Dark Heat: The Dark Kings Stories

by Donna Grant

  There was movement near her. Jane watched the thug shoving away debris as he gained his feet. He took one look at her and raised his gun.

  The dragon let out another deafening roar before it clamped down on the brute with its sharp teeth and tossed him in the air.

  Jane followed the thug’s soar, both elated that he was gone and frightened of what would now happen to her. She was about to look away, when she spotted something yellow dip from the sky.

  A shriek lodged in her throat when she saw the second dragon, which quickly ate the gunman.

  Jane waited until the blue dragon was busy swatting more men with its tail before she began looking for a way out. She fled behind a wall where the roof still covered the warehouse and anxiously looked for some kind of door.

  When she found nothing, she turned to retrace her footsteps and found a man standing in her way. His face, along with most of his body, was shrouded in the shadows, but she knew who it was. Despite all the yells from the dying men and the roars of the dragons, this man didn’t seem fazed.

  “You aren’t afraid,” she commented.

  He shrugged. “It’s not the first time I’ve seen dragons. What do you think of them? Are you frightened, Jane?”

  She was terrified, but she wouldn’t tell him that. “Move.”

  “So you can leave? Oh, I think not. You’re going to stay to see the end of this. I think you’ll be surprised. Matter of fact, I know it. And I want to see the look on your face when you realize what’s going on. Better than that, I want to see Banan’s face.”

  Banan. Jane didn’t know what he had to do with this, but she couldn’t wait to get to him. In his arms she was safe—she knew that with a certainty she couldn’t explain.

  It was then she realized the screams of the men had stopped. The only sound was that of a dragon’s deep, heavy breathing, the rain, and the thunder and lightning.

  A large drop of rain landed in front of her. Jane slowly lifted her face to find the dragon looking at her from over the top of the wall, which in her haste, she hadn’t noticed didn’t go all the way to the roof.

  Her heartbeat grew rapid and harsh as terror took hold. The dragon shifted its gaze, searching the shadows. Jane glanced to where the man had been, only to discover him gone. When her gaze returned to the dragon, she watched his head disappear back over the wall.

  Why hadn’t he killed her? It would take just a swipe from his paw to knock down the wall separating them.

  Jane took the opportunity to search where she was for a door out, but found nothing. She had no choice but to go back where the dragon waited. Maybe then she could escape without his notice.

  She hesitantly walked around the wall and found not just the blue dragon, but also the yellow dragon. They were standing side by side, and their opened wings blocked the majority of the rain.

  Jane looked from one to the other. The yellow dragon’s wide, orange eyes looked back at her, and she could have sworn the beast smiled, causing the series of tendril-like sprouts from his chin to move.

  There seemed to be no malice coming from either of the dragons, and though the yellow one seemed to have smiled, it was the midnight blue one that drew her attention.

  She couldn’t stop shaking from the cool air or the fear that gripped her. She was facing dragons!

  Suddenly she recalled the man’s words from earlier. Dragon Kings.

  Jane looked at the blue dragon. “Are you a Dragon King?”

  To her surprise, he nodded his great head.

  She took a step back, her hand over her heart. “How? How are you here? How do you exist?”

  The blue looked away, his amber eyes troubled by her questions.

  “They are questions I can answer,” said a male voice behind her.

  Jane whirled around to see a new form move out of the shadows and into the light. He wore dark slacks and a charcoal gray and deep purple striped button-down. He shoved his hands casually in his front pockets and smiled.

  “You must be Jane Holden.”

  She looked over her shoulder to see the dragons watching her. When she looked back at the man, she took in his tall form, the muscles not quite hidden by his shirt, and the golden color of his hair. It was his nearly black eyes that penetrated her, which told her this man would not be trifled with.

  “Yes,” she answered. “And you are?”

  “Constantine. But you can call me Con. I’ve a feeling, Jane, you and I will come to know each other quite well. Banan has spoken highly of you, as have Elena, Rhys, and Guy.”

  Jane put her hand to the side of her head. “Stop. Just … stop. There are two dragons behind me, and you aren’t even daunted by them. The other man seems to have just disappeared as well. What the hell is going on?”

  Con took another step toward her. “First, the other man you refer to is gone. Unfortunately. But I’ll take care of that later. Second, those dragons are my friends. You know them, actually.”

  “The other man said something like that as well. What do you mean?”

  Con’s relaxed demeanor changed instantly. “Did you get a look at this man? Did you see his face?”

  “No, to both questions. He made sure to keep to the shadows so I never saw him. He said he wanted to be here to see my face when I realized what the dragons were. He said he wanted to see Banan’s face as well. I don’t understand any of it.”

  “Nay,” Con said with a sigh. “I’m no’ sure you’re ready for the answers, Jane.”

  Con let out a short whistle, and both dragons shook their heads. Jane grew more confused the longer the conversation went on.

  “Look. I’m wet and cold. I’ve been kidnapped, roughened up, threatened, and had the fear of God put in me. I just want to find Banan and get home.”

  Con glanced at the ground. “A verra long time ago I swore to protect my men at all costs. We gave up everything, but I feared that wouldna be enough. So, I made sure we never developed feelings for mortals. I thought that would solve things.”

  “Mortals?” Jane whispered, her brain having trouble deciphering his meaning.

  “Jane, look at the dragons.”

  She took a hesitant step back, but Con walked to her, placed his hands on her shoulders, and gently turned her to the dragons.

  “Look at them. What do you see?”

  “I saw them kill.” But she couldn’t leave it at that. There had been more, and she needed to admit it. “They didn’t touch me. It was almost as if…” She trailed off, not sure if she could say it.

  “What? It was almost as if what?”

  “They were protecting me,” she answered in a whisper.

  Con leaned close and replied in the same hushed tone, “Because they were.”

  “I know them?”

  “Aye.”

  She stepped away from Con and toward the dragons. Jane hesitantly smiled when the blue dragon shifted his wing to keep her dry. Her gaze swung to the yellow, but it didn’t stay.

  The blue was the one who called to her. She continued toward the massive beast until she stood next to its large front foot.

  Tentatively, she put her hand on it. The scales were surprisingly warm. And it was then she noticed the dark blue scales on its back slowly faded to a lighter blue on his belly.

  “Are you afraid?” Con asked, his voice echoing in the warehouse.

  “Yes. And no,” she answered.

  She looked up at the blue watching her with its amber gaze, and it was something about those eyes that looked familiar.

  It wasn’t the color, but something in the gaze that told her she should know who the dragon was.

  But … surely that couldn’t be possible.

  CHAPTER

  FOURTEEN

  Banan couldn’t look away from Jane’s sweet brown eyes. He had seen her fear while he’d been killing to keep her safe, but there hadn’t been time to calm her.

  Now, he wasn’t sure what to do.

  He’d seen Hal and Guy show their women their dragon forms,
but none had done it while fighting. Jane had seen the worst. His gentle, kind Jane.

  All Banan had to do was return to his human form. But did he dare? Could he take the chance of showing her everything he was and not have her run away?

  It was because of him that she was involved in such danger. He had promised to keep her safe, when he’d only made things worse.

  He turned away, unable to bear looking at her another moment. Yet he had a choice to make. He could return to his human form and hope for the best.

  Or he could fly away and never see Jane again.

  Banan hadn’t understood Guy and Hal’s feelings for their women, but he did now. He wanted Jane with him always, to be by his side. He wanted to climb in bed with her each night, and face the dawn with her each morning.

  He might have thought himself immune to whatever was affecting the Dragon Kings, but there was no denying his love for Jane.

  “Banan,” Rhys’s voice sounded in his head. “Show Jane who you are. She went to you because she senses something about you.”

  “She could run.”

  “Aye,” Rhys said sadly. “She could. But she might no’. I see how much she means to you. Doona let her go. You’ll regret it always.”

  Banan’s gaze shifted to Con, who stood silently watching. Con was leaving everything up to Banan. Regardless of what Banan decided, Con would abide by it.

  If Banan flew away, Jane would have no reason to know their secret and could very well live out her life in safety.

  But whoever had been on the other side of that wall with her, who Banan suspected was the same bastard who’d kidnapped her, knew how important she was to him. They wouldn’t ever stop hurting Jane now that she was connected to him.

  Banan took a deep breath and made his decision. He shifted with barely a thought. He kept his eyes closed as he knelt with one knee and both hands on the floor, the rain pounding his flesh.

  It was Jane’s soft gasp that tore at his heart.

  “Banan?” she murmured in confusion.

  He lifted his head until he was caught in her gaze. Then he slowly stood as Rhys moved to cover Jane with his wing. “Aye. It’s me.”

  Her hands shook, and the shock etched on her face couldn’t be dismissed. All Banan could pray for was that she didn’t run. If he had the time to tell her everything, to explain who he was, it might win her over.

  But he knew it wasn’t going to be easy.

  “You were a dragon,” she said, her voice wavering from fear or anger—he wasn’t sure which—as her gaze looked over his naked form.

  “It was the only way I could find you. The only way I could make sure you were safe.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked.

  Banan wished they were alone for this discussion. There was no denying the anger rising in her tone. He hated that Con was there, but at the same time knew the King of the Dragon Kings had come to help.

  “I couldna,” Banan said.

  “This,” Jane said as she waved her hand at Rhys, “is what you protect at Dreagan?”

  Banan nodded his head. “You’re the third human to know. Only Cassie, Elena, and you know what we’ve kept secret for millennia.”

  Her eyes bulged. “Millennia? This just keeps getting weirder and weirder.” Jane turned away from him, one hand on her forehead as she paced back and forth. “I feel like my brain is going to explode any minute.”

  Rhys slammed his foot on the concrete, his long talons scraping the floor. Banan winced when Jane jumped. He glanced at Rhys and knew his friend was urging him to tell Jane everything.

  “Once, a verra long time ago, dragons ruled this world,” Banan said. “We filled the skies, the land, and the water. Every size and color dragon imaginable existed. With each species of dragon, there was one with more power and magic than the others. We were made into Dragon Kings. We ruled our dragons as kings, and answered to only one—Con.”

  To Banan’s delight, Jane stopped pacing and turned to him. At his mention of Con, she glanced at Constantine to find him leaning a shoulder against one of the walls, uncaring of the rain that soaked him.

  “We lived such a life for eons. Until one day there was man. In order for both man and dragon to coexist, each Dragon King was given the ability to shift from dragon to human form and back again at will.”

  “Why?”

  Banan fisted his hands at his sides instead of pulling her into his arms as he wanted. “The only way for dragons and humans to communicate was through us.”

  “Did it work?” she asked, her curiosity bringing her a step closer to him.

  “For a time. Then a human betrayed us.”

  Jane looked away and wrapped her arms around her. “It’s the reason you keep yourselves secret, isn’t it? Because you fear another human will betray you?”

  “It’s more complicated than that. The human, a woman, was to be bound to a Dragon King, Ulrik. Discord abounded throughout the land between dragons and humans, and there didna seem to be a reason we could find for it. Nor could we determine the source. To make matters worse, humans began to hunt dragons.”

  Jane shook her head, her stricken gaze lifting to his. “Why?”

  “It was Ulrik’s woman causing the discord. It all happened so fast. Many of the dragons wanted to retaliate against the humans for the killing of the dragons. Con refused. We were supposed to keep the peace and protect both humans and dragons. We might no’ all have agreed with Con, but we obeyed him. All except Ulrik. He and his silver dragons began to pursue the dragon hunters.”

  “If this human woman was to be bound to Ulrik, why did she begin such a war?”

  Banan glanced at Con to see his face turned away. Banan let out a deep breath. “She cared for Ulrik as a man, but no’ as a dragon. There was only one way to stop the war, and that was to stop the female.”

  “You killed her,” Jane stated flatly.

  “Aye,” Banan said. “It’s easy to look back now and think we should’ve found Ulrik and told him what we’d discovered. Then he could have decided what to do with his woman. In the heat of battle, in a war that was dividing the land, there isna a lot of time for decisions. We found her, and we killed her.”

  Banan paused as he recalled Ulrik’s devastation. In all the centuries since, Banan had never comprehended why Ulrik reacted so to the death of one human. Now, Banan understood entirely.

  He cleared his throat and continued. “Ulrik wouldna listen to reason after what had happened to his woman. He pushed dragons to kill humans, solidifying a war we were desperately trying to halt.”

  “Did you kill Ulrik as well?” she asked.

  “Nay,” Con finally spoke. “I had inflicted enough harm with the slaying of his woman. The only way to stop Ulrik was to take his power as King. He can no’ shift to dragon form, nor can he speak to his Silvers.”

  Jane’s dark gaze turned to Banan. “So there are still dragons here? Besides the Kings?”

  “We captured a few of Ulrik’s Silvers. They are under our magic and sleeping at Dreagan. Only Ulrik can wake them, and if that happens, the war will begin again.”

  Jane’s forehead creased with a frown. “Where are all the other dragons?”

  “We sent them away,” Con said. “I couldna chance them being killed off. They are gone from this world and safe.”

  “Maybe,” Jane said as she looked at Rhys as a dragon. “But they don’t have their kings, and you don’t have them.”

  Banan didn’t allow himself to think of the dragons he had once ruled. If he did, the ache inside from missing them would eat him alive.

  But it was too late not to think of them. Jane had put the thought in his mind, and he couldn’t dismiss his yearning to have the Blues around him as they rode the wind currents. He couldn’t stop the longing to hear their roars in answer to his.

  Suddenly, soft hands cupped either side of his face. He found his gaze staring into coffee brown eyes.

  “I’m so sorry, Banan.”

&n
bsp; He pulled her against him and buried his head in her neck. Just being able to hold her helped to push the gnawing ache to a small corner of his heart.

  Her arms were full of strength and tenderness as she held him, and he never wanted it to end. She belonged next to him. But did she know it yet?

  “There’s more to the story, isn’t there?” she asked.

  Banan nodded.

  She pulled out of his arms and urged, “Tell me.”

  “I’m immortal, Jane. The Dragon Kings have been around since the beginning of time. After we sent the dragons away, the Kings set up residence at Dreagan in Scotland. We use the distillery as a cover for what we are.”

  “Don’t people tend to recognize you’ve been alive for hundreds of years?”

  Banan rubbed her arms with his hands as he felt her shivering. “We take turns sleeping in the mountain. Con is the only one who doesna sleep. But we are tied to Dreagan because of the Silvers we have caged there. It’s our magic that keeps them sleeping. We can leave, but only for short periods of time. Then we must go back or our magic begins to loosen its hold.”

  “I see,” she said, and shoved a wet strand of auburn hair behind her ears. “So you’re immortal. Does that mean you can’t be killed?”

  “No human can kill us. No’ even a dragon can kill us. Only a Dragon King.” At her frown, he elaborated. “In dragon form, Kings can battle one another and kill. As Dragon Kings, we each have a sword that belongs only to us. Only we can use our swords. In human form, Dragon Kings can battle using these swords and we can kill each other.”

  “Wow,” she whispered. “No wonder you want to keep yourselves hidden. Is that all you can do?”

  “Nay. Each of us is given a certain kind of magic as a Dragon King.”

  She raised a brow. “Interesting. What is yours?”

  “I can give hallucinations.”

  “I wasn’t expecting that,” she said with a small smile. “Was it Ulrik who kidnapped me and sent Sloan to Dreagan?”

  Banan shook his head and met Con’s gaze over her shoulder. “Nay. Con has him watched constantly. Ulrik had nothing to do with this.”