Hal shook his head. “You two were as close as brothers.”
“Aye, and that’s why his betrayal cut so deep.” Ulrik’s gold eyes flashed angrily.
“He’s looking for a reason to come here,” Ryder said.
Ulrik merely smiled. “Let him come. He knows where I am with all the cameras watching me and following me.”
Rhys ran a hand down his face. “If it isna you trying to reveal us to the world, would you consider helping us?”
“You have a lot of nerve.” Ulrik made a sound at the back of his throat. “I didna come to any of you when I was alone, without my magic, and unable to shift into my true form. Doona come to me now looking for help. I’ve none to give.”
Ryder said not another word as he stormed out of the store. Hal followed a moment later, leaving Rhys. He and Ulrik locked gazes, both refusing to look away.
“A war is coming.”
Ulrik lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “It’s inevitable.”
“Dragon Kings could die.”
“Why do you care? You know you’ll never see your dragons again. Are you truly happy here without them? Watching over humans who would rather kill you than live with you?”
Rhys knew it was pointless to continue the conversation. He turned on his heel and walked out, but he couldn’t forget Ulrik’s words.
Mostly because he had already thought of them himself.
*
Kiril woke and opened his eyes. The CD had finally stopped playing sometime in the middle of the night, and silence met him. He would prefer to remain in dragon form for the rest of the day. Yet there were things he needed to see to, and with his mind clear once more, he could focus as he was supposed to.
He grudgingly shifted back into human form and walked naked up the stairs into the main house. Dawn was just creeping over the horizon when he went upstairs. He turned on the water to the shower. While he waited for it to heat, he looked out his window to where he knew the Dark watched.
It was time he rattled them a bit, just as he had flustered Farrell the night before. Kiril was smiling when he stepped under the water and began to wash. By the time he stepped out of the shower, he was putting a plan together. The first part would bring him to Cork for the entire day—and night.
He was buttoning his shirt when he felt Con push against his mind. It was time for their daily talk. Kiril knew that to ignore him would send Con and other Dragon Kings straight to Ireland, but he also couldn’t let Con know his plans.
“Con,” he said after he opened his mind to the King of Kings.
“I understand Phelan has taken to sightseeing in Ireland.”
“Aye.”
“And you didna send him away?”
Kiril stared at his reflection in the mirror. “Why? He wouldna have left anyway.”
“You’ve been there long enough putting yourself in danger. It’s time for you to return to Dreagan.”
“I’ve no’ learned anything about Rhi yet since the night she was taken.”
“And you probably willna,” Con replied wearily.
Kiril frowned and set his hands on the top of the dresser. “So you’ve given up? I know you hate her, but after all she’s done to help us, you’re just going to leave her? With them?”
“A Light Fae doesna come back from that. If she’s no’ dead, they will turn her into a Dark.”
“It’s no’ right, Con.”
“What’s more important? A Fae, or ending our enemies who are trying to expose us to the world?”
Kiril turned away from the mirror. Damn him for making it as simple as that. “You’re one cold son of a bitch, Constantine.”
“Someone has to be.”
“Phelan willna turn away from looking for Rhi. I’m no’ going to tell him that we’ve given up.”
There was a stretch of silence before Con said, “Phelan can no’ be caught by the Dark. If they learn he’s half Fae and a prince to the Light, they’ll take him in an instant.”
Kiril had been so caught up in his own problems with Shara that he hadn’t thought much about what it could mean if Phelan was caught. “Give us two days. No matter what, I’ll have him back by then.”
“Two days.”
Kiril blew out a breath when the conversation ended and Con’s voice was no longer in his mind. He had just two days. Two days to discover if Shara was lying or not. Two days to find out anything about Rhi.
It wasn’t nearly long enough.
He wasn’t worried about himself. The Dark couldn’t kill him no matter what they did, and he’d be damned if he allowed them to mess with his mind as they had others. Phelan, however, was different. If Rhi were there, she’d have Kiril’s head on a platter for involving her prince.
“Dammit, Rhi. Why did you have to get taken? And who is the ass who took you?”