Soul Scorched

by Donna Grant

  She emptied her mind of everything, though it took a few tries because Warrick’s handsome face kept popping up. Next, she searched her memories of all that she knew of the Dragon Kings. The problem was, what was stored in her mind wasn’t her memories. They were Ulrik’s. But something was better than nothing.

  Constantine’s face came into her mind’s eye. It was before he was King of Kings, when he and Ulrik were still as close as brothers. Con’s blond hair was long and wavy, flowing freely past his shoulders. His black eyes were crinkled in the corners as he laughed at something Ulrik said.

  That image faded, replaced with another of Con. His hair was pulled back in a queue, and he no longer smiled so freely.

  “I’ll no’ fight you,” Ulrik said.

  Con’s gaze hardened. “You’re the only one who can challenge me. If you doona, it makes you look weak. The strongest of us needs to be King of Kings.”

  “Then let me appear weak. I’ll no’ fight my best friend. Take the crown, Con. It’s yours. You went through enough to ensure that it was.”

  “You think I want to fight you?” Con asked, an offended look coming over his face.

  “Nay.”

  Though Ulrik began to suspect otherwise. He alone knew Con had killed the previous King of Kings. It’s wasn’t murder, but a challenge. The strongest of the Kings was King of Kings, and Con wanted to be uncontested.

  Thankfully, that memory faded to one with Ulrik holding a woman in his arms. She was amazingly beautiful with her flame red hair and green eyes. Ulrik’s love was there in his memories. He would’ve done anything for the woman.

  Darcy prepared herself for what was next. The first time she’d experienced the memory of his lover’s betrayal she had vomited.

  She tensed as the memory flooded her mind. One moment Ulrik was flying back to Dreagan, and the next he was confronted by Con and the rest of the Kings.

  At first Ulrik refused to believe them, holding onto denial. Then the fury he felt at that moment assaulted her.

  Her eyes snapped opened as she gasped for air. She didn’t have to run to the bathroom, but her stomach rolled for several minutes.

  There wasn’t a King out there who understood what Ulrik went through. He’d needed them the most during that time, and they’d turned their backs on him.

  Darcy didn’t fool herself though. She’d seen enough of his memories to know he hadn’t exactly been a good person during the time he walked the earth in human form.

  Still, she couldn’t help but feel for Ulrik. Not that she would ever tell him that. You didn’t pity a man like Ulrik.

  She hoped, delving back into his memories, that she might uncover something important about the Kings. All she found out was that Con might or might not have wanted to kill Ulrik. By taking Ulrik’s magic, banishing him, and condemning him to eternity in human form, Con guaranteed he was unchallenged.

  As interesting as that was, it didn’t tell her any more about the Kings.

  Darcy got to her feet. She paced her small office for a moment before she went to the back with her flowers and walked among them.

  She didn’t know how long she paced before she looked up, halting when she saw a tall, broad shouldered man with long dark hair leaning against a post.

  “It took you long enough, Druid,” he said. “Would’ve sucked had I been a Dark.”

  As soon as he spoke, she recognized Thorn’s voice from the night before. Darcy glanced around for Warrick, and when she didn’t find him, she met Thorn’s brown gaze.

  “I see you found clothes.”

  He glanced down at his boots, jeans, and chocolate brown shirt. “So it seems. What has you so agitated?”

  Darcy cut him a sharp look. “Really? That’s the question you ask me after last night?”

  “The Dark are verra dangerous to be sure. Is that all that has your dander up?”

  “Where is Warrick?”

  “Around. Would you rather talk to him? That would be a first,” Thorn said with a slight grin.

  What was that supposed to mean? Darcy ignored the last comment. “Are the Dark after me because I helped Ulrik?”

  Thorn’s grin vanished. He pushed away from the post and ran a hand over his chin that was shadowed with a beard. “If they are, it doesna make sense. Ulrik is aligned with the Dark.”

  “All of them?” she asked. “Couldn’t there be some unhappy Dark Fae?”

  “That would mean they would go against their king’s orders. Taraeth would never abide such actions. If he doesna know, however, that’s a different story. Unless Ulrik sent them after you.”

  She shook her head. “He didn’t.”

  “How do you know that?”

  Darcy whirled around at the sound of Warrick’s voice behind her. His blond hair was windblown, and his eyes regarded her with a mixture of curiosity and wariness.

  She licked her lips before she said, “I know because Ulrik told me he still needed me.”

  “Did you bed him?” Thorn asked from behind her.

  Darcy threw him a withering look over her shoulder. “No. Besides, why would he kill the only Druid who can touch dragon magic and not die?”

  Warrick’s cobalt gaze narrowed. “Something I’ve been asking myself all night.”

  “It’s not Ulrik,” Darcy said.

  Thorn walked to stand beside Warrick. “Then why are the Dark after you?”

  “Balladyn,” Warrick suddenly said to Thorn. “Henry said how much Balladyn hates Ulrik.”

  Balladyn. That name meant nothing to Darcy, but it obviously meant quite a bit to the Kings. It was time she learned all the players in this game to determine just where she stood.

  Darcy waited until Warrick looked back to her. Then she said, “If you want any more information about Ulrik, I need details of what’s going on.”

  Warrick and Thorn exchanged a look before Warrick nodded. “Deal.”

  CHAPTER

  NINE

  Warrick considered doing serious bodily harm to Thorn when he entered Darcy’s shop. All Warrick wished was to keep an eye out while he considered Con’s plan, but Thorn thought they should take the time to get to know her better.

  At first, Warrick hadn’t followed him in. He waited outside, and intended to remain there. Then he began wondering what Thorn and Darcy were talking about and if Thorn was flirting.

  Thorn wasn’t a charmer like Kiril or Rhys. He lived life as wild and free as he wanted, which is why he spent the majority of his time sleeping. He and Con constantly clashed because Thorn couldn’t care less if the mortals saw him in dragon form or not.

  It wasn’t that Thorn went looking for trouble, but it always seemed to find him. His willfulness and the unconventional way he did things set him apart from most of the Kings. Even Rhys, who was the most daring of them all, didn’t always understand Thorn.

  Perhaps that’s why Con paired Thorn with him. Warrick tended to think things through thoroughly. Just like barging in and interrupting Darcy’s day.

  The longer Warrick sat out there and thought of Darcy flirting with Thorn, the more irritated he became. He went in through the front door of the shop, unlocking it with magic, and followed the sounds of their voices to the back.

  Like any male, Warrick had desires. He recognized the need that flooded him the first time he laid eyes on Darcy. It only intensified when he caught her gaze slowly running down his body after he’d fought the Dark the night before.

  If he was to do his job correctly, he was going to have to do something about the desire that ruled him. A visit to his favorite bordello in Glasgow was in order. Quickly.

  Then he forgot all about other women when Darcy turned to him. Her auburn locks were gathered loosely at the back of her neck, and the curve-hugging black sweater drew his eyes to her breasts again and again.

  “That easy, huh?” she said with a slight grin. “Why do I get the feeling I’m not going to get much in the way of information?”

  The more they learned what Ulrik
was doing the better, which is why Warrick didn’t think twice about striking that deal with her. It’s what Con wanted anyway. Darcy already knew about the Dragon Kings. Whatever questions she had couldn’t be much.

  “Ask me anything,” Warrick stated.

  Darcy silently regarded him for long moments. Then she asked, “Who is Balladyn?”

  “First lieutenant to the Dark Fae king, Taraeth,” Warrick explained. “All Dark were once Light Fae who chose evil. Balladyn was one of the best warriors the Light had. He was injured in one of the many civil wars the Fae have, and Taraeth captured him, turning him Dark.”

  “Why does Balladyn hate Ulrik?”

  Warrick hoped Thorn might answer, but the King of the Clarets simply returned his look. Warrick turned his head back to Darcy. “That’s unclear. We suspect it has something to do with Ulrik being a King.”

  Darcy’s brow furrowed. “You lost me.”

  This was why Warrick liked others to explain things. He never did an adequate job, and to make matters worse he was trying harder with Darcy than he had with anyone else.

  “There’s history between Balladyn and the Kings,” Warrick said. “One of us had a relationship with a Light Fae named Rhi. Balladyn was in love with Rhi.”

  “One doesna simply fall out of love,” Thorn interjected. “If he hates Ulrik, then Balladyn is still in love with Rhi. It’s one of the reasons he kidnapped her.”

  “What?” Darcy asked. “Balladyn kidnapped Rhi? Why?”

  Warrick touched the bright green leaves of a lavender rose. “He blamed her for his turning Dark. He wanted to turn her as well. He didna succeed.”

  “And Ulrik carried her out of the place,” Thorn said.

  Darcy’s eyes grew large. “Is Ulrik her lover?”

  “Nay. That King chose to end the relationship. Rhi, however, still loves him,” Warrick answered.

  “Did the King stop loving her?”

  Warrick shrugged. “He refuses to speak of her.”

  “He’s no’ told anyone anything,” Thorn said. “No’ even Rhi.”

  Darcy’s face scrunched. “I don’t think I like this King. What kind of guy does something like that? It’s just rude.” She gave a sad shake of her head. “All right. So that explains why Balladyn might have sent Dark to kill me. He doesn’t want Ulrik to have any more help. If it was that simple, why hasn’t Balladyn come and killed me himself?”

  “Taraeth,” Warrick said. “Taraeth is the only one holding Balladyn back. For now. I suspect Balladyn will make a run to become king of the Dark soon enough.”

  “I won’t be forgetting those two names anytime soon.” Darcy reached for some clippers and cut off a dead bloom. “Are you here to try and convince me to return to Skye?”

  Thorn made a sound at the back of his throat and walked to the back of the conservatory. “I’ll leave you to it, Warrick.”

  Darcy’s head swung from Thorn’s retreating back to him. “What did he mean?”

  If there was time, Warrick could gleefully punch Thorn in the face. Thorn knew Warrick wasn’t thrilled with Con’s idea. Now he realized why Thorn really came to see Darcy.

  “Warrick?” Darcy called.

  “Tell her, War,” Thorn said as he exited the back.

  Darcy set down the clippers and gave Warrick a hard look. “Spill.”

  Warrick sighed. He wasn’t the one to talk to Darcy about this. He would muck this up, he just knew it. “I’m no’ here to convince you to return to Skye.”

  “Really?” She lifted one auburn brow, her look unconvinced.

  “Really. You wanted to know about the Kings. Ask away.”

  “How about you start from the beginning.”

  “It might be easier if you tell me what Ulrik has told you.”

  She was shaking her head before he finished. “There are two sides to every story. I’m asking to hear your side of things.”

  Now that intrigued him. He thought for sure she would take Ulrik’s side after helping him. Perhaps he wouldn’t have to work so hard to get Darcy to help them.

  “You look surprised,” she said and walked past him. She waved for him to follow her. “Let’s get comfortable.”

  Why was it when those words left her mouth, he didn’t picture them sitting in the cushy chairs in the front of the shop at the round table but falling naked on a bed, their limbs intertwined as he kissed her?

  He shook his head to try and dislodge the image, but the image was firmly implanted now. His balls tightened when he looked down to see the way her faded jeans clung to her well-formed ass.

  There was no denying it—he was in over his head where Darcy was concerned.

  She pulled the chairs used for her clients out from the table and around so that they sat facing each other. Darcy sank into one, tucking a leg beneath her as she did.

  Warrick took the empty chair, surprised at how comfortable it was. He ran his hands along the arms of the chair, liking the feel of the black velvet beneath his palm.

  “So,” she said.

  Warrick admired that she got right down to business. “From the beginning, aye?”

  “Aye.”

  He liked the way her Scots accent thickened when she repeated his words. Warrick took a deep breath and thought back to the days before humans. “For countless centuries, this realm was ours. You can no’ imagine what it was like to see dragons everywhere. There were those who preferred the water and spent much of their time in the oceans, seas, and lochs. There were those who craved the ice and snow, while others were more at home in the deserts, and still others who made their homes in the jungles.”

  “Much like we do,” Darcy said.

  Warrick nodded slightly. “We were no’ just different in our choice of environment, but in color and size. Each group of dragons had a leader.”

  “Were the leaders voted on?”

  “Nay. We became Kings of our dragons because we had the most magic and were the fiercest.”

  Darcy frowned. “You’re immortal. So once you become King, no one else can take your place?”

  “No’ necessarily. A Dragon King can only be killed by another Dragon King. There were a few skirmishes between packs, but sometimes it was a matter of another with more magic and power wanting to take over.”

  “Is that what you did?”

  Warrick still remembered the day he became King of the Jades. “A dragon knows when he can be King. He feels the force of the magic and instinctively knows he has more than another. So do the other dragons. The previous King of the Jades wasna ready to relinquish his title. He attacked me, intending to kill me.”

  “My God,” Darcy said with her eyes wide.

  “It sounds violent, but it isna any more than what humans do to each other. It was our way, Darcy. It’s how we lived.”

  “And you obviously won.”

  “Aye. I wouldna have challenged him for a few years yet, but he wasna content with that. It was kill or be killed.”

  She swallowed. “So you became King of the Jades.”

  “Aye. Several millennia passed before the first humans arrived.”

  “Arrived? Like on a spaceship or something?” she asked with a twist of her lips.

  Warrick scratched his chin. “One day they were no’ here, and the next they were. Once they arrived, each King shifted into human form. That allowed us to communicate with the mortals. They possessed no magic, so we vowed to protect them.”

  “You had to know that whatever accord was between you and the humans wouldn’t last.”

  “Why no’? Why did it have to end?” Warrick asked, feeling anger begin to rise. “We protected them. The dragons even moved out of areas that had been their homes for eons to give the humans a place to live.”

  “Did you ever consider that they were scared of you?”

  Warrick scoffed. “No’ a single dragon harmed them. No’ one of the smallest nor the largest of us.”

  “So you were happy to have humans share your realm?” she aske
d with a knowing look.

  “I didna say that. Would you be happy if another race of beings suddenly arrived and you had to move entire populations from their homes for these new people?”

  Her shoulders slumped, a sad expression coming over her face. “No. I doubt we would be so accommodating.”

  “There were angry dragons. We Kings kept them in check. It wasna easy, and we had resentment of our own. But a vow is a vow.”

  “And we ruined it.”

  Warrick sighed. “We should’ve seen it coming. With every mortal born, the humans became more and more aggressive. They wanted more of our lands. They didna just take our homes, they began to kill our food sources. Hungry dragons can become … violent.”

  “You mean the dragons didn’t eat us?”

  “We did our best to enforce it, but I know there was a human who went missing every now and then.”

  “And you wonder why the humans turned on you?”

  “Did I mention that the humans hunted the smallest of us when they couldn’t find food? We each did harm to the other. It’s never one-sided, Darcy. Never.”

  CHAPTER

  TEN

  Darcy shifted in the chair. She was sorry to say that it never occurred to her that humans had harmed the dragons. They were dragons! They had magic and powers. Why would a human ever think to hurt a creature who was protecting it?

  She knew what came next in the story, at least from Ulrik’s point of view, but she was eager to hear it from Warrick’s.

  He had a way of talking that sucked her into the story instantly. His brogue was deep and thick as he weaved his words around her. And she wanted to hear more. A person would have to be deaf not to have their stomach tremble with excitement every time his rich voice filled the room.

  “Despite everything, there were Kings who took mortal females for themselves.”

  “Was it the power of a King that drew the humans?” she asked.

  Warrick shrugged one wide shoulder. “It’s a possibility. A dragon mates for life.”

  “Which wouldn’t be too long since you’re immortal and we humans aren’t,” she pointed out.