More importantly, his Silvers would at last be free from their perpetual sleep. It didn’t matter what he had to do, or who he had to hurt to get back what was taken from him.
Rhys only had a taste of what he himself had endured through the millennia. If Rhys was this crazed after only a few weeks, what would he do years or decades from now? Ulrik was almost tempted to wait and find out. Con would get to see firsthand how a King could lose his sanity by being forced to remain in human form.
It was an ugly, violent, and dangerous spiral that took everyone and everything near.
That was one way to take down Con, and there was a very real chance Rhys could do it. However, Ulrik suspected that Con would lock Rhys away before anything like that could ever happen.
By doing that, Con would alienate many of the Kings, because though Rhys was a hothead, he was loyal to a fault and he had many friends. It was no secret that Rhys and Con butted heads often. So it would work in Ulrik’s favor that some would see Con’s actions as retaliation against Rhys.
But that was a chance Ulrik didn’t want to take. No, he had planned out his vengeance to the last detail. Now that everything was coming together was not the time to change anything.
How many years did he lose in his insanity? How many did he squander, scraping among the humans’ filth trying to ignore the dragon within him begging to take to the skies?
How many years did he exhaust until he learned to take whatever he wanted?
Only then was he able to start planning this moment. Thousands upon thousands of years of networking and laying the foundation of Con’s ruin. Just a little more time and all would be set right once again.
Ulrik turned away and walked barefoot to the door that led back inside the building. He walked down the ladder and then to the doorway of one of the spare bedrooms. Abby still slept, not that he expected her to be awake. He’d used her until she was limp and unable to move, much less utter a sound.
He closed her door and stood in the hallway. Abby, like most people, would assume that the room was his. In fact, Ulrik’s bedroom was hidden. No one but he had ever seen it.
Or ever would.
He was tempted to go there and rest, but there could be no rest for him. Instead, he decided to go downstairs and get some work done. Ulrik was halfway down the spiral staircase when he was alerted that someone was inside the store. It left him uneasy that there was no face to go with the alert.
On silent feet, he made his way down the rest of the stairs and out the hidden door. As he stepped into the back of the store, he paused. All the lights were still off with just a few on dim to cast away most of the shadows.
Ulrik came around the corner to see a man sitting in one of the overstuffed chairs. His back was to Ulrik, so he couldn’t see the man’s face.
For a second, Ulrik thought it might be Con finally come to try and kill him. Then Ulrik realized that Con wouldn’t come alone. He would want others watching.
“Looked your fill yet?” the man asked.
Ulrik frowned. There was something about the voice he recognized, a vague memory of something long buried that he should know. He didn’t have any friends. Which meant whoever this man was, he was an enemy. Ulrik prepared to kill him as he gave the chair a wide berth and walked around it until he stood diagonal to the man.
The light on the table beside the chair clicked on. “Hello, Ulrik.”
Ulrik stared in shock at his uncle.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Lily had her eyes closed, but sleep was the furthest thing from her mind. She was nestled in the comfort—and security—of Rhys’s arms.
It was surreal. Amazing.
Incredible.
The night before she thought was the end of everything, and twenty-four hours later, it was the best day of her life. How could two such varying incidents occur so close together?
With that thought, her mind drifted to Dennis and what he was forcing her to do. But it wasn’t just her. It was those at Dreagan—Denae, Cassie, Jane … Rhys.
Then there was Kyle.
If she helped Dennis onto Dreagan, she would never be able to look at Rhys again. How could she after making love to him, and then betraying him?
Yet, how could she ever look into the eyes of her parents if she didn’t save Kyle? She would be responsible for him turning into Dennis.
It was a no-win situation. She had to choose between family and Rhys.
The decision was even more difficult now that she knew what she would be missing. Rhys was everything she wanted and needed. He was strong, gentle, encouraging, and loving. He was a man who would support her in whatever she did.