Burning Desire (32 page)

“I knew you could do it, Shara. You’re special.”

“What just happened?”

The queen helped her to her feet and guided her back to the chairs. Once Shara was sitting, Usaeil resumed her own seat. “I could’ve brought you here anytime I wanted, and you could’ve left at any time. I watched you as a child. I watched as you decided to end the suffering of the humans you kidnapped for your family, but you weren’t ready yet. Then I saw you with Kiril. I saw how you looked at him, how you touched him. I saw your love.”

Shara folded her hands together. “How do you know it’s love? I’m not even certain.”

“Yes, you are,” she said with a wink. “Otherwise, why would you have been ready to give your own life for him? That’s what changed your eyes, Shara.”

She touched the corner of one eye timidly. “Because I loved him?”

Usaeil gave a little wave of her hand. “That was part of it. Anyone can love. You loved your parents, your family, and yet that didn’t alter you. Your love for Kiril opened your heart and your world. Your willingness to give your life for his is what ultimately changed you.”

“I did … awful things before. How can all of it be wiped away so simply?”

“It isn’t simple. I don’t think you understand how love can heal. And forgive.”

Shara rose and walked to the mirror once more. She stared into her reflection, trying to recognize herself. “So this is me now?”

“This is you. If you want it to be you.”

Shara smiled, giddiness making her want to dance. “Oh, yes.”

“Good. Now. Let’s talk Kiril.”

*   *   *

It had taken Kiril and the others in dragon form to move Rhys into the mountain so he would be hidden. With every minute that ticked by and he didn’t heal, Kiril could see more and more of the Kings blame Ulrik.

The blame couldn’t lay at another’s feet. The Dragon Kings that were awake had all been accounted for, and the ones still sleeping in the mountains had remained asleep. And yet it didn’t make sense. Why would Ulrik attack Rhys? His hatred was focused on one individual—Constantine.

“He’ll heal,” Kellan said from beside him as they gazed at Rhys. “Con had a similar wound once.”

Kiril turned his head to him. “When? I don’t remember that.”

“Few know of it. He’s had two such wounds. One when he fought the King of Kings for the throne. The second was when he and Ulrik fought before Ulrik was banished.”

Kiril shook his head in confusion and took a step back. “I might be old and my memories many, but I would recall if Con had been injured.”

“Nay, you wouldna,” Kellan said cryptically.

Kiril grabbed Kellan’s shoulder and spun him around. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that Ulrik and Con had a confrontation before Ulrik’s magic was taken from him. They fought. Both were injured severely.”

“How did I no’ know of this?”

Kellan shrugged. “Con didna want anyone to know. Neither of them did. It’s why they fought well away from any one of us seeing them.”

“Why tell me now?”

“I probably would’ve shared it sooner had I no’ been sleeping for thirteen hundred years.”

“There were millennia before that you could’ve told us.”

Kellan looked away, a muscle jumping in his jaw. “I was dealing with other things.”

His revelation was so perplexing that Kiril almost forgot the first part of it. “You said Con was injured like this twice.”

“Did you ever want to be King of Kings?”

Kiril scrunched up his face. “Never. I had enough to deal with with my dragons.”

“Most Kings have felt the same, but a few coveted that crown. A select few have it in their destiny.”

Kiril thought back to Con’s predecessors. “In all our time, we’ve only had five take the throne.”

“Aye.”

“What are you no’ telling me?”

Kellan clamped a hand on his shoulder and changed the subject. “Have you heard anything about Shara’s whereabouts?”

“Nothing, and it’s driving me insane.” Kiril knew he had changed the subject on purpose, and he would allow it for now because his mind was full of her.

“There is someone who can help.”

“Broc.” The Warrior could use the god inside him to find anyone, anywhere.

Kellan nodded and dropped his hand to his side. “It’s a thought.”

“What’s a thought?” Tristan asked as he walked up and peered at Rhys’s wound. “I do believe it’s gotten a little better.”

Kellan grinned at Kiril and strode away. Kiril watched him walk to his mate, Denae, and the two of them disappeared deep into the mountain, arm in arm.

“He’s more mysterious at times than Con,” Tristan grumbled.

Kiril chuckled and faced the newest Dragon King. Tristan had once been a Warrior with his twin, Ian. All the Warriors thought Tristan had died, but he had been reborn as a Dragon King.

“He mentioned I could ask Broc to find Shara,” Kiril explained.

Tristan stuffed his hands in the front pockets of his jeans. “Aye, you could. Broc would be willing to help, I’m sure of it. Shall I contact him?”

Kiril shook his head, his gaze on Rhys. “Shara is a survivor. I’ll search for her once Rhys is once more himself.”

“And if Balladyn has her?”

“He doesna.” At least Kiril prayed he didn’t. “If he did, Balladyn would’ve let me know to rub it in.”

Rhys moved, a rumble of a moan coming from him. Kiril looked at his scales to see the yellow wasn’t as bright as before.

“It’s been hours,” Tristan said. “He should’ve healed by now.”

“You’ve no’ had to fight other Dragon Kings so you doona know how deadly one blast of our magic can be. We’re powerful creatures, and it’s why only another Dragon King can kill us.”

“And it takes longer to heal from such a wound?”

Kiril placed a hand on Rhys’s shoulder near his large dragon head. “Aye.”

He removed his hand and began to turn away when Tristan stopped him with a firm grip on his arm.

“Look,” Tristan said as his gaze focused on Rhys.

Kiril followed his gaze to Rhys’s wound. He frowned as he saw it heal a fraction. Kiril touched Rhys again, and to his surprise, the wound healed once more.

He dropped his hand and told Tristan, “You try it.”

Tristan put his hand on Rhys, and a moment later the injury shrank.

“I’ll be damned,” Kiril mumbled. He looked at Tristan. “Find as many of us as you can.”

Tristan ran off as Kiril put his hand on Rhys. “Come on, old friend. It’s time you woke.”

“What’s going on?” Con asked as he entered with the others.

Tristan returned to Kiril’s side and put his hands on Rhys. Hal, Guy, Kellan, Banan, and Laith did the same.

Con stopped on Kiril’s other side. “Kiril?”

“We touched Rhys and he healed,” he explained.

Kellan’s forehead creased. “We’ve never had to heal one of our own, but if it works, who are we to complain?”

“Since when can we heal our own?” Hal asked.

Kiril looked at each of them. “What does it matter? The past is the past. We’re dealing with enemies on every side. Let’s look to the future.”

“All right,” Con said and put his hand on Rhys. He leaned close to Kiril and whispered, “That was some speech.”

“Whatever works, aye?”

Kiril looked up and found Kellan staring at him from the other side of Rhys’s dragon form. Kellan’s celadon eyes were watchful, vigilant, but he had a feeling he wasn’t the one Kellan was watching. That it was Con.

“It’s working!” Guy yelled with a whoop.

Kiril forgot about Kellan and Con as he turned his focus to Rhys’s injury as they all watched it shrink and then disappear entirely. It was a heartbeat later that Rhys opened his orange dragon eyes and then shifted into human form. He braced one arm on the ground as he reclined and frowned up at all of them. “What the hell is everyone looking at?”

The cheer was deafening. Kiril held out his hand and helped Rhys to his feet as they slapped each other on the back.

“I was dying, Kiril,” Rhys whispered in his ear before he turned away with a too-bright smile for the others.

Kiril’s smile faded. It seemed their list of enemies just gotten longer and even more mysterious.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

Two days later Shara was standing beside Usaeil on the edge of Dreagan land. The previous days had been spent at Usaeil’s side talking of Kiril, but also of the role she would have with the Light.

“The treaty says we can’t go onto Dreagan land,” Shara said anxiously.

Usaeil gave her a gentle push over the invisible boundary. “They offered you sanctuary and protection, Shara. They don’t go back on their word.”

“What if Kiril doesn’t want to see me?” she asked as she looked over her shoulder at the queen.

Usaeil’s smile made her eyes twinkle with merriment. “You won’t know that until you go to him. His room is on the second floor at the west corner of the manor. Good luck.”

Shara glanced away, and when she looked back, Usaeil was gone. “Wonderful. I get to do this alone.”

She rolled her eyes as she talked to herself. Not a good way to start things. Then again, was there a good way to approach a lover who thought you’d betrayed him? Shara could face her family and even Balladyn, but she didn’t think she would ever be ready for Kiril to turn away from her.

You don’t know that he will.

It was true, she didn’t, but there was a very good chance he would. She went over the speech she’d prepared the day before and repeated it countless times. It wasn’t really a speech so much as a detailed explanation.

Shara watched the sun sink farther and farther into the horizon until it disappeared behind the mountains, and still she remained where she was. A distant sound had her looking to the sky where she caught the shape of a dragon amid the darkening sky and clouds. The darkness hid the color of the scales, so she didn’t know if it was Kiril, but she suspected it was.

Shara used her magic to teleport to the top of a mountain deeper onto Dreagan so she could get a better look at the dragon. When she looked up, she realized the dragon wasn’t alone. She counted at least six of them as they glided effortlessly between the clouds, their massive wings spread wide.

She sat and simply watched them, recalling how Kiril had spoken of a time when they had filled the skies. Shara would have loved to have seen that. The fact that the Dragon Kings remained secret made her sad.

They protected the realm and the humans, and yet they couldn’t be who they really were. They couldn’t take to the skies when they wanted or announce their true forms. They were prisoners of a realm that would likely try to annihilate them if given the chance.

It made her forlorn, just as watching them gave her an odd peace she hadn’t expected. She had seen Kiril in dragon form, but she hadn’t seen him fly, she hadn’t witnessed him spreading his beautiful burnt-orange wings.

She wrapped her arms around her legs as she brought her knees to her chest and rested her chin on her knees. The breeze was cool, the night silent except for the flap of dragon wings. The sky had enough clouds to keep them hidden, but also to allow her to see them.

One dragon branched off from the others and dove lower over the mountains. He disappeared behind one mountain only to reappear a moment later. It wasn’t until he tucked his wings and dove into the valley next to the mountain she was on that she realized he was flying in the valleys, twisting and turning in an aerial show that left her gasping for breath and silently begging for more.

*   *   *

Kiril’s mind was filled with Shara, and had been since the last time he’d seen her. He had a call in to Broc to see if the Warrior could locate her. He had yet to decide whether he would go after her when he discovered where she was. He had promised her safety, and the first time Balladyn confronted them, Kiril had turned his back on her.

With his mind so filled, he had taken to the skies. All it did was remind him of how Shara had reacted when she had found him in dragon form. That in itself still boggled his mind. She had seen his dragon magic. That was impossible. Then again, so much of the impossible and improbable didn’t seem to apply to Shara. She broke all the rules without even seeming to realize there were any.

He tilted his wings and changed course. He flew low over the mountains and into the valleys. It felt wonderful to be free to fly to his heart’s content.

And yet he felt … fragmented.

As if a part of him were missing.

He knew without even having to guess what was missing—Shara. She was so much a part of him that he thought he detected her scent. Kiril’s mind snapped to attention. He swooped up from the valley and then turned to glide over the mountain. As he neared the peak, the scent grew stronger.

Then he saw her.

He turned and flew over her once more just to be sure it wasn’t his mind playing tricks on him. He wanted to shout for joy when he saw her watching him. Kiril flew to the peak and landed. He folded his wings as she jumped to her feet and faced him. His gaze drank in the sight of her as he inhaled her beautiful scent.

“Kiril,” she whispered.

Was that fear he saw in her eyes? He blinked and looked into her eyes again. They were no longer red. Was it some new glamour she was using? She took a step toward him at the same instant that he shifted into human form. He wrapped his hand around her neck and backed her into a boulder.

“I told you no glamour,” he ground out.

Her smile was sad as she wrapped her hands around his forearm. “It isn’t glamour.”

“Your eyes are no longer red.”

She swallowed hard, but held his gaze. “I didn’t betray you. Balladyn lied.”

“I know. Phelan told me.”

“You’re not happy to see me.” Her voice was particularly desolate as she looked away. “I shouldn’t have come.”

There was no way he was allowing her to go anywhere. He held her firmly without squeezing her throat. “Why did you come?”

“To explain everything.”

Kiril thought she might care for him if she had returned. The emptiness that had threatened these last few days grew. “As I said, Phelan told me. Now tell me why your eyes are different?”

“I’m no longer Dark.”