by Donna Grant
He spotted Hal letting a dog loose to herd the sheep into another pasture. V made his way over to the black-haired King of Greens.
Hal glanced over and saw him, welcoming V with a smile. “The dog needed some exercise.”
Besides Duke the Great Dane, Dreagan had two herding dogs for use with the sheep and cattle. There were also some cats wandering the grounds and the Dragonwood.
Hal’s moonlight blue eyes glanced V’s way. “I’d hoped that after finding your sword, you might have some quiet time to acclimate to this world we now live in. Having Con tell you about the advances every ten years is one thing. Experiencing it is another.”
“Verra true,” V agreed.
If it weren’t for Con’s trips to the Kings who slept, they would wake not knowing the world they had to become a part of. V hadn’t always wanted Con’s visits, but they were necessary.
Hal put his hand on the wood of the fence and watched the black and white Border Collie round up the sheep and move them into a nearby pasture. “It doesna feel right no’ having Con here.”
“It’s the no’ knowing what’s going to happen that I doona like.”
“The stillness before the battle. I always hated it.”
V grinned as the dog finished with the sheep and then nosed the gate closed before he leapt over the fence and came running back to Hal with his tongue hanging out of his mouth.
“Good lad,” Hal said as he bent over to pet the dog. Hal glanced up at V. “I saw Duke head into your room this morn.”
“Just about every morning.” V chuckled. “He jumps into the bed beside Claire as soon as I let him, and there’s no use in me even trying to reclaim my spot.”
Hal chuckled. “Duke has his favorites. I thought it was you for a while.”
“So did I. Looks like Claire took my spot.”
“Well?” Hal asked as he straightened.
V frowned at Hal’s stare. When he looked down, the dog sat beside Hal, staring at V as well. “Well, what?”
“Is Claire your mate?”
V grinned. “Aye.”
“It didna take you long to find her once you woke.”
Of that, V was grateful. He cleared his throat. “Have any of the mates become pregnant?”
Hal thought about that for a moment before he shook his head. “None. At least that I know of. It’s a blessing. I know I wouldna want to go through the loss.”
“Aye. Too true.”
“Doona get me wrong. I’ve often thought about creating a child with Cassie. She would be an amazing mother. But I’ve no’ thought about any of them becoming pregnant in a long while. I used to worry about it a lot, though I never told Cassie. Why do you ask?”
V tried to come up with a response when Hal’s eyes widened in shock.
“Ah, shite,” Hal murmured. “Claire’s with child, aye? I shouldna have said all those things. I’m sorry.”
V lifted a shoulder and forced the bit of smile he could muster. “You didna say anything that I hadna already thought.”
“Still, I should know better. What are you going to do?”
“What can we do? We sit and wait. And hope.”
Hal ran a hand through his long, black hair. “Maybe things will be different now. Times have changed.”
“Maybe.” It was the same thing V had told himself.
But he knew it for the lie that it was.
Hal turned and looked at the manor. “I wonder if we should wait for Usaeil to make the first move. Perhaps we should go to the Light Castle.”
“I like that idea,” V said, a real smile pulling at his lips. “A lot, actually. Come on. Let’s talk to Ulrik.”
The two made their way into the mountain and found Ulrik right where V knew he would be—the cavern with the map. Ulrik turned his head from the diagram when they entered.
“We should go to the Light Castle,” Hal said.
Ulrik frowned. V could see an argument forming, but then Ulrik paused. He chuckled softly and shook his head.
V grinned. “Exactly.”
“The two of you go,” Ulrik said. “See what you can find out.”
V shared a grin with Hal. “We might get lucky and talk to Usaeil.”
Hal nodded, his smile one of anticipation.
Ulrik removed his silver cuff and tossed it to V. “Take this. Just put your finger on it and think about where you want to go. You and Hal have to be touching for you to bring him with you.”
V caught the bracelet and slipped it onto his wrist. “Doona come for us if we doona return.”
“The hell we willna.”
Hal shook his head. “V’s right. You’ll have your answer if we’re detained.”
Ulrik walked to stand before them, looking from one to the other with his steadfast gold gaze. “Let me make this perfectly clear. We’re brothers. I’m no’ going to leave Con, and I sure as hell willna leave the two of you.”
“Aye,” Hal murmured.
V nodded. “Doona tell Claire where I’ve gone. I doona want her to worry.”
“In case you didna already know, that’s a constant thing,” Ulrik said with a laugh. When neither V nor Hal joined in, Ulrik’s frown returned.
V licked his lips and sighed. “I suppose everyone will know soon, so I might as well tell you. Claire is carrying my child.”
“I’ll watch over her,” Ulrik promised. “We all will. And Cassie, too. Now, go.”
V held out his elbow to Hal. As soon as his friend had a hold of it, V thought of the Light Castle and touched the cuff. In the blink of an eye, they were outside in the middle of a thunderstorm.
Before them stood the tall, opulent white stone of the Light Castle. Even in the rain, it appeared as if nothing could dim it.
“Shall we go in?” Hal asked as he jerked his chin to the unmistakable giant double door entry that stood three hundred feet away.
V shook his head. “We willna have to wait long before we’re paid a visit.”
“You doona want to go in?”
“I do. But if I step foot inside the castle, I’ll tear apart every room looking for Con.”
Hal grunted. “Good point. I doona suppose we’ll be lucky enough to have Usaeil pay us a visit.”
No sooner had the words left his mouth than the doors to the castle opened, and a man walked out.
“Luck doesna favor us this day,” V said.
Hal made a sound in the back of his throat. “It will when it matters.”
The Light Fae ignored the rain that drenched his longish black hair as his silver eyes looked from Hal to V. “Dragon Kings don’t visit us often.”
Hal frowned, but V knew there was a chance that Con had come to the castle to see Usaeil. “And you are?” V asked.
“Inen. Captain of the Queen’s Guard,” the Fae pronounced in his Irish accent.
“And friend to Rhi,” Hal added.
The Fae jerked his gaze to Hal, studying him for a long moment. “Rhi has been banished from the Light.”
V crossed his arms over his chest while lightning flashed around them. “We know. We’d like to talk to Usaeil.”
“That won’t be possible.”
“Because she willna see us?” Hal asked. “Or because she isna here?”
Inen’s nostrils flared. “Pick one. You can’t get into the castle.”
V took a step closer to the Fae. “Rhi said you can be trusted. Even Balladyn agrees with that.”
“Balladyn?” Inen asked, his black brows snapping together.
Hal nodded. “We worried that Rhi might no’ be able to put her faith in you, but the King of the Dark said that Rhi is good at determining someone’s character.”
Inen blew out a breath, spraying water as he did. He glanced to the side. “What do you want?”
“We want to know the last time you saw Usaeil,” Hal demanded.
Inen shook his head. “A few weeks ago. She was here for a little while, and then she left again. I’ve not seen her since.”
�
��And Con?” V pressed.
“The King of Dragon Kings?” Inen asked. “No, I’ve not seen him in many months.”
V blinked the rain from his lashes. “What do you know of the Others?”
Inen lifted his shoulders in a shrug. “I’ve never heard of them.”
“Are you sure?” Hal asked.
Inen nodded. “I am. Who are they?”
V hesitated for a moment, wondering how much to tell Inen. “That’s what we’re trying to figure out. The Fae are involved.”
“The Dark are always involved with evil,” Inen said, derision dripping from his words.
Hal grinned. “Interesting since we know that the Light are also a part of the Others.”
Inen shook his head in denial. “That can’t be possible.”
“It is,” V assured him. “Is there any way Usaeil could be mixed up with something like that?”
Inen’s gaze fell to the ground as he shook his head. “There is much I’m discovering that shouldn’t be possible but is. I wish I could tell you that Usaeil would never do something like that, but I can’t. The simple truth is that I don’t know.”
“Which is answer enough,” Hal said.
V dropped his arms as he caught Inen’s gaze. “We know Usaeil is involved. You should hear it from Rhi, however. Watch yourself, Inen. Usaeil has plans that won’t be in the best interest of the Light.”
“Rhi told me to call the army,” the Fae said. “She warned me to have them on my side to turn against Usaeil. I didn’t listen to her.”
Hal twisted his lips. “There’s still time.”
Inen let out a bark of laughter then. As V watched, the man vanished, replaced by none other than Usaeil herself.
The queen waved her hand, halting the rain. She stood dry beneath the sunlight as water dripped from V and Hal. This was a scenario that V should have been prepared for.
What he couldn’t figure out was how he and Hal hadn’t spotted that Usaeil was using glamour. It was a gift the Kings had, though somehow it hadn’t worked this time.
“Oh, I do so love tricking you,” Usaeil said as her silver eyes moved from one King to the other. “It’s just so easy.”
Hal glared at her, refusing to speak. V decided that was the best approach, as well. It was time they left. V shifted his arm, ready to grab Hal and teleport back to Dreagan, but then the queen’s words stopped him.
“How does it feel to know a child grows in your woman’s womb?”
V’s heart dropped to his feet, and blood rushed loudly in his ears, drowning out everything for several moments. He didn’t bother asking the Fae how she knew. The answer was all too obvious.
Usaeil smiled triumphantly, the glee in her eyes shining brightly. “I figured that to get near anyone at Dreagan, I just needed to pretend to be Rhi. I spoke with Claire at length. I was the one who urged her to go after you. And, I might have cast a spell to make sure your seed took root. There’s nothing like reminding the Kings what they’re missing by mating with humans.”
“I’m going to kill you,” V stated.
Usaeil’s smile vanished, and her eyes shifted and glittered red. “Better men than you have tried. If you want Claire to live, you’ll make sure no Dragon King attacks this castle. And if you want to see Con again, you’ll bring Rhi to me.”
Fury consumed V. He shifted and readied to devour Usaeil in dragon fire. Except, in the next second, he was in a mountain—his mountain.
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
Claire stilled on the stairs when she heard the roar. There was no mistaking what it was. Without understanding how, she knew it was V.
The sound reverberated through her. She heard the fury and the hatred. Claire turned in a circle on the stairs, trying to determine where the roar had come from. It sounded distant.
V’s mountain.
Claire rushed down the remaining steps and ran out the side entrance of the manor. Her gaze took in the range all around her. She knew the direction of V’s mountain, but not which one.
All she knew was that she needed to get to him. No matter how long it took, even if she had to search every peak herself.
“I can take you to him.”
She whirled around at the sound of the Irish accent to find Shara behind her. The beautiful Fae stood solemnly. Claire took in the thick stripe of white hair next to Shara’s face. She didn’t hide it but left the ribbon visible as a reminder of what she had once been. Of what she had willingly left behind.
Shara moved closer. “You knew it was V.”
“I did, but I don’t know how.”
The Fae’s smile was a little sad. “Being a mate to a Dragon King can be difficult at times.”
Mate? Surely, Shara wasn’t comparing Claire to herself? Claire wasn’t a mate. Was she?
Her knees grew weak. Bloody hell. Maybe she was. V had said he loved her. A King didn’t say those words lightly. Why hadn’t Claire realized what it meant? Was it because she was so wrapped up in the fact that she was carrying his child? One that she might lose any day? Or was it one of a million other things?
Shara touched Claire’s arm to get her attention. “Take a deep breath. You need to pull yourself together if you want to see him. The Kings brought V to his mountain instead of here for a reason. If V sees that you’re upset, it will make things worse.”
“Of course.” Claire wished she could breathe evenly. Where was Sophie? She really wanted her best friend with her.
“There is much the Kings do and try to keep from us,” Shara said as she dropped her arm to her side. “They think they’re protecting us. I call it the horseshit that it is. But when something bad happens, like Con disappearing, they do what the Kings do best—close ranks and go in all-out protection mode.”
Claire nodded in understanding. “Protection for us because we’re here.”
“Precisely.” Shara’s silver gaze briefly slid away. “At one time, some of the mates thought it might be better to leave for a bit, but we realized how futile that is. By loving a Dragon King, we accept the good and the bad—and the bad is a hundred times worse than you expect.”
Claire raised a brow as she looked Shara over. “Are you trying to talk me out of being with V? Do you believe I’m not up to the task of loving him?”
“I wasn’t sure anyone had told you the risks involved with being here.”
“Oh, I can handle the risks,” Claire stated, resolve settling in her bones. She didn’t like anyone questioning if she could manage things. “I’ve been in the thick of it with the Dark Fae, thank you very much. I’ve seen the Kings shift. I know exactly how deadly their enemies are, and that has never swayed me from befriending any of them. And as far as V is concerned, nothing will stop me from being with him. I love him.”
Shara suddenly smiled. “I knew you were a fighter.”
“What?” Claire blinked, taken aback.
The Fae chuckled softly. “I wasn’t kidding earlier. You need to pull yourself together, and you weren’t getting there quickly enough. I just gave you the nudge you needed.”
Claire’s mouth fell open.
“I’m sorry for that,” Shara said with remorse. “I know the need that goes through you wanting to get to your mate, but I’m also very aware of how a King thinks and feels when he sees the woman he loves upset.”
Claire shook her head as she licked her lips. “Don’t apologize. I should be thanking you. I’ve not been thinking straight since I found out about the baby.”
“Baby?”
The disbelief on Shara’s face made Claire wince. “Bloody hell. I’m usually better at not blurting such things out.”
“Claire … you’re pregnant?”
Claire nodded. “Just found out.”
A smile lit Shara’s face. “That’s amaz—” Her voice trailed off as the smile fell away.
“Yeah,” Claire said. “You don’t have to say it. V and I spoke at length.”
Shara held out her hand. “Then you really need to get to V. Ju
st remember, hold it together.”
“What if he doesn’t want me there?”
“A King always wants his mate. Trust me on that.”
Claire nodded and grasped Shara’s hand. She wasn’t expecting the slight rush that moved through her from teleporting. It caused her to cringe, but she soon forgot about the sudden nausea when she found herself surrounded by darkness.
A moment later, a dozen or so small lights were shining from high above to shed soft light on the area. That’s when she realized that she stood in a large cavern with beautiful formations of stalactites and stalagmites.
As soon as her gaze landed on the gigantic dragon standing in the center of the space, she forgot to breathe. She gasped in delight at the sight of the copper scales. The metallic sheen of them was as stunning as how the deep color faded to lighter on his belly.
Claire moved away from Shara and looked up. V stood still as stone, his ruby-colored eyes fastened on her. His large head dipped slightly, allowing her to get a better view of the horns that protruded from his temples and curled inward.
His nostrils flared as he drew in a breath. The sound was loud. Claire leaned to the side to see wings folded against his sides. Claire also caught the tip of his tail curled near him.
She returned her gaze to his face and smiled. “I feel like I’ve waited a lifetime to see you. I can’t find the words to tell you how utterly magnificent you are.”
Claire took a step back when V shifted into his human form. He stood naked, uncaring who was in the mountain with them. V’s face was lined with anguish.
“What is it?” she asked.
He said nothing as he stalked to her and yanked her against him. Being enfolded in his arms was just what she needed. She closed her eyes and clung to him.
When he didn’t answer, only held her tighter, Claire didn’t push. Her mind raced with all sorts of possibilities for V’s reaction, and they all came back to one thing—her.
Claire opened her eyes and looked around as best she could without moving her head. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Shara standing to her right. On the left, Claire caught movement, but she didn’t know who was there.
“I’m sorry, love,” V whispered.