Shara was surprised at how orderly Balladyn ran things in his compound. She tried to see everything, but spending an entire month there wouldn’t reveal everything. There were too many passages, too many rooms even X didn’t know anything about.
After passing so much time on her own while her family was dealing with Dark Fae politics, wars, and who knew what else, and then being locked away for her screw-up, she was so out of the loop of what the Dark were doing. Because she knew it was much more than just taking the souls of humans. The Dark were always planning something, always trying to take over one realm or another.
It was odd to see the Dark in all their sinister beauty, lounging on the floor amid huge pillows and reclining on chaise lounges while the music of Pitbull thumped through the speakers and humans—male and females—either begged for attention or prayed to be ignored.
“We’re going to rule them,” her companion stated when he caught her gazing at a human male.
Shara nodded absently. A human male with wheat-colored hair caught her attention. He was handsome enough, and at a quick glance resembled Kiril. The more she looked, however, the more she spotted the differences.
The human was thinner, not having nearly the bulk or definition of Kiril. The human’s hair was short instead of having Kiril’s long waves. The human’s eyes were a plain brown and not the shamrock green of Kiril’s.
The differences continued, but Shara stopped noticing them. Her heart had accelerated at the thought that Kiril could end up in the compound, and that alone, alarmed her.
She wanted to be a part of her family. It had been all she thought about those six centuries of her imprisonment. She was willing to do anything to once more belong instead of being locked away. Already she had put herself in an untenable position by telling Kiril the things she had and keeping other things from her family.
If her family discovered where she was and what she had planned, anything could happen. They might praise her for taking action, but most likely she would be punished for thinking she could make her own decisions.
How was she to follow the wishes of her family so blindly after living over a thousand years on her own? She craved her freedom, yearned to make her own choices about what she wore and who she spent time with. Most of all, she wanted to decide who would be her husband. That shouldn’t be her father’s choice. She should have the final say, regardless of whether it was Dark tradition or not.
Her father thought confining her for six hundred years would rein her in, and for the most part it did. Until she was back out in the world. Until she met Kiril.
Kiril made her hunger for things she had forgotten, to desire the one thing she was meant to betray—him. How had she gotten into such a horrible position?
Choices. Her choices. That’s how she had ended up there. That and the fact of who her family was. To go against them would be like declaring war on them, and in order for her to live, she couldn’t do it alone. She had to have allies, strong allies.
“Are you all right?” X asked her.
Shara swallowed her fears and flashed a bright smile. “Fill me in on everything and everyone. I want to know who are the strongest Dark, the ones everyone fears. I’ve been away for so long.”
X hesitated, a look of uncertainty filling his face. “But your brother—”
“Isn’t master here,” she interrupted him. Shara stopped and faced the Dark. “Who do you answer to? Balladyn or Farrell?”
“Balladyn, of course,” X hastened to answer. “But Farrell is coming up through the ranks quickly.”
“Quickly enough to defeat Balladyn?”
The Dark laughed low and deep, a sinister smile upon his thin lips. “That will never happen. If anything happens to Taraeth, Balladyn will be the one to lead us.”
“Then why are you afraid of my brother? If you serve Balladyn, then he will protect you.”
“I will protect X from what?” came a deep, gravelly voice behind her.
Shara’s heart plummeted to her feet as she turned and found a tall Dark with red eyes narrowed at her. His hair was long, hanging midway down his back, with thick strips of silver running through his black hair.
His bare arms, crossed over his chest, showed chiseled muscles. As menacing as he looked with his black leather vest and pants, his strength couldn’t compare to that of Kiril’s. Thinking of her Dragon King, Shara found her heart calming, her breath evening. She had an opportunity here. She couldn’t let it slip through her fingers.
“I’ll ask you again, female, why are you declaring that I, Balladyn, will protect X?” he demanded, his arms dropping to his sides as he took a menacing step toward her.
CHAPTER TWELVE