by Donna Grant
“You were there with me?” Kyra asked in confusion.
Eva flashed a smile. “Oh, yes. I saw the entire glorious battle.”
Kyra looked at Dubhan. She didn’t need to ask him to know that other Reapers were there and that they planned to kill Eva. Kyra grabbed Dubhan’s hand, and while their palms touched, she called forth a knife.
Dubhan’s brow furrowed. “Kyra,” he began.
She gave a slight shake of her head.
“Between the ribs on the left side,” he whispered.
She swallowed and turned to her aunt. Kyra kept the blade hidden against her forearm as she released Dubhan’s hand and took a step toward Eva.
“I’m your daughter, but you said you’ll kill me if I don’t join you.”
Eva nodded. “Those are the rules. Bloodlines are important to the Others. Especially ours.”
“There are many of you, then?”
“Nice try,” Eva said with a laugh. “As if I’d tell you that.”
“I know it began with two Fae and two Druids.”
Eva looked skyward and vacillated for a moment. “There were six in the main group of Others.”
Damn. Kyra had wanted information, though she hadn’t thought she would get anything. It wasn’t much, but at this point, anything was better than nothing. She slowly kept moving toward Eva. “You want me to join a group you won’t tell me anything about.”
“You’ve already said you want no part in it.” Eva glanced at Dubhan. “In fact, your lover has made it clear he intends to try and kill me.”
“Can you blame him? You did threaten my life,” Kyra pointed out.
Eva chuckled. “I suppose I’d do the same in his shoes.”
“You were the one who killed Tate and Jesta.”
“I didn’t deal the killing blow,” Eva stated with a shrug. “I did pay them a visit, telling them I was your mum and warned them against you, as well as threatened their livelihood. I thought it would be enough. Then you were seen going into the shop. It didn’t take much . . . prodding . . . to get Tate to tell me everything you talked about. Once I was done, they were killed.”
Kyra swallowed. She’d known in her gut that Eva had been responsible, but hearing it made it so . . . real. “And Max?”
Eva’s smile was slow. “He did his best to talk his way out of it, but it was futile. He knew we were there because of you.”
That was like a punch in the gut.
Kyra couldn’t understand the woman before her. She was the exact opposite of the aunt who had spent years with her, sharing tubs of ice cream, watching the tele, telling stupid jokes, and urging Kyra to do everything without magic.
“Why did you do all the little things like mortals, telling me not to do magic all the time?” Kyra demanded to know.
Eva rolled her eyes. “Let me guess, you’re still doing things like the humans.” She threw back her head and laughed. “You have no idea the strength of your magic, Kyra. If only I’d gotten the Kavanaugh power instead of you. I could be using it for the Others instead of watching you waste it.”
“What?”
“You use it without even realizing it. You want to help anyone and everyone, even animals,” Eva stated, her voice growing louder. “That kind of power should be used for something more important than healing a bird’s broken wing. That’s why I kept urging you not to use your magic. You were wasting it.”
Kyra stopped walking since she now stood within inches of Eva. She looked into the woman’s silver eyes and found a stranger staring back at her. The best years of her life had been with her aunt, and yet they had all been a lie.
Kyra didn’t care about that. She’d learned a lot of valuable things that had helped her forge a solid path. No matter the lies, no matter the reasons, Kyra was stronger because of everything.
“You shouldn’t have gotten so close to me,” Eva told her.
Kyra’s throat tightened with emotion. She swallowed it and said, “I had no choice.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Kyra saw Eva’s arm lift as an orb of magic formed. Kyra saw the determination in Eva’s eyes. There was only one path for her. Without hesitation, she thrust the blade between the Fae’s ribs and right into her heart. Her motions were so smooth, Eva felt nothing.
“You aren’t even scared,” Eva said with a laugh.
Kyra took a step back, pulling the knife out as she did. Blood dripped onto the ground. Eva’s gaze lowered to the weapon before she looked down at herself. It was only then that she comprehended what had happened. She clutched at the wound, but it was too late. Her legs wobbled before giving out. By the time she hit the ground, she was dead. Seconds later, she turned to ash.
Kyra stared down at her. She’d never taken another person’s life before. It felt . . . horrible, no matter the reasons behind it. She’d thought of Eva as her savior for so long. It would’ve been easier to let Dubhan or one of the other Reapers take her aunt/mother’s life, but she couldn’t do that. This was her family, her responsibility.
Something warm and solid wrapped around her hand. She looked down and saw Dubhan’s fingers. He gently took the weapon from her and then turned her to face him. His strong arms wound around her as he held her. She stood there for a moment, holding onto him with all that she had. She didn’t understand why he was holding her. Seconds ticked by, and then the tears came.
After she’d cried buckets for taking what she now knew was her mother’s life, her guts roiled. She turned away, emptying her stomach while Dubhan held her hair out of her face. When she finished, he gave her water to rinse her mouth and a towel to wipe her face. Then he held her once more. He said nothing, simply gave her comfort with his touch. She was glad for it because she couldn’t stand to hear any words at the moment. Not when her mind was still coming to terms with the fact that she had killed a woman she had loved and admired.
She didn’t know how long they stood there before she felt strong enough to lean back and look up at her Reaper. He wiped away the remnants of her tears before taking her into the cottage. He took off her clothes and put her into bed before he stripped and climbed beneath the covers with her.
They lay on their sides, her back to his chest as they looked out the window at the sun sinking into the horizon. Everything had changed that day. And, oddly enough, it felt as if her slate had been wiped clean. As if she got to decide what the next step was.
But she’d already made that decision. It was—and always would be—Dubhan.
Chapter Twenty-four
The feel of a soft hand caressing his chest pulled Dubhan from his dreams. He smiled when Kyra’s lips kissed along his cheek and then down his jaw. They had spent the night making love, holding each other, talking, and then making love again. It had been the best night of his life. Even better, he knew that it was the start of something truly amazing, and he couldn’t believe that Kyra had actually come into his life.
He groaned when her hand wrapped around his hard cock. “Woman, haven’t you already had enough?” he teased.
She chuckled, her warm breath fanning his neck. “Of you? Never.”
He had her on her back in a blink. Dubhan looked down at her as he felt their love surrounding them. “Perfect answer.”
“And you?” she asked, brow quirked as she continued stroking his arousal. “Haven’t you had enough?”
“I’ll never get enough of you. Not in a hundred lifetimes.”
She smiled, love shining in her eyes. “I’m so glad we found each other.”
“Me, too, love.” He lowered himself so he could kiss her.
Their embrace became passionate as the desire surged within them again. He couldn’t get enough of her body, her quick mind, or her sensual nature. He loved how, when they spoke of the future, she included him. And he couldn’t wait for her to meet the other Reapers.
Her legs parted as she brought his cock toward her entrance, but they both stilled when they heard someone clear their throat from the other room.
/> Dubhan dropped his forehead against hers. “I think our time is up for the moment.”
“For the moment,” she whispered and gave his rod another stroke before releasing him.
He moved off her to lean on one elbow but couldn’t stop looking at her as she rose from the bed and began dressing. Of all the people in the universe, he’d never thought he would know what love was. He’d never expected it to find him, never even dared dream that something so beautiful and wonderful could be his.
Kyra looked at him over her shoulder after she’d tugged on her shirt. She flipped out her hair that was still in its natural state. After flashing him a bright smile, she gave him a wink. “Come on, handsome. We need to get moving.”
As he rose, he called his clothes to him. By the time he was on his feet, he was fully dressed. “I’m waiting on you, beautiful.”
She laughed, shaking her head. After slipping on some shoes and running her fingers through her hair, she gave him a nod. They walked from her room together to find Eoghan standing in the kitchen, making some tea.
He glanced their way. “Morning. I left you alone as long as I could.”
“Thank you,” Kyra said. “Need some help?”
Eoghan shook his head. “You two sit. I’ve got this.”
Dubhan waited until Kyra had taken a chair before he also sank into one. Many things were running through Dubhan’s mind, but he kept silent, waiting to see what Eoghan would say. And he didn’t have long to wait.
“Kyra, what you did yesterday was more than anyone expected of you. Especially Death.” Eoghan faced them with a tray in his hand. He walked to the table and set the tray down before filling three cups with tea and handing each of them a mug. Only then did he sit, his gaze going to Kyra.
She glanced down at the tea and shrugged. “It had to be me.”
Dubhan reached over and covered her hand with his. They hadn’t spoken of what had happened to Eva once during the night. He’d planned to let her bring it up when she wanted to because he knew how hard it was for her. No matter how she looked at it, she would carry that weight around for the rest of her life.
But she was strong enough not to succumb to the weight of it. Dubhan would make sure he helped her if she stumbled, though he doubted that would ever happen.
“You did what you felt you had to,” Eoghan said with a nod. “You showed your true character yesterday, but none of us were surprised by it. You don’t hesitate to stand up for what you believe in, and that isn’t something many can claim.”
Kyra met Dubhan’s gaze before her head turned to Eoghan. “You heard Eva. Both of my parents are part of those trying to get to be an Other.”
“So?” Dubhan said. “My entire family is. What matters is what you do.”
Eoghan nodded. “I agree with Dubhan. We can’t help what our family does or the decisions they make. The only thing we can control is our choices. You made yours yesterday.”
“Actually,” she said as she smiled at Dubhan, “I made that decision well before that.”
Dubhan grinned like a fool while tightening his hand on Kyra’s. He’d never been so happy.
“Yes, I can see that,” Eoghan said, a smile in his voice before he took a drink of tea.
Dubhan pinned Eoghan with a look as he began to worry about Eoghan’s appearance. “Why are you here? I thought Death already approved of Kyra.”
“Erith has,” Eoghan replied calmly, setting his cup down. “I’m here to let you know that we need to be especially watchful now that the Others know of us. We don’t know what that means for us going forward. But at the very least, they know of one group of Reapers.”
“No matter how hard they look, they won’t find anything on any of you,” Kyra said.
Eoghan blew out a breath and sat back in the chair. “We can’t assume anything. We don’t know if Usaeil is alive or dead. No doubt she told them enough when we had our run-in with her.”
“Usaeil has known about us for some time,” Dubhan pointed out. “She could’ve told the Others, or at least the group Eva belonged to, at any time, but based on what Eva said, they only recently found out about us.”
Kyra wrinkled her nose. “I’m not sure I’d believe too much of what my aunt said.”
“I agree,” Eoghan stated. “Regardless, neither of you should stay on this realm for long.”
Kyra made a sound in the back of her throat. “There’s nowhere else to go.”
“Actually, there is,” Dubhan said and brought her hand to his lips to kiss her knuckles.
Eoghan got to his feet. “Thanks to Kyra, Erith is talking to the Dragon Kings about joining forces.”
“Should it take so long?” Kyra asked. “I figured it would be a quick discussion.”
Dubhan shrugged. “There is nothing simple about two powerful forces joining.”
“Until that time comes, we need to be more careful where we go and who we interact with,” Eoghan told him.
Dubhan saw the wisdom in such a move. “What about Xaneth?”
“We will continue looking for him. Erith isn’t going to give up so easily on finding him after everything he did for us. I’d like to think we’ll find Xaneth soon, but I don’t know. The Others need to be dealt with, and I believe it’ll happen much sooner than we think.” Eoghan rose to his feet. “I expect to see you both shortly.”
No sooner were the words out of his mouth than he was gone.
Dubhan pushed away his untouched cup of tea and focused on Kyra. He started to open his mouth when her finger touched his lips to silence him.
“Should we speak?” she asked, a frown marring her forehead as she dropped her arm. “What if the Others are listening?”
“They can’t hear us. I made sure of that. Nor can they get into this cottage. We’re safe, for now, but I wouldn’t want to stay for much longer.”
Kyra nodded slowly. “Okay. Where do we go?”
“We have a place. It was Death’s, actually, but she opened it to the Reapers.”
“And she’s letting me come?”
“Of course,” he said with a smile. “You’re part of me now.”
Her mouth split into a grin. “I am, aren’t I? And I like the sound of that.”
“Will you be all right leaving all of this behind? You won’t be able to tell your family anything about us.”
She licked her lips and looked at the table. “I don’t speak to them much, and it’s not like I’d really know what to say now anyway. I can’t tell them about Eva. They’d never forgive me.”
“There’s nothing to forgive,” he reminded her. “She was going to kill you. You protected yourself.”
“My family might not see it that way.”
“Or they could.”
She lifted one shoulder. “It’ll be some time before I want to find out one way or another. It’s all still so . . . raw.”
Dubhan tugged her arm and pulled her into his lap. “There is no rush. We don’t even have to discuss it ever again. You tell me when and if you’re ready.”
“I love you,” she said.
He gave her a soft kiss. “I love you.”
“And I really get to see where you live?”
“It’s where we’re going to live.”
Kyra opened her mouth to speak, then closed it, letting out a breath.
“What?” he urged. “Tell me.”
“I’m just wondering what my role will be.”
Dubhan looked into her silver eyes and felt such love that he was overcome with it. “You’ll be mine. And I’ll be yours. Forever. You can do as much or as little as you want.”
“I’m not one for sitting on the sidelines.”
“I’ll support you in whatever you want to do.”
She looked away briefly. “That’s good to know, but I was talking about us initially.”
“Us, how?” He suspected he knew where she was going with this, but it wasn’t something he’d planned to talk to her about until later.
For the
first time, he saw her uncertainty when she looked at him, and he didn’t like it.
Kyra drew in a quick breath. “I don’t expect anything. I want you to know that. I just like to know what I’m going into. I plan to be with you always, but—”
“You wish to know what you’ll be called.”
“Yes,” she replied with a quick smile. “Exactly that.”
He tugged on a strand of her hair. “Well, there are a few Reapers who have gone through the marriage ceremony. Others who are simply together but haven’t done the ceremony yet.”
“I see.”
“What would you rather?”
Kyra’s lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “I . . . I don’t know. I’m not against the ceremony, but I’m not exactly for it either. I guess as long as I know we’re together, that’s enough for me.”
Dubhan held out his hand, and once she placed hers in his, he held it against his heart. “How about we make our own vows, and if we ever want the official ceremony, then we can do it?”
“You mean, like our own private ceremony?” she asked, her eyes bright with excitement.
“Yes.”
She smiled, nodding. “I like that.”
“I vow to you that I will love you until my dying breath and beyond. I will honor, trust, and respect you. I will stand beside you in all things and will gladly shoulder anything you can’t carry. I will protect you in all ways.”
Kyra’s eyes shone bright with unshed tears as she moved their hands to cover her heart. “I give you my oath that I will love you from this life into the next. I will honor, trust, and respect you. I will stand beside you always, and I will shoulder anything you can’t carry. And I will protect you in all ways.”
“I am yours,” he said. “And you are mine.”
A tear slipped down her cheek as she smiled. “I am yours, and you are mine.”
Chapter Twenty-five
Kyra didn’t think twice about the cottage or her motorbike as she held Dubhan’s hand, and he teleported them to a small isle in the middle of a lake.
