“Yes, but first: where did you come from?”
He leaned back against a tree and hooked a thumb in the front pocket of his jeans. “That doesna matter. You’re in between worlds. Your soul is waiting to go either up,” he said with a finger pointing to the sky. Then his finger turned to the ground. “Or down.”
“How long will I be here?”
The man shrugged, the black T-shirt pulling at his shoulders. “It depends. Sometimes people never leave.”
“Who are you?” she asked, taking a step back.
His smile was kind, but held a hint of cruelty. “Right now, I’m the only friend you have.”
“Why do you want to help me?”
“For several reasons, none of which matter.” He pushed away from the tree. “I can take you out of here. I can bring you back to life.”
She frowned, unsure of what to believe or if she should trust him. Yet the idea of returning held appeal. “Back? Is that what you do? Pick and choose who you want to give a second chance to?”
“Nay.” He chuckled softly and glanced at the ground. “In truth, I’ve no’ done this in a verra, verra long time.”
Did he have a Scottish accent because she loved Rhys’s so much? Is that what her mind was doing? Crafting someone that sounded like him if he couldn’t look like Rhys? “Why now then?”
“As I said. I have my reasons.”
She dropped her arms. “I need a reason to trust you.”
“Trust? Lass, you have two choices. Stay here or leave with me.”
“It could be a trick to take me to Hell.”
This made him laugh. “Have you heard the screams yet?”
Lily nodded.
“Those are the poor souls that are being taken to Hell.”
“So nothing can hurt me here?”
“I didna say that,” he said with brows raised. “Dennis and Kyle are roaming around somewhere, and I doona think you want them to find you.”
Lily recalled the knife in her sleeve. She checked, but it was gone. Then she remembered plunging it into her brother’s leg.
“Do you have the strength to kill someone with your bare hands?” the man asked.
She scoffed at him. “I’m already dead. What can happen here?”
“A lot actually. Your body is gone, but you have your soul. Souls can be killed. It ensures the soul never returns reborn. I know this, because I’ve killed a soul.”
Lily looked into his golden eyes and shuddered. “Will I ever be safe?”
“You’re mortal. Since the moment you drew your first breath, you’ve been dying.”
“And you haven’t?”
He lifted a shoulder and gave her a half-smile. “I never said I was mortal.”
“Are you some kind of angel?”
His smile grew as he shook his head at her. “Now I understand what drew Rhys to you.”
“You know Rhys?” She was surprised by the news, but elated that someone knew Rhys.
“Once. Long ago. He loves you, you know?”
Lily sat on a thick root protruding from the ground at the base of an oak tree. “How do you know that?”
“Take my word for it. Do you return his love?”
She clasped her hands together and recalled how he’d lovingly touched her scars, how he’d brought her exquisite pleasure, and how he’d held her so tenderly. For weeks she had watched him, dreaming of being his.
Then it finally happened.
Lily knew how gorgeous Rhys looked with his hair rumpled from sleep and his dark blue eyes watching her drowsily.
She knew the feel of his calloused hands over her body, the touch of his warm lips.
She felt the strength of his body as he thrust inside her, the sway of his masculinity.
She’d glimpsed his pain and heartache, experienced his tenderness and passion, and witnessed his power and command.
“I see that you do,” the man said in a soft voice.
Lily swallowed and bent forward to rest her forehead on her knees. “I didn’t believe him at first when he told me he was a dragon.”
“What changed your mind?”
“His eyes. His voice.” Lily lifted her head. “He believed what he was saying. The conviction I saw and heard made me stop and consider the possibility.”
“Without seeing a dragon yourself?” the man asked with a snort.
Lily straightened. “Rhys told me he would show me a dragon.”
“You still believed him without seeing one?”
“I had some doubts, but I’d been around Dreagan for a while. I knew the people. I knew them to be kind and decent. So, I did what he asked. I trusted him.”
The man moved to sit beside her. “You saw the dragons.”
She nodded woodenly. “I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t … that. They’re colossal.”
“You believed him without seeing anything, but now that you’ve seen, you’re scared?”
“Wouldn’t you be?” she asked as she looked at him.
He considered her words as he took in a deep breath. “Any beings with power are going to be fierce. They’re also going to have many enemies.”
“So even if you brought me back, I could die again?”
He simply returned her look, refusing to answer.
“I see.”