She glared at him with red eyes before she looked down at his foot. “I’m not letting you in. Move your foot so I can close the door while I find him.”
He removed his foot. A heartbeat later the door shut. Kiril stared at the black door. If he had to, he would break it down to get their attention.
As the minutes stretched on, he was getting ready to do just that when the door opened again. A male with short silver hair combed back stood in the doorway regarding him with narrowed red eyes. He wore a thin black sweater with the sleeves pushed up over his elbows and khaki pants.
By the absence of black in his hair, Kiril guessed the Dark to be several thousand years old. Just a drop in the bucket of the years Kiril had walked the Earth.
“How did you find me?” Blackwood demanded.
Kiril lifted his shoulders with indifference. “Does it really matter?”
“It does. They’ll be taken care of,” Shara’s father said coldly. “Just as you will be.”
Kiril narrowed his gaze on the man. He held the youth and beauty of a Fae, but evil left marks that couldn’t be hidden like the silver hair and the fading radiance of a Fae. “I doona take kindly to threats.”
“It’s not a threat.”
“You want to do this here?” Kiril asked and swept his arm to indicate the quiet neighborhood. “Amid all the proper humans? I’ll be happy to.”
The Dark crossed his arms over his chest, his nostrils flaring. “What do you want?”
“Shara.”
“So she did get to you,” he stated with a triumphant grin.
“I want to see her.”
“She’s not here.”
Kiril bristled at the icy tone. As much as he wanted to see Shara, it wasn’t why he had really come. Nor did he believe Blackwood would send Shara out if she were home.
“Is that all?” Blackwood asked with a snort. “You came here begging for my daughter like a lovesick fool?”
Kiril merely smiled. “Nay. I came for something else entirely. I just wanted to see if Shara was about.”
“And what might that be, Dragon King?”
“The games Farrell are playing are getting old. If he wants to attempt to capture me, tell him to get on with it.”
Blackwood dropped his arms and stepped out of the house. “You have some nerve coming to my home and threatening me.”
Kiril laughed and shook his head. “Ah, the thought process of a Dark never gets old. And just so we’re clear, that isna a threat.”
He turned on his heel and walked to his car. Kiril wished the arse would try to take him then, but nothing happened. He got into his car and drove away with Blackwood still standing in the doorway.
Kiril hoped Phelan remembered his words of caution from earlier. There wasn’t enough time to warn him now. His actions weren’t the smartest thing, but he was tired of waiting. He needed action and a response.
And he refused to leave Ireland without some idea of where Rhi was. No matter what Con said.
Kiril wouldn’t be captured. He had no woman they could use against him, because though he hungered for Shara, she was one of theirs. They wouldn’t harm her.
He had nothing to lose and everything to gain. It was why his plan was going to work so perfectly. The words exchanged with Blackwood would put things into motion. Farrell was greedy and wanted the recognition for being the one to catch a Dragon King.
As for Shara … her actions would prove her innocence or guilt with her family.
Kiril drove into Cork and parked. He closed the roof before he walked into the steakhouse. He sat at the bar and ordered a pinot noir as he waited for his table. His glass was barely half empty when he was seated at a secluded booth in a corner.
He lifted the menu to look at it when someone slid into the seat opposite him. Kiril lowered the menu to see none other than Farrell.
“You want a war, Dragon King?” Farrell leaned over the table and spoke through tight lips. “I’ll give you one.”
“The Dark already began the war, imbecile. Had you no’ been playing at leading, you might know that.”
Farrell’s left eye began to twitch at the corner. “Playing? You think I’ve been playing?”
“Some are born to lead. Others to follow. I’ve known what you’ve been about since the first time I met you.”
“Liar.”
Kiril leaned back and rested one arm on the backside of the bench. “Your skills at deception are in need of work.”
“You don’t know everything,” Farrell said with a smirk.
Kiril wondered if he had ever been so young and stupid. “You mean Shara? I saw through her glamour immediately.”
“Liar.” There was little heat in his voice, just wariness.
Kiril rolled his eyes. “Come up with another word.”
“You brought her to your house. You asked for her today.”
“All to make you think she had gotten to me. Shara is beautiful. For a Dark. But she didna seduce me.”