by Donna Grant
Whisky and Wishes, A Special Dark Kings Holiday Novella
Dark Kings, Book 19
Donna Grant
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Excerpt of DRAGON REVEALED
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About the Author
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
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WHISKY AND WISHES
© 2020 by DL Grant, LLC
Cover Design © 2020 by Charity Hendry
Formatting © 2020 by Charity Hendry
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Excerpt from: DRAGON REVEALED
© 2020 by DL Grant, LLC
© 2020 by 1001 Dark Nights Press
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ISBN 13: 978-1-942017-68-4
Available in ebook.
All rights reserved.
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All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce or transmit this book, or a portion thereof, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from the author. This book may not be resold or uploaded for distribution to others. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
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Praise For Donna Grant’s
Best-Selling Romance Novels
“A breathtaking tale...I absolutely loved it!”
–Romance Junkies on Dark Craving, Dark Kings Series
“The author has created a fantastic and mesmerizing fantasy world with intriguing twists, surprises and unique elements that keeps the reader turning the pages to the very end.”
–Night Owl Reviews on Dark Heat, Dark Kings Series
“Evie and Malcolm is a couple that makes it impossible not to love them.”
–The Jeep Diva, Dark Warriors Series
“Grant’s smoldering seventh Dark Warrior outing will grip readers from the first page, immersing them in her wounded, lonely couple’s journey of redemption…each scene is filled with Grant’s clever, complex characters and trademark sizzle.”
–Romantic Times Magazine (RT Book Reviews), Dark Warriors Series
Chapter One
December 4th
Dreagan
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Constantine, King of Dragon Kings, walked through the manor with a grin on his face. It hadn’t been that long ago that he’d had nothing to smile about. With their enemies vanquished, and his beloved, Rhi once more beside him, everything was as it should be. There was no telling how long that would last, however, so he planned to enjoy every second of it that he could.
He made his way to the conservatory. After meandering through the plants, he went to the hidden door at the back that took him into Dreagan Mountain. The moment he stepped through, he let out a sigh. In the darkest days after the Kings had sent the dragons away because of the war with the mortals, each Dragon King had gone to find solace in their mountain on Dreagan.
Con had a mountain, but he didn’t spend much time in it. Mainly because he hadn’t slept away the centuries as the other Kings had. It was his duty to ensure that everything stayed as it should, and that meant he had to remain awake.
His gaze moved over the rock around him. He loved this mountain. Just as he loved the land. Dreagan was special. Not because the sixty thousand acres of land belonged to them, but because the magic of the realm sprang from there. Con still recalled the day he and the other Kings had come upon the Dragonwood. The forest had the ability to calm him in even the worst of times. So many days, he had walked the woods in his human shape or flown over the tall trees in his true form. The Kings had decided to call it home because the magic welled there. It had originally only been meant as a meeting place for all Kings. Then the humans came, altering the lives of every dragon on the planet.
While Con had learned the hard way that the Dragon Kings had enemies aplenty, he knew that, in the most difficult of times, the Kings always banded together to face whatever nemesis came at them.
Con pushed aside thoughts of battle and instead thought of how much his life had changed since his mating. Every morning, he opened his eyes to find Rhi in his arms. And each time he smiled, because he knew that no matter what came their way, he could withstand any of it as long as Rhi was with him.
He’d let too many years slip away without her, but he had won her back—though he still wasn’t sure how. It was thoughts of his mate that had brought him to the mountain. And, just as he guessed, he found her with the four Silver dragons.
Con said nothing as he watched his mate for a few moments. She sat on the stone floor, her legs pulled up to her chest and her arms curled around her shins as she rested her chin on her knees. Her gaze was locked on the sleeping dragons. Con didn’t need to ask what she was thinking. The same thing had been on both of their minds since their mating ceremony months ago.
“I’m all right,” she said in an Irish accent without looking his way.
He walked to her and sat beside her so their shoulders brushed. “I’m no’ all right.”
Her head turned his way, and she looked at him with the silver eyes of a Light Fae. “I’m not all right either.”
“Come here,” he murmured as he wrapped an arm around her.
Rhi laid her head on his shoulder. “I can’t stop thinking about any of it.”
“I know.”
“What do you want to do?”
He rested his head against hers. “What do you want to do?”
They’d had this very discussion before. Despite Con being alive for millions of years, he wasn’t sure how to proceed. What was a parent supposed to do when they discovered they had children they didn’t know about? Offspring that had seen them but hadn’t made contact.
Looking back, Con knew that he was to blame for much of this. Had he not fallen in love with Rhi all those centuries ago, he never would have noticed how despondent the other Kings became after the dragons departed. Without dragons, none of the Kings could find mates. And after the war with the mortals that’d resulted in the dragons being sent away, Con didn’t expect any Dragon King to go looking to the humans. And he had been right.
By then, though, he had already been head over heels in love with Rhi. However, he’d put aside his happiness for the sake of the other Dragon Kings and had ended things with her. It had nearly killed him to do it. What neither he nor Rhi had known was that she was already pregnant.
“I never should have gone to the Fae Realm,” she said as if reading his mind. “If I hadn’t gone, I wouldn’t have been attacked.”
“You were hurt and angry at me. I escaped to Dreagan. I doona blame you for going to the Fae Realm, regardless of whether it was destroyed or not.”
She shook her head of long, black hair and looked at him. “I knew it was dangerous, and I went anyway. It was stupid of me.”
“You can look back and see all your mistakes, just as I can. But we can no’ go back, my love. What’s done is done. I hurt you when I ended things, and you went to the Fae Realm.”
Her lips pressed into a flat line. “Where I was attacked and injured. If Erith hadn’t found me…”
Con’s heart clutched every time he thought about how close he had come to losing Rhi and the twins. That he hadn’t was all because of Erith, a goddess also known as Death to the Fae. Erith had come upon Rhi and realized that she carried bairns. Erith couldn’t save
all three of them, so she made a choice and took the babies, giving Rhi a chance at survival.
A short time later, Con had learned that Rhi was missing and went looking for her. Somehow, he had known that she was in danger. When he found her, she’d barely clung to life. His power to heal anything had saved her.
Only to be forced to let her go all over again.
“I can’t decide if I’m angry at Erith for taking the twins, or happy that she gave them a life.” Rhi looked back at the dragons. “I know if she hadn’t taken them, they would’ve died.”
“But you didna know your children.”
A tear slipped down her cheek as she glanced at him. “Nor did you.”
Con pulled Rhi against him once more. They sat in silence for a long time, each lost in thought of what could have been. It was a waste of time, he knew, but he couldn’t help it. Nor did he try and stop Rhi.
He wished he could’ve had time with his children, but he knew that if Rhi had learned of the pregnancy and told him, he never would’ve broken things off with her. He had ended their relationship for the wellbeing of his brethren. It had been bad enough that he’d found love when they were still dealing with the loss of the dragons. Con couldn’t imagine how things would’ve gone had he also had children. The tight group of Dragon Kings that stood now wouldn’t be. Jealousy and resentment would’ve violently torn them apart.
And that would’ve allowed their enemies to triumph.
He wasn’t the only one who would’ve had a vastly different life. Rhi had walked a particular path, one that she had been destined for. She wouldn’t have taken the chances she had if she’d been a mother, and she certainly wouldn’t have continued on as a Queen’s Guard, let alone risked her live numerous times to help out her friends.
That was the hardest to take in. Knowing that what they had both endured, the actions taken and decisions made, had led them both to where they were now. The Others had been defeated, Usaeil was gone for good, and it looked as if the Light and Dark Fae were seriously considering creating a council made up of representatives from both sides.
While he had been hung up on all of that, Rhi had been hurt, knowing that their children, who had been raised by Erith on another realm, had come to Earth to see their parents.
And hadn’t tried to speak to them.
“They must hate us,” Rhi said into the silence.
“We doona know that.”
She made a sound in the back of her throat. “They didn’t approach us. I think that speaks volumes.”
“It doesna do any good to think those thoughts. We need to stay positive.”
Rhi jerked upright and glared at him. “What?”
Con held her gaze. “Stay positive.”
“I’m trying. Desperately. But it feels like I’m in quicksand.”
“We can sort it all out. All we have to do is go to the realm where our children are.”
Rhi winced and dropped her head onto her knees once more. “For fek’s sake. Why didn’t you say something?”
Confused, Con asked, “About?”
“About the dragons!” she said as she jumped to her feet and began pacing before the huge cage that held the Silvers.
Con’s gaze slid to the dragons. For thousands upon thousands of years, they had kept the Silvers asleep deep beneath Dreagan. At first, it had been to stop the Silvers from attacking the humans. Then, it had been because it wasn’t fair to wake them and not allow them to fly or have any kind of life.
It pained him to see the dragons slumbering away instead of living fully. Yet, at the same time, they had brought him solace during the years when he had been the only one awake on Dreagan and missing his dragons. He couldn’t imagine them not being at Dreagan.
“Babe,” Rhi said as she squatted before him, her eyes filled with remorse. “You should’ve reminded me that this is about more than me. Us,” she corrected. “This is about every Dragon King who has yearned to see their dragons since they were sent over the Dragon Bridge.”
Con forced a smile that he didn’t feel. “I could’ve said something, aye, but I didna because I chose no’ to.”
Her brows drew together in a frown. “Why?”
He looked away, unable to find the words.
“Sweetheart,” she said softly and touched his cheek with her hand. “You can tell me anything.”
When he looked at her, there was a real smile on his lips. “I know.”
“We talk every night when we get into bed. Mostly, it’s been about the twins and Erith, but something else has been on your mind.”
“The dragons,” he murmured.
Her head cocked to the side. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, and for some unknown reason, she had fallen in love with him. He had almost lost her. And for a dragon who mated for life, that had practically done him in. He reached up and touched her jaw.
Rhi quirked a brow. “You might be King of Dragon Kings, and King of Golds, but you’re my mate. That means I know you better than anyone else. You don’t always have to be strong for me. I can handle carrying the load.”
“You carried more than your share for too long.”
“So have you,” she argued. “Stop stalling and tell me what’s on your mind.”
He drew in a breath and then slowly released it. “I remember when the dragons were still here. I remember their sounds, the sight of them. But it has been eons since that time. Have we Kings forgotten what it means to rule our clans? More importantly, do the clans still need us?”
“Are you still a Dragon King?”
“Aye,” he replied.
“Then you have your answer.”
He twisted his lips. “I’m no’ sure it’s that simple. That’s how things were on this realm. The dragons—and our children, who have been ruling them—are on another realm.”
“Then I think it’s time we talk to the twins, just as you said.”
It was his turn to cock his head. “Are you ready for that?”
“No, but I don’t think that’s going to change. We’ve put this off for long enough. While I’ve been mired in the fact that our children didn’t talk to us, you and the other Kings have been suffering. It’s time for that to stop.”
She held out her hand. Con took it as she stood, and she helped him to his feet. With one last look at the Silvers, they walked from the cavern back to the manor.
“I want to do something.”
He looked down at his mate as they walked hand-in-hand. “What’s that?”
“I’d like to have a big celebration. It’s December. Several mortal holidays are approaching.”
“And we have humans who are mated to the Kings,” Con added.
Rhi nodded. “That, as well. I think we need to gather everyone and just be together. We do it for mating ceremonies, but this wouldn’t be about only one couple.”
“It would be about everyone.” Con nodded, his lips curving into a smile. “It’s a great idea. Let’s do it.”
She halted when they reached the conservatory and faced him. Rising, she planted a kiss on his lips. “I’ll take care of everything.”
“And what shall I do?”
She laughed and slapped him on the ass. “Be sexy, like always.”
Chapter Two
December 5th
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Busy time helped to distract Rhi, but never for long. She had been so wrapped up in her troubles that she had become blind to everything else. The joy she felt at finally being with Con again was ripped away by the knowledge of what Erith had done.
Not a day passed where Rhi didn’t go from being grateful to Death, to wanting to scream her fury at the goddess. She waffled through those emotions multiple times a day, and as the weeks and months passed, things hadn’t gotten better. That was because she wanted more than a glimpse of her children.
So far, that had been impossible.
But Rhi was at the end of her rope. For her and Con to have the life they’d always dreamed of,
they needed to get past this massive hurdle and reunite with their children.
Rhi stopped her walk through the manor, noticing for the first time just how quiet it was. She tucked her hair behind her ears and strained to hear any conversations from any of the other couples that lived at Dreagan. But there was nothing. Not a single sound.
She pivoted and made her way back to the staircase. She placed her hand on the head of a wooden dragon that made up the newel post and ascended the steps to the third floor where Con’s office was. Years ago, he had moved it from the second floor for the view, and to give more room to the mates. She walked in to find him standing before one of the windows with papers in his hand as he gazed outside at the falling snow.
Without a word, she walked to him, coming up behind him and wrapping her arms around him as she pressed her cheek against his back. He jumped at her touch, then quickly covered her hands with his. They stood that way for several minutes, simply holding each other while trying not to sink into the quicksand that attempted to pull them down.
“Where is everyone?” she asked.
Con turned in her arms and tossed the papers onto his desk. His black eyes looked down at her as a blond curl fell across his forehead. “Gone. They have been for a few weeks now.”
“Weeks?” Rhi shook her head in disbelief. “I didn’t even know.”
“They wanted to give us some time. I was going to tell them to stay, but I realized that after so many years of keeping this realm safe, everyone needed some time alone. Including us.”
