by Donna Grant
“Extremely,” he said. “We’re twins.”
Now that was an answer she hadn’t expected. “Oh.” Hoping to change the subject, she asked, “So, I’m guessing all the mates you speak of are human?”
“All but one. Shara is a Light Fae. Well, she was Dark but only because her family was Dark Fae.”
Sabina glanced at her notebook, wondering if she should take notes so as not to forget anything. “They can change like that?”
“Every Dark Fae begins as a Light. They have to make the conscious decision to be evil in order to turn. It’s the same with the Druids. They are born as mies, but choose to embrace the black magic to become droughs.”
“Do many Dark revert back to being Light?” she asked.
He lifted one shoulder in a casual shrug. “I’ve no’ cared to know, but Shara says it doesna happen often.”
“What about the droughs?”
“There is no going back for a Druid who gives their heart to the Devil.”
Well. That explained that. Sabina chuckled. “And to think, we Romani are just gypsies. Good, bad, and many in-betweens.”
“No’ for us.”
“There are no evil Dragon Kings?”
He glanced at the ceiling and shook his head. “The magic that chooses us can sense evil within us and doesna give that dragon the extra boost to become a King.”
“That’s a tad lucky, isn’t it? Everyone else has to figure things out as they go and deal with the highs as well as the lows.”
Roman lifted the hand on the back of the sofa before he let it drop. “If you’re wanting me to explain such a thing, I can no’. Just as I can no’ tell you where the magic on this realm comes from. I know it’s slowly disappearing now that most of the dragons are gone.”
“Shouldn’t the Druids and Fae help to keep the magic here?”
“You’d think,” he answered. “But it isna the case.”
She picked at a chipped nail. “Do you think the magic is a living entity?”
“In some ways, I think it could be. For the Fae, Death is a being.”
Sabina couldn’t believe what she just heard. “Are you serious?”
“I am.”
“Have you met Death?”
His lips curved into a secretive smile. “Actually, I have, though I didna know who she was at the time.”
“She? She! What does she look like?”
“Stunningly beautiful.”
Sabina tucked her hair behind her ear and looked down at her jeans, shirt, and old boots—a reminder of her simple life. “I guess any being of power would be.”
“What do you think Death should look like?”
She hesitated as she searched her mind. “For humans, Death is usually thought of as a cloaked figure with a scythe. No one can see inside the hood of the cloak, so there is no face. But you see a skeletal hand.”
“Perhaps Death for humans looks that way.”
She wrinkled her nose in distaste. “I think I like the Fae way better. Is there a Death for your kind?”
“I doona believe so. Death for the Fae doesna just take souls. She is judge and jury for them. There is another group who are the executioners.”
Sabina wondered why she was so surprised. Different beings would have different cultures. “I see.”
“I’m no’ sure any of this is helping you come to a decision about us.”
“Us?” she asked, her voice cracking as her mind linked her and Roman.
He raised a brow in question. “The Dragon Kings.”
She really should keep her mouth shut before she said something stupid. “Right. Um, it is helping. Some of it is scary, I admit, but it’s not like I just found out there were dragons.”
“You did just learn of the history of dragons and humans.”
“True.” And it was his side of the story. She wished she knew her ancestors’ side, but if the story handed down by her gran were any indication, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to come to a fair conclusion.
Roman’s head cocked to the side. “You’re no’ sure what to make of me. Of us. The story you learned as a child has made you fear the Dragon Kings.”
“Gran wouldn’t lie to me, but I can’t be sure that some ancestors weren’t dishonest or made up a vision to steal V’s sword. I don’t know if you’re lying to me about the dragons and humans. I just have your word to go on. How can I come to a conclusion about anything based on stories of events that I didn’t witness and no one else is around to corroborate?”
“Or ask your gran to explain,” he added.
She nodded in agreement. “Many would side with their family against a stranger. I’m sure some would side with you because you’re here and sound very convincing.”
“The Kings have had many chances to wipe out humanity. We’ve no’ done it.”
“There is that,” she said with a smile. She enjoyed this conversation. He didn’t seem perturbed at all that she didn’t readily accept everything he said.
Roman scooted to the edge of the sofa. “V wants to leave in the morning.”
“How do you know that?” she asked, looking around for V.
Roman tapped his temple. “Dragons communicate telepathically.”
“Oh.” Somehow, she felt as if she should’ve known that.
“You’ll have plenty of time to get to know me and V on this journey. Maybe then you’ll come to see that we’re no’ the villains of the story.”
That took her aback. “I never said you were.”
“You never said we were no’ either.”
Sabina was surprised to see the glimmer of hurt in his eyes. If even half of what he’d told her were true, then he and his kind had suffered unimaginably. It made her want to believe him, to tell him that he was the good guy.
But she needed the stories verified somehow. Until then, she’d withhold judgment.
Roman rose to his feet. “Goodnight, lass.”
She watched him walk from the house and wondered if he were going to take to the skies. It was only then that she realized she hadn’t asked him anything about his dragon—specifically for him to shift so she could see him.
Maybe tomorrow.
Sabina knew that she should go to bed, but she was too wound up. How in the world could she sleep now? She turned and looked at the necklace she’d been working on, but she didn’t reach for it. Instead, she opened her laptop and stared at the open browser. She looked at the past sites she’d visited over the last week and smiled when she saw the (Mis)Adventures of a Dating Failure.
She clicked on the blog. It would be a nice opportunity to shut off her mind and keep it from the thousands of questions she couldn’t get answers to—even if only for a few minutes.
Sabina scanned the rows of boxes that held the titles of the posts, the first few lines, and a picture. She was happy to see that a new post was up. She hovered her mouse over the picture of a black rose with dew upon its petals and clicked.
Take Two
Well. Where do I begin? All of you have read so many of my disasters that I don’t know if I should continue to write them. Obviously, I will. It’s what keeps bringing you back here to read.
And I’ll tell you now, that the comments and emails I get telling me you suffer too help. A lot.
I’m not alone. You’re not alone. We’re not failures in dating.
At least that’s what I tell myself.
Being single is hard. Being a single, successful woman is even harder. Come on, guys! It’s the twenty-first century. You want women to ask you out and pay for dates, then you need to be fine with them making more money than you.
But … that’s another post. This one is about … well, let’s call him Jackass, Jack for short. I can tell you right now my first mistake. It was the bar. I’d learned my lesson long ago about finding blokes in a pub. I hadn’t given guys the time of day in a bar in years. I was out of my mind with just getting over a cold.
That’s the excuse I’m using for agreeing
to go out with him. Except, I don’t know if you can call meeting back at the pub the next night a date. He was nice enough, and very good-looking. He had David Beckham hair and that same amazing jawline. In a word, he was H-A-W-T.
Unfortunately, he knew it.
So, we meet at the pub. I get there first and order a drink. When he arrives, he orders one as well and tells the bartender to put it on my tab. I let it go, thinking that I’d buy the first round.
We had barely said hello when three of his friends joined us. Jack tells them to put their orders on my tab. I’m so flabbergasted that I can’t get the words out to stop it before it’s happening. Next thing I know, food is ordered.
I get up to tell the bartender no more can go on my tab, and when I turn around, they’ve moved my chair away. Needless to say, I paid my bill and left.
I’m not even sure what the hell happened. And, as you know, I had to analyze it. I went back to my place and went through every conversation—not that there were more than a dozen lines or so—between me and Jack to look for something I might have missed or misunderstood.
If I’m making these mistakes, I want to know so I don’t keep repeating my failures. But, honest to God, people, I couldn’t figure this out.
I came to the conclusion that this guy was just an Ass of the First Order and left it at that. But, I also won’t repeat my mistake of agreeing to a date of any sort with a guy at a bar.
There are my Words Of Wisdom for you today. I’ve got a carton of gelato and The Holiday waiting for me to enjoy while I wonder why I can’t meet a Jude Law.
Until my next (mis)adventure.…
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Dark Palace
Southern Ireland
Things weren’t going as he’d planned. Not that Balladyn expected they would. Nothing ever did. He’d come to realize this after he’d been left for dead on the battlefield and the Dark found him.
He’d always thought himself strong, but would he have given into the darkness so easily if he were? His memories of his life as a Light Fae were fading. But there was one person who stood out, one who would always shine brighter than any star.
Rhi.
He’d loved her for so long that he couldn’t remember a time when he didn’t. There were a few thousand years where that love had crossed a thin line and drifted to hate, but only because she hadn’t looked for him.
It wasn’t until Balladyn captured her, intending to turn her Dark, that he’d discovered that she believed he was dead. He wanted to think that’s when he began to love her again. But that was a lie.
As soon as he’d sensed her in the palace that day, his heart had soared with excitement. But much to his chagrin, she’d been veiled.
He’d been flabbergasted to discover that she was still very much involved with the Dragon Kings. Her lover had ripped out her heart and stomped all over it. In fact, the damn dragon had destroyed her.
The vibrant, vivacious Rhi that he’d loved was forever altered. Her spark diminished.
And then she’d disappeared.
Balladyn had searched everywhere for her. He’d wanted to be the one to find her, the one who held her as she cried. The one who brought her back from the brink and gave her a reason to love again.
But it was the same bastard Dragon King who found her in the Realm of the Fae and carried her back. Rhi didn’t know it was him, and Balladyn had no problem keeping that secret. He didn’t want to give Rhi any more reasons to continue loving her King.
After all this time, she should forget the Dragon King and move on. But that wasn’t Rhi. When she loved, it was forever.
Yet his capturing her hadn’t been for naught. Their friendship was renewed, and Balladyn had finally told her of his feelings. The greatest day of his life was when she not only returned his kiss but also gave him her body.
Minus her heart.
He had denied the truth that was evident to everyone but him. No longer could he ignore the facts. Rhi didn’t love him, not the way he loved her. She never would. But he didn’t care. He still wanted her.
Needed her.
He rose from his bed and walked to the tall windows of his room at the top of the palace. Finally, he was King of the Dark. It was a position he’d been born for. All those years of leading the Light Army had helped him work his way up the ranks of the Dark to be Taraeth’s right hand. And from there, it was simply a matter of removing Taraeth from the picture.
Everything had been planned down to the tiniest detail. Except Balladyn hadn’t realized that Taraeth had drawn a weapon himself. So when Balladyn sank his blade into the former king, Taraeth also struck a killing blow.
The joy Balladyn felt at finally becoming King of the Dark was sucked away as he felt his life draining from him. All he’d wanted was Rhi by his side as he breathed his last. Rhi, however, had other ideas. She brought Constantine.
And what did that prick do? He saved Balladyn.
Perhaps Balladyn shouldn’t have lashed out at Rhi for helping to save him. Maybe he shouldn’t have unleashed the Dark upon the mortals. And he was fairly certain he should’ve thanked her.
He said her name over and over in his head, wishing that he could call for her. But he didn’t. She wouldn’t answer him, and he didn’t want the rejection.
Balladyn blew out a breath and turned his head to the table of books that he’d been looking through. Before him was the largest collection of Fae books outside of the impressive library at the Light Castle.
He’d hoped to find something else on the Reapers to give him an excuse to seek Rhi out. It hadn’t taken him long to find the book on the legendary assassin, Fintan. Balladyn was almost certain the white-haired Dark he’d spoken with a few months ago in Ireland was, in fact, none other than Fintan—though the assassin was supposedly dead by Usaeil’s hand.
The Light Queen and Taraeth had traded favors killing each other’s enemies. It was how Balladyn had ended up with the Dark. Though Taraeth hadn’t killed him as he promised Usaeil. Instead, he’d turned Balladyn.
And that would end up being Usaeil’s downfall.
Balladyn had loathed the queen for a long time, but that’s what happened when someone learned that the person they’d given their lives to protect was not who they thought they were.
Usaeil had no business being queen. Not only because she’d had Balladyn removed since he loved Rhi, but because the queen had instigated the end of Rhi’s affair with her Dragon King. Then there was the fact that Usaeil had tried to have Taraeth kill Rhi—which was why Balladyn finally took the King of the Dark out.
But the final straw was when Usaeil banished Rhi from the Light.
Rhi. The strongest, bravest of the Light. The one who thought of everyone else before herself. The one whose light beckoned all.
Balladyn was going to kill Usaeil for all that she’d done to Rhi and to him. The Light deserved a better queen.
They deserved Rhi.
His dream of him and Rhi ruling the Dark and Light together was most likely gone, but that didn’t mean he didn’t know who should rightly lead the Light.
Rhi.
Her name slid through his mind like a caress, his heart hurting at not being able to hold her. Unable to take it anymore, he teleported to Rhi’s island, knowing that she had probably left to seek sanctuary somewhere he couldn’t find her. But to his amazement, her things were still there.
He walked into the small hut and stopped to smile at the rows of nail polish. Her significant shoe collection was elsewhere, along with the rest of her things. The island was a place where she went to relax, somewhere she swam in the ocean and basked naked upon the sand.
They’d made love there numerous times. There wasn’t a part of the isle that he hadn’t touched in some way. Had she remained because a small part of her wanted that connection to him? Did he dare believe that she might still care for him?
He knew her favorite places. And he knew the people she went to when she needed someone. It would be easy t
o find her. All he wanted was a glimpse of her.
Balladyn veiled himself and began teleporting to Rhi’s favorite cities. He went to Rome first and the shops she often visited. Then it was on to Milan, London, and New York before he went to Austin, thinking she might be getting her nails done.
When he had no luck, Balladyn returned to Ireland and went to the Light Castle. For all he knew, Rhi could be there veiled, just like him, and he’d never see her.
Balladyn didn’t go into the castle. Usaeil had things in place to make sure that no one could enter veiled. It was too bad that Balladyn didn’t have the powers of a Reaper because then he could do as he pleased. Or so he’d read. He’d like to find out for himself.
There was one place that he hadn’t looked—and wouldn’t. Dreagan. There was nothing that could bring him back to that place. He hated all the Dragon Kings with a passion, and if he saw the bastard who broke Rhi’s heart … Balladyn might attack him.
Not that he could kill the wanker. The damn Kings were impossible to get rid of. And that made Balladyn despise them all the more.
If only the Dragon Kings had never entered Rhi’s life, then maybe she might have loved him as she was supposed to. Why wasn’t he enough for her? Why did she cling to a dragon who didn’t even acknowledge her? Who’d tossed her heart and her love away as if they meant nothing?
Balladyn didn’t want to return to the Dark palace. He was still too wrapped up in his love for Rhi, and being in the place they were supposed to share together only made things worse.
Though, to be fair, from the beginning, she’d told him they couldn’t rule the Fae together because the Light and Dark could never coexist. He’d known she was right, but with her by his side, he could’ve done the impossible.
Because Rhi was that extraordinary.
Because Rhi brought that out in him.
Because he loved her more than he loved anything else in all the realms.
No matter how long it took, he would prove to her that his love was unfailing. He’d stand by and wait for her to return to him. He’d watch as she pined after the undeserving Dragon King. He’d keep giving her all the love within him. All because he knew something that she hadn’t acknowledged yet—the darkness he’d called forth as he tortured her in the dungeons was growing.
