Burning Desire

by Donna Grant

  He felt as if he’d been kicked in the stomach. Balladyn had Shara and was putting her in the dungeon. Kiril could get Shara and Rhi if he shifted into a dragon.

  But getting back to earth from the Fae realm wouldn’t be so easy. No one could see Fae doorways except the Fae because they didn’t want anyone to know where their realm was—or how to get there.

  Kiril fisted his hands and tried to control the wrath that was rapidly building inside him. He met Phelan’s troubled gaze before he looked at Rhi.

  “You shouldn’t have betrayed me,” Balladyn said to Shara. “I warned you what would happen.”

  “You mean you’re a liar. Just like everyone else,” Shara said saucily.

  “You’ll be in here until I can make sure every member of your family is wiped out. Only then will I know you aren’t trying to betray me.”

  There was a loud bang as the metal door was slammed shut. Kiril squeezed his eyes closed at the sound. They had one chance to get out of the dungeon without being discovered. There wouldn’t be two trips. All he could do now was pray that Shara could walk on her own, because Rhi couldn’t.

  Kiril opened his eyes to see Phelan next to Rhi. He walked over the rolling, rocky floor to them. He touched Rhi’s hand to find it as cold as ice.

  “That’s no’ good, is it?” Phelan asked worriedly.

  “Nay,” Kiril said.

  “I tried to break the chains. I couldna even lift them.”

  Kiril took a closer look at the chains and scowled down at them. “We’re fucked, my friend. Those are the Chains of Mordare thought lost. They were crafted by the Light Fae to hold the Dark. Once on, they can be removed only by the Fae who shackled her.”

  “Balladyn,” Phelan ground out. “Rhi should’ve used her magic.”

  “Every time she does, a jolt gets sent through her body. Another perk of the chains. They’re weighing her down, draining her of … herself.”

  “Nay.” Phelan carefully moved Rhi’s hair so he could see her face. Then he gently placed a hand on either cheek and tilted her face to him.

  What stared back were eyes that were empty … soulless.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  “This isna Rhi,” Phelan said.

  “It’s what’s left of her.” Kiril stood and walked away, unable to look at the shell of the vibrant Fae that had once been. “There might be a chance if we could get the chains off her, but that isna happening.”

  Phelan shot him a scathing look. “I’m no’ leaving her.”

  “I doona want to either,” Kiril said in exasperation. “Look around. You can no’ even lift the chains. What does that tell you? If we can no’ remove them, then we can no’ take her out of this shit hole.”

  Phelan hung his head. “She wouldna leave me.”

  “I doona have an answer.” Kiril put his hands on his hips and stared at the opposite wall. He wanted nothing more than to get Rhi as far from Balladyn as he could.

  It had never entered his mind that Balladyn would have the Chains of Mordare. Had Kiril known that, he would have rethought his plan. As it was, he and Phelan were smack in the middle of an army that was on high alert.

  “I should’ve never brought you here.”

  Phelan released Rhi and sat beside her. “You didna bring me. I came of my own accord. This isna on your shoulders.”

  “And if you get caught? You, a prince of the Light? You’ve no idea what they would do to you. It would be a drop in the bucket compared to what they’ve done to Rhi.”

  Phelan bent his knees and placed his elbows on them as he dropped his head into his hands. “Rhi gave me a family I didna know I had. She searched me out and never gave up on me. How can I do any less for her?”

  “You were fighting an evil Druid, Phelan, no’ locked in a Dark prison. There’s a difference.”

  His head lifted as he speared Kiril with his blue-gray eyes. “Would Rhi see a difference?”

  “Probably no’,” Kiril said and sighed. “Rhi has always been different from other Light Fae. She does her own thing, makes her own decisions, and risks her life without thought for those she cares about.”

  “Who was her Dragon King lover? I know it wasna you.”

  Kiril twisted his lips. “It wasna for my lack of trying. Hell, all of us wanted her. All of us. Fae are stunning creatures, but there was always a special light inside Rhi that set her apart, even from the queen. But Rhi had eyes for only one King.”

  “You willna tell me his name, will you?”

  Kiril shook his head. “It’s no’ my story to tell. If Rhi wants you to know, she’ll tell you.”

  “Why the big secret? It happened a long time ago.”

  “Because of the story itself. After … everything, we thought to never see Rhi again, and we didna until we began to interact with the Warriors.”

  “She was with me then.”

  “Exactly. Had it no’ been for our alliance with you and the other Warriors, I doona think Rhi would have ever helped us again. Which means, she wouldna be in this prison.”

  Phelan looked at her. “Balladyn wanted revenge. He would’ve found her one way or another.”

  “Aye.” Just as it was inevitable that Ulrik and Con clash.

  “What do we do now?”

  Kiril dropped his arms and glanced at the door over his shoulder. “We get out and regroup. There has to be another way to break those damn chains, and we’ll find it.”

  “Do you really think Con will risk Dragon Kings for Rhi? He hates her,” Phelan stated, his gaze hard as he looked at Kiril.

  “It willna be Con’s decision. I’ll return, and I know others will as well.”

  That mollified Phelan, because he gave a slight nod and rose to his feet. “It seems wrong to leave her, but we willna be doing her any good if we’re caught.”

  “Wiser words were never spoken,” Kiril said.

  They walked side by side to the door, but as Phelan reached for the handle, Kiril thought about Shara. He put a hand on Phelan’s arm to stop him.

  Phelan compressed his lips for a moment. “I wondered when we’d get to her.”

  “You think it’s all an act?”

  “I doona know. You’re the one who knows her best. Do you trust her?”

  “Aye.”

  “That’s enough for me.”

  Kiril prayed he wasn’t wrong about Shara. If he was, he had just forfeited the life of a Fae prince. It was one thing when it was only his own life he had to worry about, but now he had to consider Phelan’s as well.

  “If you’re caught, the Warriors will come looking for you,” Kiril said. “As strong and powerful as all of you are, you’ve never fought the Dark Fae.”

  “The Dragon Kings have. Tell me, Kiril, if you’re caught, will Con and the others leave you in here? Or will they come for you?”

  Kiril grinned. “They’ll come.”

  “Because that’s what brothers do.”

  “All right. I get the point,” Kiril said with a shake of his head. “I’ll go for Shara. Stay close, but doona allow yourself to be seen.”

  Phelan’s brow furrowed deeply. “I’m no’ afraid of being caught by these fuckers.”

  “You should be.” Kiril pointed to Rhi. “Look at her. That would be you. Do you want Aisley to find you like that?”

  There was a pause as Phelan briefly closed his eyes. “Nay.”

  “Stay close,” Kiril repeated, “but hidden. If I’m taken, get out of here and back to our realm. Go to Dreagan and tell them everything.”

  “If they capture you, Balladyn will be expecting more Kings.”

  Kiril slowly released a deep breath. “That’s why you need to tell them no’ to come.”

  “Have you lost your mind?” Phelan demanded angrily.

  “Nay. I’m being practical. One of us caught is bad enough, but if they get their hands on more…” He let his voice trail off. There was no need to spell it all out.

  “I want it noted that I loathe this plan, but I se
e your point. Just doona get captured.”

  “No’ my intention,” Kiril said as he dropped his hand and Phelan opened the door.

  * * *

  Rhys hadn’t liked Cork the first time he visited, and he didn’t like it any better now. “I feel as if I need to scrub my skin with acid to get this dirty feeling off,” he mumbled as he walked down the streets beside Con.

  “Aye,” Con mumbled as his gaze swept the area.

  He glanced at Con to see his gaze taking in the sheer number of Dark Fae mingling with the humans. “I tried to tell you it was this bad.”

  “We’re supposed to protect the humans, Rhys. We’ve kept to Scotland for too long if this is happening so close to us.”

  “The problem was us not eradicating the Fae during the war.”

  “That was impossible, and you know it.”

  “Aye, but we could’ve made them leave for good.”

  Con shifted his shoulders to the side to make room for a group of college-aged girls. “We were all weary of fighting. The treaty was the only option, or we’d still be in the middle of a war with them.”

  “I know.”

  “You question my decisions again?”

  Rhys shrugged and tugged on the too-small shirt that he’d stolen. “I think we’ve become lax and kept to ourselves too long.”

  “I do believe you’re correct.”

  Rhys nearly tripped over his feet. His head whipped around to Con. “Of course you’d say that when none of the others were around to hear it.”

  Con chuckled briefly.

  Rhys flexed his hands in anticipation of killing Dark Fae. “I’m going to rip Kiril a new one if he’s been taken.”

  “You willna be the only one. I doona like being lied to.”

  “It’s no’ as if he could’ve told you the truth.”

  Con cut his black eyes at him as they crossed one of the many bridges out of town. “You try controlling a group of Dragon Kings and tell me how it goes.”

  Rhys remained quiet until they reached the end of the bridge. “You know Balladyn will be expecting us.”

  “You’re assuming we find the correct doorway.”

  “Then there’s that. Kiril has Phelan for help. We doona have that advantage.”

  “Oh, really?”

  Rhys looked at Con and saw him smiling at someone. Rhys slid his gaze to where Con was staring. He didn’t need to be told the gorgeous woman with coal black hair and eyes the color of molten silver was a Light Fae.

  The woman was smiling, a look of aloofness about her that could only come from a Fae. She stood in the middle of the sidewalk so that others had to go around her. Rhys thought she looked familiar, as if he should recognize her face.

  And then he did.

  Her eyes shifted to him and her smile grew. “Hello, Rhys.”

  “I didna think you’d come,” Con said before Rhys could reply.

  She shrugged a slim shoulder clad in a tight denim jacket with a lacy pale pink tank beneath. Skintight denim encased her legs while slinky heels in the same pink as her tank covered her feet.

  Her smile vanished, and she pierced Con with a dark look. “As if I would ignore any information when it comes to Rhi.”

  Rhys glanced at Con, but either the King of Kings had no idea that the Light Fae was known as one of the most famous actors in the world, or he didn’t care.

  “Will you help us?” Con asked.

  She regarded him silently for a moment. “No Light has ever gone into the part of our realm the Dark rule for one of our own.”

  “Why?” Rhys asked.

  Her gaze returned to him, as did a slight grin. “Because as sad as it is to say, a Light can become Dark, but a Dark can’t become Light.”

  “Have you tried it?”

  She frowned, as if never considering his words before. “No, we haven’t.”

  “So the Dark take the Light, but the Light never thought to take the Dark?” Rhys asked with a dry laugh. “Fabulous.”

  “You don’t know them as we do,” she replied quickly.

  Con said, “We know them well enough. We also know the Light. I honestly didna think you’d come.”

  “Rhi is important to us, to me,” she said.

  Rhys frowned as he realized Con had actually gotten in touch with the Light Fae. He had a sneaking suspicion of who the Light was, but he needed it confirmed. “And just who are you?”

  Her smile was blinding as she said, “Usaeil, Queen of the Light.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  Shara stood in the middle of the small prison cell and tried not to fall apart. This was so much worse than being locked in her room. This was hell.

  How could she have ever imagined Balladyn being the answer to her problems? Just like the rest of the fortress, there was no way she could use her magic to teleport out of the cell to somewhere safe.

  No, she was well and truly stuck. The worst part was not knowing what Balladyn would do to her. After what she saw when looking in on Rhi, she feared Balladyn wouldn’t hold back his cruelty with her.

  Would she be able to withstand what he had in store for her? And afterward he expected to go through with the Claiming. As if she wouldn’t fight that with all she had.

  It hit her then that she would be doing it alone. She had turned her back on her family, so they wouldn’t come to her aid. Kiril, wherever he was, would have no idea she was being kept against her will.

  She walked to a wall and leaned back against it before she slowly slid to the ground. Shara hugged her knees to her chest and rested her forehead on her knees. The anticipation of what was to come was most likely worse than what would actually happen. Or at least that’s what she tried to tell herself.

  The darkness was something all Dark Fae sought, and yet Shara wished to see the moon. Ever since she’d found Kiril in dragon form, she wanted to see him flying through the night sky, the moon silhouetting him. What a magnificent sight he would be.

  Whereas her people were among the humans, the dragons were gone from the realm. Sent away so the humans could live. Shara didn’t think either of the Fae would have allowed such a thing to happen. All the while, the humans thrived as the Dragon Kings remained concealed.

  If that wasn’t enough, the Dark wanted to find something they had hidden. Shara lifted her head as she considered this. The Dragon Kings were completely immortal. There was nothing that could be done to them by any being that they wouldn’t survive.

  It took a King turning on a King to kill one, and that happened on such rare occasions that the Dark couldn’t wait for that to happen.

  The Kings protected themselves to the point that they would do anything for one of their own. So different from how she was raised, and yet the Fae might feel the same if their race was threatened.

  Whatever the Dark searched for couldn’t be to kill a King. But it could be used against them.

  It was like a lightbulb went off in her head. The only way a Dark could beat a Dragon King was with whatever they searched for. She hoped the Kings hid it well enough that the Dark never found it, because if they did, the realm of earth would be forever altered.

  The idea of it left her numb. Odd how so much of her way of thinking had changed since she had come to know Kiril.

  Her gaze snapped to the door when it suddenly opened. She quickly stood when she spotted a Dark Fae enter. Shara blinked and abruptly he was Kiril.

  “What are you doing?” she demanded of the Dark.

  Kiril smiled and took a step toward her. “It’s me, Shara. The Dark Fae is a disguise to allow me to move around this place.”

  “I’m supposed to believe you?”

  “Shall I prove it then?”

  She merely looked at him, neither agreeing nor disagreeing in case this was some trick by Balladyn so he could punish her more.

  “You found me in the cellar,” he said. “By a door hidden with my magic. You saw me in my true form—that of a burnt orange dragon.”

  There was no
way anyone else knew that. She ran to him and flung her arms around his neck as she held him close. “I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.”

  “I’m here now,” he said and smoothed his hands over her back.

  She leaned away. “How did you find me?”

  “I saw Balladyn enter his chamber, and I knew you were in there. I waited for a while before I came down to get Rhi. That’s when I heard him toss you in here.”

  “So you have Rhi?” she asked excitedly.

  His face was bleak. “Nay.”

  Shara’s hands slid down his shoulders to his arms. “Then let’s get her now.”

  “We can no’. She’s being held with the Chains of Mordare.”

  Shara jerked away, surprise making her heart pound faster. “That’s impossible. They’ve been missing for eons.”

  “Balladyn found them. He’s using them on Rhi.”

  Shara felt as if all the wind had been taken out of her sails. “He’s the only one who can unlock those chains.”

  “Let’s get you out. I’ll return once we figure out another way to get those chains off Rhi.”

  Shara knew it wasn’t right that she was being rescued when Rhi was being left behind. Kiril had come for Rhi, not her.

  “I’m coming back for her,” Kiril whispered as he led her out of the cell.

  As soon as they stepped out of the cell, Kiril’s face disappeared, once more replaced with that of a Dark Fae. “How are you doing that?” she asked.

  “I’ll tell you when we’re out of here.”

  He didn’t trust her, and she didn’t blame him. Kiril was surrounded by enemies. He was just being cautious. It was a lesson she needed to learn after all the mistakes she had made with her family and Balladyn.

  She remained beside him with his hand on her arm as if she were his prisoner. As long as they didn’t encounter Balladyn, they should make it out fine. They made it up the first short set of stairs without incident. It wasn’t until they reached the top of the second flight that things went from bad to worse.

  “Hello, Shara,” Balladyn said as he leaned a shoulder against the wall and examined a small dagger in his hand. “I knew you would manage to find your way back up. Who’s your new friend?”