They would never accept her for who she was, and nothing she did to prove her worthiness would be enough for them. It left a bitter taste in her mouth. Was it her love for her family that had blinded her to the truth?
More importantly, why couldn’t she have realized this when she was with Kiril?
Balladyn didn’t slow his steps as he reached the pub door. The Dark standing guard tripped over his feet to open the door for them. Everyone knew Balladyn and his reputation. No one dared to go against him in anything.
How this would infuriate Farrell.
Shara couldn’t wait to see the outcome. She raised her chin as they stepped inside the pub. The place went deathly quiet except for the music playing as talk ceased and all heads turned to them.
Balladyn merely smiled and guided her to the bar. He pulled out a chair for her and ordered them drinks. Shara didn’t want the wine he ordered for her, but he hadn’t asked her opinion.
He’d picked out the dress, told her how she would wear her hair, and ordered her drink. Was this a clue to how her life would be from now on? He wanted a woman who knew her mind, and she was going to give it to him.
Shara pushed the wineglass back to the bartender. “I’ll have a whisky.”
Balladyn’s eyes crinkled at the corners as he grinned at her before the smile faded and he looked around the pub.
Her glass of whisky was set in front of her by a fearful bartender who kept looking at Balladyn. Everyone who worked at the pub was Dark. The only humans were the ones who dared to come in for a drink.
Balladyn glanced at her as he leaned one arm on the bar and kept the other on the back of her chair, caging her in. He winked at her, ignoring the bartender. The conversation throughout the pub gradually picked up again.
It didn’t take long for the news to reach Farrell in his office at the back. He threw open the door and met her gaze. There was a subtle shift in Balladyn when he took notice of Farrell.
Her brother strode angrily to her. Farrell nodded at Balladyn before he turned his red gaze to her. “Where have you been?”
“That’s none of your business,” Balladyn stated and took a sip of his whisky. “She doesn’t answer to you.”
The muscle in Farrell’s temple twitched, signaling his fury. “She’s my sister. It’s my business.”
“Not anymore,” Balladyn said calmly. “She’ll no longer answer to you or anyone else in her family. She’s mine.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Not two blocks from the steakhouse, Kiril found three Dark trailing him. It had taken over an hour, but with some help from a group of college students and a change of clothes he managed to get far enough away that they never saw him jump to the roof of a building.
Kiril remained there long enough to determine that they didn’t know where he was. From there he made his way to an Doras. He smiled when he spotted them gathering outside an Doras talking hurriedly, their hands moving agitatedly as they spoke.
It never occurred to the idiots that he might show up at the pub. A few seconds later and the three split up again. None wanted to tell Farrell that they had lost him.
Kiril remained in the seclusion of the shadows in a narrow alley between two buildings, giving him a perfect view of the door of an Doras so he could see who was coming and going.
The sheer number of humans, especially females, who entered the club boggled his mind. As a Dragon King, he was sworn to protect mankind, but how could he when they could be so incredibly stupid?
Didn’t they sense the evil of the pub? Didn’t they notice how few females walked out of the pub unchanged in some way? Didn’t they think the red eyes weird?
It was times like these that made Kiril think Ulrik was right in wanting to wipe out the human race. They hadn’t wanted the protection of the Dragon Kings, had instead sought to kill the dragons.
And yet, time after time across the millennia, the Dragon Kings had kept the Earth safe and the humans from knowing the horrors that existed on other realms.
The Kings did it while hiding who they really were. If the humans discovered everything there would be few who thanked the Dragon Kings. Those few would be outnumbered by those wanting to kill or enslave the Kings, and still others who wanted to dissect them.
It made Kiril sick. To know the Dragon Kings had gone to such lengths—including sending their own dragons away—for the humans made him want to hit something. No human would ever understand what it had done to each Dragon King to watch the dragons fly through the Dragon Bridge to another realm.
There was a piece missing from each King, and had been since the dragons left. It was a piece that would remain lost until the Kings were reunited with the dragons. And that would never happen on Earth as long as the humans inhabited it.
Kiril didn’t hate humans. He felt nothing for them. The only ones he could tolerate were the females who had mated with other Dragon Kings.