Darkest Flame (32 page)

The more she thought about leaving this new world she’d found, the more she knew she didn’t want to. She might not be able to have Kellan, but she wouldn’t walk away from the war that was obviously already here.

Denae would do her part and learn who was after the Dragon Kings. She would find why MI5 aligned themselves with the Dark. She would ferret out anyone and everyone who posed a threat to the Kings.

And she would stop them.

She now had a mission, something to fill her life, and she couldn’t wait to get started.

“Kellan will never allow her to have such a weapon,” Phelan said to Rhi.

Denae narrowed her eyes at the Warrior. “I make my own decisions, thank you very much.”

“Good luck with that,” he said with a snort. Then his gaze looked past them and grew hard.

Denae saw the Dark Ones getting closer and closer to the trees again. The two dead Fae had caught their attention.

Phelan didn’t say a word as he shoved Rhi aside and used his incredible speed to kill four more Dark Fae.

Rhi let out a string of curses. She tossed her sword at Denae before she grabbed the two dead Dark by their hair and disappeared, them along with her.

Denae swung the sword around her, getting used to the weight of it. With her training and the sword, she could hold her own against the Dark.

A moment later Rhi reappeared and smiled as she saw Denae ready to fight. “Yep. Just what you needed,” the Fae said with a wink as she caught hold of two more Dark and vanished again.

Denae was surprised at the lightness of the sword. The blade was narrow as it curved ever so slightly toward the end. The pommel was made of a dark wood with gold knot work etched into it. The blade itself had … a dragon.

Denae’s heart missed a beat. A dragon that stood on its hind legs, wings outstretched with its head thrown back in a roar. Was it coincidence that Rhi had had a Dragon King lover and also had a dragon on her sword? It was an effective weapon, and one she would master.

In no time Rhi had removed the dead Fae and Phelan was once more within the copse of trees with them. It was obvious he wanted to be in the thick of things. She hated that he was there because of her.

“Go,” she urged him. “Rhi is here, and I’ve got the sword.”

Phelan grunted. “I gave Kellan my word, and I doona break my word. I’d kill anyone who vowed to protect my woman then left her undefended.”

“I’m not unde—” she started, but Rhi stopped her with a hand on her arm. Denae rolled her eyes. She wasn’t helpless. She wasn’t.

Well, not entirely, not now that she had Rhi’s sword.

Phelan raised a dark brow at her. “You know he’s doing all this for you, do you no’?”

Denae looked through the thick tree limbs to the sky in search of Kellan, but he was impossible to see. “You’re wrong. He’s doing this because they took him prisoner.”

“I hate to say it,” Rhi said with a sigh, “but Phelan’s right. Kellan could’ve taken you away as soon as you came through the doorway. The Kings would’ve returned en masse and decimated the Dark Ones.”

“Instead, he remains. I gather something bad happened while you both were held,” Phelan asked, his gaze never leaving the battle as he squatted in front of them.

Denae licked her lips and shifted from one foot to the other as she tried not to recall what Taraeth had done. “It could’ve been worse.”

“The fact something happened at all is the point,” Phelan continued. “No one touches my woman and gets away with it.”

Denae opened her mouth to talk when she caught sight of the long bronze body of Kellan as he flew down the middle of the Dark Fae, scattering and killing as many as he could. Right behind him was Tristan who killed more. All the while both dodging magic thrown from the Dark.

Suddenly there were two other roars, distinctly dragons. Denae craned her head to see a yellow dragon and a burnt orange dragon.

“They’re beautiful, aren’t they?” Rhi asked.

Denae looked at her as she heard the longing in Rhi’s voice. “Who was he?”

Rhi cut her eyes to her and replied innocently, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Denae let her lie. It was Rhi’s right to keep that part of herself secret and hidden. She nodded to the Light Fae. “They are beautiful and deadly and breathtaking.”

“Yes. They most certainly are.”

Denae glanced down at Phelan to find him watching Rhi intently before his gaze turned to her. There was a bond between the Warrior and Rhi, one of a brother and sister, which made Denae miss her own sister even more.

She put her hand on a tree, the bark biting into her palm, as Taraeth threw a bubble of magic at Kellan. He was as agile as a hawk in the way he avoided the first and second shots. The third hit him in one of his wings.

Denae’s heart jumped into her throat as Kellan fell from the sky to land upon the earth, the impact shaking the ground beneath her feet.

The yellow dragon landed in front of Kellan’s still form and breathed fire at any Dark who drew near. His fire managed to eradicate any magic hurled at them.

“Well,” Rhi said with a soft whistle. “That’s something I’ve not seen before.”

Denae started toward Kellan only to have Phelan hold her back.

“Nay, lass,” he said softly. “If you go to him now, everything the Kings have done today will be for naught as the Dark Fae will focus on you.”

Denae realized that even though Kellan might have wanted a fight because Taraeth touched her, he participated in the battle to keep the Darks’ attention off her.

She turned to Rhi. “Can you get me out of here?”

Rhi’s silver eyes turned to her as she slowly shook her head. “I used too much of my magic today staying veiled and then carting off the Dark Ones so you could remain hidden.”

Damn. That wasn’t what she wanted to hear.

“He’s not moving,” Denae told Phelan as she stared at Kellan.

The Warrior’s hold refused to loosen. “The only thing that can kill him is another Dragon King. There’s no need to worry, lass.”

As if waiting for Phelan’s words, Kellan stirred and lifted his head before his dragon form got to his feet and stood side by side with the yellow one.

The amber dragon dropped out of the sky to stand beside Kellan, and the burnt orange dragon flew down to stand beside the yellow one.

The sight of all four dragons, their bodies immense, their scales shining in the sun, was surreal. She got her first good look at Kellan, and she was duly impressed.

His metallic bronze scales were the same vivid shade on his back as they were on his stomach. They gleamed as if polished, the sunlight winking off the scales.

His white eyes were like beams of light they were so pale in his large head. Two large horns extended backward from his forehead. What looked like a spiky membrane ran from the base of his skull down his back to the tip of his long tail.

He was stunning and terrifying all at the same time. And she couldn’t get enough of him.

“There is bad blood between humans and Kings,” Rhi said from Denae’s other side.

Denae glanced at the Light Fae, wondering when she had moved.

“Kellan’s hatred runs deep. Or maybe not anymore,” Rhi said with a kind smile as she looked at Denae. “Tell him what you think of him in dragon form. It’s important to them.”

“And you know this how?” Phelan asked.

Rhi tucked a strand of black hair behind her ear. “Keep asking, stud. You might get an answer someday.”

Denae took a step back farther into the grove of trees, and this time Phelan released his hold. She leaned against a tree with the sword still held in her right hand while she watched the four Dragon Kings being pelted with magic from the dwindling forces of Taraeth’s army.

Oddly, Denae couldn’t find Taraeth anywhere on the battlefield. She started to push away from the tree when a hand clamped over her mouth.

“Make a sound and I’ll slit your throat were you stand,” Taraeth whispered in her ear with his Irish accent.

Denae’s heart pounded against her ribs like a drum. Fear, soul-gripping, heart-stopping fear, made her blood run like ice in her veins. Taraeth had her. Again.

She promised herself never to have such fear consume her again, and yet here she was. Denae had allowed herself to believe that she would never be in a Dark Fae’s clutches again. As if tromping through the monster-infested, foul-smelling tunnels to get free wasn’t enough.

“You’re going to come with me,” he said.

She shook her head as much as she could with his hand over her mouth and the tree behind her.

“If you want me to allow Kellan to live, you will.”

Denae nearly laughed out loud. Taraeth made a mistake in threatening Kellan because of two things: Kellan was immortal, only to be killed by another Dragon King … and she had Rhi’s sword.

Whatever distress and anxiety she had from being held by the Dark leader evaporated into nothing. He was just another asshole with a god complex. And she had the means to stop him as she had so many others.

She gave a quick nod of acceptance.

“I knew you were a smart girl. I’ll make you happy, little human. Just you wait and see. I’m going to take my hand away. Not a sound, remember.”

He waited for her to nod again.

Then he continued, “We’ll go back through the doorway. All your troubles with MI5 will cease. There’ll be nothing to worry your pretty head about. I’ll take it all away.”

Denae’s eyes were on Kellan, praying he didn’t look her way, as she slumped weakly against the tree. She had a good plan.

“Exactly,” Taraeth whispered happily. “No more fighting the inevitable. Even had you made it away today, I’d have found you again. You’re too tempting of a morsel, little human.”

He slowly pulled his hand away from her mouth, and when she didn’t make a sound, Taraeth reached for her. Denae whirled around, bringing the sword up to clutch it with both hands.

The world stilled, going into slow motion as she witnessed Taraeth’s red eyes go wide as he spotted the sword. Denae swung the sword down in an arc, intending to take Taraeth’s head so he would never bother her again.

In her anger, she forgot about his magic, so never saw it coming at her, hitting her in the chest. The pain was debilitating. The fingers of her left hand loosened on the sword, and Denae fought to keep the weapon in her right hand even as she felt herself pitching forward.

She squinted as the rays of the sun hit against an amulet Taraeth wore right into her eyes, blinding her for a moment.

Taraeth turned his body away as he raised his arm. The last of Denae’s strength left her as her knees buckled. But she brought the sword down and saw it connect with Taraeth’s arm.

As soon as the blade went through his arm, the world around her returned to normal in a deafening rush. She heard her name shouted behind her, and all she could think about was Kellan and how she’d failed to kill Taraeth.

Denae watched the sword fall from her grip and Taraeth vanish before her eyes. She pitched forward only to be caught in arms she knew all too well.

“I’ve got you,” Kellan whispered.

She blinked up at him, but couldn’t form any words.

“The pain will pass. Just breathe,” he said as his arms tightened.

“That was a killing blow of magic,” Rhi said. “She should be dead. That’s the second time I’ve seen Denae do something no human should be able to.”

Denae didn’t care as long as she survived. With each beat of her heart she was feeling better. Kellan’s big hand pushed aside her hair so he could see her face.

His pale green eyes held a wealth of worry. “I doona know how you did it, but you cut off Taraeth’s arm.”

“Just his arm?” Denae asked. “I was trying for his head.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

Kellan couldn’t make himself let go of Denae. Even as the yacht Guy and Laith had driven to Cork cut its way through the Irish Sea back to Scotland.

Thunder rumbled over the roar of the motor and a second later, an impressive display of lightning lit the sky. The storms were a great way for the Kings to fly unnoticed, but for once Kellan wasn’t thinking of taking flight.

He was thinking of the female in his arms.

“She’s not going anywhere, you know?” Phelan said as he reclined on a chair with his arms spread along the back.

Kellan glanced at the Warrior opposite him, noting his irritated expression that hadn’t softened since Rhi had refused to return with them. “Denae could’ve died with the magic Taraeth used against her.”

“But she didna. Just as, for some reason, she didna succumb to the Dark Ones while you were being held. Just as she somehow helped break you from the magical chains.”

Kellan squeezed Denae harder. She hadn’t woken since she had fallen unconscious. He’d already searched her for any injuries, but there had been nothing. That was the only thing keeping him calm.

“She’s special,” Kellan finally said.

Phelan turned blue-gray eyes to him. “Everyone can see she means something to you.”

“I didna want her to.”

“That’s normally how it works. I wasna prepared for Aisley, or the way I couldna stop thinking about her. I was obsessed with having her, holding her. I didna relent until she was mine.”

Kellan merely nodded, because he understood all too well what Phelan was talking about. It was just one of the reasons he wasn’t able to put Denae down on the couch next to him, or even in one of the many rooms on the yacht. He had to hold her against him, to feel her breath fanning him.

“What’s going to happen once you return to Dreagan?”

Kellan shrugged. “I’ve no’ thought that far ahead. I’m still trying to process all that’s happened. What about you? What are you going to do now that you know Tristan is the twin to one of your friends?”

Phelan’s gaze instantly swung to the narrow doorway leading out to the deck of the boat and Tristan, who stood at the railing with his back to them. “He says he has no memories of being Duncan.”

“I doona believe he lies.”

“Nor do I. It’s just … it’s hard. I never met Duncan, but I’ve fought alongside Ian. I heard the stories of Duncan and Ian while Deirdre held them in Cairn Toul Mountain. I know Ian. I know that Tristan is his twin.”