“Why did you do that? That could’ve been your chance to capture me.”
“My chance was when you were orgasming,” she said and looked away.
“You still have no’ explained why you spoke and sent them away.”
She shrugged nonchalantly. “I can’t answer that. And before you ask me what I’m hiding, I’m not. I can’t answer it because I don’t know.”
He walked around her, never taking his gaze off her. She was a mystery to him. Her actions made him want to trust her, but that would be the first—and last—mistake he made.
“Who is she?” Shara asked.
Kiril frowned. “Who?”
“The Fae you’re looking for.”
“Rhi. She’s one of the Queen’s Guard. At one time she and a Dragon King were lovers.”
“Was it you? Were you her lover?” Shara asked and lifted her gaze to him.
Kiril slowly shook his head. “Nay, it wasna me, but she’s a friend. She was taken by Balladyn.”
She cringed when he said the name. “Balladyn has a vicious reputation even among the Dark. She is lost to you.”
“I doona believe that. I’m going to find her and return her to the Light. Help me.”
Shara stood and lifted her chin. “Just kill me now, because if I help you, that’s exactly what my family will do if Balladyn doesn’t get me first.”
Kiril walked to her and traced a finger along her jaw. “We can protect you.”
Her smile was full of sorrow. “Like the Kings protected Denae and Sammi? Yes, I know of the humans caught by my people. I can’t, and I won’t help.”
“Then why no’ walk out there now and let them come for me?”
“I’ll answer that if you can answer why you brought me here tonight.”
Kiril backed away. He’d had the best night of his extremely long life, and it was going to end on a sour note. “We’re at a stalemate.”
“That means it’s time for you to return me to Cork.”
“To your family.” He touched her left side so quickly she didn’t have time to step away or hide her wince. “Is that who hit you?”
Shara turned and walked to the front door. “I’ll walk back.”
Kiril bit back a curse and grabbed his keys as he followed her out. It was going to take a lot more than good sex to flip Shara to his side, but he wasn’t going to give up.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Rhi wondered how long she’d been Balladyn’s prisoner. The Fae she had thought of as friend, mentor, and brother.
The darkness was sucking the life from her breath by breath. She longed to see the sun, to feel its rays upon her skin. Every time she woke after Balladyn tortured her, it became more and more difficult to remember what the warmth of the sun felt like. What would go next? Remembering what it looked like?
Would she forget her family? Her friends? The Dragon King who had stolen her heart, only to shatter it?
She tried to hold back the tears that filled her eyes as she thought of her lover, but one still escaped and fell onto her cheek.
When they had been together it had been wonderful and perfect. It had come out of the blue, blindsiding her when he had ended things. Her world had been crushed, her heart destroyed. It didn’t matter what she said or did, he wouldn’t take her back. Remaining on the same realm had been too much. Rhi walked into a Fae doorway, intending never to return.
Because of her preoccupation, she didn’t realize where she was until the Dark attacked. She managed to get away, but not before being wounded. She wandered endlessly, dying slowly as she searched for a way out.
And then her body had quit on her.
The next thing she knew, she was back with the Light, her wound all but healed with Balladyn beside her. No matter who she asked how she got home, no one would tell her. Then it no longer mattered.
She let herself mourn the loss of her lover as Balladyn guarded her door. He looked in on her often, always there to hold her while she cried. Until all her tears were dried.
Or so she thought. How was it dozens of centuries later that she could still cry over a King who had turned his back on her?
She tried to move her hand to push away a strand of hair stuck to her chin, but she couldn’t even lift a finger. Rhi turned her head and used her shoulder to stop the hair from tickling her.
If she remained in Balladyn’s fortress much longer, she would lose the glow within her. The fact he didn’t bring even a candle or light the room with his magic told her he knew that as well. He wanted her to suffer.
All because he blamed her for Taraeth taking him and turning him Dark. The Balladyn she knew before wouldn’t blame her.
When she eventually turned Dark, would she do the same? It was a fact that no Light Fae ever ventured into the Dark’s realm. Who else would come? The Dragon Kings?