The more she thought about leaving this new world she’d found, the more she knew she didn’t want to. She might not be able to have Kellan, but she wouldn’t walk away from the war that was obviously already here.
Denae would do her part and learn who was after the Dragon Kings. She would find why MI5 aligned themselves with the Dark. She would ferret out anyone and everyone who posed a threat to the Kings.
And she would stop them.
She now had a mission, something to fill her life, and she couldn’t wait to get started.
“Kellan will never allow her to have such a weapon,” Phelan said to Rhi.
Denae narrowed her eyes at the Warrior. “I make my own decisions, thank you very much.”
“Good luck with that,” he said with a snort. Then his gaze looked past them and grew hard.
Denae saw the Dark Ones getting closer and closer to the trees again. The two dead Fae had caught their attention.
Phelan didn’t say a word as he shoved Rhi aside and used his incredible speed to kill four more Dark Fae.
Rhi let out a string of curses. She tossed her sword at Denae before she grabbed the two dead Dark by their hair and disappeared, them along with her.
Denae swung the sword around her, getting used to the weight of it. With her training and the sword, she could hold her own against the Dark.
A moment later Rhi reappeared and smiled as she saw Denae ready to fight. “Yep. Just what you needed,” the Fae said with a wink as she caught hold of two more Dark and vanished again.
Denae was surprised at the lightness of the sword. The blade was narrow as it curved ever so slightly toward the end. The pommel was made of a dark wood with gold knot work etched into it. The blade itself had … a dragon.
Denae’s heart missed a beat. A dragon that stood on its hind legs, wings outstretched with its head thrown back in a roar. Was it coincidence that Rhi had had a Dragon King lover and also had a dragon on her sword? It was an effective weapon, and one she would master.
In no time Rhi had removed the dead Fae and Phelan was once more within the copse of trees with them. It was obvious he wanted to be in the thick of things. She hated that he was there because of her.
“Go,” she urged him. “Rhi is here, and I’ve got the sword.”
Phelan grunted. “I gave Kellan my word, and I doona break my word. I’d kill anyone who vowed to protect my woman then left her undefended.”
“I’m not unde—” she started, but Rhi stopped her with a hand on her arm. Denae rolled her eyes. She wasn’t helpless. She wasn’t.
Well, not entirely, not now that she had Rhi’s sword.
Phelan raised a dark brow at her. “You know he’s doing all this for you, do you no’?”
Denae looked through the thick tree limbs to the sky in search of Kellan, but he was impossible to see. “You’re wrong. He’s doing this because they took him prisoner.”
“I hate to say it,” Rhi said with a sigh, “but Phelan’s right. Kellan could’ve taken you away as soon as you came through the doorway. The Kings would’ve returned en masse and decimated the Dark Ones.”
“Instead, he remains. I gather something bad happened while you both were held,” Phelan asked, his gaze never leaving the battle as he squatted in front of them.
Denae licked her lips and shifted from one foot to the other as she tried not to recall what Taraeth had done. “It could’ve been worse.”
“The fact something happened at all is the point,” Phelan continued. “No one touches my woman and gets away with it.”
Denae opened her mouth to talk when she caught sight of the long bronze body of Kellan as he flew down the middle of the Dark Fae, scattering and killing as many as he could. Right behind him was Tristan who killed more. All the while both dodging magic thrown from the Dark.
Suddenly there were two other roars, distinctly dragons. Denae craned her head to see a yellow dragon and a burnt orange dragon.
“They’re beautiful, aren’t they?” Rhi asked.
Denae looked at her as she heard the longing in Rhi’s voice. “Who was he?”
Rhi cut her eyes to her and replied innocently, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Denae let her lie. It was Rhi’s right to keep that part of herself secret and hidden. She nodded to the Light Fae. “They are beautiful and deadly and breathtaking.”
“Yes. They most certainly are.”
Denae glanced down at Phelan to find him watching Rhi intently before his gaze turned to her. There was a bond between the Warrior and Rhi, one of a brother and sister, which made Denae miss her own sister even more.
She put her hand on a tree, the bark biting into her palm, as Taraeth threw a bubble of magic at Kellan. He was as agile as a hawk in the way he avoided the first and second shots. The third hit him in one of his wings.
Denae’s heart jumped into her throat as Kellan fell from the sky to land upon the earth, the impact shaking the ground beneath her feet.
The yellow dragon landed in front of Kellan’s still form and breathed fire at any Dark who drew near. His fire managed to eradicate any magic hurled at them.