it was out of her mouth and the anger rolled off Ulrik.

  He stalked to her, bracing his arms on the chair and leaning his face close to hers. “Petty? It was you fucking humans who began this. We should’ve wiped the stain of you from this realm the moment you arrived instead of promising protection. What has that gotten us? We hide our true nature and send away our dragons so as no’ to offend your bloody sensibilities. You’re a scourge on this planet!”

  Sophie winced, sinking as far back in the chair as she could go. The few times she’d spoken with Ulrik he’d been as cool as ice. Now there was unmitigated wrath in his eyes, in his tone. In his very breath.

  “I’m not the one who betrayed you.”

  He slammed his fist into the back of the chair near her head. “You’re mortal. That makes you one of them.”

  Sophie decided to remain silent. Anything she said was going to set him off. As she looked into his eyes, she saw her death there.

  “You can blame this on Darius. I would’ve left you alone had he no’ sought you out. I watched the two of you shagging on the street in the shadows. I saw then what was coming. Passion like that leads to one thing—love.”

  Sophie blinked to keep the tears at bay. She didn’t want to show any kind of weakness to Ulrik.

  Ulrik straightened and ran a hand through his hair. “Enjoy your last few hours, doc.”

  As soon as the door closed behind him, Sophie buried her head in her hands and cried.

  * * *

  More and more whispers of the Reapers reached Balladyn. Yet every time he sought to find out more, there was nothing. Not even searching his archives proved anything useful. He wanted more, and not just because Rhi asked for the knowledge.

  No, this was because Balladyn had a bad feeling that continued to grow the more he heard about the Reapers.

  Nothing good would come of their arrival. He wasn’t so much worried about himself, because if they wanted to come for him, nothing would stop them. Balladyn’s anxiety was for Rhi. She was certain she had a watcher.

  Balladyn had sent no one, and Taraeth didn’t know where to find her. Besides, Balladyn knew every Dark Fae who had the kind of power it took to remain veiled. Not one of them could remain that way indefinitely.

  Usaeil was stupid enough to send someone after her. She’d proven that already with having Inen follow Rhi. None of the Light had the kind of power to remain veiled either. Which left only one group—the Reapers.

  It chilled Balladyn to the bone.

  Were they out to kill Rhi? Recruit her? Sway her away from him?

  The possibilities were endless, and he wasn’t going to sit back and just let it happen. Rhi was his. He’d waited centuries for her. She belonged with him, and he was going to prove it.

  * * *

  Darius raked a hand through his hair, his frustration on high. They had a map of Edinburgh out on the table locating the places where Ulrik might want to meet.

  All plans, however, were on hold as Con made a trip to Dreagan—without telling them what it was about. Kiril had called Ryder, but the resident computer nerd had no idea what would bring Con back during such a crisis.

  Crisis. Shite. That’s exactly what this was, and Darius could do nothing but wait to hear from Ulrik before he did anything.

  He couldn’t look at the map anymore. All he could do was think about Sophie, pray she wasn’t hurt, and think of all the ways he was going to kill Ulrik.

  “The Dark have no’ made a move for it in weeks,” Kiril said.

  Rhys snorted. “They’ve no’ given up on it.”

  “What?” Darius asked, their conversation intruding on his thoughts.

  “The weapon,” Kiril and Rhys said in unison.

  Darius flattened his lips. “You’re right. We’ve heard nothing about it lately. That’s no’ a good sign.”

  “No’ at all,” Rhys stated as he leaned his hands on the table and looked at the map. “With all the surveillance from our friends from MI5 going on around Dreagan, we can no’ patrol as we normally did.”

  Kiril looked up from the laptop from his position on the sofa. “It doesna matter. Our magic is still there. The Dark can no’ enter without us knowing it.”

  “But mortals can,” Rhys pointed out as he looked at them.

  Darius sank onto the other sofa and let out a string of curses. “The Dark want the weapon, no’ Ulrik. It’s in Ulrik’s best interest if the Dark doona have it, because then the Dark could destroy him as well.”

  Kiril closed the laptop and set it beside him. “That’s a good point. Ulrik wants us dead, but he wants to stay alive. He wouldna willingly give them the weapon.”

  “But he’d use it as a bargaining tool with the Dark,” Darius stated.

  “We doona even know what it is,” Rhys said. He straightened and pointed to the map. “The Dark didna attack Dreagan again and again to simply give up so easily just because they managed to get a video of us, or because some of Ulrik’s magic has returned.”

  Kiril rubbed his jaw. “What are you thinking?”

  “That’s just it, I doona know,” Rhys said, weariness hardening his words.

  Darius tapped his finger on the arm of the sofa. “Perhaps we’re looking at this all wrong.”

  “Meaning?” Kiril asked.

  Darius motioned to the map and the computer. “Every time Ulrik or the Dark have done something, we’ve reacted to counter it.”

  “As we’re supposed to,” Rhys said.

  Darius nodded. “But what if it was all done in order to lead us to do exactly that?”

  Kiril leaned forward and looked from Darius to Rhys. “While we’ve been chasing our tails trying to cover up things so we remain secret from the humans, Ulrik and the Dark have been leading us on a merry chase.”

  “I still say we should worry about the weapon,” Rhys said. “I doona like discovering its existence now after all this time. I especially hate that the Dark knew of it before we did. And I doona like no’ knowing what it is.”

  Darius agreed with everything Rhys said, as did all the Kings. “Sooner or later Con is going to have to tell us what the weapon is. Until then, we need to look at everything Ulrik and the Dark have done to see if there’s a pattern we’re missing.”

  “Or a sign of what they want,” Kiril said.

  Rhys threw him a look. “You know what they want. All of us dead.”

  “Who do you think will win between Ulrik and Con?” Kiril asked them.

  Darius shrugged. He’d been thinking about that more and more, and he wasn’t sure. If this had been before the banishment, Darius would’ve said Con only because Ulrik’s heart hadn’t been in it.

  But now? Now Ulrik wanted vengeance, and he wanted Con dead.

  “I doona know,” Rhys admitted. “It could go either way. If Ulrik defeats Con, he’ll come after us next.”

  Silence filled the room as they took in Rhys’s words. Because if the Kings died, so did the women who were their mates.

  CHAPTER

  THIRTY-EIGHT

  Con walked through the caves of his mountain without any need of light. He knew them like he knew every inch of Dreagan—by heart. But with his dragon eyesight—even in human form—he could see well enough in the dark.

  Deep in the heart of the mountain, hundreds of feet below the cavern he used while in dragon form, was a narrow corridor. He had to shuffle sideways to get to the chamber.

  He reached the entrance to the chamber and slowly walked inside. Con snapped his fingers and a shard of light hovered in the middle of the chamber shedding a yellowish glow over everything.

  Con stared at the weapon the Dark so desperately wanted to get their hands on. He still hadn’t learned how the Dark discovered the weapon, but he would.

  There were only
two Kings who knew of the weapon—himself and Kellan. Since Kellan had been sleeping in his mountain until recently, it wasn’t him.

  Con was almost 100 percent certain that Rhi didn’t know of the weapon either. Which left no one else. Con went to great pains to keep the knowledge of the weapon from the Kings.

  He and Kellan never spoke of it around them. It was too powerful to fall into the wrong hands. In truth, it should’ve been destroyed long ago. Con wasn’t sure why he hadn’t done the deed when he took over as King of Kings. He could do it now. It was why he was there.

  Yet something stopped him.

  He wasn’t sure what. Maybe it was the need to learn who had betrayed them. Or perhaps it was because he’d guarded the weapon for so many thousands of years. He was responsible for it being kept as secret as their identity.

  The Kings wanted to know what the weapon was, but if they knew, it would change everything. Because even though their very way of life was being threatened by the video and Ulrik’s threats, it was nothing compared to what would happen if the Kings learned the truth.

  Con knew he wasn’t alone in the chamber. He wasn’t surprised that Kellan was in his mountain. The weapon was too important not to be guarded, because not even dragon magic was enough to keep it safe.

  “We can no’ hide it forever,” Kellan said from Con’s left.

  He didn’t bother to look at his friend. “I’ll keep it from them for as long as I can.”

  “That time is coming to an end. It’s a weapon that can be used to destroy us, aye. But it’s also said it could be used to help us.”

  “Nay,” Con stated.

  Kellan sighed loudly. “V is still missing. Ulrik is focused on Sophie who I’m guessing by your face is Darius’s mate. The Dark are suspiciously quiet. We’ve mortals crawling all over Dreagan looking for any signs of dragons. We’re no’ sure if Rhi is on our side or no’, and the Light Fae are doing nothing. Aye, Con, we need to do something.”

  “No’ this. Never this.” He turned to Kellan. “As for the rest, we’ll deal with it as we have everything else.”

  “Dragon magic can only conceal so much.”

  “It’s all we need.”

  It was all they had ever needed.

  * * *

  Darius rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. The longer he went without hearing from Ulrik, the more uneasy he became. They’d located two places that favored privacy and seclusion. The weather would also help keep any mortals from venturing near.

  He jerked when Ulrik said his name in his mind. Darius glanced at Rhys and Kiril and nodded, letting them know it was Ulrik.

  “I need to hear from Sophie.”

  Ulrik laughed. “No’ going to happen.”

  “Then Con willna come.”

  “Matters no’ to me.”

  “It doesna do your plan any good to lie. We know you want him there or you wouldna have requested it.”

  Ulrik was silent for a beat. “This is about you, Darius.”

  “Then why ask for Con?”

  “I want him to see firsthand your pain when I kill Sophie.”

  Darius closed his eyes, attempting to remain as calm as possible. “You do that, and you willna have to worry about challenging Con because I’m going to kill you.”

  “We both know that willna happen. You’d never disobey Constantine.”

  In this, Darius definitely would. But he let Ulrik think what he would since it worked to his advantage. “Show me Sophie’s alive.”

  “You’ll come to the meet whether she is or isna. You’ll find out then if she’s still alive. We’ll meet on the south end of Edinburgh. You know the place.”

  “Aye.”

  “In an hour.” Ulrik closed the link.

  Darius slammed his hand down, breaking the table in two.

  “I gather that didna go well.”

  All three of them turned to find Con standing in the doorway. He stepped inside and let the hotel door shut behind him as he walked to them.

  “Everything all right at Dreagan?” Kiril asked.

  Con gave a nod. “As are Shara and Lily.”

  Darius pocketed his mobile and stared at Con. “Do you care to explain your sudden need to visit Dreagan?”

  “Nay.”

  Rhys shrugged, his look saying that’s what he’d expected out of Con when Darius looked his way. Kiril just sighed.

  Con poured himself a glass of whisky. “Ulrik has been leading us on a merry chase for months now. This gives us what we need. We’ll all go tonight. We’ll save Sophie, and in the process, we’ll capture Ulrik and end this debacle.”

  “Meaning you’ll kill him once we’re back at Dreagan,” Rhys said.

  Con downed the whisky. “I should’ve done it instead of banishing him. It’s my mistake that must be corrected. He’s ruined our way of life significantly. That ends tonight.”

  “Say this works,” Darius said. “It willna end the Dark’s need to come after us.”

  Kiril’s lips twisted as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Actually, it might. The Dark have Ulrik as an ally. Without him, they know nothing. No longer will they catch us off guard.”

  “That’s a big chance we’re taking,” Rhys said.

  Con cut his black gaze to Rhys. “So you doona wish to be rid of Ulrik?”

  “I didna say that,” Rhys corrected him. “What I’m saying is that all of this might no’ go away with Ulrik gone. The Dark are after the weapon. They willna stop until they have it.”

  “That’s no’ going to happen,” Con stated in a voice as cold and lethal as death itself. “Like it or no’, this is a good plan. Ulrik knows how we work. He’ll be expecting you two, but if we work it right, this could work.”

  That made Darius smile. “Con’s right. This is a verra good chance for us to end all of this right now.”

  “And if Sophie gets caught in the crossfire?” Kiril asked.

  Darius looked at each of them. “That can no’ happen.”

  Kiril sighed as he dropped his arms to his sides. “There will be Dark there. The place Ulrik chose is hidden well from mortals. It’s perfect for us to shift if we must.”

  “We can no’,” Con ordered. “Under no circumstances will any of you shift. We doona know who might be watching.”

  “Or what Dark might be recording,” Rhys stated with a roll of his eyes.

  “We have to do this,” Darius said.

  Con gave a nod. “I agree. To pass up this opportunity would be folly.”

  “Ulrik will suspect you’ll try and trap him,” Kiril said.

  Con’s smile was full of retribution and anger. “He willna be expecting what I have in store for him.”

  * * *

  Sophie remembered that feeling of drowning when she’d discovered Scott’s cheating, but this was so much worse. This felt like she was being sucked under a riptide.

  Everything she wanted was slipping from her before she’d ever had a chance to hold it. She hadn’t even told Darius she loved him.

  So many years she’d wasted being isolated and hiding her heart. Darius showed her all that she’d been missing. Her dreams were passing right before her eyes like dust in the wind.

  And fate was laughing at her once more.

  CHAPTER

  THIRTY-NINE

  Darius drove the Mercedes SUV, his hands tight on the steering wheel. The others were taking different routes, arriving separately in the concealment of the dark.

  As he drove down the highway out of Edinburgh, all he could think about was Sophie. He’d come to the conclusion that Sophie was still alive—for the time being. Ulrik would want to kill her in front of him.

  Darius couldn’t think of that. He refused to allow his thoughts down that road. It was better if he concentrated on how he was going to get Sophie free.

  And kill Ulrik.

  Over and over he let the scene play out in his mind of taking Ulrik’s head and ending this stupid war. Twenty minutes later as he exited the
highway and turned right he pictured his reunion with Sophie.

  Now that he’d admitted she was his mate to Con and the others, it was time he told her. He knew Sophie had feelings for him, but he was hesitant to tell her.

  Her career meant everything to her. He didn’t want her to have to choose, which was what would happen if he told her of his love.

  As difficult as it would be, the best thing for Darius to do was let her go. Sophie could return to her work as a healer without having to suffer through their war, secrets, and MI5 investigating everyone associated with Dreagan.

  Darius slowed and turned onto a dirt road. He drove for several miles before he came to the edge of a forest. Throwing the vehicle in park, he shut off the engine and got out.

  He walked around the front of the Mercedes and looked around. The area was unnervingly quiet. Darius was on high alert, because he knew there would be Dark showing themselves soon. As if the animals knew evil was coming, they abandoned the area as well.

  His boots crunched on the snow as he headed toward the trees even as flurries floated around him. The sun sank quickly, turning the already gray sky dark.

  Not a branch rustled, not even a whistle of wind. The disconcerting stillness had him glancing around, waiting for an attack. But nothing came. Yet.

  As Darius made his way through the trees, he thought of the past and how he’d gone mad with guilt and anger at losing his woman and child. Those destructive feelings ate at him until nothing was left. When he’d finally taken to his mountain, his soul had been a raw, festering wound.

  When Con woke him for this war, Darius had left his mountain just as angry as when he’d gone in. Centuries of dragon sleep hadn’t calmed him. Nothing had.

  Until Sophie.

  Darius told himself the wild, primitive hunger that he had was simply his need to relieve his body. In truth, it had been Sophie from the very beginning.

  She’s the one who soothed his battered soul. The one who comforted the dragon. The one who glowed each time he touched her.

  He yearned for Sophie to a degree that should terrify him, but it only made him smile. He’d never felt such longing for a woman before. He ached to be near her, craved to touch her.

  Hungered for her kisses.