Torched

by Donna Grant

  “You’ve shown your true colors,” Mikkel stated.

  Ulrik smiled. “I’ll show you my true colors.”

  And with that, he shifted. Ulrik shook out his head and slammed his tail on the ground, causing it to shake. Since Mikkel’s magic was still bound, he wouldn’t be able to shift.

  Which meant the battle wouldn’t last long at all.

  Ulrik inhaled, ready to release dragon fire at Mikkel. But the son of a bitch moved too close to where Donal lay unmoving, and Ulrik couldn’t chance it.

  “If you didn’t care about the humans so much, you would’ve killed me,” Mikkel said with a laugh.

  Ulrik didn’t care about them. But Donal was different. He was Eilish’s father, and that meant he was exempt from Ulrik’s disgust.

  With a growl, Ulrik rammed his head into the tree Mikkel hid behind, the same time he surrounded his uncle with magic that pressed in on him from all sides. Mikkel’s screams were music to Ulrik’s ears.

  He grabbed the fallen tree, roots and all, and tossed it away so he could get to Mikkel. But his uncle scurried away again. Out of the corner of his eye, Ulrik saw Eilish hunched over to keep out of sight as she made her way to her father. Once she reached him, she grabbed his arms and began to pull him farther away.

  Ulrik threw back his head and roared as he opened the mental link and said to his uncle, “You will die. Stop hiding and face me.”

  “I’m not hiding.”

  “You bloody well are. But you forget how keen a dragon’s eyesight is.”

  Mikkel moved from behind a tree, his face twisted with contempt. “You fuckin’ bastard! How dare you throw that in my face! You were no’ supposed to have your magic unbound before me!” he bellowed.

  “Shall I cry for you? How about, instead, I tell you what it feels like to take to the skies again?”

  His uncle released a battle cry and threw volley after volley of magic. Try as Ulrik might, it eventually became difficult to stand against it. He was able to deflect some of the twisted, offensive magic, but not enough. To his horror, he realized he was weakening.

  Being in his true form gave him added strength, but he wasn’t able to move as quickly. Ulrik shifted back to his human visage and dove to miss another round of magic while sending his own at Mikkel.

  When he got to his feet, he stilled as his gaze landed on Mikkel, who had Eilish on her knees before him. She held her head in both hands, doing her best not to scream.

  Ulrik didn’t know what Mikkel was doing, but he wouldn’t be able to do it after Ulrik ripped his head from his body. As he prepared to launch an attack on his uncle, Ulrik noticed that the marks on Eilish’s arms were blazing red now and twisting over her skin on their own.

  “How does it feel to know you’ll be responsible for another mortal’s death?” Mikkel asked gleefully. “Eilish was mine. You should’ve left well enough alone.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Ulrik asked.

  Before the words finished, Mikkel disappeared. Ulrik spun, waiting for the attack. He had his magic up and ready to deflect whatever his uncle had planned. The minutes passed while Eilish began to scream, tears coursing down her face. His gut wrenched with the agony she was enduring. And he could stop it. All he had to do was go to her. It’s what Mikkel wanted.

  And this time, Ulrik would give it to him because he could do nothing else. It was Eilish, after all.

  He rushed to her and broke the hold of his uncle’s magic with his own. Just as he was reaching to help Eilish up, Mikkel appeared and thrust the finger rings into Ulrik’s chest, raking down his front.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  Time froze. But Eilish’s heart pounded so hard, she could actually feel it knocking against her ribs.

  Her gaze was riveted on Ulrik. He looked down at his chest as Mikkel vanished. The pain that contorted Ulrik’s face made her blood turn to ice. He dropped to his knees, and his eyes rolled back in his head.

  “No,” she whispered as she rushed to him.

  She grabbed Ulrik before he fell forward. It took all of her strength and some of her magic to keep him from landing on his face. She managed to turn him onto his back. Then her eyes locked on the blood.

  It rushed from him as if being forced out with a pump. She knew he was immortal, so she waited for his body to begin to heal. But as the minutes passed and nothing happened, she became frantic.

  Eilish looked over her shoulder at Donal. She didn’t have her finger rings, and she couldn’t carry either of them, much less figure out how to get Ulrik and Donal out of the forest. With her hand over the gaping slashes on Ulrik’s chest, she fought to staunch the blood, but it seeped through her fingers and pooled on either side of him.

  She’d isolated herself upon arriving in Ireland. There were no friends or allies she could call. The two she had were lying unconscious beside her. Her mind was frantically trying to come up with a solution. She didn’t know why Ulrik wasn’t healing, but she knew it wasn’t good.

  “Ulrik,” she said. “Open your eyes. I need you to look at me.”

  She felt her stomach tighten, fighting the wave of anguish that washed over her. But she only allowed herself a few seconds of it before she took a deep breath and fortified herself. She sniffed and looked around.

  There had to be some way to get them out of there. She wasn’t keen on remaining in case Mikkel returned. And whatever the bastard had done to Donal, it wouldn’t go away anytime soon. She tried to use her magic to see if she could reverse what had been done, but Donal didn’t even twitch.

  Eilish swiveled her head back to Ulrik, her gaze landed on the silver cuff circling his wrist.

  “Yes,” she hissed before she took it off and put it on her own wrist.

  Now, she just had to hope that it wasn’t warded to only work for him. She jumped to her feet and grabbed Donal’s arm to pull him closer to Ulrik.

  By the time she returned, blood had soaked Ulrik’s front. She covered his wounds again and moved his hand so that he and Donal were touching.

  But where did she take them? Where was the one place they’d be safe?

  The answer was simple: Dreagan.

  Without a second’s hesitation, Eilish thought of Dreagan and Constantine. Then she touched the cuff as she’d seen Ulrik do. She blinked and found herself in a darkened cave illuminated by lights with no electrical cords anywhere to be seen.

  “What the hell,” said a deep brogue behind her.

  Eilish kept her hand on Ulrik’s wounds and looked over her should. “Please. I need Constantine.”

  “Why?” the man asked as others gathered.

  She twisted to better see him. Cobalt eyes pinned her. “Ulrik needs help.” She jerked her chin to Donal. “My father needs help.”

  “How the hell did you get here?” another asked.

  She briefly closed her eyes, fighting to remain calm. “I’ll answer every damn question you have. But, please! Help them.”

  The group parted, and a man in a dark suit walked toward her. The neck of his white dress shirt was unbuttoned, and she saw gold dragon head cufflinks at his wrists. With the wavy, blond hair and emotionless, black eyes, she had a feeling she was looking at Constantine, King of Dragon Kings.

  A moment later, Sebastian moved to stand beside Con. What had she expected, though? After all the various deeds she’d done for Mikkel, she would have to face the shitstorm. The way Sebastian’s topaz eyes narrowed on her, she knew it would only be a matter of time before the memories she’d buried deep within his subconscious found their way forward.

  “I know you,” Sebastian said in a low voice.

  She nodded and motioned him forward with one hand. He hesitated before coming to stand before her. Eilish then put a hand on his leg and removed the spell she’d used on him.

  Sebastian took a step back, his brows locked together as he frowned at her. “You were with Mikkel in Venice.”

  Eilish leaned over Ulrik to put more pressure on his wounds. “
Yes. And I’ll endure whatever punishment you have for me, but please, help Ulrik.”

  “Why?” Con asked.

  She gaped at him. “Ulrik isn’t healing. He told me you could heal anything.”

  “So you know me?”

  Eilish was on the verge of losing her cool. She was frantic for Ulrik as his blood continued to pour through her fingers, and frustrated that none of the Kings seemed to care.

  “Yes!” she bellowed, letting her fury show. “At least, I know you from Ulrik’s description. Don’t you care at all that he’s injured? Shouldn’t you be concerned that Mikkel has something that can do this?”

  A King with short, black hair, and green eyes stood with his arms crossed over his chest. “After what Ulrik tried to do to Rachel in Paris, perhaps we should let him die.”

  Another with chocolate eyes and long, blond hair pulled away from his face shrugged indifferently. “You wouldna have to worry about fighting him, Con.”

  “He’d do it to you,” someone else said.

  Toward the back, another said, “Ulrik wouldna.”

  “You’re all a bunch of assholes,” Eilish stated.

  She felt her anger rising as it had when her aunts tried to take her. But she didn’t stop it. She let it build, welcoming the darkness Ulrik had warned her about. Coming to Dreagan had been a mistake. She knew that now. She was silly to think that the Dragon Kings would help Ulrik.

  And all this time, she’d hoped to change Ulrik’s mind about attacking them. She moved her hand to touch the cuff. She didn’t know where she’d go, but she wasn’t going to leave Ulrik there to die among those who had banished him.

  Then a hand closed around her wrist, stopping her.

  Her gaze lifted to stare into inky orbs. Con had moved so swiftly, she hadn’t seen him. Yet it was the strength she felt in his grip that gave her pause.

  “Why?” he whispered.

  She glanced down at Ulrik. “Because he warned me about Mikkel. Because he had opportunities to kill me and didn’t. Because he looked for me when Mikkel took me. But, mostly, because I love him.”

  Without looking away from her, Con said, “Darius, you and Thorn take the mortal into a cavern. I’ll be there shortly.”

  “You’re helping Donal?” she asked.

  Con gave a nod of his head. “But I want to know everything.”

  “And Ulrik? Will you heal him?” she pressed.

  “Kings are immortal. He’ll heal.”

  She shook her head as his words sank in. Then she lifted her hand so he could see the wounds on Ulrik’s chest. “Does this look like it’s healing?”

  A frown formed on Con’s brow as he looked at Ulrik. He released her other hand and spread his fingers, his palm hovering over the wounds. His frown deepened. Then his gaze returned to her.

  “This isn’t a trick,” she said. “Ulrik may be a lot of things, but he’s not a coward. He’d challenge you in front of all the others.”

  “I know,” Con said in a soft voice.

  Relief spread through her when he lowered his hand to Ulrik’s wounds. Her gaze dropped to the stone floor where blood had pooled beneath her knees, soaking into her pants.

  “Come,” a man with short, dark brown hair and stormy, gray eyes said.

  She looked up at him. “I’m not leaving Ulrik.”

  “Leave her, Banan,” Con said.

  Banan didn’t move away, though. He walked around to the other side of Ulrik and lowered himself to one knee. No one said a word.

  Eilish didn’t know if Con was doing anything or not. She hated that she couldn’t feel the magic in others. How could she sense it within a stone circle but not in someone? Was that the Druids’ punishment for the humans betraying the Dragon Kings?

  It wasn’t until she noticed the length of Ulrik’s wounds beginning to shrink that she bowed her head, sending out a prayer of thanks.

  She didn’t know how long she sat there, never taking her eyes off Ulrik. He was so still and pale that it was hard for her to look at him. She only knew him as vibrant and imposing.

  This was her fault. Had she not gotten involved with Mikkel, then he wouldn’t have her finger rings, and Ulrik wouldn’t have gotten hurt. And all this to find a woman who had been dead for years.

  “What is it?” she asked when Con lowered his hand. She glanced at the wounds that were closed but still puckered. “Why did you stop?”

  Con met her gaze. “I’ve done all I can.”

  She stumbled to her feet when several Kings, including Con, lifted Ulrik and carried him down a tunnel. Eilish hurriedly followed them into a small cavern with dim lights. They gently laid Ulrik atop a flat rock held upright by a huge boulder a few feet off the floor.

  “I’m going to tend to your father,” Con told her. “When I return, I want to know everything.”

  She nodded and slowly walked to stand next to Ulrik as the others moved away. With nothing to do, her focus turned to the sight of Ulrik’s shirt slashed and soaked with blood.

  First, Eilish tried to hold the shreds together. That’s when she realized how silly that was. Next, she grabbed the edges and tried to tear them apart. While she might have been able to do it with a dry shirt, the material being drenched in blood made it difficult. She tried again, ready to use her magic when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

  Her head jerked to the side to find Sebastian and Anson. She stared at the two Kings, wondering what they were going to do to her. A quick glance showed her the other Kings had left, leaving her alone with these two.

  “You wiped my and Gianna’s memories,” Sebastian said.

  She licked her lips. “Mikkel wanted me to kill Gianna to hurt you.”

  “What stopped you?” Anson asked.

  “I’m not a killer. Gianna was innocent.”

  Sebastian dropped his hand. “Ulrik and I were close friends. I went to Venice because I knew there was someone else involved.”

  “Aye,” Anson said. “I sided with Ulrik in the war with the mortals. I wanted them gone just as much as he did.”

  Eilish looked from the two Kings to Ulrik. “He pretends otherwise, but he’s lonely.”

  “He willna appreciate you saying that,” Anson said.

  She shrugged, uncaring. “There’s much he wouldn’t want any of you knowing. He believes it makes him weak in your eyes.”

  “Weak was never something Ulrik was or ever will be.” Sebastian moved to Ulrik’s other side and ripped the bloodied shirt in two.

  “Bloody hell,” Anson murmured.

  Eilish looked between them, worry causing her heart to race wildly. “What? What is it?”

  “His tat moved,” Sebastian mumbled. “It was once on his back.”

  She frowned. Since when did tattoos move from back to front? Then again, Ulrik was a Dragon King.

  It was Anson who raised Ulrik’s torso so Sebastian could remove the shirt. Anson then passed his hand over Ulrik, and the blood vanished.

  If only his wounds would, as well. She waited for Ulrik to open his eyes and have them fill with anger that she’d brought him to Dreagan. She’d readily endure whatever he had to say if only he’d wake.

  “Sit,” Sebastian ordered her.

  Eilish hadn’t seen a chair before, but then again, this was Dreagan, and she was surrounded by Dragon Kings and magic so intense that it enveloped her like a warm blanket.

  “Ulrik, come back to me,” she whispered.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  There was nothing simple about life. Con knew that all too well. And his former best friend lying unmoving on a slab of granite was proof of that. To see Ulrik wounded so had shaken him to his core. It didn’t help that Mikkel was the cause.

  Con’s gaze swung to Eilish. The Druid hadn’t moved from Ulrik’s side. She was staring at her hands that were still covered in Ulrik’s blood. But it was the winding tattoos on her arms that interested him, especially since the ink appeared to be the same mix of black and red of the Dragon Kings.

>   To say he’d been shocked when she appeared in Dreagan mountain with not just Ulrik but also her father was an understatement. But when she stated her love for Ulrik, it had made Con feel as if the rug had been snatched from beneath his feet.

  He gave a nod to Sebastian and Anson, who’d both remained with Eilish and Ulrik.

  The longer he watched the Druid, the more he believed her words. At first, he’d thought them a ploy to get him to help. But no longer.

  He wondered what Ulrik thought of it, and if his old friend loved her in return. After so many millennia hating mortals while forced to live among them, could Ulrik’s heart have healed enough to accept another?

  Con feared that Eilish might be disappointed.

  “Would you like to wash? Perhaps get some clean clothes?” he asked her.

  Her head jerked to him as she clenched her hands into fists. “I don’t want to leave him.”

  “We willna harm him,” Sebastian said.

  She lifted her chin. “I’m not leaving him.”

  “What about your father?” Con asked.

  Her face crumpled. “Oh, God. How is he?”

  The fact that she’d been so concerned about Ulrik that she’d forgotten her own father spoke of how deep her love for Ulrik went.

  Con walked a few strides into the cavern. “He’s resting. It appears Mikkel tried to gain control of Donal’s mind, but he was unsuccessful. All Mikkel could do was put him in a trace that held Donal under his sway.”

  “But he’s going to be all right?” Eilish asked, apprehension filling her face.

  “Aye. He’s being looked after. He should wake soon, and you’re welcome to see him.”

  Her gaze slid to Ulrik. “I can’t leave him.”

  “You willna be far,” Anson said.

  She shook her head, her long, dark locks shifting with the movement. “You don’t understand.”

  “Then tell us,” Con urged.

  Eilish licked her lips as she gave a nod. “I promised I’d tell you everything. And so I shall.”

  Con stood listening as she spoke of how she’d grown up having magic but hid it from everyone. It wasn’t until Patrick gave Eilish her mother’s finger rings that she had bought a ticket to Ireland.