Smoke and Fire

by Donna Grant

  Finally, Kinsey said, “He’s good-looking, and certainly knows how to wear clothes that make him look amazing. A woman doesn’t forget a man like that.”

  Jealousy simmered through Ryder. Kinsey thought Ulrik handsome. And unforgettable. It cut through Ryder, sinking deep into his soul.

  He’d never forgotten about Kinsey or the love he felt for her. Even though he’d seen a spark of desire in her eyes earlier, he was beginning to suspect she had moved on.

  Not that he blamed her. Ryder had walked out of her life without an explanation. Even if he had been able to tell her who he was, he wouldn’t have. Because of exactly what she had done when he saved her a few weeks ago.

  He always feared she wouldn’t be able to accept him. Ryder had wanted her as his desperately, but it wasn’t just that he couldn’t tell her who he really was. There was the spell put in place to stop the Dragon Kings from feeling anything for mortals.

  It was only recently that they discovered when the Silvers moved in their mountain, it was because Ulrik had gotten back part of his magic.

  That’s all it had taken to break Con’s spell. That’s when Ryder realized he loved Kinsey. He returned to Dreagan to see if he could understand what had happened. Then Cassie arrived and Hal fell in love with her.

  After that, all Hell seemed to break loose. At every turn, someone or something was trying to get onto Dreagan. The Dark were relentless in their attempts to discover where the Kings hid a weapon that could kill them—so far unsuccessfully.

  Ryder was still adjusting to the knowledge that Con and Kellan—the Keeper of History—were the only two Kings who knew where the weapon was. And what it was.

  Everyone targeting Dreagan could be traced back to Ulrik. It took Ryder time, but he discovered that Ulrik’s network of spies, mercenaries, corporations, and everyday people was extensive. That wasn’t even counting Ulrik’s affiliation with the Dark Fae.

  Kinsey’s head twisted toward him. “I’ve never seen Ulrik.”

  “You didna have to.” Ryder hated that his words came out harsher than he’d intended. He knew it wasn’t Kinsey’s fault that he’d left her. That had been his decision. Now he was paying the consequences. “Ulrik has many people working for him. Any one of them could’ve gotten to you.”

  She gave a bark of laughter. “Do you really think I’m that naïve that I wouldn’t know when someone was trying to scam me?”

  “No’ at all. But these people are good, Kins. Verra good.”

  “All right,” she conceded. “Let’s say that one of them did get to me. How? When? Why? You and I haven’t spoken in three years.”

  “Until a few weeks ago. Someone must’ve seen me shift, and then watched you run away.”

  Her lips pressed together for an instant. “Those who weren’t throwing themselves at the Dark Fae were running away.”

  “That’s true. But they weren’t you. As to the how and when? It could’ve been anywhere, anytime. You visit individuals and corporations as part of your job. You could’ve been approached at any one of them.”

  She raised a dark brow. “I see your point. And I suppose you’ll say the ‘why’ is because we were once together.”

  “Precisely.”

  “Have any of the other Kings been contacted by past lovers? What about any of your other lovers? With as long as you’ve been around, you must’ve had plenty.”

  Was that jealousy he heard in her voice? That made Ryder want to smile. Perhaps she still felt something for him after all.

  “No, to answer both your questions. No past lovers of anyone—including mine—have shown up besides you.”

  “I’m the lucky one, huh?” she mumbled and returned to face the screen and Ulrik’s pictures. “Do you have any photos of his associates?”

  “There are literally thousands, by my guess. He’s never seen with any of them.”

  “So that’s a no,” she said. “You’re right. It could be anyone, but the fact is, had anyone mentioned your name, I would’ve been suspicious.”

  “They probably wouldna have. What about Dreagan?”

  She shook her head. “Not that I can remember.”

  Ryder could see that she was becoming agitated by not having any answers. He was as well, but when it came to Ulrik, Ryder was used to this.

  “Let’s start with something we already know is fact. Someone used your name to write up the work order to send you here,” he said.

  Kinsey turned the chair to face him, leaning an elbow on the arm. “Right. We don’t know who that is though.”

  “No’ yet. Truthfully, we may never know. It might be pointless, because it could be just some lackey that Ulrik used to get something done.”

  She nodded as she listened. “That’s a good point. What else do we know?”

  “That you are innocent of putting in the work order.”

  Kinsey chuckled and shoved her hair over her shoulder. “Yes, I am. That’s all we know, isn’t it?”

  Pretty much, but Ryder had gone on less before. “I know Ulrik is involved. I’m going to need time to piece it all together.”

  “We’re going to need time,” she corrected.

  Ryder smiled. He hadn’t realized how much he missed being near Kinsey until she had walked into his office.

  The problem was, there was too much suspicion still in regards to her. Con would want her isolated from Ryder and the access she had with the computers.

  However, Ryder already had an argument in response to what he knew was coming from Con.

  “Does it bother you that I’m here?” she asked.

  Ryder was so surprised by her question that it took him a minute to respond. “No. I understand that you’d rather no’ be here.”

  “That was true at first.”

  “Which means you do now?” Hope sprung in his chest. Ryder held his breath as he waited for her to answer.

  Kinsey motioned to the room. “Look at this place. I’ve never seen a room set up the way you have it. All the latest and greatest technological marvels at your fingertips. You have access to everything you want, and the money to back you if you need it.”

  Disappointment quickly replaced the hope within Ryder. He should’ve known she would be completely geeked out by all that surrounded her. It was her passion, just as it was his.

  And yet, he yearned for something more.

  It could’ve been his. It had been his.

  Until he walked away.

  If only Ryder could reverse time and do it all over again. Perhaps if he’d spoken to Kinsey and told her who he really was she wouldn’t have been so scared.

  That night she saw him shift had been horrendous. It scarred her from within in ways that few would ever understand. But he did.

  “Besides,” she said with a smile. “I’m going to find whoever set me up and learn why.”

  “You may no’ like what you uncover,” he cautioned her.

  Kinsey used her foot to swing her chair from one side to the other. “I’d rather know what I’m dealing with instead of walking with my head in the clouds as I have for years. How you must have laughed at me.”

  There was no heat to her words, but Ryder still heard the pain she couldn’t quite manage to conceal. All kinds of responses sprung in his mind at once.

  “I never laughed at you,” he said. “I marveled at your enthusiasm for the world. I admired your dedication to your career and your family. I was amazed at your compassion to those in need, including the animals who crossed your path.

  “I was astonished by your ability to laugh at adversity and no’ allow anything to get you down. And I was in awe at the way you showed me the world through your eyes.”

  “Those are beautiful words. Too bad they don’t mean as much if you hadn’t walked out on me.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  Con held the Montblanc pen by the fingers of both hands as he stared at the report on his desk. He didn’t like what had been found, and it was number one thousand and seventy-six on the
list of things to do that day.

  As troubling as the report was in regards to the distilling of the whisky, it paled in comparison to the new visitor at the manor.

  Kinsey Burns.

  Tristan and Dmitri had told him everything, from her arrival to the interaction with Ryder. Con had also watched the tapes of her arrival at Dreagan and meeting Tristan to get visuals of her face.

  What he wished he’d been able to see was when she came face-to-face with Ryder.

  Con had become an expert when it came to discovering which of his Kings was in danger of finding a mate. What vexed him was that Ryder had hidden his feelings so well that Con never knew until the arrival of Kinsey.

  Oh, Con understood that there had been someone in Glasgow, but at the time, Con still thought the spell was in place. If he had known it wasn’t, he might have questioned Ryder more.

  After Cassie and Hal fell in love and mated, Con had taken a close look at all the Kings who spent time out in the world away from Dreagan.

  He had even paid special attention to Ryder. But not once had Ryder asked to return to Glasgow, nor shown any interest in the city or its occupants. Though with his access to the computers, Con realized that Ryder could have been keeping an eye on Kinsey all these years.

  Ryder couldn’t deny anything now. Con had only to look to see Ryder was completely in love with Kinsey. Kinsey, for her part, was harder to decipher. Which surprised Con. Mortals rarely did that to him.

  Kinsey wasn’t thrilled at being held at Dreagan, nor did she appreciate being used by someone at Kyvor to get her there. Yet she was more than willing to help them learn who was behind it.

  She reminded him of Elena and Denae. Both situations had turned out to the benefit of Dreagan and the Kings, but Con had a bad feeling about this time. There were too many variables that were unknown, and there were also too many players now.

  The most troubling bit was that he and the other Kings couldn’t defend Dreagan as they normally would with MI5 patrolling twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

  Con’s thoughts went back to Kinsey. Ryder had notified him through their mental link that none of Kinsey’s tech had been corrupted in any way.

  Everything was clean from her purse, the bag with all her tech, and even her car. The only thing Con hadn’t checked out was Kinsey herself.

  Ryder assured him that she wasn’t an actress, but humans could pick up all kinds of skills quickly when it suited them. Who was to say that Kinsey wasn’t using Ryder?

  Con set down his favorite pen before he broke it. The Kings had been fortunate so far in that all of their mates accepted who they were and what it meant to be a Dragon King’s woman.

  Had their luck finally run out? Had Kinsey been sent there to betray Ryder much like what had almost happened to Ulrik?

  The thought froze Con’s heart. His Dragon Kings had all experienced war in its many aspects. They had all suffered loss—though some more than others. And they had all been devastated when their dragons were sent away.

  Not to mention having to keep hidden from the world when they should be flying wherever they wished.

  The Kings had been through too much already. There couldn’t be another betrayal.

  Con checked his watch and adjusted his cuff links, fingering the dragon-head design. Any moment now, he expected a visit from Ryder. Not because Con sent for him, but because Ryder would’ve already figured out what Con would want to do.

  With Ryder’s visit would come an argument in favor of Kinsey.

  Con didn’t intentionally set out to piss off his Kings, but they were each so caught up in what they were feeling at the moment that they didn’t think ahead.

  That’s what he was for, and his decisions were rarely accepted eagerly. In most cases, there was a debate. It was imperative that the Kings stay banded together. They had been split once before, and it nearly destroyed them.

  On that day, long ago, Con had put his pride away and thought of their race. It won him back all the Kings but one—Ulrik. The weight of the entire dragon world rested on Con’s shoulders.

  There were times he strained under the burden. No one would ever know of those times. It would be used against him. It wasn’t because he was afraid to show weakness. That he had revealed plenty of times.

  No, this was about his strength to rule the Kings and keep everyone together. Every time a mortal joined the ranks, Con’s job grew more difficult. At the rate the Kings were finding mates, they were going to have to take turns eating supper because not everyone would fit at the table.

  A knock on his door broke into his thoughts. Con closed the file on his desk and set the bone-handled magnifying glass atop it. “Enter,” he bade.

  The door opened and Ryder with his blond hair and hazel eyes stepped into the office. He gave a nod to Con and closed the door behind him. “I’d like a word.”

  “I’ve been expecting you.”

  Ryder gave him a sly look. “So you think you know what I’ll say?”

  “I doona profess to know what you’re thinking. Why no’ just tell me. But first, who is with Kinsey?”

  “Dmitri,” Ryder answered.

  Con laced his fingers over his stomach and jutted his chin to one of the leather chairs before his desk. “Sit down. Then tell me what it is you came to say.”

  “You’re no’ happy that she’s here.”

  Con shrugged in response. “Of course no’. Someone sent her because of your involvement with her. And no’ just because the two of you were lovers three years ago. This is because you shifted in Glasgow and she saw you.”

  “I know. I’m no’ exactly thrilled with that,” Ryder stated crossly.

  “Someone was watching her, because they had a suspicion you would return. That means whoever saw the two of you together before you left knew it was something deep between both of you.”

  Ryder held his gaze. “You want to know if I’m in love with her?”

  “I know you are.” Con inhaled deeply. “You didna volunteer to go to Glasgow. I sent you there. Had I sent someone else, would you’ve asked to go instead?”

  There was a long pause before Ryder said, “No.”

  “Why? You love her.”

  “I feared that I would see her. Then I feared that I might no’. I was terrified I’d find her dead body with Dark all around her.”

  Con studied Ryder as he spoke. He should’ve realized Ryder’s affections were given to someone. Ryder was one of the few Kings who didn’t actively go looking for a woman to warm their beds.

  Ryder talked a big game, but he never carried through with any of the women.

  “But you went, and you saved her,” Con said. “Tell me why you left her.”

  Ryder’s hazel eyes went hard. “No’ for the reasons you think.”

  “You doona know what I’m thinking. I’d rather you just tell me.”

  “I left because I’d fallen in love, but as far as I knew, the spell you cast was still in place. I worried what you might do to her.”

  Con was appalled. Did his men think so little of him? “Because you fell in love? I vowed to protect the humans, Ryder. I sent our dragons away for them. Did you really think I’d harm her?”

  “I wasna exactly thinking clearly.”

  So he came home. Con inwardly groaned, because that was around the time Cassie arrived, and Con had worked hard to put the spell back in place so Hal wouldn’t love her. No wonder Ryder never said anything.

  “Kinsey is here now. For good or bad, she’s at Dreagan learning everything MI5 is searching for,” Con said.

  Ryder leaned forward in his chair and clasped his hands together as he rested his forearms on his knees. “I know her, Con.”

  “You knew her. Three years is a long time in a human’s life. Anything could’ve happened.”

  “I watched her.”

  Just as Con suspected. “Every moment of every day?”

  “No.”

  “Did you see who she spent time with?
”

  Ryder swallowed. “Sometimes.”

  “What about the men she dates? She’s a beautiful woman who is smart and gifted in her field. Women like her doona stay single long.”

  Ryder grew very still, his anger obvious. “You know I saw the men she dated.”

  “I’d wager no’ all of them. Did you see what she did on the dates?”

  “No,” Ryder stated in a hard voice.

  “Which means you can no’ attest to her character now. You knew her better than anyone at one time, but that doesna translate to the here and now.”

  Ryder blew out a breath and leaned back in the chair. “I could use her help searching for Ulrik and anyone else involved.”

  “She’s that good?”

  “Aye,” Ryder affirmed.

  Con had been considering this since he’d learned of her arrival. If he separated Ryder and Kinsey, Ryder would get little work done because he’d be checking on Kinsey.

  At least with them together, Ryder would watch over her. Hopefully his emotions wouldn’t get in the way if he discovered her doing something she shouldn’t.

  “Nothing she brought in has been tampered with,” Ryder said. “It’s all clean.”

  “I find it interesting you didna say she was clean.”

  Ryder’s face fell. “I can no’ be sure that she’s no’. She’s no’ even sure if she is. I willna know until I spend more time with her.”

  Con could see this taking a very bad turn. He leaned forward to rest his arms on his desk. “Do you know what you’re agreeing to?”

  “I do. I’ll be the one held solely responsible if Kinsey does anything while under my watch.”

  Con shook his head. “I’d no’ have that on your shoulders. What if there is magic used, and the only way to stop her is death?”

  “Then I’ll do it.”

  Con wasn’t so sure Ryder could. However, he knew Ryder would do everything in his control to stop Kinsey. That alone was enough for him.

  “Then I’ll leave her in your care,” Con relented.