by Donna Grant
Con sat on his haunches, his hands on his thighs as he took control of the pain—or as much as he could. The wound on his chest had healed externally, but it was what the Dark magic was doing internally that worried him.
He sat there for several seconds before he struggled to climb to his feet. No one could see him like this. It was important that all the Kings see him as strong and resilient.
Too much had happened recently. If they witnessed him in this state, they would think he couldn’t take care of them as he always had.
Con walked to his closet as he kicked off his shoes and pants. Then he opened the bottom drawer and pulled out a black tee before grabbing a pair of jeans. He put on the clothes and a pair of boots.
He then looked in the mirror. After a long examination of himself, he turned on his heel and exited his room, pain pounding through him with every movement. He made his way downstairs to the front sitting room where everyone gathered.
“No Fae has ever been struck with such a mixture of magic,” Shara said.
Con saw that Lexi and Thorn stood apart from the rest. By the look of the couple, they wanted some time alone to talk.
A look around at all the women in the manor made Con inwardly cringe. The Kings had been lucky so far. None of the women had attempted to betray them, but Con knew it was inevitable.
The first betrayal had been a vicious blow to the Kings and lost him a friend. What would a second betrayal do?
Con ignored the looks of the others as he walked around to the front of the sofa and sat on the edge. The room spun as agony filled him. It hurt to breathe, much less move.
Even now he wasn’t sure his magic would do any good.
He looked at Rhi’s face. No cheeky remarks fell from her lips. No cutting looks from her silver eyes. It was strange to find her so still. The last time he had seen her like this was when her magic exploded Balladyn’s fortress.
Con drew in a breath, and then put his hand on Rhi’s. He tried to use his magic. His muscles seized from the pain, and he barely kept the pain from showing on his face.
He focused past the anguish to the place he always went to for comfort—a place deep within his mind that didn’t allow anything else in.
Con exhaled and pushed his magic into her, urging Rhi’s wounds to heal. The pain was manageable this time, allowing him to use his magic as he needed. Almost instantly, the burn marks disappeared. Con kept his magic going a little longer just to make sure all of her injuries were mended.
When his hand fell away, he was expecting her to open her eyes and demand that he get away from her. But Rhi slept on.
“She needs time, is all,” Rhys said into the silence.
Con watched as Lily threaded her fingers with Rhys’s. “Aye. Time,” Con agreed.
Kellan said, “Rhys, take Rhi to one of the spare bedrooms so she can rest.”
Con moved so Rhys could lift the Fae and carry her out. One by one, the others filed out of the sitting room, leaving only Kellan, Ryder, and Dmitri.
“Update,” Con said to Ryder.
Ryder’s lips twisted. “There are now dozens of Web sites popping up claiming to have dragon videos. Dragons are all anyone can talk about on every news channel around the world. They dominate YouTube, blogs, and newspapers.”
So it was as bad as Con had feared it might be. “Are you taking the sites down?”
“Aye,” Ryder said. “I’ve got Gwynn and Evie from MacLeod Castle helping me as well.”
“Good.”
Kellan crossed his arms over his chest. “Con, you need to rest.”
“I’m fine. We have work to do.”
Dmitri rubbed the back of his neck as he glanced at the floor. “The police came by about an hour ago. They wanted to see if the shop was damaged.”
The shop. Con had completely forgotten to have that cleaned up for just such a visit. He couldn’t forget something so simple as that. All it would take was one small mistake to crumble their now very fragile existence.
“We took care of it,” Kellan said.
Dmitri nodded. “Aye. Nothing out of place. It had them scratching their heads.”
“That’s one spot of good news,” Con said, more relieved than the other two would ever know. “Good work.”
Dmitri threw a thumb over his shoulder. “What of Thorn and Lexi?”
Con’s gaze slid to the doorway, but there was no sign of the couple. “We’ll know soon enough, I’m sure.”
“Thorn is taking her to the mountain,” Kellan said. “We caught the Dark who led the attack here. He’s the same one who killed Lexi’s friend.”
Con lowered his gaze to the floor and inhaled deeply. “She deserves her revenge. If she can no’ kill the Dark, Thorn will.”
* * *
Lexi didn’t think there was ever a time she was more nervous. When Thorn beckoned her to go with him after Con healed Rhi, she quickly followed.
When they reached a door, Thorn held it open for her. She walked through it, stunned to find herself in a tall, but narrow, tunnel inside a mountain.
Cool air brushed over her skin. She glanced behind her at Thorn who closed the door and stepped around her.
“This way,” he said as he started walking.
Lexi followed him while she took in everything. Right at the entrance, and appearing about every ten feet, was a sconce in the mountain throwing off light so she could see where she was going.
Never was she more grateful than when she saw the carvings and etchings of dragons along the walls. Everywhere she looked there were dragons. The carvings were so spectacular that she was having a hard time following Thorn and not stopping to run her hands over the artwork.
Lexi hurried to catch up to Thorn and belatedly realized the floor was pitched downward. The farther down they went, the more she saw of doorways from the cave that branched off.
She wanted to explore them. Especially when she glanced inside a cavern and saw a massive dragon carved along an entire wall breathing fire.
She was completely enthralled until she walked a little farther and saw another cavern—with four large silver dragons sleeping in a cage.
“Those are dragons,” she said in awe, stopping.
Thorn halted and turned his head to look to the dragons. “Those are Ulrik’s Silvers. They wouldna stop following his orders or leave with the others, so we had no choice but to use our magic so they would sleep.”
“And if Ulrik wakes them?” she asked.
Thorn looked at her over his shoulders. “We willna allow them to hurt any humans.”
Which was all fine and dandy as long as Thorn and the other Kings were around. What if Ulrik won against Con? He would then be King of Kings and making the decisions.
Lexi gazed at the Silvers, the color fading from a deep silver at the base of their necks and along the spines to pale silver under their stomachs.
These weren’t Dragon Kings that shifted, but real dragons who cared not about puny humans. It made Lexi wonder what her world would have been like had there not been a war between their two species. Would magic be a way of life? Would seeing dragons or hearing their roars be as common as the sound of a jet?
“Do you want a closer look?”
Lexi shook her head and looked at Thorn.
He faced forward and continued on. “Just a little farther.”
By the look on Thorn’s face, she knew she had done the wrong thing. “I’m not afraid of them,” she said as she followed. “It’s just that after seeing you, nothing else compares.”
He slowed, allowing her to catch him. There was a smile on his face as he looked down at her.
They came to a halt then with Thorn turning her toward an entrance. She looked in and couldn’t believe her eyes. There in the middle of the small room was Gorul. The very Dark who had killed Christina.
The Dark was surrounded by four Dragon Kings. Whatever they were doing kept the Dark from teleporting away. Gorul was turning in a circle looking at the Kings with c
ontempt. Then he spotted her.
He looked her up and down and sneered. “You should be dead.”
Thorn moved behind her and whispered, “They’ve been holding him for you.”
If there wasn’t such a surge of anger at seeing the Dark, she might have cried for what the Kings—and Thorn—were doing for her.
She glanced at Thorn and touched his hand as she walked into the cavern. Her gaze then turned to Gorul. “Taraeth didn’t keep me for himself.”
“As if I believe that,” Gorul said.
Lexi shrugged and stopped in front of him, her arms crossed over her chest. “I don’t give a damn what you believe. But I’m here. What does that tell you?”
“That you’re going to get what your friend got.”
For the first time in … days … Lexi wasn’t afraid. She knew the Kings were powerful. She knew they wouldn’t allow Gorul to do anything to her. Then there was the fact she had been through so much, as well as having killed a man.
She would have to deal with the ramifications of taking a life later, but for now Gorul didn’t scare her as he once had.
“You’re not going to lay a finger on me,” Lexi said. She felt Thorn move up beside her.
Gorul looked at Thorn before the Dark’s gaze slid to her. “You got yourself a Dragon King. It won’t matter. Not in the end.”
Con came in from another entrance that Lexi hadn’t seen. He stood opposite her behind Gorul. The Dark Fae swung around and began laughing when he saw Con.
“Your days are numbered, Constantine.”
Con stared at Gorul with soulless black eyes. With some unspoken command, Darius and the other three Kings guarding Gorul stepped back.
Lexi didn’t move. She was waiting to see who was going to kill the Dark. Watching the life fade from his eyes would finally give Christina justice.
“You attacked Dreagan,” Con’s voice rang clear and strong in the cavern. “You attacked and killed mortals on our land. You were part of a plan that took Lexi away from safety and attempted to take Shara.”
“She’s a traitor,” Gorul said of Shara. “She was Dark.”
“Was,” Con said softly.
“Taraeth has put a price on her head. They’ll be coming for her.”
“Let them try,” said a deep voice to Lexi’s right.
She turned her head to see a man with wheat-colored hair and shamrock green eyes blazing with a warning. He must be Shara’s King.
Lexi wondered what it would feel like to have Thorn come to her defense like that. She knew what it felt like to be in his arms and to witness his power. But to be the center of his world? It’s what she longed for.
How did she tell him she loved him? Thorn wasn’t like other men. Nothing they had done had been normal. How did she even know if there was anything more for them?
Gorul lunged at Con. Lexi expected him to be drawn up short from magic that kept him in the cavern, but there was nothing. Right before he reached Con, Thorn was there, holding Gorul’s arms behind his back.
“The almighty Constantine can’t fight his own battles?” Gorul asked.
“I willna be killing you,” Con stated.
Lexi was shocked when Thorn turned around with Gorul. He leaned close to the Dark’s ear and said, “She’s going to do it.”
Lexi didn’t hesitate in taking the blade Darius held out for her. All she kept seeing was Christina’s lifeless eyes, her cold, naked body laying so awkwardly on the wet cobblestones. Lexi took the few steps separating them and plunged the dagger into Gorul’s heart.
“You won’t be hurting anyone ever again,” she said before twisting the blade.
His face went gray as shock and surprise filled his red eyes. He struggled to draw in a breath before his eyes rolled back in his head, and he slumped in Thorn’s arms.
Lexi stared down at the Dark Fae who had taken something precious from the world in Christina. Now Lexi could call her parents and tell them the bastard had gotten his due.
She inhaled and looked around the room. The Kings each gave her a nod of approval before they walked from the room. When she tried to hand the dagger back to Darius, he gave a shake of his head with a little smile.
Con was the last to leave the cavern. He bent and hefted Gorul’s body over his shoulder before he too departed.
“Thank you,” she told Thorn.
“I promised he would be dealt with.”
“And I knew you would keep that promise. You could’ve killed him, and then shown me the body.”
Thorn’s gaze was penetrating. “I knew you needed to do this.”
She eyed Thorn, wondering why he looked as if he might be sick at any moment.
“I spoke to Ulrik,” she said to break the silence.
Thorn’s look grew even grimmer. “None of us can shift or fly now. I doona know how long it’ll last either. Did Ulrik hurt you in any way?”
“No, though I don’t know what his plans were. There was another man. He kept to the shadows, but he frightened me more than Ulrik. Then there was Kyle.”
Thorn ran a hand down his face. “You got free of him on your own. You’re a survivor.”
“They kept telling me you would never find me.”
“Nothing was going to keep me from you.”
If only he knew how her knees shook. She didn’t know if this was the end of her time with Thorn, and it made her heart break to think that it was.
Thorn swallowed and slowly walked to her. “I’m not good at this.”
“At what?”
Why did she have to be so damn beautiful? She had been through hell and back, and she stood there as if she could take on the Dark all by herself.
He was in awe of her.
She made him weak and strong, vulnerable and fierce all at the same time.
“This,” he said and motioned between the two of them. “I’ve never been here before.”
Her gray eyes held his, waiting for him to continue.
“I thought what I was feeling would go away. Then I kissed you. I’m drowning, Lexi, and I don’t know what to do.”
Her lips lifted in a soft smile. She reached out for his hand, and said, “Then we’ll drown together.”
Thorn hadn’t realized how much he feared that she would want to get far away from him until she spoke. He yanked her against him, kissing her deeply.
He pulled back, but cupped her face with his hands. “You know every secret I have. I want you in my life now and forever, Lexi Crawford. I want you as my mate.”
Her smile was radiant as she gazed up at him. “I’ve been yours from the very beginning. I’ll always be yours.”
“I love you.”
“And I, my Dragon King, love you.”
They were laughing through their kisses as they took their clothes off. Then Thorn lifted her so that her legs wrapped around his waist.
He turned them so her back was to the wall. She slowly slid down his cock, a sigh escaping her lips. Her nails dug into his back as he began to rock his hips.
Even as his life was turned upside down, there was one calm in the storm—Lexi. She was his, and he was hers.
For now and always.
EPILOGUE
Three days later …
Another couple wanting the mating ceremony. Con hadn’t been surprised after seeing the smiles Thorn and Lexi wore when they finally returned to the manor. And with the Kings’ enemies closing in, none of the couples wanted to wait any longer.
Con shut all four black velvet boxes. Then he rose and put on his suit jacket. He adjusted the gold dragon-head cuff links and grabbed the boxes.
His first stop was Iona’s room. She opened the door with a smile. Her blond hair was piled at the back of her head with long strands falling about her face.
Her black dress was lace at the bodice with a high neck and long lace sleeves. The back dipped into a V to her waist where the dress then fell in several layers of black tulle.
“This is from me welcoming you into o
ur family,” Con said and handed her a box.
Iona took the box and opened it, her mouth falling open. She picked up the necklace where a large black pearl hung with a diamond atop it. “It’s gorgeous. Thank you.”
Con bowed his head and smiled. “I’ll see you below.”
He closed the door behind him and walked down the corridor to Darcy’s room. Con rapped his knuckles on the door. As soon as he heard Darcy bid him enter, he opened the door.
Darcy turned from the mirror and held out her hands. “Do you think Warrick will like it?”
Con smiled as he looked at the strapless jade dress that came to mid-thigh at the front but dropped down to her ankles in the back. Around Darcy’s waist were crystals that matched her strappy stilettos. “I doona think Warrick will care what you wear. He’s going to be thinking of getting you out of it.”
Darcy looked down at herself. “I hope so. Is it time?”
“Almost. I came to give you this,” he said and handed her the box.
She took it, a frown marring her brow as she opened it. “Oh, my,” she murmured.
Con watched as she touched the five jade beads attached to the gold bracelet. She looked up at him in such surprise that he smiled.
“Let me,” he said and put it on her right wrist.
“Thank you. It’s perfect.”
Con winked at her and backed out of the room to go to the third mate—Grace.
Grace had come onto Dreagan to get past her writer’s block and finish her book. In the end, she found the love of Arian, who couldn’t live without her.
Con knocked on her door.
“Come in,” Grace’s muffled voice came through the door.
He opened the door and found her rushing about the room. There were a pair of silver stilettos waiting to be put on while Grace rushed about the room barefoot.
She wore a turquoise beaded gown that looked as if it came right out of the 1920s. The sleeveless, long-waisted dress flattered her thin frame and short blond hair. The front dipped low, showing ample cleavage while the bottom hem was scalloped.
“Grace,” Con said to get her attention.