Smoke and Fire: Part 4 (7 page)

There was no excuse for her ignorance of the situation before. Had she really looked, she’d have seen it all. But she’d buried her head in the sand and pretended that nothing mattered. Where had that gotten her?

Back in Ryder’s arms
.

Well, besides that, it had put her in a situation that could very well claim her life. She knew now what she wanted. It was her broken heart that kept pushing Ryder away, but as soon as she could, she was going to tell him the truth—that she’d always loved him.

And always would.

She wanted Ryder and his life of dragons and magic. Even if that meant she was in the middle of a war. Because if the war involved Ryder, then she was going to stand by his side and help in whatever way she could.

Though if she really was locked in her mind as she assumed was the case, and she believed it was Tristan who’d contacted her, then she also had to acknowledge that Ryder had some proof of guilt directed at her.

“Just another fight ahead,” Kinsey mumbled to herself.

She was fighting now, and she’d continue when she got out of this mind-prison she was in. Facts were facts, and she couldn’t dispute them. But she could find the evidence and do what was needed to prove it wasn’t her.

No matter what questions Con or any of the other Kings put to her, she knew she was innocent. Maybe Tristan could read her mind and know she was telling the truth. She’d demand he use whatever magic was needed to show that she wasn’t part of Kyvor’s plots.

It was a great plan. She knew exactly what she needed to do, even after she found her way back. There was just one tiny insignificant problem—she didn’t know how to get back.

Tristan made it sound easy. Not that she thought getting out of her mind was going to be a piece of cake. But all he’d said was to find her way out.

As Tristan had spoken, she’d envisioned her mind like a maze. But it was nothing like that. There were no rooms, no doorways, no windows. Nothing.

She could be walking for eternity. If she didn’t know what to look for, she could pass it by without even knowing it.

Kinsey stopped and put her hand to her stomach. Ryder. She needed to concentrate on him. He was the one thing that mattered above all else.

Her injured heart had led her to say and do things from the moment she’d arrived at Dreagan that made her want to cry. Despite it all, Ryder had stood beside her, touting her innocence to anyone who listened.

That kind of man was one in a million. He hadn’t cared what Con or anyone thought. Ryder formed his own opinions and never wavered from his belief that she was being set up.

He’d been kind, gentle, supportive, and loving all while never putting any pressure on her. He’d held her in bed each night, offering her comfort and shelter without her even knowing it.

When she said she wasn’t sure if she could forgive, he hadn’t pushed her away. How she wished she could take back those words and tell him the truth—that she had forgiven him.

He was a man—a dragon—who deserved a woman who stood tall beside him. Kinsey very much wanted to be that woman. She knew she could be that woman. She could only hope Ryder gave her a chance to demonstrate it.

Kinsey began walking again. It would be so easy to fall to her knees and give in to the trepidation and terror that gripped her. To release the dam of tears that threatened to spill at any moment.

But she was going to keep going. For Ryder. For herself.

For their love.

She began to hum to fill the silence. To help her, she let an image of Ryder fill her mind. His beautiful eyes of green, blue, and gold stared back at her, urging her to return quickly.

It seemed as if a great weight had settled upon her shoulders, attempting to slow her, to stop her. She attempted to shrug it off, but it settled upon her like a mantle.

Kinsey quickened her pace. Sweat poured off her as she struggled to keep moving. No matter how she tried to start running, the weight held her back—held her down.

It was magic. She knew it. How did one combat magic when she didn’t have any?

Attitude.

Kinsey chuckled as she imagined her mother saying that. It was her favorite response to anything Kinsey and her sister had a problem with.

“It’s all about attitude, girls,” her mother would say.

Kinsey fell to one knee as the magic loomed over her. She felt like a candle flame that was about to be extinguished. It took a great amount of effort to get back to her feet. She was hunched over, unable to stand straight because of the weight.

“I’m not giving up!” she yelled, letting her anger lace her words. “You won’t best me!”

Kinsey threw back her head and laughed. “I won’t be beaten. I’ll endure. I’m going to find my way back to Ryder. The Dragon Kings will know the truth.” The laugh died as she raised her fist into the air. “Do you hear me?”

If there was one thing Kinsey had learned during the years after Ryder left it was that she was strong. Stronger than she ever gave herself credit for.

She’d gathered her broken heart and pieced it back together. She’d faced each day instead of hiding. She’d held that minuscule kernel of hope within her that one day she might find love again, that Ryder might come back into her life.

She’d become a hacker who was respected and revered in the computer world. She’d learned to take care of every aspect of her life from the trivial to the important.

All that showed her that she could beat whatever magic was being used now.

Kinsey gritted her teeth and fisted her hands as she began walking. Every step was an effort, but she didn’t give up. She hummed louder as she kept moving, always moving.

She didn’t know how long she’d been walking before she realized she was standing straight. The weight was all but gone. Kinsey walked faster and faster until she was running.

The white stretched endlessly before her, but she didn’t stop. She couldn’t. If she did, she knew she might not begin again.

Kinsey was smiling widely. Somehow, someway she’d beaten the magic. In all her life she’d never felt so strong. Magic was powerful, but it wasn’t everything. She’d just proven that fact.

Suddenly she slammed into something. Kinsey intuitively lifted her arms to shield her face as she fell forward in slow motion as some kind of goo tried to hold her.

She landed on something hard and looked around. There were memories playing all around—her memories. Some so old she’d forgotten them.

Some more recent.

She got to her feet and walked to the one where Ryder was kissing her. Kinsey watched it replay over and over, her fingers against her lips as she recalled the feel of his mouth on hers.

Then she recalled how she’d gotten there. She looked over her shoulder, but only saw more memories that stretched on forever. No more white room.

“Ryder!” she bellowed and started running again—to her future.

Chapter Forty-three

Ryder held Kinsey’s hand. He’d been there several hours waiting for her to wake. But he wasn’t the only one. Henry was also waiting on Esther.

Neither woman had so much as stirred since Tristan spoke to them in their minds and the trackers had been extracted. But that was little consolation to Ryder or Henry.

While he waited, Ryder was going over everything in his mind about Kyvor. He began to methodically put it in order of when he and Kinsey unearthed the information and how it fit into the timeline of occurrences.

Of all the things they found, it had all been about them following Kinsey. It was the encrypted e-mails sent by someone Ryder had yet to look into that mentioned Kinsey. And cryptically at that.

Since the e-mails said very little, Ryder gathered there had to have been face-to-face meetings. In order to learn who these people where, it was going to require turning the tables on them.

If they could watch the Kings, then the Kings could watch them. And Ryder was very good at watching people.

Thorn poked his head into the cavern and said in an excited voice, “Esther has woken.”

Ryder was happy for Henry, but he was still waiting for Kinsey to open her violet eyes.

Thorn felt bad for Ryder. He quietly slipped back into the chamber with Esther and the others. Con stood off to the side with his arms crossed over his chest. Roman watched the siblings with an almost confused look in his eyes. Dmitri looked as on edge as he usually was. Only Henry was smiling.

“Henry?” Esther asked, a frown upon her brow. She glanced around the room and at the men. “Where am I?”

At this, Henry’s MI5 training kicked in. His smile dropped. “What’s the last thing you remember?”

Esther’s gaze dropped from Henry’s as she searched her mind. Then she sat straight up, alarm and a touch of fear clouding her face. “What did they do to me?” Esther asked more to herself than Henry.

“Who?” Henry urged.

Esther gave a quick shake of her head as she rubbed her temple. “I need to get back to London.”

“You’re no’ going anywhere,” Con stated in his cool tone that brooked no argument.

Esther jerked her head to him. “You’re Constantine.”

Con’s black gaze slid to Henry who shrugged in response. Thorn exchanged a look with Dmitri. At this rate, they were ready for anything.

“I know you worked for MI5,” Henry told his sister.

Esther gaped at him. “What are you talking about?”

“Stop the lies. I saw your file.”

“That’s not possible. Stuart promised to keep it from you.”

Henry’s hazel eyes blazed with anger. “He wouldn’t dare.”

“It was the only way I’d take the assignment.”

Dmitri said into the silence of the cavern, “I think it’d be better, lass, if you came clean with the entire story.”

Esther pressed her lips together, then she nodded. “If you read my file, you know I was recruited by MI5. I wanted to tell you, but they forbid it. Then the debacle within MI5 happened. Stuart found me cornered by some of the rogue agents attempting to kill me. He and I killed them before helping others within the agency.”

She paused and swung her legs over the side of the granite slab. “As I watched so many people who I thought were on my side turn against me, I knew the only way we’d ever learn how deep this went was to get to the core of things. I went to Stuart with a plan to infiltrate the group focusing on Dreagan.”

“And what did Stuart tell you?” Henry asked.

“That he was going to call you and get you to do it, but I stopped him. I can be very convincing when I want to be.”

“Don’t I know it,” Henry mumbled. Then he said, “Where did you know to begin?”

Esther shrugged. “I didn’t. Everyone we questioned either refused to talk or died while we interrogated them.”

“Died?” Roman asked.

Esther’s gaze moved to him. “Not because of anything we did to them. Before we tied them to chairs, a few managed to kill themselves. Others just … died. Right before our eyes.”

Henry didn’t need to look at the others to know that everyone in the room except for Esther knew magic was involved. Ulrik had sunk to a new level, but then again, Henry said that every time they learned something new the banished King had done.

“You’re different than earlier,” Henry pointed out as he observed his sister. She appeared more relaxed, despite the situation.

Her brows rose. “Earlier? Henry, I’ve not spoken to you in months. The last time we saw each other was a year ago.”

“We had a conversation only a few hours earlier.”

She was shaking her head before he finished. “That’s not possible.”

“Then how did you end up here?” Con asked.

Esther threw up her hands. “I don’t even know where here is.”

“Dreagan,” Con supplied.

That stopped her cold. Henry watched as she withdrew into herself and her memories. “What are you remembering?” he pressed.

“Oh dear Lord,” Esther whispered.

A bottle was quickly shoved into her hand by Roman. Henry tried to warn her that it was whisky since she hated the taste, but he didn’t have time. Without even looking to see what it was, Esther lifted it to her lips and drank.

She lowered the bottle, coughing as the whisky made its way down her throat. Her eyes became red the more she glanced at the bottle, and she rolled her eyes when she read the Dreagan label.

“What did you expect?” Roman asked with a smirk.

Esther took another drink, this one no more than a sip. She put the back of her hand to her mouth as she squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. Then she looked at each of them, landing on Henry last.

“Tell me,” he urged.

“We didn’t know where to start looking. No one would tell us any names,” Esther said. “We were losing patience. Then Stuart had the idea for me to begin posting something on forums about how MI5 was ruined and I was looking for payback.”

Henry nodded, understanding now. “That’s why you were decommissioned.”

“Yes. It took just over a month before I was contacted by a man named Sam MacDonald.”

“Did you see him?” Thorn asked.

Esther nodded. “I spoke to him several times.”

It was Dmitri who held up his mobile phone with a picture of Ulrik on it. “Is that him?”

“It does look like him,” Esther said hesitantly. “But a little different. His hair doesn’t have the gray in it at the temples. And his eyes are different.”

Con dropped his arms and moved a step closer. “Different colors?”

“No. This man has colder eyes.”

“But he looks like the man Sam you spoke with?” Henry asked.

Esther said, “Yes. Besides those differences.”

“We’ve finally connected him,” Dmitri said with a smile. “I can no’ wait to tell Ryder.”

Con held up a hand, stopping Dmitri. “No’ yet. Please finish, Esther.”

“Sam recruited me,” Esther continued. “I was brought into a company called Kyvor. I’m not sure what all they did, but the top executives seemed more interested in Dreagan than their business.”

Roman snorted. “Surprise, surprise.”

“I went there every day for three months answering their questions and helping them track some of you. There was a woman they were interested in. I never knew her name, just her initials. KB.”