“Once, a verra long time ago, dragons ruled this world,” Banan said. “We filled the skies, the land, and the water. Every size and color dragon imaginable existed. With each species of dragon, there was one with more power and magic than the others. We were made into Dragon Kings. We ruled our dragons as kings, and answered to only one—Con.”
To Banan’s delight, Jane stopped pacing and turned to him. At his mention of Con, she glanced at Constantine to find him leaning a shoulder against one of the walls, uncaring of the rain that soaked him.
“We lived such a life for eons. Until one day there was man. In order for both man and dragon to coexist, each Dragon King was given the ability to shift from dragon to human form and back again at will.”
“Why?”
Banan fisted his hands at his sides instead of pulling her into his arms as he wanted. “The only way for dragons and humans to communicate was through us.”
“Did it work?” she asked, her curiosity bringing her a step closer to him.
“For a time. Then a human betrayed us.”
Jane looked away and wrapped her arms around her. “It’s the reason you keep yourselves secret, isn’t it? Because you fear another human will betray you?”
“It’s more complicated than that. The human, a woman, was to be bound to a Dragon King, Ulrik. Discord abounded throughout the land between dragons and humans, and there didna seem to be a reason we could find for it. Nor could we determine the source. To make matters worse, humans began to hunt dragons.”
Jane shook her head, her stricken gaze lifting to his. “Why?”
“It was Ulrik’s woman causing the discord. It all happened so fast. Many of the dragons wanted to retaliate against the humans for the killing of the dragons. Con refused. We were supposed to keep the peace and protect both humans and dragons. We might no’ all have agreed with Con, but we obeyed him. All except Ulrik. He and his silver dragons began to pursue the dragon hunters.”
“If this human woman was to be bound to Ulrik, why did she begin such a war?”
Banan glanced at Con to see his face turned away. Banan let out a deep breath. “She cared for Ulrik as a man, but no’ as a dragon. There was only one way to stop the war, and that was to stop the female.”
“You killed her,” Jane stated flatly.
“Aye,” Banan said. “It’s easy to look back now and think we should’ve found Ulrik and told him what we’d discovered. Then he could have decided what to do with his woman. In the heat of battle, in a war that was dividing the land, there isna a lot of time for decisions. We found her, and we killed her.”
Banan paused as he recalled Ulrik’s devastation. In all the centuries since, Banan had never comprehended why Ulrik reacted so to the death of one human. Now, Banan understood entirely.
He cleared his throat and continued. “Ulrik wouldna listen to reason after what had happened to his woman. He pushed dragons to kill humans, solidifying a war we were desperately trying to halt.”
“Did you kill Ulrik as well?” she asked.
“Nay,” Con finally spoke. “I had inflicted enough harm with the slaying of his woman. The only way to stop Ulrik was to take his power as King. He can no’ shift to dragon form, nor can he speak to his Silvers.”
Jane’s dark gaze turned to Banan. “So there are still dragons here? Besides the Kings?”
“We captured a few of Ulrik’s Silvers. They are under our magic and sleeping at Dreagan. Only Ulrik can wake them, and if that happens, the war will begin again.”
Jane’s forehead creased with a frown. “Where are all the other dragons?”
“We sent them away,” Con said. “I couldna chance them being killed off. They are gone from this world and safe.”
“Maybe,” Jane said as she looked at Rhys as a dragon. “But they don’t have their kings, and you don’t have them.”
Banan didn’t allow himself to think of the dragons he had once ruled. If he did, the ache inside from missing them would eat him alive.
But it was too late not to think of them. Jane had put the thought in his mind, and he couldn’t dismiss his yearning to have the Blues around him as they rode the wind currents. He couldn’t stop the longing to hear their roars in answer to his.
Suddenly, soft hands cupped either side of his face. He found his gaze staring into coffee brown eyes.
“I’m so sorry, Banan.”
He pulled her against him and buried his head in her neck. Just being able to hold her helped to push the gnawing ache to a small corner of his heart.
Her arms were full of strength and tenderness as she held him, and he never wanted it to end. She belonged next to him. But did she know it yet?
“There’s more to the story, isn’t there?” she asked.
Banan nodded.
She pulled out of his arms and urged, “Tell me.”
“I’m immortal, Jane. The Dragon Kings have been around since the beginning of time. After we sent the dragons away, the Kings set up residence at Dreagan in Scotland. We use the distillery as a cover for what we are.”
“Don’t people tend to recognize you’ve been alive for hundreds of years?”
Banan rubbed her arms with his hands as he felt her shivering. “We take turns sleeping in the mountain. Con is the only one who doesna sleep. But we are tied to Dreagan because of the Silvers we have caged there. It’s our magic that keeps them sleeping. We can leave, but only for short periods of time. Then we must go back or our magic begins to loosen its hold.”
“I see,” she said, and shoved a wet strand of auburn hair behind her ears. “So you’re immortal. Does that mean you can’t be killed?”
“No human can kill us. No’ even a dragon can kill us. Only a Dragon King.” At her frown, he elaborated. “In dragon form, Kings can battle one another and kill. As Dragon Kings, we each have a sword that belongs only to us. Only we can use our swords. In human form, Dragon Kings can battle using these swords and we can kill each other.”
“Wow,” she whispered. “No wonder you want to keep yourselves hidden. Is that all you can do?”
“Nay. Each of us is given a certain kind of magic as a Dragon King.”
She raised a brow. “Interesting. What is yours?”
“I can give hallucinations.”