by Donna Grant
He wished he had some answers because then he might not feel so disoriented. The female walked out of the house and came to stand on the porch. She wrapped her arms around herself and lifted her face as she closed her eyes. She stood there for several minutes, simply being.
Dubhan couldn’t remember the last time he had done anything close to that. For as far back as he could remember, his life had been filled with one mission after another—before he died, and after.
He couldn’t take his eyes off her. She was tall, her form shapely. She had a heart-shaped face with eyes that pierced whatever they landed on as if she had to absorb whatever it was she looked at. She had a wide mouth, her lips on the thin side but incredibly sexy. Especially when she smiled, which she did often.
And she gave it freely. From Fae to humans, and even to animals. There was a happy quality to her that Dubhan couldn’t quite understand. The majority of all Fae—both Dark and Light—were in a state of shock at the moment, everyone trying to figure out what to do and who would rule.
Fighting would begin soon between factions, where each sought to take a throne. Would she get swept up in it? Dubhan sincerely hoped not. He didn’t want anything to dull her smile. It made her . . . unique.
Like now. She simply enjoyed the peace and the sounds that filled the night around her. Dubhan let his lids fall closed. Then he lifted his face to the sky.
At first, all he heard were the animals. Then he felt the breeze upon his cheek. It tickled him a bit, causing him to grin. He took a deep breath and inhaled the fragrance of the flowers all around him, bringing in yet another of his senses.
The tension began to leave his limbs as he stood in the moonlight, soaking up everything around him. He didn’t know how long he stood there before he realized that he could hear something else. It was faint, like something beating.
His attention lowered to the ground beneath his feet. And he realized that he was feeling, hearing, and sensing the magic within the realm.
He’d always known it was there, but this was the first time Dubhan had actually felt it. It penetrated through skin, muscle, and bone to sink into his soul. It was such a profound moment that it took his breath away.
His eyes snapped open. He wanted—no, he needed—to share the experience with someone. When he looked to where the female stood, she was gone. He was alone in the midst of an experience unlike any other, and he had no one to share it with.
He could tell the other Reapers, but how could he explain something that he himself didn’t truly understand? But he knew the female would.
Dubhan squatted down and put his hand upon the earth that was still warm from the sun. He pushed magic into the soil, giving back to the realm what it gave to every magical being who lived upon it.
When Dubhan straightened, he didn’t feel so disconnected anymore. If anything, it seemed as if he were strengthened. He wasn’t as weary either. He felt rejuvenated.
He took two steps before he stopped. Dubhan turned back to the house. He thought about teleporting inside, but he suspected there were spells and wards up. They wouldn’t keep him out, but they would alert her that he was there.
While he wanted to know who she was, he decided another approach might be beneficial. A plan took root. He shot one last look at the cottage before he returned to the village to continue his search for Xaneth.
Something was keeping him in Drumshanbo. He needed to figure out what it was and discover if it had anything to do with Xaneth. He remained veiled as he walked the streets, looking inside buildings, watching others, and listening to conversations.
He spotted two Fae—a Light male and a Dark female—who attempted to make it look as if they were casually meeting up when it was anything but.
“Were you followed?” the male asked.
The woman shook her head. “You?”
He shot her a flat look. “Everyone is so freaked out that no one in my family even noticed I was gone.”
“It’s that bad, huh?” she asked.
The male blew out a breath and nodded. “No one knows what to believe. The queen is dead, Inen is nowhere to be found, most of the Queen’s Guard has been decimated, and there is division within the Light as people start to make it known they could lead.”
“That doesn’t sound as bad as the Dark,” the female replied. “Balladyn had begun to make us trust, and within hours after his death, it’s all gone to shite. If someone doesn’t take the throne soon, the Dark could implode.”
“Damn. I had no idea.”
“The same thing could happen to the Light.”
“What the hell happened to us? We were once a people to be feared and respected, and now. . . .”
He trailed off, but Dubhan didn’t need to hear the rest. He understood exactly what the male was saying. The once-great Fae had been brought to their knees. It would take someone special to pick them back up again.
Dubhan didn’t know who would be the right person to lead the Dark. But the Light? Well, he suspected that Death had been eyeing someone for quite some time—Rhi.
Erith had taken a special interest in the Light Fae, but she would never tell anyone why. It was Death who had told Rhi it was her job to take out Usaeil. Rhi had done it, but at what cost? Rhi had seen Balladyn, her friend and ally, cut down in front of her by the queen.
It hadn’t taken much effort for Dubhan to see the darkness growing within Rhi. Balladyn must have seen it, as well. The King of the Dark could have used that to his advantage and turned Rhi since he was in love with her. Perhaps it was because Balladyn loved Rhi that he hadn’t done that.
Regardless, Rhi killing Usaeil and putting a stop to the queen’s quest to take over both the Light and Dark had taken more out of Rhi than anyone expected. If Erith had predicted that Rhi would take the Light throne, then it seemed Death was wrong.
The thing was, Erith was never wrong.
So, what had happened?
Dubhan left the two Fae to continue their conversation. There might come a time when the Reapers had to step in and sort things out. Death could take over as queen since she was, in fact, a goddess, but being Queen of the Fae wasn’t something she wanted.
He continued to think about the goings-on of the Light and Dark Fae as he wandered the streets. He noticed that his meanderings kept bringing him by a nondescript building. One that had been around for over three hundred years. He had walked past it numerous times over the last two days.
Dubhan halted before it and stared. The sign read that it was a bookstore. The building itself had been repaired, showing no signs of dereliction. He walked to the door and started to touch it when he noticed the marking on the doorway. It was one meant to keep Fae out.
And right below it was another symbol that he had seen only once before—etched on the doorframe of his family’s home.
Chapter Three
She wondered if the Reaper knew that he stood out like a sore thumb amid the plain humans. Kyra hid a smile when she noticed those nearest the Reaper staring at him with blatant interest, but he paid them no attention.
Kyra got as close to him as she dared as they walked along the street. He had occupied her thoughts all night. Actually, he’d taken up residence in her mind since she had first seen him. It was reckless for her to get so close, but she couldn’t seem to help herself. He was like a magnet, and she was helpless to resist his pull. It might get her killed, but even knowing that, she still maneuvered her way near him.
It wasn’t until only one person separated them that she decided she was close enough. His stride was easy as he moved along the sidewalk. If he realized there was a group of people around him, he didn’t act as if it mattered. Some stayed by him for a little while before they moved on. Others never left him, not even when he walked into shops.
And Kyra was one of those.
She sidled into the pub and took a seat before the Reaper made it to the bar. Oddly, he looked more at ease today than he had previously. Something must have happened afte
r she’d left him yesterday. It made Kyra wish she had stuck around to see what he had found. Whatever it was, she bet it was interesting.
Or maybe her life was just so damn boring that she had to latch on to someone else.
No, that wasn’t it at all. This was a Reaper! A real Reaper. And she was going to learn all she could about him while she had the chance. He hadn’t taken a second look at her today, which meant that he didn’t recognize her. Changing her hairstyle and color, as well as her eyes, seemed to do the trick. It was strange that her wild hair color didn’t make her stand out, but when so many others had shades of blue, purple, green, orange, pink, and everything in between, she fit right in.
Kyra ordered a drink and glanced out the window. It made her feel less stalkery when she looked away from the Reaper every now and again. When the waitress arrived with her drink, Kyra glanced at the bar, but the Reaper was gone. Kyra hastily searched the pub without making it too obvious. She didn’t see him, so she got up with her beer and walked toward the dart boards in a bid to take a better look around.
It was then that she noticed the hallway leading to the toilets. No doubt he was in there. She licked her lips and decided to return to her table to see if he came back out or not. Kyra pivoted and jerked as she found him standing right behind her, his eyes locked on her.
“I’m curious to know why you’ve been following me.”
His voice was deep, his Irish accent thick. She realized, belatedly, that she hadn’t heard him speak before that moment. She grasped something else, as well. She liked his voice. A lot. It slid over her like honey, thick, seductive, and all-consuming.
A brow quirked on his handsome face. Kyra blinked then, comprehending that she hadn’t answered him. Wait. What was the question? She frowned as she tried to remember his words. That’s right. He wanted to know why she was following him.
Her eyes widened as it hit her. Shite. He’d known!
“An answer would be really good now,” he said in a no-nonsense tone.
Kyra swallowed, deciding it was better to go with a partial truth—all the while, hoping he believed her. “I can’t seem to help myself.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
She licked her lips and shrugged.
“You aren’t telling me everything.”
She hated to admit that he was right, but then again, she didn’t want to tell him everything. She wasn’t quite sure what he would do when he learned it all.
He sighed loudly and put his hand on her lower back to guide her toward a booth in the back corner. He slid into one side, and Kyra took the other. She set her pint of ale down, grateful not to have to hold it anymore since she couldn’t seem to stop shaking.
She’d suspected that he would confront her one day, but she hadn’t actually gotten around to thinking about what she would say when that happened, so she was ill-prepared for any of this. Though that was possibly the stupidest thing ever since preparing to talk to the Reaper should have been the first thing she’d done.
“Let’s start with something easy,” he said as he laid his arms on the table. “Your name.”
“Kyra. Kyra Kavanaugh.”
He nodded. “That wasn’t too hard, was it?”
She found herself grinning. “Do I get your name?”
He hesitated a moment, then said, “Dubhan.”
“Dubhan,” she repeated, liking how it rolled off her tongue. The name meant dark or black, and since he was a Dark Fae, it suited him. But also because she could sense there was something he carried with him, like demons he couldn’t quite shake that hung over him like a gloomy cloud.
“Now, how about you start at the beginning?”
She glanced at the table. “Only if I have your assurance you won’t harm me.”
“Harm you?” His face contorted with a frown as if her very words had offended him. “I have no reason to harm you.”
“I want your assurance first,” she insisted.
He stared at her for a long minute before he nodded. “I give you my word, I won’t harm you.”
“Nor will anyone you know harm me.”
He narrowed his eyes. “I know a lot of people.”
Yeah, that was probably too much to ask. “I had to try.”
Dubhan sat back, his hands folded on the table as he patiently waited.
Kyra took a deep breath and said, “I saw you at the Light Castle.”
He didn’t so much as bat an eye.
So, she decided to reveal a bit more. “I saw you, the Dark female, and six others like you battling those strange creatures.”
He moved so fast she didn’t have time to react. One moment they were sitting in the pub. The next, he’d grasped her arm and teleported them to a thick forest. Kyra tried to jerk her arm free, but his grip didn’t loosen.
“You’re mistaken,” he stated in a firm tone.
She glared at him, raising her chin. “I’m not lying, nor am I mistaken. I know what I saw. I don’t know why no one else at the castle witnessed it, but I certainly did.”
“Tell me all you saw,” he demanded. His entire body was taut, his nostrils flaring as he stared at her.
Kyra tried to teleport away, but she couldn’t leave. Whether it was his grip or their location, she was stuck with him. And that wasn’t a good thing.
“Kyra,” he growled.
She glanced down at his hand on her arm. “Release me.”
“Not until you tell me what I want to know.”
“There isn’t much to tell. I was outside when the first creature appeared. It wasn’t until the two women and the creature began fighting that I crouched down behind some bushes to hide and possibly try to help if they needed it—which I might add, they didn’t. I never had time to get away before the other creatures came.”
“You were in Aisling’s shield,” he murmured as he looked away.
She leaned closer. “What?”
His gaze snapped back to her. “Nothing.”
“Who’s Aisling? Is she the one with the braids?”
“It doesn’t matter,” he told her. “Have you been following me ever since?”
Well, now, that really did make her sound like a stalker. Kyra shrugged half-heartedly. “Not every second. You did leave the Light Castle.”
He let go of her so quickly, she stumbled back a step. He crossed his arms over his chest, and his gaze narrowed, telling her that he wasn’t buying her words at all. “And you just happened to be in Drumshanbo the same time as me?”
Kyra hesitated, unsure if she should tell him more.
“That’s what I thought,” he muttered and rolled his eyes. Then he flattened his lips. “I think you ought to tell me the rest.”
“You don’t want to know.”
“I really don’t, but I have to. You can either tell me, or you can tell my friends.”
Ugh. When given those options, she didn’t have much choice. She glanced away, wondering if she could get free. Then she realized that she was talking to a Reaper, the very thing she had hoped to do. It just wasn’t going like she wanted it to. “After that battle, I realized I had witnessed Reapers.”
“For fek’s sake,” he muttered under his breath and dropped his chin to his chest.
Kyra paused, wondering if she had gotten it wrong. Maybe he wasn’t a Reaper. Then she shook her head. No, Dubhan was definitely a Reaper. “I did some digging on the Reapers,” she continued. “There isn’t much information out there, and what is, doesn’t really say anything. Nor will anyone tell me anything about your group.”
He kept his head down as he asked, “How did you find me?”
“I honestly don’t know. I kept thinking about you, and the next thing I knew, you were there. It’s how it’s been ever since.”
“Thinking about me?” he asked, his head lifting to meet her gaze. “Me?”
Kyra nodded, realizing how insane she probably sounded.
“What do you want from me?”
“Nothing,” she re
plied hastily, deciding to put off asking about her aunt for the moment since Dubhan seemed so . . . irritated. “I just want to get to know you.”
He took a step toward her, dropping his arms to his sides. “That’s dangerous, Kyra. More than you can possibly imagine.”
“You said you wouldn’t harm me.”
He shook his head and glanced at the sky. “Some things are out of my control. And there are rules.”
That all but confirmed that he was a Reaper. He hadn’t denied or agreed with her statement, but he didn’t need to. “I saw something amazing and terrifying a few weeks ago. I don’t know what happened, but I’m glad you were there. All of you. Thank you, because I’m not sure the Light could have handled the beasts alone.”
“Trackers,” he said. “They’re called Trackers, and they were created by Usaeil.”
Kyra glanced away, nodding slowly. “Is that why Usaeil was killed?”
“Were you at the castle when the battle between Usaeil and Rhi happened?” he asked instead of answering.
“No. I was looking for you, but it is all any Fae can talk about. Balladyn killed by Usaeil, and Usaeil taken down by Rhi. I think there’s a bigger picture here that few people can see, though.”
His silence was answer enough.
Kyra shifted, uncomfortable in the stillness of the forest. She didn’t try to get away, even though it would probably be the right thing to do. But she liked talking to Dubhan, and she wanted to know more.
“What does this mean for me?” she finally asked.
He blew out a harsh breath. “You were in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“Was I?” she asked. “I don’t think so. I got to see something no one else did. That happened for a reason.”
Dubhan squeezed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. “Kyra, you shouldn’t have found me, and you really shouldn’t have followed me.”
“Is that one of the rules?”
His arm dropped to his side. “How did you find me?”
“I told you. I kept thinking about you while I was driving around on my motorbike. Next thing I knew, I arrived here and saw you.”