by Donna Grant
“As do you.”
He grinned at her logic. “I’ve had thousands upon thousands of years to think of every conceivable way to solve problems.”
She looked down at her hands, a frown marring her features. “Taraeth agreed to help Mikkel.”
“Mikkel doesna need any help. He wants to find out what side Taraeth is on. Besides, if Taraeth really was on my uncle’s side, would your king have sent your sister to seduce Mikkel?”
Muriel shrugged one shoulder as she fiddled with the hem of her dress. “There’s more.”
“Oh?”
“Mikkel doesn’t intend to let you kill Constantine. He’ll let you fight Con right up until you’re about to defeat him, then Mikkel will step in.”
There were few things that could break his calm, but that was one of them. When it came to his revenge against Con, nothing was going to stand in his way.
That was one item he assumed Mikkel would keep to their pact. Mikkel might talk big, but he was afraid of Con. He didn’t stand a chance going against the King of Kings.
“Let my uncle be that stupid.”
“I’ve kept up my side of our arrangement,” Muriel said, raising her red eyes to him. “Have I not?”
Ulrik stood and held out his hand. He saw someone approaching out of the corner of his eye. “That you have, lass. Where would you like to go?”
“I was think—”
“I see someone has caught your attention,” Mikkel said as he walked up. “Why not bring her to my house, Ulrik? We’ll all have dinner together.”
Ulrik had been too intent on Muriel to see his uncle in time. He hated how Mikkel went out of his way to sound English instead of Scots. Ulrik used accents on regular occasions when doing business, but that was different. Mikkel was trying to pretend on multiple levels.
Ulrik faced Muriel and forced a smile. “It’s up to you. Would you like to have dinner with my uncle and his … friend?”
“It would be an honor,” Muriel said while batting her eyes at Mikkel.
Mikkel smiled and slapped Ulrik on the back. “Be there at seven.”
Ulrik waited for him to walk away before he dropped his smile. He swung his gaze to Muriel. The Dark wasn’t just a temptress, she was a good actress.
“I’m not playing you,” she said while meeting his gaze. “I keep my word.”
Ulrik had done his research on the Dark Fae. She and her sister were orphans, having lost their parents during the Fae Wars. Taraeth had taken them in, but only to work in the palace as nothing more than slaves.
Her sister, Sinny, found a knack for spying that Taraeth cultivated. As for Muriel, her petite frame and mouthwatering curves caught the eye of everyone who visited Taraeth. But neither of the women were free. Taraeth owned them.
“Before we go further, I want to know why you picked me to help you,” he demanded.
Muriel’s eyes crinkled as she smiled. “That’s easy, lover. Look in the mirror.”
“Muriel.”
She ran a hand over his jaw. “Because you’re hard and unforgiving. Because I knew that if anyone could help me, it was you.”
Ulrik gave a bow of his head. It was enough. For now. He would want to know more later. “You were choosing a place to go?”
“Your bed.”
CHAPTER
NINETEEN
Thorn rose from the table after Fallon and the Druids teleported back to MacLeod Castle.
“Con willna be happy we agreed to let the Warriors help,” Darius said.
“Con can bite my arse.”
Darius’s gaze never wavered as he studied him. “What is it?”
“I can no’ do this.” Thorn turned his head to look at Lexi lying so still upon the bed. She had just gotten well, and now she was injured in a war she should know nothing about.
Darius followed his gaze. “Ah,” he said slowly. “She’s going to have questions when she wakes.”
Thorn inwardly grimaced. He wanted nothing more than to see Lexi sit up and her gray eyes look his way. After their kiss—their scorching, soul-stealing kiss—he could only think of caressing her skin, of learning every curve … of making love to her.
It seemed that rarely did he wake from dragon sleep and there wasn’t a war. Thorn was tired of it all, but most of all he was weary of having to hide who he was.
“Take care of her, will you?” Thorn asked as he faced Darius.
A frown married Darius’s brow for a moment before he nodded. “You’re leaving.”
“Aye. I’m going to contact Guy. Lexi’s mind needs to be wiped of everything involving us or the Dark.”
“You should be here with her when Guy comes.”
“I can no’ do this again. When she wakes, take her to the airport. Guy will be there to erase us.”
“I’ll see it done,” Darius promised.
Thorn took one last look at Lexi before he walked from the flat. By the time he exited the building, he was looking for Dark Fae. He was angry and frustrated and desolate. They were the perfect outlet.
* * *
Darius watched Thorn stride down the street. He had an idea of what Thorn was feeling, because it hadn’t been that many centuries ago when Darius had searched for something to kill.
He almost felt sorry for any Dark who got in Thorn’s way that night. None ever stood a chance before, but that night, they would die slowly. There would be lots of pain involved.
It had taken Darius a very long time to realize others’ pain didn’t dim his own. He hoped Thorn found that out earlier than he did.
Though with the war, it might not be a bad thing to have Thorn in that frame of mind. All the Dragon Kings were angry at the state the Dark had pushed them to, but Thorn’s fury went to another level.
Darius didn’t worry about Thorn. He might be working through things, but he wasn’t a fool. Thorn knew his limits. Because even though Thorn had left, Darius knew Thorn would be watching Lexi from afar the next day.
When Thorn was out of sight, Darius turned to retrace his steps to the table. He pulled out a deck of cards and began to play solitaire when he felt a push in his mind.
He opened up the link when he recognized Constantine’s voice. “Aye?”
“I need an update on the situation there.”
“It hasna improved. No matter how many we kill, more Dark arrive daily.”
Con sighed. “It’s the same all over Scotland. Have the Dark discovered either of you?”
“Nay. The few that do doona live to tell it.”
“Good.”
Darius snorted loudly. “Ask the question you really contacted me for.”
“Thorn helped Ulrik, Darius. Even you should see how that put him in a bad light.”
“Warrick helped him as well,” Darius pointed out.
“Warrick was helping his mate.”
“And Thorn was doing what he could for Warrick.”
There was a pregnant pause. “Darius, this war could be the end of us. I need to know I have every King with me.”
“Then stop being an idiot. Thorn would never betray us.”
“You’re sure?”
“Without a doubt.”
“Have you seen Ulrik?”
Darius shuffled the cards. “We’ve no’. Should we expect him?”
“Possibly. He disappeared and then showed back up at The Silver Dragon. Now he’s gone again.”
Now that got Darius’s attention. “He vanished? All the cameras you have up around his shop and you still couldna see where he went? Are you sure he’s no’ inside?”
“We’re sure. He was exiting the shop by the back entrance when he simply vanished.”
“You think he’s with the Dark?” Darius asked.
“We know. They were quick enough so that many of the cameras didna catch them, but one of the new ones Ryder obtained was able to capture everything. We saw the Dark.”
Darius began to set up another game of solitaire on the table. “We’ve known he’s worked wi
th the Dark. Why is this news we should be concerned over?”
“Because he was gone a long time, and now he’s gone again.”
“Or he’s been back and you’ve no’ known it. We doona have cameras inside his shop, remember.”
Con all but growled, “Doona remind me. Keep your eyes open for him either way.”
The link was severed, causing Darius to shake his head. He knew being King of Kings was a right only the strongest, the most powerful of them could have. However, Darius wouldn’t take on Con’s responsibilities for all the treasure in the world.
Ulrik was unpredictable, which made it nearly impossible for them to try to stay ahead of whatever he might do. It put the Kings on the defensive instead of offensive. That automatically put them on the losing side.
If only Ulrik hadn’t gotten his magic unbound. Darius knew that taking Ulrik’s dragon magic had been their only option. Now, after so many eons, Ulrik wasn’t just coming for Con; he had his magic. Out of all the Kings, Ulrik was the only one who could challenge Con and possibly take over as King of Kings.
Darius was surprised Ulrik hadn’t woken his Silvers. Just thinking of the dragons sleeping caged inside the mountain made him long to see his own dragons. To have the sun glint off their dark purple scales.
“Thorn,” Lexi mumbled from the bed.
Darius shifted his attention to the mortal. She sat up, shoving her long hair out of her face. He remained where he was until she looked over the entire flat.
“Where is Thorn?” she asked.
Darius had been dreading this part. “Out.”
“By out, you mean he’s left.”
Darius briefly thought about lying, but he could see by the lift of her chin she had pieced it all together. “Aye.”
Lexi stood and winced. She looked down at her side before she slid her gaze back to Darius. “What happened?”
“You were hit with Dark magic. Lucky for you, it merely glanced off your side.”
“Lucky, huh?” she mumbled. She slowly made her way to her luggage where she found another sweater before going to the bathroom.
Darius gathered the cards together and set them aside. “You are lucky.”
“Oh, yeah. Definitely,” came her voice behind the closed door of the bathroom, dripping with sarcasm. “I’m such a lucky person that my parents die and leave me alone. I’m so lucky I lose one of my best friends here. I’m so lucky I got hit with Dark magic.” The door opened and she leaned against the doorway. “I’m so lucky that Thorn left.”
Darius wasn’t sure what to say to her. He motioned for her to sit. “All Thorn wanted to do was protect you. He feels he failed.”
“And our kiss?”
Kiss? A lightbulb went off in Darius’s head. “I didna know of a kiss.”
Lexi shrugged and walked to the table. She took the chair opposite him. “Well, there was a kiss. A kiss that was…” She trailed off and looked away.
“I see.” Darius rested one arm on the table. “You mustn’t be angry at Thorn for no’ telling you about us. Everyone who knows finds themselves in extreme danger. We were shielding you and ourselves.”
She nodded and gathered her light brown hair at the base of her neck and wound it around her finger as she once more met his gaze. “The more people that know, the more likely your secret is told.”
“Aye.” Darius was happy she could at least see that. “For thousands of years few knew that the Fae walked this realm.”
“I don’t ever want to meet another Fae.”
“The Light are our allies. They do take humans to their beds, but only once and they doona take their souls.”
Lexi rolled her eyes. “Oh, that makes me feel better.”
Darius bit back a smile. “It should. The only ones wanting to kill your race are the Dark.”
“I want to know everything there is to know of your race.” She gave a slight shake of her head. “How can there be dragons so big around that no one sees?”
“We take to the skies at night. Few bother to look up anymore. Thunderstorms are also perfect times for flying.”
She squared her shoulders. “Tell me more.”
Since Darius knew Guy was going to wipe her memories there was no point in not telling her. “We’ve been here since the beginning of time. For millions of years dragons ruled. Then one day humans arrived.”
“Arrived?” Lexi asked with a frown. “How? From spaceships?”
Darius chuckled. He rose and uncorked a bottle of wine. He poured himself a glass and looked at Lexi. At her nod, he poured her a glass as well. Then he returned with a wineglass in each hand, handing one to her. “Nothing so grand. Your kind just appeared out of nowhere. No’ only was your race mortal, but you had no magic. You were defenseless.”
“As we are now.”
“No’ all of you.”
Lexi nodded in agreement. “That’s right. The Druids.”
“As soon as the humans appeared, every Dragon King shifted into human form to be able to communicate. From then on we were free to shift from dragon to human and back again.”
“How many Dragon Kings are we talking about?”
“As many colors as you can imagine.”
She leaned on the table. “Now I remember. When I saw you in dragon form you were purple.” Her gaze went to her wine. “Thorn was the color of the wine. Deep burgundy.”
“Just as you humans have different races, so did dragons. All sizes, all colors. The strongest dragon with the most magic was king of his race.”
Lexi took a drink of wine before she raised a brow. “All kings? What, are you prejudiced against females?”
“No’ at all. I’m sure had things continued we would’ve seen a Dragon Queen, but at that time, there were none.”
“What happened? Did you get tired of having us humans here?”
Darius swirled his wine as he looked at the claret color. “I’ll admit that I wasna exactly happy to have the mortals around, but for several centuries things were fine. It started slowly. I doona think any of us Kings thought much about it.”
“What started slowly?”
“The humans’ jealousy of our magic and the power we had.”
Lexi scrunched up her face. “That sounds like us. We always want to be the ones in charge.”
“The humans began to hunt the smaller dragons. We were shocked, but left things alone. The humans had killed a dragon here or there for food, just as a dragon had killed a human here and there for food. The dragons had never been told there was a being on this realm that wasna to be eaten.”
Lexi twisted her lips in revulsion.
“You eat nearly every animal on this planet, do you no’?”
“That’s different.”
“Hardly,” he stated.
CHAPTER
TWENTY
Lexi waved away his words. “What happened next?”
“We were betrayed.”
“By who?” Lexi asked, surprised.
Darius merely looked at her.
Then her mouth formed an O as it dawned on her. “A woman.”
“I doona think the other Kings have thought about it, but once we were able to shift, every King was drawn to mortals. Many of the Kings had women as lovers, but there was one of us who fell in love with one of you. His name was Ulrik. He was the type who never found someone he didna like, and everyone liked him in return.”
“Christina was like that,” Lexi mumbled.
“Ulrik’s best friend was Constantine. Con is the King of Kings, the one who keeps us all together. He learned of the betrayal of Ulrik’s woman and sent Ulrik away to keep him from having to deal with the situation. After Con told the rest of us, we found her and killed her.”
Lexi swallowed into the silence. “What was her betrayal?”
“Ulrik didn’t just have her as a lover. He brought her into his home and protected her and her entire family. He was going to perform the mating ceremony with her, which would make her immortal and
live as long as he did.”
Lexi shifted in her chair. “I’m gathering that she didn’t just cheat on him?”
“If only she had.” Darius took a drink of the wine. “Nay, she was going to try and kill Ulrik.”
She covered her mouth with her hand. What was wrong with people? This woman had it all. Why would she do something like that?
Darius smiled sadly at her response. “You’re surprised?”
“Without a doubt,” she said after she lowered her hand. “Why would she do that?”
“I told you. The mortals didna want to allow us to stay in power. What they didna know is that we can no’ be killed by anything they possess.”
“Nothing?”
“Nothing then and nothing now. No’ even one of your bombs or missiles. The only thing that can kill a Dragon King is another Dragon King.”
Lexi filed that information away. “That’s incredible. I also guess it’s something this woman didn’t know.”
“Ulrik had no reason to tell her. She assumed that he could be killed as easily as a dragon.”
“What did Ulrik do when he returned?”
Darius’s chocolate gaze looked away. “He went mad. He was furious that we had killed her, and blinded by his rage that she would betray him. He changed, seemingly overnight. His anger ruled him, and he turned it on the beings responsible.”
“Humans,” Lexi said.
Darius nodded and took another drink of wine. “Con tried to rein Ulrik in, but he was out of control. The more humans he killed, the more dragons the humans destroyed. The war was horrendous. There was death everywhere.”
Lexi cringed at the image Darius was painting.
“Kings turned against Kings as sides were taken between Con and Ulrik. Constantine proved he was the King of Kings when he gradually talked each King into rejoining him. Ulrik didna care. He continued his carnage, intending to wipe the realm of every last human.”
She drank her wine silently, loathe to interrupt Darius.
“Ulrik ignored every attempt by Con to stop, and with more dragons dying by the day, we had no choice but to take drastic action. We sent our dragons to another realm to save them. After the war, the humans couldna stand to see them. And we all knew that even if we found peace, the dragons would be in danger.”