Fire Rising (Dark Kings)

by Donna Grant

  Sammi began to smile. This was how she was going to get them off her trail for good. Or so she thought until fifteen minutes later when the climb went nearly vertical and her thighs burned so badly she could barely go another step.

  * * *

  Tristan let Banan have the man who remained behind in the Lexus as he took the two who raced after Sammi. He didn’t bother following them, because he knew they would take the same path Sammi had taken. Instead, he waited in the trees.

  He glanced over his shoulder to see Sammi make her way higher onto the mountain even if her ascent had slowed to a snail’s pace.

  But it was the men who had driven her to it. Anger coursed hotly, vibrantly … dangerously through him as he turned back to the approaching men. They wore jeans and plain dark-colored shirts, but there was no denying the glimpse of guns he saw tucked into the waist of their pants.

  Tristan flattened his back against a pine and waited until the two reached the trees and passed him. He took two steps after them.

  He lifted his arms and place a palm on each of their chests as he came up between them. They halted in surprise, giving him enough time to elbow one in the nose before he turned and punched the other in the face.

  Both men fell soundlessly to the ground.

  “You didna leave me one to play with,” Banan said as he rushed up, though there was no smile on his face.

  “They didna give me much sport either.”

  As one they turned to the mountain.

  “We could follow her,” Banan suggested.

  Tristan shook his head. “She’ll keep fighting us and try to sneak out again. She believes she’ll lead them to us.”

  “Aye,” Banan said with a loud sigh. “We can no’ tell her who we really are.”

  “She’s no’ stupid. She’ll figure it out when Jane doesna age.”

  Banan kicked a fallen log. “I know. Jane was trying to use that argument last night with me. The fact remains she can no’ be alone.”

  “I’ll follow her.”

  Banan eyed him with his gray gaze. “If she knows she’s being followed she’s likely to do something foolish.”

  “I’ll be in the sky. She’ll never know I’m there.”

  Banan nodded. “See to her then. I’ll take these two along with the one in the SUV and see if we can get anything out of them.”

  “Whoever is masterminding this can no’ know we’ve stopped them.”

  A sly smile pulled at Banan’s lips. “Oh, he willna. How easily you forget that Guy can wipe memories, my friend.”

  Tristan chuckled. He almost wanted to be there and be a part of hearing Ulrik’s name declared their leader. Then he thought of Sammi.

  “Keep her safe,” Banan said.

  He clapped Banan on the shoulder and rushed to the base of the mountain so he could get a better view of Sammi. He would wait until the cover of darkness before he took to the skies. Until then, he would have to follow her at a distance, but close enough to help if the Dark Fae decided to show themselves again.

  * * *

  It didn’t take long for Banan and the others to get the men to a secluded location. They had the three in chairs but didn’t bother with tying their hands or feet.

  “Wakey, wakey,” Laith said as he slapped the first man viciously.

  The man shook his head and blinked several times before he rubbed his jaw and looked around him. “Where am I?”

  Banan remained leaning against the wall. “Give me your name.”

  “Fuck you,” the man snarled.

  Rhys landed a hard punch in his kidney, leaving the man gasping for breath. “Let’s try that again.”

  “Name,” Banan repeated louder.

  “Stevens.”

  Banan didn’t press him for his whole name immediately. That would come later. There were more important issues at hand. “Who do you work for?”

  Stevens’s eyes grew large. “I can’t tell you.”

  Ryder rubbed his hands together as he walked around the three men. “I’ll tell you what we know. You’re English, you and your comrades apparently can no’ dress without talking to the others first, and you’re working for a man who has sent you after Samantha Miller.”

  “You left out that they couldna fight,” Laith said.

  Ryder nodded. “That’s right. Now, Stevens, your other two friends are still deep in dreamland. If you tell us what we want to know, they never have to know you were the one who told us.”

  Banan watched as Stevens considered Ryder’s words. Even before the man shook his head, Banan knew Stevens wouldn’t take the deal. Stevens and his team were highly trained military men. It was going to take a lot to break him.

  Now Banan wished he had kept Tristan with him so Tristan could use his mind tricks on the men and get the information they needed.

  “I can get the info from him,” Laith said.

  Banan flattened his lips. He could well imagine what Con would say if he knew what they were doing. At least it wasn’t on Dreagan land. “It may come to that.”

  Rhys stood in front of Stevens. “You know who and what the Dark Fae are, do you no’?”

  Reluctantly, Stevens nodded.

  “Do you know who we are?”

  “Aye. You’re from Dreagan.”

  Rhys exchanged a look with Banan before he asked, “Do you know what we are?”

  “What you are?” Stevens repeated as his gaze grew worried.

  Rhys seized the opportunity that presented itself. “So your master hasna told you about us.”

  “He has. We know everyone at Dreagan is dangerous.”

  “He got the dangerous part right,” Laith stated in a cold voice.

  Banan came to stand beside Rhys and looked at the men on either side of Stevens. “What else did your master tell you about us?”

  “It was need-to-know, and I didn’t need to know.”

  Just like a military man, used to taking orders. Banan grabbed the man by the throat and squeezed. “You’ve got one opportunity to tell me what your plan was for Sammi or I rip your throat out. I doona expect all three of you to walk out of here. The question is, will you be the smart one?”

  Stevens grabbed Banan’s hand and pushed back in his chair as he tried to get away. “We were to grab her,” he croaked out.

  He immediately released Stevens. “And take her where?”

  “We don’t get those orders until I call in and confirm we have her,” Stevens wheezed.

  Rhys crossed his arms over his chest. “Tell us who gives the orders.”

  “He’ll kill me,” Stevens said.

  “I’d be more afraid of us,” Con said as he casually strolled into the house.

  Banan eyed Con, whose gaze was directed at Stevens. As usual, Con was impeccably dressed. This time he wore a navy dress shirt and dove gray slacks.

  As if sensing he was fast losing ground, Stevens shook his head. “It doesn’t matter what you do to me. He’ll do worse.”

  “Then he obviously hasna told you who we really are,” Con said tightly. He then turned his head to Laith. “Show him.”

  “Gladly,” Laith said as he stripped off his shirt and walked outside.

  Con grabbed Stevens by the back of the neck and dragged him to the window. “Watch,” he ordered through clenched teeth.

  This was a side to Con Banan hadn’t seen in … ages. And Banan wasn’t so sure it was for the better. It was a mystery how Con knew where they had been.

  Banan knew the moment Laith shifted into a dragon, because Stevens’s face went white as death.

  Stevens stumbled backward and mumbled, “Jesus.”

  “Be more afraid of us,” Con told him, still holding the man in a firm grip. “Now tell us who your master is.”

  Stevens opened his mouth, but before he could get any words out, Dark Fae appeared around them.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Somewhere in a small cottage …

  Rhi wiggled her toes as she gazed at her toenails after ano
ther delightful pedicure along with a manicure. This time she chose a bright orange titled A Good Man-darin is Hard to Find, and as usual, her technician had come up with a new design that looked like a feather slanting diagonally along her nails in black and silver.

  “I think Jessie has outdone herself,” Rhi said with a smile.

  Her mani/pedi times were something she did as often as she liked. There was nothing like having those few precious hours being pampered.

  She set her new polish on the shelf with the others, making sure to put it with the other oranges she had. Her collection was never complete. At least not as long as they kept coming out with such great colors.

  Rhi stepped back and surveyed her shelf. Some people collected movies, CDs, or figurines. She collected nail polish. Excitement coursed through her as she realized it was just days away before OPI announced their new summer colors.

  “Hmm. I may have to get another shelf,” she said with a twist of her lips.

  Not that it mattered. She was Fae, a Light Fae to be perfectly clear, and she could acquire anything she wanted. The accord with the Dragon Kings stated that no Fae—Light or Dark—could remain on the realm of Earth for long periods of time. She tended to ignore that fact.

  Besides, she wasn’t the only Fae who was breaking the rules. The Dark were infesting Ireland.

  Rhi fell back on the mattress of her four-poster bed. The Kings had claimed Scotland while the Fae had chosen Ireland. Frankly, Rhi would have chosen somewhere like Bora Bora or Saint Lucia.

  Her smile faded as she thought of the matter at hand—the Dark. They had always been a nuisance to the Light, but they had done the unthinkable by kidnapping a Dragon King.

  Kellan couldn’t technically be called a friend, but he was the closest thing she had within the Dragon Kings. It was for him and his mate—Denae—that she had gone into the den of the Dark Fae to help them.

  In the process she’d learned the man that had been mentor, friend, and family hadn’t died in the Fae Wars as she had thought. He had turned Dark.

  Seeing Balladyn had brought back so many memories, including ones of her Dragon King lover. Though if she were honest, the memories of him were never far from her mind.

  Rhi winced as she heard her queen’s shout in her head telling her the Dark were attacking the Dragon Kings.

  “Do the idiots have a death wish?” she mumbled as she rose and looked for her new black combat boots. “Didn’t the war with the Kings tell the Dark dumbasses they couldn’t win?”

  Rhi finished tying the second shoe as she looked inward, into her mind’s eye to search for Dark Fae in Scotland. As soon as she located them, she used her magic to teleport to the house.

  She remained veiled to everyone for a heartbeat as she took in the situation. The Dark outnumbered the Kings three to one, and there were three mortals who joined in with the Dark. By the way Rhys glared at one of the mortals, Rhi suspected the Kings had been … speaking … to the humans before the Dark arrived.

  Rhi dropped her veil and materialized, her sword in hand. She spun and ducked beneath Laith’s fist to swing her sword up at the second Dark One fighting Laith.

  The blade, forged by the Light in the Fires of Erwar, was a death strike to a Dark. The evil bastard screamed as the metal poisoned his blood and he died a slow, painful death.

  She looked up to find Laith staring, his gunmetal eyes holding hers for a second before the battle drew them away.

  Rhi moved to her second victim, the feel of battle settling over her quickly and effortlessly. She might have to think on that later after she kicked some Dark Fae ass.

  Faces blurred and the yells from battle faded as she focused on one enemy after another while she moved about the room.

  She was just about to plunge her sword into the chest of a Dark when she was knocked from the side. She tucked her shoulder and landed so that she rolled to her back and then returned to her feet without jarring anything too harshly.

  When she stood once more, her gaze landed on none other than Balladyn. Just as the first time she’d seen him as a Dark Fae, it was like a kick in her stomach, leaving her wheezing for air.

  Balladyn’s red eyes gleamed as he wrapped his big hands around one of the three humans’ head, stopping the man in his tracks. With barely a twist of his hands, Balladyn broke the mortal’s neck.

  As if it was a signal, the two remaining humans were quickly dispatched, leaving only the Dark, the Kings, and Rhi.

  She twisted her wrist in a circle as she swung her sword around her. The man who had helped her grieve through her family’s death and the loss of her lover was gone. In his place stood a monster filled with only evil and malice.

  It was just her luck that Con zeroed in on Balladyn as well. Rhi teleported between the two before Con could attack Balladyn.

  “Rhi,” Con said with a grimace.

  She ignored the derision in his voice. “This one is mine.”

  Con’s black eyes narrowed as he looked over her shoulder to Balladyn. “Why?”

  Rhi gave Con a shove and whirled to face her ex-friend with her sword raised and ready.

  “Hello, pet,” Balladyn said in his Irish accent, using the nickname he’d given her when she was just a young Fae. “I should’ve known you’d do anything to spend time with this lot.”

  “I warned you to pick a side. I warned you that I would kill you.”

  “Dangerous times, remember, pet?” His red eyes blazed for a moment.

  Rhi hated the lump in her throat full of emotion for the man who had been a rock for her, a rock that had faltered and crumbled. Now she was going to have to kill him.

  She took a deep breath and swung her sword.

  In the space of a second, the Dark vanished. Rhi had used so much momentum in her attack that she couldn’t stop her sword. It clanged against the tiled floor.

  For long minutes she remained in that position while she tried to get her emotions under control after encountering Balladyn again so soon.

  “Who was that?” Con asked softly from beside her.

  Rhi hated that she hadn’t heard him approach. She lifted her sword and slid it into the scabbard she wore along her back. Of course Con would want to know the very thing she didn’t want to tell him.

  “Rhi,” Rhys said from across the room. “How did you know?”

  Ah. Something she could—and would—answer. “My queen told me. What was going on to bring the Dark to you?”

  Con stepped in front of her. “A situation. You’re no’ going to tell me who that was, are you?”

  “No,” she replied simply and walked around him. He could push her, especially since she couldn’t lie without experiencing great pain. Something Con knew all too well. “Dark Fae so close to Dreagan. That’s not a good sign.”

  Laith nudged one of the dead mortals with his foot. “And neither is the fact they killed these men.”

  She considered that for a moment. “They killed instead of rescued the mortals? That’s someone who doesn’t care who is lost. That sounds like Taraeth for sure.”

  “Have you seen him?” Con asked.

  He was being too nice, his voice too soft. It grated on her nerves. She saw Laith staring at her again. “No. Is Denae still safe?”

  “She’s with Kellan.”

  Which meant that of course she was. Rhi rolled her eyes. The conceit of the Dragon Kings. It didn’t help that they had every reason to be so arrogant. “Good.”

  She was about to teleport out of the house when Con’s hand latched onto her arm. Rhi turned her angry gaze to him. “What?” she demanded.

  “That Dark Fae knew you.”

  Rhi shrugged, noticing out of the corner of her eye that the other Kings were watching and listening intently. “If you’ll remember your history, the Dark were once Light who turned to the spells that would eat away at our souls.”

  “He knew you. You can no’ lie, and you can only evade the question for so long. Who is he?”

  Damn him, b
ut she hated Con. Thanks to her mother she had gotten the unenviable dilemma of feeling intense pain every time she tried to lie.

  “He used to be a friend,” she reluctantly answered.

  Ryder rubbed his jaw. “A close one by the use of the endearment.”

  “He’s my concern,” Rhi said. “I’ve answered your question. Let me go.”

  The fact that Con still had ahold of her only set her teeth on edge. Of course, he always rubbed her the wrong way. Their hatred was mutual, so it wasn’t as if she was hurt by his words.

  With deliberate slowness, Con released her and stepped back. “So you have.”

  “Rhi, wait,” Banan said before she could teleport away. “What have the Light discovered about the Dark’s intentions?”

  She shook her head and fisted her hands so she wouldn’t rub the spot Con had touched. “No more than what we’ve always known. They like to cause chaos and wreak havoc. I don’t know what any of you were thinking sending Kiril to Ireland to spy, but I wouldn’t leave him there for long. Already there are rumors circulating that a Dragon King is in Cork.”

  “Do they know it’s Kiril?” Con asked.

  “Not yet. He’s putting himself right in the middle of things. That can be disastrous.”

  “He’s a Dragon King.”

  Rhi bent and dusted off her combat boots. “Yeah. And if another one of your Kings is taken by the Dark again? What then?”

  “I willna be calling on you, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

  Now this was the Con she knew and hated. Rhi laughed as she straightened. “You didn’t the first time. I went in because it was Kellan, and I actually like him.”

  “And we appreciate that,” Banan said before Con could respond.

  Rhi pulled her gaze away from Con to look at Rhys, Laith, Ryder, and Banan. “I can’t show my face in Cork. Get word to Kiril that he’s probably going to be discovered soon.”

  “We need what he can get from the Dark,” Laith said.

  “So you put a King with a Scots accent in the middle of Fae territory? That’s smart,” she said sarcastically.