Darkest Flame, page 29
part #1 of Dark Kings Series
“Should Kiril still be in Ireland?” Tristan asked, having heard the answers through the link.
Kellan shrugged. “He’s his own King. He can do whatever he wants. Kiril is tempting fate being so close to the Dark Fae, but maybe that’s what he wants. You’d have to ask him to know for sure. Still, I agree that having a spy in Ireland is a good idea.”
“What about Rhys?”
Kellan looked out over the mountains surrounding Dreagan. “Sixty thousand acres sounds like a lot of area to get lost in, but when you’re a Dragon King and you can only be yourself on this land, it can feel as small as the tiniest island. Sometimes we need to be alone, surrounded by just the land and the air.”
Tristan rubbed his jaw, the scrape of days’ old whiskers drowned out by the whistle of the wind and the call of a golden eagle. “What do we do now? I doona like waiting for the Dark to make the next move.”
“All the Kings know war is at our doorstep. We’ve been down this road so many times we all know our places.”
“No’ all,” Tristan said softly.
Kellan clapped the King on the back and smiled. “Doona worry about your place. You’ve cemented your right to be here. Even had you no’, the fact you have the tat on you, the sword, and can shift into dragon would be enough. You may no’ know all of our history, but that doesna matter when defending our home.”
“And what about my … life before?”
“You mean the fact you were a Warrior?”
Tristan gave a barely discernible nod.
“It just proves you know what loyalty and family are,” Kellan said. “It also means you know battle.”
“Ian, my supposed twin, is going to want to talk to me.”
“Aye. It might be good for you to sit down with him.”
“And tell him what?” Tristan said angrily. “That I recall nothing of him or my past? That I didna even know he existed until Phelan told me?”
“Maybe. Whatever you decide to tell him will be your decision. Ian lost a brother. Even if you doona remember your previous life, you could still find him to be a good friend. Twins have a bond only other twins truly understand. Was that bond broken when you became a King? I can no’ answer that. Only meeting and talking with Ian will give you that answer.”
Tristan’s brows were furrowed as he looked down into a valley filled with sheep. “I’ll think on it.”
“Good. Let’s return to the manor. I want to check on Denae. I’ve been gone awhile.”
They started back down the mountain together. “What’s going to happen to her?” Tristan asked.
“If she wants to live, she’ll need to stay at Dreagan.”
“Con doesna want that, does he?”
Kellan glanced at him and grunted. “For someone new to the Kings, you pick up things easily.”
“I study people. It isna difficult to know their true feelings just by watching them. Take you holding Denae on the way back from Ireland. There were plenty of places you could’ve put her down, but you didna want to let go of her. You care for her, more than you even comprehend yet.”
Kellan wasn’t keen on how easily Tristan read him, but it might come in handy. “And Denae? What did you see about her?”
“She cares a great deal for you, but she doesna feel as if she belongs here. To her, you are a myth come to life. She fights her feelings for you, as if…”
When Tristan didn’t keep talking, Kellan stopped and faced him. Unease rippled down his spine. “Finish.”
Tristan looked away, and when his gaze returned to Kellan, he didn’t hide his sorrow. “It’s as if she’s been silently saying good-bye.”
Kellan stood there for a moment, Tristan’s words like warning bells in his head. He turned on his heel and ran the rest of the way back to the manor. Even when he busted through the kitchen door, surprising Jane so she dropped her teacup, the relentless need to hold Denae in his arms didn’t lessen.
He bounded up the stairs and ran down the hallway to his room. Kellan threw open the door, fully expecting to find Denae sitting there waiting for him.
But the room was empty.
Kellan didn’t need to search the house or the grounds. He knew in his gut she was gone. How stupid of him to think she would wait around for him. That wasn’t Denae.
She was used to being her own woman, making her own decisions. She was deadly in hand-to-hand combat, intelligent, and intuitive.
Even as something broke apart in his chest, fury raged. He knew who was responsible for Denae leaving. He’d warned Con. Now it was time to carry through with the threat.
Kellan turned and shoved past Tristan who had finally caught up. There was no time for talking. It was time for action. Kellan didn’t slow until he stood in his cave once more.
His gaze went to where he first saw Denae. It seemed like a lifetime ago. She fit him as no one else had ever done. She understood him.
And he recognized her for what she was—his mate.
He might not have wanted to admit it, but he’d known. From the first, he’d known.
Like a fool he had fought it and tried to keep her at arm’s length. When that hadn’t worked, he still pretended as if it was just a dalliance, when it was so much more than that.
“Denae,” he whispered, his chest aching where his heart was.
He would track her down. He would hold her once more, and then he would tell her what was in his heart.
But first, he would take his revenge out on Con.
Kellan walked to the back of his cave and put his hand against a small rock protruding from the wall. With a slight push of his dragon magic and a drop of his blood, small pebbles and dust rained around him.
The sound of rock sliding over rock filled the cave as a panel opened to reveal his sword. He reached for the leather-wrapped hilt, fit for single-handed combat.
Kellan pulled it from its hiding place. Some Kings liked to display their swords, but not him, not after what Con had done to Ulrik.
With an admiring eye, Kellan rested the straight blade on his left palm. Vines and leaves were engraved in the shoulder of the sword in a deep bronze before winding their way down the blade and mingling with a dragon.
It was a beautiful and deadly blade.
One made for the purpose of killing a Dragon King. Kellan was prepared to take Con on in dragon form, but he would have his sword there as well.
The only way for a Dragon King to be killed is by another Dragon King in dragon form or with their swords. Kellan had both bases covered.
Sword in hand, he walked with long, sure strides to the manor.
* * *
Denae couldn’t believe how easy Rhi made things. She had gotten Denae inside the server room in a blink, all the while deactivating the cameras.
“Get to work,” Rhi said and disappeared again.
It wasn’t until Denae got to the wall where the hidden keyboard and monitor were that she wondered if they had disabled her fingerprint recognition.
“Here goes nothing,” she mumbled as she put her hand against the white glowing screen.
Green rays popped up and scrolled down her hand, and then back up before going side to side. Five pulsing circles appeared around each tip of her fingers. A moment later, there was a soft hiss as the silver panel in the wall moved and a large, flat-screen computer appeared.
There was a second hiss as another panel opened and the keyboard slid out.
“Well, I guess that answered that question. I suppose they figured I’d never get past security. That was their first mistake.”
Denae’s fingers flew over the keyboard, pulling up all her files—every report she’d filled out, every mission she’d ever been on, every mention of her name—and erased it all.
She replaced her name with another female name of an up-and-coming agent and made sure there was nothing MI5 could ever find of her again in their files.
It took her deleting everything three times, and then ejecting the server disk to destroy later just to make sure. She held the small disk in her hand and marveled at how something so small could save—or destroy—her life.
“Ready?” Rhi asked as she appeared beside her.
“I am.”
“That’s all of it?” she asked, looking skeptically at the disk.
“Yep.”
Rhi gave her a droll look. “Don’t they have backups of their backups? Something done remotely in case someone decided to do exactly what you did?”
Denae palmed her head. “Damn. I forgot about them.”
“How many are there?”
“Two that I know of.”
Rhi nodded. “Who would know the locations?”
“Henry should. But my boss, Frank, for sure.”
Rhi suddenly laughed. “I’ve not had this much fun in ages. I think it’s time we screwed with Frank’s head for a bit.”
Before Rhi could zap them out of there, Denae jerked away. “Why hasn’t anyone come in after the cameras were frozen?”
“Duh,” Rhi said and held out her arms and pointed at herself. “I’m Fae. My magic can do wonderful, dangerous things.”
Denae might be dying inside from leaving Kellan, but she wore a smile at the idea of getting back at the people who’d tried to kill her. “Let’s find Frank.”
Within five minutes they were in an executive office, the cameras once more frozen, and Frank sitting with a look of utter bewilderment and fear.
“Where are the remote locations for the backups of the server?” Denae asked.
Frank refused to look at her.
Rhi smiled and sat on the edge of his desk, one long, jean-clad leg crossed over the other. She put her hands next to her and leaned forward until their faces were inches apart. “Answer her.”
“Never.”
Rhi sighed. “Look, dickwad, I’m only going to say this once. Answer us and we leave you with a bit of sanity left in the pea-sized brain of yours. Force me to pull it out, and I’ll make sure you’re in a padded room for the rest of your life. And then I’ll come to torment you just for the hell of it.”
“As if you could,” he said derisively.
Denae busted out laughing when, with a wave of her hand, Rhi had Frank hanging upside down in midair.
“All right, all right!” he screamed. “Just put me down.”
Denae was ready with pen and paper as he gave her the locations and passwords to get in.
“Now, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” Rhi asked him sweetly. “You should’ve thought twice about trying to kill Denae, but more than that, you made the worst decision of your life to mix with the Dark Fae.”
Frank’s eyes widened. “Ar … ar … are you a … a … a…”
Rhi dramatically rolled her eyes. “No, I’m a Light Fae. I don’t take kindly to humans messing where they don’t belong. And that means you. So, now that we have the locations, it’s time to wipe your memory of anything to do with Denae.”
“Wait!” he yelled.
But it was too late.
Denae waited a second before she stepped next to Rhi, who had her hand on Frank’s forehead. “What if he lied about the locations, or left one out?”
“Already thought of that. I’m searching his mind now,” Rhi said, her eyes closed and her face lined in concentration. A few minutes later she shook her head. “He told us the truth. Now, I’ll just wipe his mind of your image and name, replacing it with the agent you used below.”
“Will it really screw him up?”
Rhi opened her eyes and met Denae’s gaze. “No. But I can. I’m willing, if that’s what you want. He ordered you killed. And he’s involved with the Dark. Not to mention he wants to know about the Dragon Kings.”
“I do want to hurt him, but I won’t. Let him live with his replaced memories. His comeuppance will arrive soon enough.”
Rhi dropped her hand and moved around the desk. “Our next stop is Brazil. Rio is beautiful,” she said right before they disappeared out of the office.
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
Kellan found Con in the mountain joined to the manor, the same mountain where the Silvers were imprisoned and kept sleeping.
He could hear the arguing coming from a back cavern as soon as he entered the mountain. Rhys’s and Con’s voices were the loudest of them all.
Kellan stalked into the cavern unseen, with everyone’s eyes focused in the center of the room where Rhys and Con were nose to nose arguing. Kellan set aside his sword and stepped into the crowd of Dragon Kings.
Instantly, they parted, giving him a clear path to Con. Rhys spotted him, and there must have been something in his face, because Rhys took a step back from Con.
“You can no’ just forget to check in,” Con said to Rhys. “We have responsibilities here.”
Rhys glowered with rage. “You’re no’ my father. Nor are you my keeper. I do my duties without having you keep tabs on me.”
“The Dark could’ve captured you as they did Kellan. I couldna leave two Kings in their hold.”
“But you could leave one?” Rhys asked, his face a mix of outrage and confusion.
Con’s chest puffed out as he took a deep breath, his mint-green dress shirt constricting with the movement. “That’s no’ what I meant, and you know it.”
Kellan was almost to them at this point. He didn’t stop, didn’t say a word as he approached and slammed his fist into Con’s jaw.
Con, the hit unseen, staggered to the side. He touched his busted lip and slowly straightened before his head turned to Kellan. “Your rage is out of control.”
The blow and pleasure at seeing Con bloodied only fueled his anger. “You have no idea. I warned you to stay out of my life. I told you I wouldna stand by and have you interfere, and you decided to ignore my threat.”
He didn’t give Con time to respond as he threw a left punch to Con’s kidneys and ducked Con’s wicked right aimed at his temple. Kellan straightened, and turned slightly to throw back his elbow twice into Con’s nose. Blood spewed everywhere as the sound of crunching bone echoed in the cavern.
A broken bone wasn’t going to keep Con down. He launched an attack at Kellan with fists swinging quick and deadly. Kellan managed to block some and duck another, but the rest landed just where Con wanted them.
* * *
Denae dusted off her hands and surveyed her handiwork. She and Rhi had made quick work of Rio before Rhi teleported them to Papua New Guinea.
“All done?” Rhi asked as she sauntered into the computer room.
“All done. I’m officially erased from MI5.” Denae felt the tension ease out of her shoulders. “I’d never have been able to do this without your help.”
Rhi rolled her eyes. “Oh, puh-leeze. You’d so have done it. It would’ve taken you longer, but you’d have made sure of it.”
“Maybe.”
“Maybe nothing. You’ve got skills, girl,” Rhi said with a smile. That smile quickly turned into a wince.
“What is it?”
Rhi flicked her long black hair over her shoulder. “My queen has been calling me for some time. She’s … well, she’s pissed now and letting me know it. I’ve got to go, Denae, but before I do, I’ll take you anywhere you want to go.”
She wasn’t ready to be alone. Without something to focus on, all she would think about would be Kellan. It would be so easy to have Rhi whisk her to some tropical island for some serious R&R, or even to another realm.
But in the end, nothing would change.
Her heart would still ache for Kellan, her body would still long for his touch.
There was only one place a person who was hurting as much as she was wanted to go.
“Home. I want to go to home.”
Rhi’s smile was kind and understanding. “Home it is then.”
With one touch of Rhi’s hand, Denae stood on the front lawn of her house on South Padre Island. She turned to thank Rhi, but the Fae was gone.
Leaving Denae with her past and her present threatening to swallow her whole.
* * *
Kellan lost count of the times he’d been hit. He also lost count of how many times he’d bloodied Con. Each time he managed it, it made his smile grow.
But that didn’t put him any closer to getting Denae back. It was a start though.
He leveled a punishing hit in Con’s abdomen, doubling him over before Kellan lifted his knee to slam it into Con’s face. Kellan was getting ready to do it again when Con’s arms wrapped around his middle and propelled him backward—right into the cavern wall.
Kellan bellowed in pain as something pierced his back. He pounded both fists into Con’s back as Con threw his right hook again and again into Kellan’s side.
They were unceremoniously ripped apart. Guy had ahold of Con while Rhys grabbed Kellan. Between them was Banan who looked angrily from Con to Kellan.
“What the hell is going on?” Banan demanded.
Rhys released Kellan and shrugged. “Kellan wanted a fight. Who was I to stop him?”
Kellan was tired of talking. He wanted action. He wanted justice.
He wanted Denae.
Kellan shoved Banan out of the way and rammed his shoulder into Con’s gut before Guy could release him. And they were back to beating the shit out of each other.
“Why?” Con rasped.
“You sent her away.” Kellan finished the comment with an uppercut to Con’s jaw.
* * *
Rhi appeared in the cavern sitting atop one large boulder, which gave her a great view of the fight between Kellan and Con. Her audience with her queen had been quick—a rarity to be sure. She was surprised to find Kellan involved in a brawl.
“I think I know who you want to win,” Tristan said as he leaned against the boulder.
Rhi snorted. “You think so? You know me so well, Dragon?”
“You detest Con.”
It was a fact. She shrugged. “I guess that does tip the scales in Kellan’s favor.”
“What are you doing here, Rhi?” Banan asked as he too walked up.
She would rather be back in her queen’s chambers getting her ass chewed up one side and down the other than be in the midst of so many Dragon Kings on Dreagan. But Usaeil had given her a direct order.
