She opened her eyes and blinked back tears as she comprehended what it meant that she was in his arms. “You’ve shown them they can use me against you.”
“They can try.”
His words were chilling.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Kellan let Denae drift off to sleep without moving her. All too soon hell would descend upon them.
The light that eased her fears and allowed her to see into the darkest corners would disappear.
The illusion of safety she felt while in his arms would be shattered.
The compassion, the gentleness he’d dared to show her now would cease.
The Dark Ones would torment her endlessly while he watched.
No matter what the Fae wanted, he wouldn’t give it to them, not as long as it involved information on Dreagan or anyone there.
Kellan woke from his thirteen hundred years of sleep with hatred for humans still churning within him. But one courageous, beautiful woman had beguiled him, captivated him.
Utterly charmed him.
While changing his mind about her, and perhaps about a few other mortals in the process.
He didn’t regret their night together. Quite the opposite. He wished he had more time with her, but even if both of them got out alive, she would be forever changed.
The purity she had somehow kept despite working as a spy would be gone, wiped away as if it had never existed.
The protection he’d promised her was worthless while they were in the hands of the Dark. Especially with him chained. He was powerful, immortal, and lethal, and yet he was helpless to do anything but hold the woman he couldn’t get enough of.
Kellan lifted a lock of her coppery hair in his hand and ran his fingers along the cool, silky strands. He let her believe the Dark Ones could be watching at all times, because he never wanted her to let her guard down.
Which is exactly what she was doing by sleeping in his arms. She expected him to watch over her. And she wasn’t wrong. She needed the rest, but it was the last time he would allow her to have it.
For both their sakes, he couldn’t be found holding her.
Kellan had no idea if—or when—his brethren would find him. He wasn’t counting on them. He would break free. Somehow. Doing it before they took Denae’s soul would be the tricky part.
Getting away before they could get to him as they had the two other Kings also weighed heavily on his mind. Kings by nature were the strongest of the strong, the deadliest of the deadly.
To know that two of his brethren had been broken was more than troubling. It was distressing. He looked down at Denae and knew that when the Dark came, they wouldn’t hold back any punches to either of them.
There was no way Kellan was going to be able to watch as the Dark touched her, and yet he would have to. It was the only chance she had—and it was a slim one at that.
He liked holding her, liked that she trusted him enough to sleep in such a place. Even if he hadn’t given her the promise to keep her alive, he wouldn’t leave her.
There was something altogether different about Denae that he’d never encountered in a mortal before. Kellan couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was, but it held him attuned to her in ways that kept him spinning, disoriented.
And reaching for her.
Already he’d held her too long. Thinking of pushing her away was becoming more and more difficult, until his body was demanding he claim her again—for all to see. To let the Dark know that they might try to take her, but she would be forever his, just as he would forever be imprinted upon her.
The impulse to brand her as his so no one would dare to touch her, much less look at her, was so strong that his hand was beneath her shirt before he realized it.
Kellan paused and clenched his teeth. If the Fae knew how much he wanted her, they would stop at nothing to destroy her.
And that could very well break him as nothing ever had.
Not seeing his Bronzes dead.
Not watching the dragons leave the realm.
Kellan closed his eyes and savored the feel of her in his arms. It was the last he would give himself and her, because he had to be cold and calculating to save her. He had to dredge up the loathing that had been his constant companion for centuries, even though he felt nothing close to hate for the beautiful, amazing woman beside him.
He pulled his hand away and allowed himself a quick brush of his lips over hers. Then he gave her a little shake. “Denae. Time to wake up.”
*
Denae was instantly awake, though she remained still, her gaze on Kellan as she swore he had just kissed her. But there was no passion shining in his celadon gaze. Only the same coldness she had seen when she first met him.
“Are they back?” she whispered.
“No’ yet. You need to get on the other side of the room. They doona have to be in front of you to get inside your head, so be ready.”
She sat up, grateful for the rest she had been given, but already missing his warmth and his arms. “Anything else I should be prepared for?”