by Donna Grant
Never had he thought his home would be filled with humans. He didn’t begrudge the Kings their mates.… Actually, he did. His reasons were purely his own, and something that no one would ever know—not even Kellan, Keeper of History.
He leaned forward and reached for the report Henry had given him before leaving to follow Anson, Kinsey, and Esther to Kyvor in London. In the papers, Con saw that the Dark’s movements had slowed considerably from even a few weeks before.
As he flipped through the pages of maps marked with red dots to indicate the Dark, he noticed that while there was still a high concentration of them in Ireland, they didn’t seem to be gathering as if for war.
The Dark Fae would always be a problem until they were wiped from this realm, but in order to send them away, the Light would also have to leave. And Con knew there would be quite a few Kings—and Warriors—upset about Rhi no longer being around.
But that was the least of his worries.
The Dark’s attacks on humans had ceased suddenly, which was a worry in and of itself. They were up to something.
Then there was Ulrik. Con squeezed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger as he thought of his old friend. Several of the Kings thought Con was responsible for Ulrik being what he was.
Perhaps he was. But the real person responsible was Ulrik. He could’ve let go of his rage and bitterness instead of letting it infect him to such a degree.
But passing the blame would do nothing to solve the current situation. Ulrik could shift. That still sent Con into a panic, because at any moment, Ulrik could wake the Silvers and call to them.
No amount of magic in the universe could stop the Silvers from getting to their King. Ulrik reunited with his dragons meant eradication of the mortals on a global scale.
If that wasn’t enough, there was Usaeil. It was tough to admit, but Con had misjudged the situation with her. Epically. Now, he was trying to clean up his mess without dragging any of the Kings into it, while still keeping ahead of his enemies.
It was enough to make him want to bellow his rage and frustration. Yet he kept it all inside. Because to release it would only do more harm.
“Con!” Ryder’s voice shouted in his head.
He immediately pushed away from his desk and stood, hurrying up the flight of stairs to the computer room. “What is it?” he asked.
Ryder’s brows were drawn together as he furiously typed on the image of a keyboard that glowed atop the table. “Hang on.”
Patience was still something Con worked to acquire. He walked around the rows of monitors to see what Ryder was doing. Each screen showed something different.
Some were for the hidden cameras monitoring the grounds—while keeping an eye on the MI5 agents still nosing around. Others were searching the realm using facial recognition for Ulrik.
“Look,” Ryder said and pointed to a screen on the right.
Con’s gaze moved to the monitor and froze when he saw an image in the background of a photo. “V.”
“This was just posted, but it was taken a month ago. I’d love to have a full view of his face.”
“It’s him.” Con leaned in closer to the screen. “Where was he?”
“Belgium.”
Con straightened, dread filling him. As if he needed another problem to contend with. “Of all places. I didna expect him to go where the mortals are.”
“They’re everywhere now. Where could he go?”
“Have there been any deaths reported?”
“None.”
For long seconds, Con started at the picture of V. His brown hair was longer than before, but there was no denying the wrath that dwelled in V’s blue eyes. “Are you sure?”
“He’s no’ killed.”
The ‘yet’ went unsaid. Con fisted his hands when Ryder showed another picture. This one had been taken in a pub, and there was a woman atop V’s lap.
And then it hit Con. “I know what he’s doing.”
“Then please share, because I certainly don’t.”
He turned his head and met Ryder’s hazel eyes. “He’s searching for his sword.”
“Fuck me.”
Con took a deep breath and looked at the monitor once more. He recalled all too well what had occurred the last time V woke and went looking for his sword. There had been so much death. By the time Con realized what had happened, a mass extinction of human life had occurred.
“Maybe you shouldna have woken him,” Ryder said.
“We’re going to need everyone. Even V.” He just thought he’d get to talk to V first.
Ryder reached into the box beside him and drew out a donut. “There’s no use going to Belgium to find him. I’m sure he’s already moved on. He willna stop looking for his sword. Though you could end his torment and tell him where to go.”
Con counted to ten, then twenty, before he was calm enough to say, “I know the region. I doona know where the sword is. V will destroy that place if he knows where to go.”
“He’ll figure it out soon enough.”
That much was true. If only he could talk to V, but the stubborn King wouldn’t respond via the mental link. “Keep an eye out for V, but we’ve got bigger problems closer to home.”
“The spy,” Ryder said with a nod. “How are Kellan and Asher coming with that?”
That was a good question. “They’re making progress.”
“Listen, while you’re here, I wanted to let you know that I got a hit regarding Ulrik.”
Finally, some good news. He really needed some of that at the moment because he was drowning in shite. “What is it?”
On another monitor, an image filled the screen. Con’s excitement faded. “That isna Ulrik.”
“I know. At first, I thought it was. Whoever this is, looks so much like him that it even fooled my software.”
“Who is he?”
Ryder shrugged. “As soon as I figure that out, I’ll let you know.”
There was something about the way the man in the picture tilted his head that made Con think of Ulrik.
“I guess it’s true what the humans say, huh? We all have a twin.”
“No’ us,” Con said.
Con left the computer room and made his way back to his office. With the door closed, he walked to his desk and sat. Then he opened the middle drawer and took out the file he’d begun.
One by one, he was removing each King’s name from the list of suspects. He didn’t for a moment believe it was one of his men who was passing Ulrik their secrets, but he wanted to be thorough.
Hopefully, the name he came up with matched what Kellan and Asher brought to him.
Con put his elbows on his desk and dropped his head into his hands. Ulrik had said he wanted to rip Con’s world apart, and he was certainly doing it. There wasn’t a single aspect that wasn’t coming apart at the seams.
He couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept or eaten. In order to deal with everything, he had to prioritize things. V, unfortunately, was last.
The King was a ticking time bomb. By believing V could wait, it could all blow up in Con’s face worse than before.
The strange Light Fae who’d shown up a few days before and spoken to Roman was something else that Con shoved to the bottom of the list. The Fae had disappeared before they could talk to him or even find out who he was.
Though the Fae’s arrival did prompt Con to have the magical shield surrounding Dreagan strengthened. It was meant to keep out the Dark, but with Usaeil bordering on neurotic, he was thinking of making sure no Fae could get in.
That would also include Rhi. But he wasn’t sure that was a bad thing.
The Kings needed to remember that the Fae weren’t part of their world. The Light were allies, but not friends.
Con winced as he realized he couldn’t include the Light. Kiril would never forgive him if his mate, Shara, couldn’t remain on Dreagan.
He squeezed his eyes closed. Why couldn’t anything be easy? If he made even the slightest
wrong decision, it could ruin everything they’d built.
The purpose of remaining in the realm was so that, one day, they could return the dragons. He’d already lost countless centuries with his family. However, that didn’t compare to not knowing if the dragons had found a safe place to live. For all he knew, they’d been wiped out.
He clenched his hands into fists and slammed them down on his desk in aggravation.
There was a way to end it all. All he had to do was lift Ulrik’s banishment and welcome him back to Dreagan. Then, together, they would lead the Kings on a worldwide hunt of every mortal until they were wiped out.
Ulrik would no longer be his enemy. No more would the Kings have to hide who they were from the mortals. The Fae would have no more reason to remain. But most of all, the dragons would be able to return.
It seemed like the easiest choice. Right up until he recalled the vow he’d made to protect the weak humans.
That promise ensured that he would remain on his path, but the temptation to bring back his family and the Golds was so enticing that he could practically taste it.
If Ulrik knew his thoughts, his friend would laugh, but that’s why Con kept his feelings and views to himself. None of the others could know how easily he could be swayed to join Ulrik.
It had been nearly impossible to refrain from helping Ulrik kill the first time. Now, after having lost so much and suffered for so long, he wouldn’t be able to say no.
He was King of Kings, the one dragon who decided the course of action and made sure the others followed. Everyone trusted his decisions, even if they did balk every once in a while. They wouldn’t be Dragon Kings if they didn’t show their power.
He took a deep breath and relaxed his hands, stretching out his fingers. Then he lifted his head and looked at the names again.
Because of the size of Dreagan, they had many mortals working for them. As far as Con knew, none of the humans realized they worked for dragons.
Yet he’d learned that mortals could be crafty and devious when it served them. He needed to investigate each of them. It wouldn’t matter how much Ulrik hated the humans if he could use one. More than likely, Ulrik had recruited one to spy, someone who was already a worker at Dreagan.
Since they hadn’t hired any new employees in over a year, that left all one hundred and nineteen personnel to sort through.
Con turned in his chair and looked out his window. He saw the still house. The first name on the list was Travis MacBane. It was time Con learned all there was to know about Travis.
It would be so much easier if Ryder were gathering the information. Con might not have all of those computers at his disposal, but he knew his way around Ryder’s software enough to use it.
Con retrieved the laptop from a drawer and logged into Ryder’s system.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
It was Dmitri’s fingers on her cheek that woke her. Faith couldn’t believe she’d fallen asleep. She looked at Muscles to find him watching her.
“I didn’t snore, did I?” she asked.
“You only drooled a little,” he replied with a straight face. Then he smiled.
She elbowed him, laughing. Despite everything that had happened, she was actually happy. Until she thought about the two deaths.
Turning her mind from that, she looked at the inside of the helicopter. The seats were mostly black with white accents, just like the outside of the chopper.
The luxury was staggering. It was so quiet, she could barely hear the blades. The leather was soft, the seats wide and comfortable.
She didn’t get a chance to discover more about the aircraft because Dmitri pointed out the window. She looked to see rugged mountains capped with snow, waterfalls, and wide valleys. It was easy enough to trace a waterfall to a stream that fed into a wide, rock-lined river that snaked its way to a loch. Everywhere she turned was nature at its finest.
Faith wasn’t sure when, but sometime while she took in the grandeur, she realized they were on Dreagan. She looked at Dmitri to find him gazing at the land with what could only be described as love.
It was there in his eyes, in the way he smiled. And if he spoke, she knew she would hear it in his voice and words, as well.
To have such feelings for two places. She’d seen his love of Fair Isle, though it held some bad memories, as well. It was Dreagan where he had gone to hide and remember he was a Dragon King.
It was Dreagan where he and the others had rooted themselves in the land and culture. They worked hard, giving the world the best—and most expensive—whisky available.
His head swung to her. She smiled and cupped his face. He loved two places, and she didn’t love any. She wondered if he knew how lucky he was.
Her thoughts halted when Rhys turned around and told her to look out the other side. That’s when she saw the white buildings with the red roofs.
Then she saw the mountain rising up behind them. Dreagan. People came from all over to tour the distillery, but she doubted many had the view she was getting.
Her mouth dropped open when she spied the gray stone manor. She could understand how she’d missed it since it seemed to be a part of the mountain.
Lily flew them around the manor so Faith could see the soaring towers. Though she didn’t know much about architecture, she could see notes of Romanesque, Gothic, Baroque, as well as hints of Neoclassical in the manor.
And what a grand place it was.
She didn’t need to go inside to see that history fairly dripped from every stone and window. That didn’t even cover the manicured grounds surrounding the manor that then fed into a pasture where sheep and cattle grazed.
All too soon, they landed, and the engine was shut off. With the tour ended, she had no choice but to climb out of the helicopter.
She grabbed Dmitri’s hand and took her first step on Dreagan land. Her gaze moved around her, trying to take in everything. It was Dmitri’s laugh that made her stop.
“You can explore as much as you’d like,” he told her as he squeezed her hand.
“I like the sound of that.”
Rhys and Lily were already headed to the house when Dmitri made to follow. She tugged him to a stop. “What of the bones.”
“They’ll be fine for now.”
She wasn’t so sure of that, but he knew Dreagan better than she.
“No Dark can come onto Dreagan without us knowing,” he said as they headed toward the manor.
“That’s good to know.”
They entered from a side door into what appeared to be a formal room of some kind since there were several sofas and chairs scattered about.
It was hard to miss that every painting on the walls had a dragon of some kind in it. As they passed out of that room into a corridor, Faith realized that there were dragons everywhere, not just in the paintings.
They were in the little touches of the architecture itself, carved into a door handle or in the molding around the doorways. How could anyone walk into the manor and not realize that it was the home of dragons?
“I love seeing people’s faces,” Lily said.
Faith blinked and noticed that Dmitri, Lily, and Rhys were all watching her. She hadn’t realized they’d stopped until then.
She held out her arms. “Look at this place. It’s so beautiful I can hardly take it all in.”
“We’re glad you approve,” Rhys said with a crooked grin.
Dmitri grunted. “Aye. We’ve only worked on it for a couple of millennia.”
The four of them laughed in response. She couldn’t believe how easy it was to fit in. Or maybe, she just wanted to so badly that she’d convinced herself she did.
Lily then said, “Why don’t I show Faith to her room so she can shower and rest.”
“I’m fine,” she quickly replied. The thought of not being with Muscles frightened her.
Dmitri lifted her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it. “I need to check in with Con. Go with Lily. I’ll be there shortly.”
She and Lily walked around a corner to a massive staircase with a carved banister that also boasted dragons. When she was halfway up, she looked back to find Dmitri at the bottom watching her.
Faith was smiling when she looked forward, only to feel Lily’s gaze on her. “What?”
“For any Dragon King to share his secret is a major event. That means there’s something between the two of you.”
Faith shrugged, unsure of how much to tell Lily. “I know it was a big deal for Dmitri to tell me anything.”
“How did it happen?”
Their steps slowed as they reached the first landing and continued up to the second. “A Dark pushed me off a cliff. Dmitri made a decision to save me.”
“He shifted,” Lily said, her words laced with shock.
She nodded. “I saw him in his true form. Then I saw him change back.”
“I’m not surprised he went against Con’s orders not to shift. He did it to save you.”
“I knew he wasn’t supposed to shift, but I thought it was to keep people from seeing him.”
Lily shrugged absently. “That’s part of it. Ever since that video, people are actively searching for dragons. So, did you run from him?”
“No.” She stopped and faced Lily. “I was scared, briefly. But then I realized that he wouldn’t save me only to kill me. I also knew what I’d already found in that cave. A skeleton means there were—or are—dragons.”
Lily’s smile was wide. “I’m liking you more and more.”
They continued walking. Faith then said, “I don’t really know what to do here.”
“You don’t have to do anything.”
“I’m not used to having nothing to occupy my time.”
Lily turned and went up the next flight of stairs. “I’m sure Dmitri will take you to his mountain to bury the bones. You were the one who found them, after all.”
“How did you come to Dreagan?”
Lily’s smile held a bit of sadness. “I was hired to work in the shop, selling items to tourists. I was also hiding from an abusive ex-boyfriend.”