Ulrik reached behind him and covertly touched Kyle’s shoulder. “Do you follow me, Rhi? Is it my bed you want to share?”
“No. I’ve had my fill of Dragon Kings.”
“Then why are you here?”
She lifted her chin and turned away. “Because I consider a few of them friends.”
Ulrik glanced to see Kyle’s fingers contract. The human would live, but he wasn’t going to be around when Kyle woke. Ulrik stood and walked to stand beside Rhi.
“I can help Rhys’s mate.”
It was Rhi’s turn to be shocked. “You did all of this! Why do you want to help?”
“I never wanted her to die. I know how it feels to have a mate killed,” he said and looked into her eyes. “And you owe me.”
Rhi’s lips parted as if she were about to argue, then she thought better of it. “I don’t know why you’ve targeted Rhys. He didn’t deserve the curse. That alone about did him in. Then you let his mate be killed.”
“I didna.”
The Light Fae’s silver eyes that reminded Ulrik so much of his dragons swung away from him. “Why? Why do you want to bring her back?”
“Because no one else can.”
Rhi shook her head, tucking the long strands of black hair behind her ears as the wind picked up. “I’m crazy for even thinking about doing this. If Con catches us, we’re both dead.”
“Con willna catch us.”
She rolled her eyes and looked at him. “I’m not doing this because I owe you for taking me out of Balladyn’s fortress. I’m doing this for Rhys.”
“Whatever makes you sleep at night, darlin’.”
She huffed and faced him. “She’s in the mountain.”
Ulrik smiled. “I’ll meet you there.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Lily stood still as her mind tried to wrap around why she was suddenly standing in a forest. Except it wasn’t like any forest she had ever seen. Everything was gloomy and dark. The trees, the leaves, the sky. All varying shades of gray. As if not a single stitch of color existed.
She glanced down at her stomach to her wound, but there was nothing there. Not even a spot of blood. Lily listened for birds or even the rustle of leaves from the wind, but it was still as death.
Death.
Her knees went weak and she grew dizzy as she realized she was dead. It seemed … impossible. Yet she recalled everything. Rhys getting shot—in the head—by Kyle, Dennis holding her so she couldn’t go to Rhys, their tearing the cottage apart looking for a weapon, Kyle holding a gun to her as she saw Rhys sitting up, and then her brother shooting her.
The pain of the bullet tearing through her was excruciating. All she’d thought about was Rhys and how she would have to leave him. As she struggled to draw in breath, a beautiful dragon with yellow scales appeared.
The dragon—Rhys—looked at her with the most vivid orange eyes. He had a series of tendrils extended from the back of his head, and his long tail had a bladelike extension on the end. His wings, leathery and huge, were folded against his sides.
Rhys was enormous, bigger than she ever thought possible. He was fierce looking, primal and savage. Terrifying even.
Until he looked at her.
The last thing Lily saw was Rhys’s orange dragon eyes filled with remorse.
Then she ended up … here.
Lily shivered. Where exactly was she? Heaven? Hell? In between?
In the distance she heard someone’s terror-filled scream, the sound echoing around the bleak woods. She wrapped her arms around herself and turned in a circle.
She blew out a shaky breath. Then she chose a direction and started walking. Since she heard a scream, she knew she wasn’t alone. But … she wasn’t alone. Something was out there hurting others. Animal or person, it appeared there was a chance she wouldn’t come away from this unscathed either.
“Wasn’t it enough that I got shot?” she asked herself. “By my brother?”
She still couldn’t get her mind around the fact that Kyle had fallen in with Dennis so easily. Hadn’t her parents seen what was going on?
“It’s not like I can ask them now. Being dead and all,” she said sarcastically.
So much for a happy life with a husband and children with Rhys. She snorted. For all she knew, Rhys would never marry, and it wasn’t like any of the women at Dreagan had children or were even pregnant.
How did it work between a mortal and a Dragon King anyway? Did the Kings simply watch their mates grow old and die before moving on to someone else? If they had been around since the beginning of time, then they had to have had several mates. Which meant Lily was just one of many.
She had known that when she’d thought Rhys was mortal, but his being immortal changed things drastically. It wasn’t just years, it was centuries, millennia of him dating woman after woman. How could she even compare to that?
But she had wanted to try. More than anything else, she wanted Rhys.
“Do you know where you are?”
She whirled around at the male voice behind her. Lily looked at the handsome man with his long black hair and gold eyes. “No.”
“Do you want to know?”