Tristan looked at Kellan from his spot on their other side and shook his head. “No’ yet.”
“That gives us time to set up,” Kellan said.
Phelan turned his gaze to Kellan. “We need a plan first.”
“Plan?” Kellan chuckled, the sound icy. “The plan is to kill as many of them as we can while making sure Denae isna taken again.”
“We’re no’ the only Kings in Ireland,” Tristan suddenly said. He smiled widely. “Rhys and Kiril came looking for you.”
“Call to them,” Kellan said and then faced Denae. “It’s going to be all right.”
She grabbed ahold of him when he started to turn away. “It’ll be all right when we’re out of here. I just want one promise from you.”
He seemed shocked she would ask for such a thing. “What promise?”
“That you don’t let them take you again. No matter what.”
His brow furrowed as his celadon eyes stared at her. “I doona give promises easily.”
“I know.”
“And if they take you?”
“Then they take me. This promise will trump your first one. You’ve gotten me out of there.”
“But you are no’ safe.”
“I’ve never been safe, Kellan. Whether it’s from the Fae, sickness, danger, or my enemies. Make me this promise. Please.”
“Why?” he asked, all emotion erased from his face.
Denae could come up with some lie, but she wanted him to know the truth of how she felt. Even if it was for naught. “The thought of you in those chains again makes me ill. I don’t know what they’re searching for, but it can’t be for anything good. You aren’t meant to be a prisoner. You’re powerful and incredible.”
“You’ve no’ seen me in dragon form.”
“I don’t have to. I see the man before me now.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Kellan couldn’t give Denae the promise she wanted, because he would do anything in order to keep her out of the Dark Fae’s clutches.
The certainty, the irrefutable reality was that Denae was his. He should be surprised, but he wasn’t. She had proven herself time and again. Yet, it was more than that.
There was a part of him that had recognized Denae as his the moment he opened his eyes and saw her in his cave. It was his hatred of humans that had kept him from acknowledging the truth as long as he had.
“Give me the promise,” Denae urged again.
Kellan shook his head and tugged on her long, coppery brown hair. “I can no’.”
“I’m just a human, remember?” she argued, her brow furrowed with frustration and a hint of worry. “I mean nothing.”
He put his finger over her lips to silence her. “Doona ever say such things again. I can no’ give you the promise you ask because you are yet unsafe. We might be out of those damn tunnels, but the Dark are about to attack. Anything can happen.”
She gently moved his finger from her lips. “That’s right. Anything can happen.”
He looked for anything to change the subject and turn her mind away from the promise she sought. That’s when he spotted the blood on the grass at her feet. “Are you injured?”
“It’s just a cut on the bottom of my foot.”
Fear, an emotion he hadn’t experienced since he saw his Bronzes killed, swarmed him. A cut could kill a human. With the foul odors inside the tunnels, there was no telling what she had stepped on.
There was nothing he could do. For the first time he wished he had Con’s power.
“It’s just a cut,” she said again. “I’m fine.”
But the worry had already settled around him like a thick mist. He had just admitted to himself what she meant to him. To think that he might lose her … He couldn’t even finish the thought.
As if sensing his worry, Denae said, “I’ve had worse, Kellan. Go kick some Dark Fae ass, then you can help me tend to my very minor wound.”
Her saucy attitude made him smile. At least she had forgotten about the promise. He was still unsure about how minor the wound was, but she was a warrior. With a sigh, he relented. “With pleasure.”
“What do I do?”
“Remain here. Phelan will be close, and hopefully Rhi as well. Tristan and I will keep the Dark occupied until Rhys and Kiril arrive.”
She visibly swallowed and handed him the manacle they had taken from their prison. “I thought I had seen evil before, but I was wrong. The Dark Fae embodies evil in a way I didn’t know existed.”
“I’ll wipe them from your mind.” Kellan was already planning months alone with Denae, making love to her and learning everything there was about her.
Denae smiled then. “Go, since you won’t give me my promise,” she said and gave him a wink. “The others are waiting for you.”
“They can bugger off,” he said and jerked her against him for a quick, hard kiss.
As soon as she melted against him, Kellan was tempted to get her away and leave the others to the fight. Then he recalled how Taraeth had touched Denae.
His woman. Violated, tortured, all because the Dark searched for the one thing they couldn’t have.