Donna Grant - Fire Rising

“I was before too,” she said as her voice rose and she tried to scoot away.

Phelan easily held her as he glanced at Ian. Ian took a deep breath and grabbed Sammi’s shoulders. “You’re really free, Sammi. Tristan went in and found you. He’s the one who asked me to bring you out.”

“Where is Tristan?” she asked as she looked around.

There was a wildness still visible in her gaze, but she had calmed down. “He went to help Con.”

Her forehead furrowed deeply. “Con?”

“He came to help rescue you,” Phelan said. “We all did. Look around, lass.”

As if just noticing the battle, Sammi’s eyes widened and her mouth slackened. “Bloody hell.”

“Come on,” Ian said as he got her to her feet. “We need to get you out of here.”

She yanked her arm out of his hold. “Not without Tristan.”

Ian considered her for a moment. Tristan loved this woman, but did she love him? “Why?”

“Because … because I need to see him.”

It wasn’t a confession of love, but there was something there. Ian suspected that Sammi wasn’t used to voicing her feelings, and if anyone was going to hear those words, it was going to be Tristan.

The Dark drew closer to them, and this time it was Sammi that grabbed his arm. Phelan flanked her other side to protect her when a Dark got through the Kings.

“You honestly think you could hold me?” Con asked Taraeth.

The king of the Dark sneered. “I’ve been preparing for this day for a long time. You have many enemies, King of Kings, some even within your ranks.”

Tristan saw Con’s confident smile right before he grabbed the Dark One near him and broke his neck. He then threw the Dark over the side and watched the others scatter as their comrade landed with a thump on the tile.

Across the way, Balladyn’s red gaze landed on him. Tristan smiled as realization flashed across the Dark’s face. Below, Con and Taraeth were facing off.

The entire castle of Dark was trying to decide whether to attack Con or let Taraeth battle it out. Tristan’s attention was diverted from below when Balladyn jumped on the stone railing and then leapt across the entire width of the great hall to land in front of Tristan.

“You killed one of my men,” Balladyn said.

Tristan shrugged. “You took Sammi.”

There were no more words as Balladyn attacked by ramming his shoulder into Tristan and then hitting him with magic repeatedly in the stomach.

Tristan kneed Balladyn twice in the face and flipped him over. Instead of landing on his back, the Dark One easily shifted his body and alighted on his feet.

Balladyn snarled and attacked again. This time Tristan dodged a blast of magic only to feel the Dark’s fist against the side of his head.

Tristan turned to the side and then reared back with his elbow, smashing it into Balladyn’s face before extending his arm and swinging it backward to slam his fist into the Dark’s nose.

Out of the corner of his eye, Tristan saw golden scales as Con shifted into dragon form.

“You’re not leaving!” Balladyn bellowed as he wiped away the blood and focused on Tristan once more.

“You’ll never find that which you seek,” Tristan promised.

Balladyn smiled coldly. “There will be one of you that breaks. There always is.”

“You thought it would be me?”

Two balls of magic appeared in Balladyn’s hands. “I still do. You’re the newest, Tristan, the one who doesn’t have the ties that the others do.”

“Then you’d be wrong.”

Tristan kicked out with his foot, connecting with Balladyn’s chest just as the Dark released the magic. He dodged one, but the other hit him in the side as pain sizzled along his skin.

Chaos and shouts from below drew everyone’s attention as Con lashed out with his tail and with fire. Smoke quickly filled the great hall, blinding everyone.

Tristan held his side and searched for Balladyn. He saw the Dark come at him. He felt the dragon within yearn to break free. Just before he shifted, someone grabbed his arm and yanked him away.

“Time to go,” Con said with a smile as he raced nude down the corridor.

Tristan looked over his shoulder. He should kill Balladyn now, but he wanted to get to Sammi and make sure she was all right.

Besides, the war with the Dark was far from over.

It was just beginning.

Sammi wanted to watch the beautiful dragons—yellow and inky black—as they flew in paths that left her dizzy as they fought the Dark Fae.

Adrenaline kept her moving, but she still wasn’t sure if it was real or another figment of her imagination. She burned to touch Tristan, to run her hands over his warm skin and feel the power and strength in his muscles.

She stood and watched the unfolding battle as if she were on the outside looking in. The Dark kept pouring out of seemingly thin air. They reminded her of ants for there never seemed to be an end to them.

The dragons kept most of the Dark back, and the few that got past were soon felled by Ian, Charon, and Phelan. The three fought side by side as if they had years of practice.

They were vicious in their fighting, ferocious in their attack.

Merciless in their dealing with the Dark.

They were Warriors. Immortal Highlanders with primeval gods inside them. Sammi looked at Phelan’s gold skin and claws before sliding her gaze to Charon and his copper skin and the thick horns that protruded out of his temples to curve around his head.

Then her gaze landed on Ian. His skin was a light blue, pale but vibrant. His claws were a darker shade of blue. He turned and she got a look at his eyes. They were the same color as his skin but they flooded his eyes from corner to corner leaving no trace of an iris.

The Warriors might not be dragon shifters, but they could hold their own against the Dark.

Phelan let out a deep growl after he ducked something she couldn’t see. He quickly plunged his gold claws into the Dark’s throat.

It was a brutal scene, but one she couldn’t look away from.

Suddenly the Dark Fae that were battling the dragons turned and looked behind them. Sammi could see nothing but the countryside, but apparently the Fae could see something more.

“It’s a doorway, lass,” Ian said when he glimpsed her confusion.

A doorway. Of course. She remembered hearing Tristan speak of Fae doorways.

She watched as the Dark began fighting what was behind them in the doorway. And then a naked man rushed through, followed by Tristan.

Sammi struggled to remain on her feet as her knees threatened to buckle. Tristan fought alongside the naked man with a dragon tattoo on his back, but all the while Tristan’s gaze scanned the area.

Until his eyes landed on her.

There was no time for words as Con shifted into a magnificent gold dragon. A moment later, Tristan released his dragon.

With the Dark fighting four Dragon Kings and three Warriors, they were soon being driven back. Sammi thought they might continue the fight, but Ian took her hand and began to run with her away from the Dark Ones.

The next instant, Tristan swooped in and scooped them each into one of his hands. Sammi looked down at the fast-disappearing ground to see Charon and Phelan were likewise grabbed.

It wasn’t until she felt the heat of Tristan’s scales and the wind around her that she knew she was truly away from the Dark. Somehow, Tristan had gotten her freed.

The clouds surrounded them, hiding them from view of the world below. She rested her head on Tristan’s hand and closed her eyes as the tears came. With Tristan flying so fast, she could always claim it was the wind stinging her eyes. No one had to know just how scared she had been—and still was.