“Con is mine,” Ulrik said in a low tone, the silent warning dripping from his voice.
Mikkel’s gold eyes expressed his doubt. “You don’t have any magic. You can’t go against a Dragon King without your magic.”
“But you can?”
Mikkel gave a halfhearted shrug. “I’ve got my ways.”
“So you can shift?”
“Let’s focus on you right now.”
Ulrik began to laugh, the sound empty. “You can no’.”
Mikkel’s pleasant expression faded to one of fury. “Nay, I can no’!”
Ulrik didn’t think his uncle realized he’d slipped and used the brogue. Mikkel had been so careful to speak in his British accent, and Ulrik knew it was by no accident.
“Does that please you?” Mikkel asked, once more in control.
“Immensely. However, I’m curious. If you’re a Dragon King, why are you unable to shift?”
Mikkel crossed one leg over the other. “When your magic was locked and I became the King of the Silvers, I immediately shifted into human form.”
Ulrik watched the aversion on Mikkel’s face, and almost laughed. “Aye. That’s what happens to all Kings. That’s how one becomes a King.”
“Exactly. I knew something must’ve happened to you, so I remained in this form and went to find you. I saw Con in dragon form standing over you, and then I saw him fly away with the others following.”
“So you watched me walk away?” Ulrik said, a new bout of anger emerging.
Mikkel gave a shrug of indifference. “You were no longer King.”
“I was alone,” he said tightly.
“You survived.”
It took everything Ulrik had to keep his fingers relaxed and not rip the arms off the chair. “Then what happened?”
“I tried to shift.” Mikkel stood and began to walk around the area while he spoke. “No matter how many times I tried, I couldn’t get away from this human form. The magic I had wasn’t as strong either. It was like something dampened it.”
Ulrik knew it was the spell Con and the others used on him that somehow affected his uncle as well. “All these thousands of years you’ve been right here. Why show yourself to me now?”
Mikkel stopped behind the chair he had vacated and smiled. “Because I want you to join me. You’ve no idea how long I’ve been planning this, or how much I’ve already done.”
“Tell me.”
“I’ve come to an understanding with a group of mortals. They like to think they’re in control of things, and I allow them to believe that. You might know them as MI5.”
Ulrik recalled the visits from the Dragon Kings as things began to make sense now.
“There is also another alliance I’m particularly proud of,” Mikkel said. “The Dark Ones.”
“I might no’ have been a King during the Fae Wars, but even you know what occurred during those years. You can no’ trust a Dark.”
Mikkel’s lips twisted as he considered Ulrik’s words. “I have an understanding with Taraeth.”
The king of the Dark. Mikkel really was playing with fire. Ulrik himself had made friends in the Dark Fae world, so he knew all the participants.
“With the Dark and MI5 on my side, I’ve been able to do a great many things.”
Ulrik rubbed his hand over his chin, feeling a day’s growth of stubble beneath his palm. “Like what?”
“My people have infiltrated Dreagan multiple times.”
“To what end?”
“I’ve convinced MI5 that those at Dreagan need to be exposed for the dragons that they are.” Mikkel chuckled. “You should’ve seen their outrage and fear to know they aren’t the only beings on this realm.”
“They know of the Dark now.”
Mikkel’s eyes narrowed as his smile faded. “Of course. They must work together.”
“How did the mortals take the Dark?”
“Not well, actually. Neither do the Dark like being so near humans and not able to take them as they normally do.”
Ulrik knew there was more, and he wanted to know all that his uncle had been doing. “What else?”
“There is a weapon on Dreagan that can kill a Dragon King.”
Of all the things he thought Mikkel might say, this one took him aback. “What?”
“A weapon that Con has kept hidden from all.”
Not all. Kellan would know as Keeper of the History, but Ulrik didn’t bother to tell Mikkel that. “What kind of weapon?”
“That I don’t know. Yet. I’ve a man who will get on Dreagan any day now and find it.”
“Why no’ have MI5 or the Dark get it?”
Mikkel made a sound at the back of his throat as he waved his hand. “Damn mortals screw it up every time. The Kings know as soon as someone crosses their boundary. Same with the Dark. The patrols the Kings set up night and day prevent the Dark from getting onto Dreagan unnoticed. We did find a way, a secret doorway. You might know where that doorway is located since it’s the spot the Kings killed your woman.”