by Donna Grant
“You went to all that trouble to capture Kellan and now me just to ask us to step aside? I think no’.”
Balladyn began walking again, this time more slowly. He waited until Tristan was even with him before he said, “Of course not. There is something we’re looking for.”
“With all your magic, you can no’ find it?”
“No,” he said flatly. He motioned for Tristan to turn right. “It was hidden by the Kings.”
Tristan stared blankly as Balladyn searched his face. He had no idea what the Dark was going on about, but he would play along for the time being. “There’s a reason for that.”
“It was hidden before Constantine became the King of Kings. It was hidden by the first King of Kings and protected by his successors.”
Tristan wracked his brain for what it could possibly be, but he came up empty. “Why do you want it?”
“Do you ever wonder how Con became the King of Kings?”
“He was the strongest of the dragons.”
Balladyn shook his head. “Ulrik was stronger, but Ulrik didn’t want to rule everyone else. He wanted the Kings to rule themselves, but I’m getting ahead of myself. I’m talking about Con. Do you know how a King of Kings is chosen?”
“Of course.”
“Do you?” he asked thoughtfully. “There were four before Con, and each of them had very short reigns.”
“They were challenged by another Dragon King.”
Balladyn halted before a door. “Precisely. Ask Con what he did to be the next in line.”
Tristan hated that another person was putting doubt in his mind about Con. As far as he knew, Con was doing good in leading the Dragon Kings and running Dreagan.
But how much of the past didn’t he know? The others took it for granted or didn’t care. While Tristan was naïve because he was so new.
Ulrik had put the first seeds of doubt into his mind, and Balladyn was spreading them.
Damn but he hated the suspicion that now rose like a giant within him. Con and the others had welcomed him at Dreagan, they had shown him what it was to be a Dragon King.
But no one was perfect. Everyone made mistakes.
That included Con.
“Show me Sammi,” Tristan demanded again.
Balladyn gave a bow of his head and opened the door. It swung open and Tristan expected Sammi to come running up or hear her voice.
Instead, he saw her floating in midair on her back, her glorious mane of hair softly drifting as if the wind were stirring it.
Rage exploded inside him at the same time a healthy dose of trepidation churned in his gut.
“What did you do to her?” How he kept the fury from leaching into his voice he’d never know.
Balladyn stepped into the room and went to her, leisurely walking around her until she was between them. “We had no choice.”
“Explain that.” Tristan followed him in, but stopped when he reached Sammi. She looked peaceful, as if she were simply asleep.
But he knew better.
“Her mind snapped. She was hurting herself. She broke every bone in both hands. When we went in to calm her, she grew more uncontrollable. It was either this, or…”
Tristan met his red eyes over her body. The Dark didn’t need to finish. Tristan knew exactly the other option they could’ve used. He wasn’t sure why they hadn’t.
“It was a gesture of goodwill,” Balladyn said.
He had known it was coming, just not so soon. “What do you want? I’m already turning myself over to your custody in exchange for you releasing the mortal.”
“I want the location of what we seek.”
“And if I doona have it?”
“Then I’ll wake Sammi and allow the Dark to have her. You saw what they did to the other mortal. Can you imagine what they’ll do to her? A woman who has been with a Dragon King?”
Tristan reassessed his thoughts on Balladyn. The Dark One was clever, and he was banking on Tristan’s feelings for Sammi to get him what he wanted.
All Tristan wanted to do was gather Sammi in his arms and run like the wind. With her in her current state, she couldn’t hear or see him. Which could be to his benefit.
He could test his theory and turn and walk away, but he wasn’t likely to get very far. Besides, he had come in exchange for her. He couldn’t change his mind now.
“What will it be, Dragon King? Will you give me the location?” Balladyn pressed.
“You ask too much.”
“Is it so difficult to agree to wipe out the humans?”
Tristan sent a shout to Con through their link as he said to Balladyn, “It is. We were charged with protecting them.”
“Have you found Sammi?” Con asked.
“Aye. They have her deep within the palace. Lock onto my location and you’ll find us.”
“How is she?”
“They’ve used their magic to make her sleep. Balladyn said she lost her mind and they had no choice. He’s threatening to wake her and give her to the Dark if I don’t give him something in return.”
There was a loud snort from Con. “What does he want now?”
“The location to something he seeks, something he says was hidden by the King of Kings long before you.”
There was silence after his statement. That worried Tristan even as he pretended to listen to Balladyn lament about the humans.
“You know what he seeks.” Tristan stated the obvious, hating that Con didn’t trust him enough to tell him what it was.
“Aye.”
“But you willna tell me.”
“Tristan, you must understand that few of the Kings know of it. Kellan does because he records our history. I do because I’m the King of Kings.”
It made sense, and it also made Tristan feel better that he hadn’t been intentionally left out. “What is it?”
“Something you better hope never falls into their hands. It was hidden for a reason, Tristan.”
“I need to give him something so that he might let Sammi go.”
There was a long pause before Con said, “I’ll take care of that.”
“Well?” Balladyn urged. “Are you going to give me what I want, or shall I call in my fellow Dark?”
Tristan started to make up a lie about a location the object could be when shouting rang out through the palace. Balladyn’s eyes narrowed as he ran around Sammi’s body to the door.
“It’s Constantine!” a Dark shouted as he ran by.
Balladyn whirled around to glare at him. “Is this some trick?”
“Do you want me or do you want Con?”
“I’ll have both,” Balladyn snarled before he stalked out of the room, the lock clicking loudly into place.
Tristan spun about and reached out to touch Sammi. He hesitated, unsure of what kind of Dark Fae magic had been used to put her in such a state.
With a growl of frustration, Tristan tucked his arms beneath her and pulled her against him. Instantly, the magic holding her evaporated and her body slumped.
His anger grew when he felt the dampness of her clothes. She had been wet and cold, and the Dark had done nothing. He glanced at her hands to find them covered in dried blood. Had the Dark healed her broken bones? He doubted it. More worrying was Balladyn’s insistence that Sammi had lost her mind.
There was no telling what the Dark had shown her or done to her. A mortal, even one as strong as Sammi, could only take so much before they snapped.
Tristan turned to walk to the door when it crashed open and Ian filled the doorway, the pale blue skin of his god giving off an eerie light.
“You found her,” his brother said with a relieved smile. “Con let himself be known. The Dark are after him.”
Tristan hurried to Ian. “Only for so long. Balladyn wants both of us. He’ll be back soon.”
“He willna expect you to have gotten out of the room,” Ian said with a sly grin.
“What did you do?”
Ian held up his pale blue-skinned hand a
nd the long light blue claws as they raced down the hallway. His smile showed the fangs protruding, and his eyes were the same pale blue from corner to corner as his skin. “I may no’ be able to do magic, but I can sense it. The Dark, or more precisely, Balladyn’s is interesting. Getting through his magic was like picking a lock.”
“That’s fascinating since the Dark can prevent us from shifting into dragon form. How are you no’ affected by it?”
“I didna say that,” Ian said while wrinkling his nose. “The Dark are worse than the droughs we battled.”
There were no more words as Ian moved ahead of him and scouted out approaching Dark. They found the hallways clear of everyone. Tristan just hoped Con would be able to get out. He didn’t want to return to Dreagan and tell everyone the King of Kings was being held by the Dark.
“Wait,” Tristan said to stop Ian. When Ian faced him, Tristan carefully placed Sammi in his arms. “Find the others and get out of here. If I know Sammi is with you, then I can fight the Dark as I want.”
“You’re going after Con.”
“I am.”
Ian nodded gravely. “Be careful.”
“Take care of her, brother,” Tristan said before he turned away.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Ian used the speed of his god to get him out of the palace and back into the tunnels in record time. It helped that the Dark were more concerned with catching Con than patrolling the corridors.
As soon as Ian entered the tunnel he started backtracking the way they had come. He had gone twenty steps before he encountered a huge beast that resembled a worm. It inched its way through the tunnel, lifting its head as if sniffing the air.
Ian slid his back against an outcropping of stone and watched the worm-creature slowly move past. As soon as it did, he moved around the outcropping, but he moved more cautiously. Who knew what he might encounter next.
He held Sammi tightly, all the while wishing he was with Tristan, fighting beside him. But Tristan has given him something to guard, something that was precious to him—Sammi.
Ian had to get Sammi out to the other Dragon Kings. Once they had her, then Ian could return to Tristan’s side. He had lost his brother once, and by some miracle had him back again. He wasn’t going to lose him a second time, not if he could help it.
He reached the main tunnel where they had branched off into three groups without incident. Ian had taken one step before he was grabbed roughly by both arms and shoved to the right.
Ian’s gaze clashed with Phelan’s before he looked over and found Charon. Charon put a hand to his lips and then pointed over his shoulder.
There Ian saw an animal he couldn’t make out, on its back with all twelve of its legs bent in death. But if it was dead, why were they being quiet?
“We killed the baby,” Phelan whispered.
The scream of outrage from the mother as it nudged its baby was earsplitting.
“We need to get out now,” Ian told them in a hushed tone.
Charon jerked his chin to Sammi. “Where is Tristan?”
“With Con.”
Phelan tamped down his god, his gold skin, claws, and eyes changing back to normal. “What happened to her?”
“They used magic,” Ian explained.
Phelan let one claw lengthen as he sliced open his wrist and let a few drops of his blood fall into Sammi’s mouth. Ian waited impatiently. With Phelan being half-Fae, his blood could heal anything, except death.
Ian just hoped it worked against the magic of a Dark Fae.
“Damn,” Charon muttered when there was no change in Sammi. “Why is there blood on her hands?”
Phelan shrugged. “We get her back to the Dragon Kings now.”
Charon smiled as he looked at Phelan. “Looks like we’ve got to kill us the mother.”
“Let’s get to it,” Phelan said as he walked to the beast while he released the primeval god within him.
Ian could do nothing but watch Phelan with his gold skin and Charon with his copper skin battle the creature. Even with both of them, it took longer than Ian expected, which proved how formidable the animals from the Fae world were.
Ian was standing beside his friends when the mother fell beside her baby. The three immediately started for the doorway. There was no time to think about what they might encounter next or to wonder where Tristan and Con were.
“There,” Phelan said and pointed ahead of them. “That’s the doorway.”
Ian couldn’t wait to get through it and out of the world of the Dark Fae. Before they reached the doorway, a dozen Dark surrounded them.
* * *
All Tristan had to do to find Con was follow the mass of Dark Ones running through the palace to the great hall. Tristan sidled up against a wall and peered over the side down to the middle of the hall where Con lounged in a chair as if he were a regular guest.
“Constantine,” Taraeth said as the crowd parted for him to walk to Con.
Con looked like a king, even as he sat with nothing on but a pair of ripped, faded jeans. “Taraeth. I wondered how long it would take you to come to me. The last time I saw you I put the scar on your face. Then I saw nothing but your ugly arse as you ran away while the rest of the Dark were slaughtered by my Dragon Kings.”
Tristan saw Balladyn on the opposite side of the hall, leaning over the railing on the same floor as Tristan. Balladyn looked amused more than angry, like the rest of the Dark.
“Aye, but who’s ruling the Dark now?” Taraeth taunted.
Con glanced down to Taraeth’s missing limb. “A Dark who had his arm cut off by a mortal wielding the blade of a Light.”
“She will pay for it.”
“No’ likely. She’s the mate to Kellan. They’ve been bound, Taraeth. You know what that means.”
The Dark hissed, his red eyes flashing dangerously. “I already have Tristan. Now I have you.”
Con’s laugh made the Dark shift uneasily, their worried glances telling Tristan just how much they feared Con.
“You doona have me,” Con said.
Taraeth spread his arms wide. “You’re in my palace, Dragon King, surrounded by my men. I have you, all right.”
“Is that right?”
“You know it is. You can no’ escape us.”
Con slowly stood. As one, the Dark took a step back. Tristan grinned. The Dark Ones talked big, but they feared the Dragon Kings, most especially Con.
“Are you out?” Con’s voice filled his head.
“I’m watching you. It’s quite a show you’re putting on.”
“Where is Sammi?”
“With Ian. I alerted Rhys and the others to expect them soon.”
“But we doona know if they’ve gotten out.”
“Is that what you’re waiting on? Trust me. Ian will get Sammi out.”
“You trust the Warrior that much?”
“He’s my brother,” Tristan answered.
“Let’s get out of this place then.”
* * *
Charon let out a bellow and attacked the Fae. Phelan was right behind him. Ian ducked a blast of magic as he realized he couldn’t fight with Sammi in his arms, but neither could he put her down.
There was a loud crash and the unmistakable sound of a dragon’s roar. Ian looked up to find Rhys in the tunnel, his yellow scales bright in the darkness as he reared up on his hind legs and swiped at the Dark with his front.
In a flurry, the Dark began to attack Rhys, their intent to make him shift back into human form. But Ian could help with that.
He handed Sammi to Phelan. “Get her out now. Rhys and I will follow shortly.”
Phelan didn’t argue as he made his way to the doorway thanks to Rhys’s dragon body blocking it from the Dark. Ian stepped in front of Rhys and used the power of his god to block the magic pelting Rhys. Then he deflected it back at the Dark.
Together, he and Rhys turned the tide. Charon beheaded two Dark before he followed Phelan out of the doorway.
“Go!
” Ian bellowed to Rhys.
Rhys receded out of the doorway with Ian walking backward while continuing to block the magic. As soon as they were through, Charon tackled him to the ground while Laith dove from the sky to attack any Dark Ones that tried to follow.
Ian scrambled up and ran to Sammi where Phelan had laid her on the grass. The sun was coming up, its golden rays hitting the grass.
Phelan tamped down his god and was talking as Ian approached, and that’s when he saw Sammi’s eyes open. Ian quickly let his claws and fangs retract while his skin and eyes returned to normal.
“It’s all right,” Phelan said soothingly. “You’re all right, Sammi.”
She looked from Phelan to Ian. “This isn’t real.”
“It is, lass.” Ian smiled as he helped her sit up. “Look. You’re out in the fresh air.”
“I was before too,” she said as her voice rose and she tried to scoot away.
Phelan easily held her as he glanced at Ian. Ian took a deep breath and grabbed Sammi’s shoulders. “You’re really free, Sammi. Tristan went in and found you. He’s the one who asked me to bring you out.”
“Where is Tristan?” she asked as she looked around.
There was a wildness still visible in her gaze, but she had calmed down. “He went to help Con.”
Her forehead furrowed deeply. “Con?”
“He came to help rescue you,” Phelan said. “We all did. Look around, lass.”
As if just noticing the battle, Sammi’s eyes widened and her mouth slackened. “Bloody hell.”
“Come on,” Ian said as he got her to her feet. “We need to get you out of here.”
She yanked her arm out of his hold. “Not without Tristan.”
Ian considered her for a moment. Tristan loved this woman, but did she love him? “Why?”
“Because … because I need to see him.”
It wasn’t a confession of love, but there was something there. Ian suspected that Sammi wasn’t used to voicing her feelings, and if anyone was going to hear those words, it was going to be Tristan.
The Dark drew closer to them, and this time it was Sammi that grabbed his arm. Phelan flanked her other side to protect her when a Dark got through the Kings.