“Did I?” she asked in a soft voice. “I’m not so sure.”
Ulrik put the car in park and ran a hand through his hair. “I’m no’ a good man. I have no’ been for a verra long time, and I’ve accepted that.”
“You saved Lily. That was good.”
“It was for my own interests. I knew Rhys would come for me, as well as the others. I know I’ll die, but I refuse to do it until I take Con out.”
Rhi scoffed at him. “Are you telling me you brought Lily back from the dead to save your own ass?”
“I am.”
It was a valid reason, but she still believed there was more. “And?”
“And?” he repeated with a frown. “There is nothing else.”
Rhi looked out the windshield to the dark blue waters of the North Sea. “I can spot a liar easily, Ulrik.”
“I’ve told you the truth.”
“You told me part of it.”
“That’s all there is.”
She turned her head to him, and was surprised when he suddenly leaned over and kissed her. When he pulled back, she asked, “What was that for?”
“I’ve always wanted to know if your kiss would taste as spirited as your words, or as sweet as your walk.”
“And?” she asked, unable to keep her curiosity at bay.
He licked his lips. “It’s a wee bit of both.”
“That’s all you’ll ever know,” she said and teleported out.
Rhi returned to Dreagan in the hopes of discovering that Rhys and Lily had worked everything out. And because it wasn’t a good day unless she irritated Con, she popped into his office and leaned casually against the wall.
His black gaze immediately went to her. “Rhys told me you were unable to get into the cottage to save Lily. Is that true?”
“It is,” she answered snippily.
“So it was warded,” Constantine said with a grin. “I’ll need to learn what was used to ward the manor—my office especially—against you.”
Rhi was taken aback by the fury that rose so quickly within her. It was the darkness. It always answered swiftly. She turned her face away so Con wouldn’t see the anger—or her fear of it.
“This is a private place,” Con said, unaware of her turmoil. “I doona appreciate you coming in whenever you damned well feel like it.”
The more he talked, the more her temper grew. She had to get away from him and calm down before she did something stupid.
“You’ve always overstepped our boundaries,” Con continued.
Rhi whirled around, only belatedly realizing that she’d begun to glow. “Do you ever shut up?”
Before he could answer, the door opened and a man walked in.
She gaped. It couldn’t be Darius.
All of her anger vanished in an instant.
He started to say something to Con, but he paused and turned his head to her. “Rhi.”
She was too shocked to even speak. No one had told her Darius had woken. Rhi lifted her chin and pulled her gaze away from Darius. That’s when she saw a hint of a frown on Con’s face as he regarded her.
A moment later, Henry walked into Con’s office. His face brightened when he saw her. “Rhi,” he said in a whisper.
It was too much. All of it. She really did need to stay away from Dreagan from now on.
Without a word to anyone, Rhi teleported away.
*
Henry was more than a little disappointed when Rhi disappeared yet again. He was falling hard for the Light Fae, and the more the Kings warned him away from her, the more he wanted her. Their kiss in the mountain had been breathtaking. It had ended way too soon, but he hoped it wouldn’t be the last. Rhi was too amazing a find for him not to pursue her.
“I know that look,” Con said to him. “You do understand what the Fae do with humans, right?”
Henry nodded, scratching his chin. “Banan has explained it multiple times, but that’s the Dark. The Light only sleep with a human once.”
“That’s all it takes,” Darius said as he sank into one of the two chairs before Con’s desk.
Con nodded. “One time with a Light, and you’ll never find satisfaction with a mortal female again.”
“Who would want to after someone like Rhi?”
Darius leaned back in the chair. “All Fae are forbidden from a relationship with a human. There’s nothing that can come of this infatuation with Rhi.”
“He’s right, Henry. I know she’s beautiful, but all Fae are that stunning. If you continue to sleep with a Fae, you’ll die.”
Henry didn’t want to talk about Rhi and their doomed relationship any longer. He cleared his throat and said, “I’m heading into London to track down which of the ten were responsible for betraying me to Ulrik.”
“Is there anything we can do to help?” Con asked.
“I’ll let you know if there is.”
“Please do. We owe you for all that you’ve done for us.”
Henry was taken aback by the King of Kings’ declaration. From all he’d learned in his time with the Kings, Con wasn’t one to so blithely say such words. “It shouldn’t take me long. I’ll check in with Banan.”