The pebbles crunched beneath his boots as he walked around the thick hedges to the manor hidden in a way that no visitors who toured the distillery ever saw. He entered by the side door through the conservatory. Rhys hadn’t taken two steps before his mobile phone buzzed. He pulled it out and saw the text was from Phelan. It read: FOUND KIRIL. I’M STAYING.
Four words, but it was enough for Rhys to know that Phelan had spoken with Kiril, and Kiril had accepted his help. Rhys was relieved.
“By the smile, I imagine it’s good news.”
Rhys looked up to find Con sitting upon the two-foot-tall wall of stones that encompassed the fountain that stood in the middle of the conservatory. He pocketed his mobile and walked to Con. Rhys rested a foot on the barrier next to Con. “It was.”
“Kiril agreed to Phelan helping?”
Rhys glared at Con. “What did you do? Follow me?”
Con merely raised a blond brow. “Kiril wanted to make sure you didna come to Ireland. Since that meant the two of you had spoken, it wasna a large leap to imagine you would go to Phelan.”
“I suppose you doona agree with my methods?”
“No’ at all. I had already called Phelan once, and I planned to visit and ask the verra same thing. You beat me to it.”
Rhys dropped his chin to his chest. “I’ve a bad feeling about Kiril.”
“So do I. He willna come home. No’ yet, at least.”
“You know it’s just a matter of time before they find a way to capture him.” Rhys tilted his head to meet Con’s black gaze.
Con nodded, his face grim. “Aye, I know. It doesna help that he’s no’ only spying, but trying to find word about Rhi.”
Rhys leaned an arm on his knee. “So you knew I’d do something about Kiril. What have you been doing? Because I know you’ve no’ been sitting on your hands.”
“I do what I’ve always done—protect Dreagan and keep who we are secret.”
Rhys wasn’t buying it for a moment. Sure, Con did those things, but there was more. Always. And Rhys knew that somehow it involved Ulrik. Con had said he was going to talk to Ulrik, but so far it hadn’t happened. Maybe because Con knew if he did, the battle between the two that had been brewing for eons would finally come to a head.
Ulrik. Once best friends with Con, Ulrik was the only other Dragon King who had the magic powerful enough to fight Con to lead all Dragon Kings. Ulrik hadn’t wanted to lead, so he’d stepped aside and the role went to Con.
It was years later after humans were suddenly on Earth with the dragons that Ulrik—like many Dragon Kings—took a human as his lover. Her betrayal of Ulrik and all dragons mushroomed into a war that nobody won.
After Con sent Ulrik off for some dragon business, Con and the other Dragon Kings had found Ulrik’s woman and killed her for what she did. When Ulrik returned and discovered what had happened, his fury was immense—both against the humans and his own kind. It wasn’t long after that the Dragon Kings had no choice but to bind Ulrik’s magic when he wouldn’t stop killing humans.
For hundreds of thousands of years Ulrik had walked the Earth immortal, but without his magic and unable to shift into dragon form. It was Con’s belief that Ulrik was the driving force behind MI5 and other humans wanting to reveal them to the world. The evidence pointed squarely to Ulrik.
Con stood and adjusted the gold dragon-head cuff links at his wrists. “I’m keeping a closer eye on Ulrik. He’s remained in Perth at his shop, but eventually he will screw up.”
“And you’ll be there to stop him.”
“Kill him,” Con corrected coldly. “It was something I knew I should’ve done when we bound his magic.”
Rhys set his foot down. “It was unusually cruel of us to allow him to remain immortal but no’ to be who he really is—a dragon.”
“I didna want to kill a man I thought of as my brother.”
“But you will now?”
Con lifted his chin, his black eyes fathomless and chilly. “I do what’s best for all of us. No matter how messy or distasteful it might be.”
“I’m surprised you have no’ just gone to Perth and done away with him already.”
“I must have proof or I lose the trust of all of you.”
Rhys watched Con walk away. Each Dragon King was strong-willed, fierce, and powerful in their own right, and it took a strong man like Con to bring them all together. He had done it on multiple occasions. Con had a silver tongue when it was needed, but he didn’t hesitate to put an end to anything he saw as a conflict between them.
Rhys had completely agreed with binding Ulrik’s magic at the time, but he didn’t agree with Con’s wanting to kill him now. If it turned out that Ulrik was the one plotting to expose the Dragon Kings then he might have to reevaluate his opinions.
Until then, Ulrik was one of them, no matter if he could shift into a dragon or not.
Besides, if he were in Ulrik’s place, he would crave revenge as well.
The fact that everything pointed to Ulrik was damning. The Kings’ enemies knew things about them only another Dragon King would, and knew locations on Dreagan land that no one save a Dragon King should know.