Darkest Flame (30 page)

Phelan shook his head. “Rhi is too smart for that. She’s in the thick of danger, no doubt, but she’ll get out once she knows all of us are free of the tunnels.”

“How far until we get out?” Kellan asked.

Tristan shrugged. “Depending on how fast we move, we could be out in three quarters of an hour.”

“Is the doorway away from any cities?”

“Aye,” Tristan said with a grin. “It’s situated in an open field.”

Denae pushed her hair behind her ears. “What about now? Are we beneath a field?”

It was Phelan who shook his head. “We went in the direction of the nearest city.”

“Damn,” Denae muttered.

Kellan reached for her hand, knowing exactly how frustrated she felt. “Phelan, you take the lead. I’ll follow with Denae behind me.”

“And I’ll bring up the rear,” Tristan said.

Kellan nodded. “I want Denae protected no matter what.”

Phelan rubbed his hands together, his long gold claws clicking as he did. “She will be. Now, let’s get the fuck out of this nasty place.”

*   *   *

Rhi returned to the room Kellan and Denae were being held in only to discover they were gone. She stared in shock at the broken chain.

It didn’t matter how strong a Dragon King was, they couldn’t break through a chain spelled by Dark Fae. But something—or someone—had been able to.

Rhi knelt beside the chain and reached out her arm to touch it when the sound of the door opening reached her. She had mere seconds to veil herself before she was seen.

Her power was running low. She wouldn’t be able to stay veiled for long, but she had to learn as much as she could. She rose and backed away as Taraeth, his clothes torn and bloody, stopped at the doorway and gaped at the empty room.

“Where are they?” he bellowed.

The men behind him immediately turned and rushed out of the room, barking orders to get search parties together for the castle and tunnel.

Taraeth walked past the broken chain to the back wall. He watched it for several seconds before he murmured, “How did you get loose, Kellan? And more importantly, how did you know this was a doorway?”

Rhi fisted her hands. Taraeth had defeated yet another rival. Would no one ever take him down?

Suddenly Taraeth’s head swung in her direction. “Who helped you, Kellan?” he asked.

Rhi’s magic was wearing thin. She might hate Taraeth, but if her veil slipped, she wouldn’t have much magic with which to fight him. She had no choice but to leave.

She appeared in the tunnels and dropped the veil. Her knees buckled, and she hit the ground hard. Rhi winced as a rock jabbed into her left knee.

Balladyn was alive. Taraeth had killed another rival after kidnapping a Dragon King and Kellan’s woman. Not to mention MI5 had some alliance with the Dark Ones.

All of which Rhi needed to tell Usaeil. Rhi couldn’t go to her queen yet. Kellan and Denae where somewhere in the tunnels, and she couldn’t be sure if Phelan and Tristan had found them or not.

“A fine mess you’ve gotten yourself into,” Rhi said.

She wearily climbed to her feet. How she hated feeling so powerless when her magic was drained.

“Not a good place to be weak, pet.”

The soft Irish brogue, the endearment. Rhi didn’t have to turn around to know Balladyn had found her.

“These are dangerous times,” he said. “Too perilous for the likes of you.”

“A lot has changed.” Rhi slowly turned around and met Balladyn’s red gaze. She hid her wince. Gone were the kind silver eyes she remembered. “For the both of us, it seems. I thought you died. I mourned you.”

“You’d have been better off thinking I was dead.” His gaze shifted and grew hard. “I know what happens to Light Fae who grow weak down here.”

“So. You’ve come to take me to Taraeth.” She was surprised, shocked right down to her now-ruined boots. Balladyn had been her dearest friend. What had happened to him?

Balladyn inhaled deeply. His long mane of black hair was cut to his chin and now sported streaks of silver. “Eventually. I’ve got something else in store for you.”

The menace in his words made her blood ice. “Why am I so special?”

“As if you didn’t know, pet.”

Rhi licked her lips and hoped her magic was strong enough against one as powerful as Balladyn. “Oh, and what is that?”

“You should never have come here. I had hoped to track you, make you run and worry. You know how I always loved the thrill of the hunt.”

She believed every word. In all the years she had known Balladyn, he had never said anything he didn’t mean. The fact he was threatening her life told her he was well and truly a Dark One.

“War is coming, Balladyn. War with the Light and war with the Dragon Kings. Either way, I’ll be fighting the Dark. Choose your side wisely. Don’t make me kill you.”

He smiled, but it didn’t reach his red eyes. “Time for words is over, Rhi, because the world as you know it is about to end.”

She ducked just as he sent several blasts of magic to incapacitate her. With the last vestiges of her magic, she disappeared.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

Denae wasn’t sure if it was a rock or something else that sliced the bottom of her foot. She didn’t say anything to Kellan or the others. What good would it have done? They needed to get out of the tunnels quickly, and she was still able to walk.

Phelan and Kellan stopped in front of her and knelt. Denae quickly followed suit only to have Kellan motion for her to remain as he and Phelan moved farther into the darkness.

“How badly are you bleeding?” Tristan whispered.

Denae sighed. Could she keep nothing from these men? “I’m all right.”

“You’re limping. It willna take Kellan long to notice that.”

“I won’t slow us down.”

“Never said you would.”

She glanced behind her, but she couldn’t make out Tristan’s face in the darkness. It felt weird being in the company of such men. Dragon Kings and Warriors.

They were protective in a way she had never experienced before. Unlike the mortal men who either thought she should know her place as a female or the ones who regarded her as an equal who could take care of herself, Kellan made her feel both shielded and capable.

He was archaic in his thinking of the fairer sex, but that hadn’t stopped him from allowing her the ability to handle whatever came her way.

It was … refreshing and entirely too amazing. She leaned a shoulder against the tunnel wall and thought of Kellan. A Dragon King. A dragon and a King.

A gorgeous man who kissed as if there were no tomorrow and made love skillfully, adeptly. He could have let her die. Instead, he took her on a journey that opened her eyes to an entirely new world both beautiful and frightening.

How could she not want to know more about him?

How could she not crave to be in his arms?

How could she not fall for such a man?

Denae smothered a chuckle. Fall for Kellan. It was laughable. She hadn’t just fallen for him, she’d tumbled, plunged headlong for all that was Kellan. Impulsively, recklessly.

She knew the type of man he was—honest, dependable, and guarded. He hadn’t wanted to like her, and she wasn’t even sure if he did.

He’d enjoyed her body, and gave her pleasure unlike anything she’d thought was possible. But he was from another world that had no place for her in it. He protected only because he had given his word.

Once she was safe—well, she knew exactly where she would stand with him.

Not even knowing she would end up alone with only her memories could stop her heart from pitching headfirst into love.

A warm, large hand covered hers. Denae knew instantly it was Kellan.

“Ready?” he whispered.

She nodded, knowing he could see her.

“What is it?”

Denae scrunched up her face. “I want out of this place.”

There was a beat of silence before he said, “Let’s go.”

She stood and again took hold of his belt loop. They walked for what seemed like hours, occasionally pausing to listen, while at other times they would run short distances.

Twice Kellan shoved her out of the way while he, Tristan, and Phelan fought whatever monster crossed their path. The tunnel had gotten so dark she could barely make out shapes, much less know what it was that they were fighting. And a part of her didn’t want to know after seeing that giant moth.

All the while, she worried about Rhi. And she wasn’t the only one. Phelan wasn’t happy Rhi had yet to show up.

“She’ll be fine,” Kellan said. “Trust me.”

“How do you know?” Phelan ground out.

Denae felt Kellan shrug. “I’ve known Rhi for a verra long time, Warrior. If any Fae is capable of outwitting a Dark One, it’s Rhi. She isna in the Queen’s Guard for nothing.”

“Queen’s Guard,” Tristan repeated. “The Light queen needs a guard.”

“Since the queen rarely leaves her palace, nay. It is more of an honorary position filled by the strongest, most lethal Light warriors, and Rhi earned her right to be there,” Kellan explained.

“You didna see her at Dreagan,” Phelan pointed out. “Tristan found her collapsed on the floor. She was pale and … weak.”

Tristan mumbled, “Aye, she was.”

Denae waited for Kellan’s response, but seconds ticked by, making her think he wasn’t going to give one.

“There is much you doona know of Rhi,” he finally said.

“Who was the Dragon King she had an affair with?” Tristan asked.

They came to an instant stop, which caused Denae to run into Kellan’s back. He didn’t so much as tilt forward from the impact.

“Did the King leave her?” Phelan asked.

Deane realized his voice had gotten closer, and that meant he was most likely facing Kellan now.

“It was a long time ago,” Kellan said.

“What happened?”

“Ask Rhi.”

“I’m asking you.”

“And I’m no’ telling.”

Denae rolled her eyes and moved around Kellan to stand between him and Phelan. She had to worm her way between them, and she gave Phelan a little shove so he had to step back. “Come on. It’s not Kellan’s story to tell. If you want to know, ask Rhi.”

“Is it you?” Phelan asked Kellan as if he hadn’t heard Denae.

“Nay. I wouldna say she was a friend, but she’s the closest thing I have to a friend except for the other Kings,” Kellan answered.

After a moment, Phelan turned and walked away. Denae was about to return to her spot behind Kellan when his hands fell on her shoulders and he turned her to face him.

“You thought to protect me from a Warrior?”

Was that a hint of laughter she heard in his voice? She hated that she couldn’t see his face, but he could see every emotion that crossed hers. “Protect? As if. You’re a Dragon King. I simply wanted to diffuse a situation that was quickly growing out of control. If you haven’t noticed, Phelan is rather partial to Rhi. He thinks of her like a sister.”

“I noticed,” he said softly.

Denae swallowed, unsure of his gentle tone. His hands moved up her shoulders to her neck while his thumbs played with the edges of her lips.

Didn’t he realize his touch was all it took to throw her off kilter? The tunnel, with all its horrid surprises and revolting smell, fell away. There was only Kellan.

“You would stand between a King and a Warrior?”

She was having a difficult time keeping her thoughts in line with his thumb tracing her lips. He closed the distance between them, and his heat surrounded her. Unable to resist, she rested her hands on his chest.

“No. Yes.” She squeezed her eyes closed for a moment. “I don’t know.”

“Why?”

Why? What did he want to know again? He was so close she could rest her face on his shoulder. But it was his lips she wanted.

“Why would you stand between two immortals?” he asked.

Denae shrugged. “I didn’t like him all up in your face.”

“So you sought to protect me?”

When he said it like that, it sounded laughable. Denae parted her lips to tell him it wasn’t like that at all when his mouth descended on hers in a fierce kiss.

He seized, he captured.

He dominated.

And she loved every second of it.

The kiss left her dazed and needy, and it ended entirely too soon. He kept his hands on either side of her face as if to keep her away. It was only then that she heard his harsh breaths.

“I want you,” he whispered.

Denae smiled, because she knew that was as close to a profession of affection as she would ever get from Kellan.

And oddly, it was enough.

“Get me out of this tunnel and you can have me.”

He snorted and dropped his hands. “Is that a promise?”

“You bet.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” he said as he took her hand. “Tristan.”

Denae heard the sound of footfalls and realized that Tristan had walked away sometime during their interaction, but she had been too preoccupied with Kellan to take notice.

Kellan was a dangerous distraction for sure. But one she was glad to have. He made life interesting and fun again. He made her want to embrace life and see where it would take her.

And none of that included running for the rest of her days from MI5.

She forgot all about her injured foot as they started hurrying through the tunnels. They came to fork after fork in the tunnel with Phelan softly calling out right or left each time.

And before Denae knew it, Kellan pulled her through the doorway.

She blinked against the bright sunlight and quickly raised her arm to shield her eyes. But Kellan kept her moving. Denae bit back a curse when her toe jabbed into a rock. Yet, it was the growing danger that kept her on her feet.

There was a small grove of trees that he brought her to and pushed her against one. “Phelan?”

“I doona see any of them,” the Warrior answered, his gold skin shining in the sun.

Denae caught a glimpse of his fangs and wondered what else the Warrior could do. He was tall, his long, deep brown hair wild. His eyes, gold eyes from corner to corner, kept a constant look around them. His claws looked sharp enough to take her head, and she had the impression it was something he had done before.

Tristan looked at Kellan from his spot on their other side and shook his head. “No’ yet.”