Denae couldn’t stop thinking about what Kellan had told her about the Dark Fae. The carnality in the Dark Fae’s eyes as he watched her earlier made goose bumps rise all along her skin.
She had been close to evil. Evil she recognized, but didn’t fully comprehend. Until now.
All her life, the only thing she had felt she needed to worry about was the bad guys she eventually worked to bring down. Now she had learned that there were Dragon Kings, Light Fae, and Dark Fae.
At least she wasn’t the only one with a shell-shocked expression. Henry wasn’t much better, and he didn’t know of the Dragon Kings. But he suspected the men from Dreagan were something more than just humans. It was in Henry’s hazel eyes when he looked at any of them.
The forty-five-minute ride to meet Rhys was made in silence. Denae’s mind should probably have been on the attack and the Dark, but all she could think about was her sister.
Why had she told Kellan about Renee? No one at MI5 knew anything other than that her sister had drowned, and her parents had died shortly after.
What was it about Kellan that made her open up? Was it his virile magnetism? His irresistible eyes? His finely honed body?
His mind-blowing kisses?
She didn’t want to trust him, but he had come into the middle of a trap for her. He had pulled the bullets from her wounds. He had even shielded her with his own body. How could she not trust him?
Her life had been dedicated to finding the bad men who stalked, threatened, raped, and killed women. The Dark and MI5 were now coming after her. She was no longer a part of MI5, which meant she had to fight for herself now.
She wasn’t alone, at least not for the moment. There might come a time that the Dragon Kings cut ties with her, and she needed to prepare for that day. Until then, she would stand beside them and fight MI5.
Battling the Dark was another matter entirely. Nothing terrified her like the Dark. At least nothing in a very long time.
“Will the Dark continue to come after me?” she asked.
Kellan turned his head to her. “It depends on whether the Dark and MI5 continue working together.”
“They frighten me,” she whispered as she met his eyes. She felt like that girl who had buried her mother right after her sister, and then watched her father slowly die. That forlorn girl was reaching out to Kellan to steady the world spinning out of control. “The Dark make me feel alone and lost. I haven’t felt that since I lost my family.”
He started to respond when Banan pulled over behind a white Mercedes G-Class. Instead of words, Kellan laid his hand atop hers and gave it a squeeze before they exited.
Henry merely gave Kellan a nod after all four had gotten out of the Range Rover. Then he looked at Denae. “I’m going to clear your name in this.”
“We both know my career at MI5 is over. I’m actually all right with that.” Which came as a complete surprise. She had dedicated her life there. “I just want them to let me go without any fuss.”
“Then I’ll see it done,” Henry said with a smile.
Denae noticed that Kellan and Banan exchanged looks, but nothing more. Kellan’s hand then rested on the small of her back as he walked her to the Mercedes SUV and Banan and Henry drove off.
Rhys leaned against the vehicle with one shoulder, his arms crossed over his chest. He flashed her a smile as they neared. “Ready for your next adventure?”
“Always,” she replied. It was part lie. Normally she never shied away from anything, but all she wanted to do was curl up with a glass of wine and pretend the day hadn’t happened.
What was happening to the girl who feared nothing? She glanced at Kellan. He could have let her bleed out in his cave, and despite her current situation, she was glad he hadn’t. She had gotten to see a dragon.
And kissed Kellan.
Denae touched her lips as she recalled the heat and passion, the desire and need that had scorched her with the intensity of that kiss.
She took the backseat while Kellan sat in the front with Rhys. Except when Rhys slid behind the wheel, he didn’t start the SUV.
Kellan looked at him. “What is it?”
“You know they can track us.”
Denae assumed “they” were MI5.
Kellan ran a hand through his hair to get it out of his face. “She can no’ swim that far.”
“I wasna talking of swimming,” Rhys said and gave Kellan a knowing look.
Kellan blinked and glanced at her over his shoulder. “We would have to wait for cover of darkness.”
“No’ necessarily. Look.” Rhys pointed to the dark clouds approaching.
Denae looked from one to the other, realization dawning a second later. “You want to fly to wherever we’re going?”
“It would be quicker. And safer,” Rhys pointed out.
Denae snorted. “Safer for who? I can already see lightning flashes in those storm clouds. Y’all might be able to withstand a blast, but I can’t.”