Donna Grant - Fire Rising

“It took Con’s magic to break the hold over you so you could wake.”

Con’s magic. That meant that whatever magic was used on him had been particularly strong. His gaze swung to Con. “Thank you.”

“They intend to have you one way or another,” Con said. “Let’s no’ give them what they want.”

Laith slapped Tristan on the back. “Agreed. Now, can we get our naked asses back into dragon form and find these sons of bitches?”

“I’m all for kicking some Dark Fae ass,” Rhys said. “The sooner, the better.”

Phelan smiled and nodded. “Oh, aye. Let’s get moving.”

Tristan looked out at the water. The mental link was used only by dragons, but even then, he could decide whether to listen to whoever was trying to talk to him.

Whoever had gotten into his head had done it without his authority. He didn’t like the vulnerability … or the weakness. He could be a detriment to the others.

“Nay,” Ian said as he came to stand beside him.

Tristan glanced at his twin. “What?”

“You willna be a disadvantage in battle. You know what was done to you, and you willna let it happen again.”

“You sound awfully sure of me.”

Ian smiled. “I am. I know you as no one else does. You will triumph just as you always have.”

“Then let’s go.”

With a mere thought, Tristan was once again in dragon form, his mind completely closed off. After the Warriors were settled on the backs of the Dragon Kings, the company took to the skies, toward Cork.

Toward the Dark.

Sammi should’ve known she wouldn’t be left alone. Just as Balladyn had said, Taraeth, the king of the Dark, stood before her.

He thought by towering over her he could show her how weak she was. Sammi chose to remain seated on the ground. The Dark fed off of her strength.

Besides, they wouldn’t suspect her of anything if she appeared weak and helpless.

She watched Taraeth rub his shoulder where his arm had been cut off. Sammi sent up a silent shout of joy to Denae for managing to pull that off.

Taraeth wore black leather pants and a red and black Affliction tee that had a skull on the front. By all accounts, he was just an average guy who kept his hair long and had red contacts.

Only, she knew the truth of how deep the evil resided inside him.

“I like your fear,” Taraeth said as his red gaze raked over her. “That means you know of us.”

Sammi gave a slow nod and looked at the ground. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Balladyn on her left and some other Fae to her right.

It was just the three of them. Sammi had taken on bigger men in her pub, but they had been drunk. And they hadn’t had magic. She couldn’t attack them head-on. She was going to have to come up with some other way to beat them.

If you can.

She told her subconscious to shut up and concentrated on what Taraeth was saying.

“I’ll give it to the Kings. They have a knack for picking pretty women. A pity that the women always end up with me. You do realize that you’re mine now?”

Sammi winced when his finger lifted her chin. When had he squatted before her? He must move as quickly as the wind. She was at a disadvantage if she couldn’t even see them.

“Tristan will come for you, but it’ll be too late. I’ll have marked you.”

She turned her head away from his touch only to have him roughly grab her chin and force her head back to him.

“What do the Kings do to make you turn away from us?”

Sammi frowned. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“First Denae, and now you. No other human has ever turned away from me. It has to be something the Kings are doing, some kind of magic being used.”

Sammi tried to stop it, she really did, but the laughter just burst from her like a balloon popping. And once started, she couldn’t stop.

“We’ll see who’s laughing when I take you with Tristan watching. You’ll scream in pleasure. You’ll scream for me.” He leaned close and whispered, “You’ll beg.”

The laughter was gone. Sammi didn’t question that Taraeth could do just as he said. They were gorgeous specimen. Every last one of them.

It was no wonder human women fell to their knees and begged the Dark. Sammi might have done the same thing years ago, but she was different now.

Tristan.

She was different because of her time with Tristan. He’d walked her through a world of dragons and Fae and magic. He’d stood beside her, holding her, sheltering her.

And she had wanted him.

The need had been great, the hunger overwhelming. Only Tristan had been able to relieve the ache within her, to ease her body with a night of languid loving.

“If he comes,” she said.

Taraeth’s smile was cold. “He’ll come. The Dragon Kings are meant to protect the humans. How could he ignore the need to save you, the sister of his friend’s mate? If he doesn’t come, Banan will. It doesn’t matter which King I get in the end.”

He stood and adjusted his shirt with an eager smile. “Get ready. It’s the beginning of the end for the Dragon Kings.”

The darkness didn’t scare her.

It was a lie Rhi repeated silently over and over in her mind. In fact, she was more terrified than she had ever been in her life.

No Light Fae had ever come back from torture with the Dark, so no one knew exactly what was done. The fact none had returned said it all though.

Rhi thought back to the dozen new nail polishes she’d recently bought. There was the bright green called Gargantuan Green that she couldn’t wait to wear. Hearts & Tarts, a soft pink that called to her Fae side. Cha-Ching Cherry that would go amazingly with her new shirt. Then there was a stunning deep blue called Keeping Suzi at Bay that begged to be worn. But her favorite was a Chianti red called I’m Not Really a Waitress.

She had to get out so she could try each and every one of her new collection. Panic infused her, distress pouring off her in waves.

Fear she had known before, but this went deeper than fear. This was pure terror. The kind that had her heart knocking against her ribs and her blood turning to ice.

“How do you like your new accommodations, pet?”

She tried to hide her alarm at Balladyn’s close voice. He had snuck up on her without her even knowing. This didn’t bode well.

At all.

“If you want to torture me, then what are you waiting for?” she taunted in what she hoped was a stronger voice than she felt.

His laugh sent a sinister chill down her spine. “That will come. I owe you, after all.”

“Owe me?” She couldn’t believe he blamed her for his becoming a Dark. She wasn’t the one who had pushed him to the edge.

“Oh, yes,” he said, not bothering to hide his delight. “I’ve waited years for this. Years of thinking what I would do to you if I ever had you in my grasp. I didn’t think I’d get the chance, not once I heard you made the Queen’s Guard. I should’ve known. You’ve never done what was expected of you.”

“What did you expect from me?” She hated that the question was past her lips before she realized it.

“You left me!”

The walls vibrated with his fury. She shrank away, despising herself all the more because of it.

She could hear his harsh breathing all around her, making it impossible for her to pinpoint where he was. He was Dark. The darkness was part of him, allowing him to use it to his advantage as well as see in it.

“I saw you fall.” Her voice shook, and she cleared her throat, hoping it would tamp down her fear. “I tried to get to you, but I was stopped. That’s when they told me you were dead.”

“And you didn’t check yourself?”