Con leaned forward until his forearms were braced on the desk. “There are other humans about, Kellan. We hire many of them to work at Dreagan in various tasks.”
Surrounded by humans. It was enough to send Kellan back to his cave that instant. Then he remembered the threat to all the Dragon Kings, and he knew it would be awhile before he returned to his cave and the peaceful sleep he longed for.
“Will that be a problem?” Con asked, his black eyes piercing him.
Kellan met Con’s gaze. “If they doona betray me, then there willna be a problem.”
“Fair enough. Now, about Denae.”
Kellan rose to his feet and walked around the office. He needed to move, to work the tingling of his limbs out. His gaze clashed with Con’s sword hanging on the wall. Each Dragon King was marked with a tattoo, but they were also gifted with a sword.
“I’ll share all I know about what I witnessed with Denae and her partner, but I think it wise that I stay away from her.”
“I disagree,” Con said.
Kellan faced him and narrowed his gaze on the King of Kings. “What are you up to, Constantine?”
“I’m trying to protect Dreagan and everyone who calls it home. I want to know why your cave in particular was targeted, and you’re the best one to discover the reason.”
Kellan wasn’t buying it for a minute. Con would do anything to protect Dreagan and the Dragon Kings, but there was more to his request.
“Fine,” Con said and threw down the pen. “I think you need some interaction with humans to help curb your hatred. No’ all of them are bad, Kellan.”
“That I doona believe. I saw for myself, remember.”
“That was a verra long time ago.”
Kellan walked until he stood behind Con’s desk, looking out one of the windows to the green valley below and the white dots of sheep. “There will always be hatred in my heart for the humans. They butchered my Bronzes who were there to protect them. They betrayed Ulrik, thereby betraying every one of us.”
“Did killing that human wash away the pain?”
He ignored Con and said, “It’s because of them I no longer have any Bronzes to rule.”
“None of us have dragons to rule,” Con said quietly. “We all feel the loss of them.”
Kellan had been so lost in his own misery that he had forgotten that small detail. He wasn’t the only Dragon King who had been betrayed. Or the only one feeling the loss of the dragons.
Con wasn’t asking a lot. In fact, despite Kellan being the one who kept the history of the dragons, Con had allowed him to sleep away almost thirteen centuries.
“I’m no’ the Dragon King I used to be,” Kellan told him. “I’m no longer as patient or forgiving. I doona know how to be merciful or lenient anymore. If that’s what you want with Denae, then I highly suggest you ask another.”
There was a beat of silence before Con said, “I want you, Kellan. I wouldna have asked if I didna think you were up to the task.”
Kellan clasped his hands behind his back. “I have to warn you, I have a particular distaste for Denae. Gaining her trust willna be easy since she’ll know how I abhor her.”
“I think you’ll manage.”
It was the smile in Con’s words that had Kellan turning to his friend. At the wide grin on Con’s lips, Kellan groaned. “What?”
“Do you think I didna see how you didna like touching her?”
“Aye, because I doona like her.”
Con nodded, the smile still in place. “How long has it been since you’ve relieved your body?”
“You know the answer to that,” Kellan bit out. “I’ll remedy that as soon as I can.”
“I saw Denae watching you.”
“She was watching everyone. Her position is precarious, and she knows it.”
Con leaned back in his chair. “Would it be so bad to get close to Denae?”
“Aye.”
“Hmm. So you’re no’ attracted to her?”
Kellan walked to the door as he said, “Nay.”
“No’ even a little?”
“No’ even a drop,” he stated as he walked from Con’s office.
It wasn’t until Kellan was in the hallway that he considered exactly what Con was asking him to do. Get close to Denae. How was Kellan going to pull that off when he could barely stand to be in the vicinity of the female?
“For the dragons,” Kellan murmured.
Just as Con had sacrificed so much, and the other Dragon Kings had hidden in order to preserve who they were, Kellan could do no less.
Con would do anything, say anything to guarantee Dreagan and the Dragon Kings lived on. Kellan would set aside his hatred to gain Denae’s secrets.
But if he learned she had betrayed him and the other Kings in any way, he would kill her.
CHAPTER FIVE
Denae gripped the sink in an effort to combat the pain of getting out of the bed and making her way to the bathroom. When the pain was under control, she lifted the pale yellow tee to examine her wound.
A large strip of gauze covered it. She peeled back the gauze and stared dumbfounded at the wound in the mirror.