Darkest Flame

He would track her down. He would hold her once more, and then he would tell her what was in his heart.

 

But first, he would take his revenge out on Con.

 

Kellan walked to the back of his cave and put his hand against a small rock protruding from the wall. With a slight push of his dragon magic and a drop of his blood, small pebbles and dust rained around him.

 

The sound of rock sliding over rock filled the cave as a panel opened to reveal his sword. He reached for the leather-wrapped hilt, fit for single-handed combat.

 

Kellan pulled it from its hiding place. Some Kings liked to display their swords, but not him, not after what Con had done to Ulrik.

 

With an admiring eye, Kellan rested the straight blade on his left palm. Vines and leaves were engraved in the shoulder of the sword in a deep bronze before winding their way down the blade and mingling with a dragon.

 

It was a beautiful and deadly blade.

 

One made for the purpose of killing a Dragon King. Kellan was prepared to take Con on in dragon form, but he would have his sword there as well.

 

The only way for a Dragon King to be killed is by another Dragon King in dragon form or with their swords. Kellan had both bases covered.

 

Sword in hand, he walked with long, sure strides to the manor.

 

*

 

Denae couldn’t believe how easy Rhi made things. She had gotten Denae inside the server room in a blink, all the while deactivating the cameras.

 

“Get to work,” Rhi said and disappeared again.

 

It wasn’t until Denae got to the wall where the hidden keyboard and monitor were that she wondered if they had disabled her fingerprint recognition.

 

“Here goes nothing,” she mumbled as she put her hand against the white glowing screen.

 

Green rays popped up and scrolled down her hand, and then back up before going side to side. Five pulsing circles appeared around each tip of her fingers. A moment later, there was a soft hiss as the silver panel in the wall moved and a large, flat-screen computer appeared.

 

There was a second hiss as another panel opened and the keyboard slid out.

 

“Well, I guess that answered that question. I suppose they figured I’d never get past security. That was their first mistake.”

 

Denae’s fingers flew over the keyboard, pulling up all her files—every report she’d filled out, every mission she’d ever been on, every mention of her name—and erased it all.

 

She replaced her name with another female name of an up-and-coming agent and made sure there was nothing MI5 could ever find of her again in their files.

 

It took her deleting everything three times, and then ejecting the server disk to destroy later just to make sure. She held the small disk in her hand and marveled at how something so small could save—or destroy—her life.

 

“Ready?” Rhi asked as she appeared beside her.

 

“I am.”

 

“That’s all of it?” she asked, looking skeptically at the disk.

 

“Yep.”

 

Rhi gave her a droll look. “Don’t they have backups of their backups? Something done remotely in case someone decided to do exactly what you did?”

 

Denae palmed her head. “Damn. I forgot about them.”

 

“How many are there?”

 

“Two that I know of.”

 

Rhi nodded. “Who would know the locations?”

 

“Henry should. But my boss, Frank, for sure.”

 

Rhi suddenly laughed. “I’ve not had this much fun in ages. I think it’s time we screwed with Frank’s head for a bit.”

 

Before Rhi could zap them out of there, Denae jerked away. “Why hasn’t anyone come in after the cameras were frozen?”

 

“Duh,” Rhi said and held out her arms and pointed at herself. “I’m Fae. My magic can do wonderful, dangerous things.”

 

Denae might be dying inside from leaving Kellan, but she wore a smile at the idea of getting back at the people who’d tried to kill her. “Let’s find Frank.”

 

Within five minutes they were in an executive office, the cameras once more frozen, and Frank sitting with a look of utter bewilderment and fear.

 

“Where are the remote locations for the backups of the server?” Denae asked.

 

Frank refused to look at her.

 

Rhi smiled and sat on the edge of his desk, one long, jean-clad leg crossed over the other. She put her hands next to her and leaned forward until their faces were inches apart. “Answer her.”

 

“Never.”

 

Rhi sighed. “Look, dickwad, I’m only going to say this once. Answer us and we leave you with a bit of sanity left in the pea-sized brain of yours. Force me to pull it out, and I’ll make sure you’re in a padded room for the rest of your life. And then I’ll come to torment you just for the hell of it.”

 

“As if you could,” he said derisively.

 

Denae busted out laughing when, with a wave of her hand, Rhi had Frank hanging upside down in midair.

 

“All right, all right!” he screamed. “Just put me down.”