Cassie, Elena, Jane, Denae, and Sammi were different than other humans. Their compassion was immense, their minds open to possibilities, and more than anything, each had risked her life for a Dragon King.
There wouldn’t be such a human female for him. Kiril knew it in the very depths of his soul. Other Dragon Kings like Rhys sought out the females for nothing more than to relieve their bodies, but Kiril was perfectly content to never have one in his bed.
His gaze sharpened on the pub when a Dark couple rushed out of the building, looking over their shoulders as they did. Just what was going on inside? Kiril intended to make his entrance eventually, and he was thinking the time was about right.
The sound of high-heeled shoes on the cobblestones pulled his attention from the pub. A woman with red hair in tight curls and a blue dress that barely covered her ass approached in a drunken stumble. He thought she might pass him by, because no one could see that deeply into the shadows. Yet the woman came straight to him.
“There you are,” she practically purred in a thick Irish accent. When she reached him, she rubbed her body against his side, her hands everywhere.
Kiril kept his arms at his sides and turned his head away. She would go away as soon as she realized he wanted nothing to do with her. “I think you have the wrong man.”
“I’m sure I don’t.”
He looked down at her to find that though her voice and actions were seductive, her gaze was sober and direct. “You found me. What do you want?”
“To give you a message.” She pulled his head down and kissed him.
The kiss was nice, but nothing that stirred him as Shara’s had. Kiril didn’t pull back as he let her lead the kiss. Everything so far had been for show by the human. He suspected the kiss was as well. Either way, his concentration on what was going on around him didn’t wane.
She ended the kiss and wrapped her arms tightly about his neck so her mouth was even with his ear. “Phelan says Balladyn is inside.”
“How interesting.” He tried to pull back, but she held tight.
“That’s not all. Balladyn isn’t alone. Shara is with him.”
Kiril’s gaze jerked to the door of an Doras. Balladyn and Shara? Is that where she’d been? With that bastard?
The woman released him and stepped back. “That’s all I have.”
“Thank you. I suggest you get out of the city tonight.”
“I don’t know what’s going on, but I see you looking at an Doras. I wouldn’t suggest going inside. That place is … wrong. Two of my friends went in. One we’ve never seen again, and that’s been six months ago. The other isn’t the same person she once was.”
“Why remain here then?”
She shrugged and hugged herself. “I stop as many people from going in as I can. I just thought I should warn you.”
Kiril considered the woman for a moment. Here was a human risking her life by urging others not to enter the pub. “If those running an Doras discover what you’re doing, they’re liable to kill you.”
“I know.”
“And you’re willing to risk it? Why?”
“Others should know. My friends didn’t, and look what happened to them. Maybe if someone had warned them they wouldn’t have gone into that place.”
If the Dark weren’t in Ireland, the woman wouldn’t feel the need to risk her life every day to save others. The Dark. They were a plague that had been allowed to breed in Ireland unchecked.
“I’m sorry,” Kiril said.
The woman cocked her head to the side, her curls shifting with her. “For what?”
“For letting evil multiply.”
“Evil is evil. It’s everywhere. It’s not your fault.”
How wrong she was. The blame lay with every Dragon King. The Fae Wars had gone on for thousands of years, and when the Dark and Light Fae finally admitted defeat and signed the treaty, the Kings had just wanted to get back to days that didn’t involve constant fighting.
Their apathy allowed the Dark to remain in Ireland, trusting the fiends to abide by the treaty. The Light had to some extent, but not the Dark. They always tried to find a way around things.
Kiril grabbed the woman’s arm when she went to turn around. “Go home tonight. Trust me. You doona want to be here.”
“Perhaps you should go home as well?”
“Oh I am. Verra soon.”
She smiled and slumped over as she stumbled drunkenly out of the alley, her act once more in place.
Kiril shook with rage. He had told Shara about Balladyn, had told her it was the Dark who took Rhi. She hadn’t said she didn’t know him. In fact, she had admitted to knowing who Balladyn was. He began to suspect that Shara had played him more than he’d realized. And damn it all, he still craved her touch.
Still longed to hold her.
Still hungered to fill her body.
“I heard Balladyn is in there,” a Dark male said as he rushed past the alley where Kiril hid.
A second Dark with him rubbed his hands together. “In Farrell’s place? This should be interesting. I never thought Farrell would be a good leader for us.”
The first punched the second in the arm. “Don’t be stupid and say those things out loud. The Blackwood family has a lot of allies.”