Lily lifted her chin. “Then let them come. I’ll have my Dragon King beside me. Children or not, my family or not, my place is beside you on Dreagan.”
Rhys seized her mouth in a fiery kiss. She clung to him, her body a mass of need.
Suddenly Rhys lifted his head. “In one day I lost you, and then got you back. You mean everything to me, Lily. You are my soul, my breath. My heart.”
“And you are my soul, my breath, my heart. And my dragon.”
Lily glanced at the Silvers and walked with Rhys from the cavern. Whatever came tomorrow, she knew her place—right beside her Dragon King.
EPILOGUE
A week later …
Rhys stood in the mountain staring at the tunnel that Lily would walk through at any moment. He’d wanted to give her more time before the mating ceremony, but Lily had been insistent on doing it sooner rather than later.
He certainly wasn’t going to complain. As soon as they were mated, she would be immortal. After a bit of questioning, Rhys discovered it was Ulrik who had brought Lily back to life. Rhys still didn’t know why Ulrik did it, but he wanted to know. The few instances he’d thought of going to Perth, he only had to look at Lily and feel their love.
Whatever curse Ulrik gave him was broken, and Lily was alive. Rhys wasn’t about to forgive or forget what Ulrik had done, but love had a way of putting things into perspective—like spending hours making love to Lily instead of planning Ulrik’s death.
As much as he hated it, the other females talked to Lily extensively about what it meant to be bound to a King. Rhys worried for all of a minute that she would change her mind. Then he looked into her eyes and saw the love there.
Rhys smiled as soon as he saw her. His breath locked in his chest as he took in the vision that was his woman. The gown was a soft yellow with a band of intricate crystals showing off her tiny waist. The sleeves draped off her shoulders in soft pleats and were held in place by a single strap of yellow. The neck of the dress crisscrossed to show just a hint of her breasts. With her long black hair gathered in a messy updo, Rhys was held mesmerized.
“You’re a vision,” he said when she reached him.
Her dark eyes were glowing with excitement. “And you look handsome as ever in your kilt.”
Rhys adjusted his tux jacket and smiled when he saw how her dress exposed the scars she’d hidden for so long. She had come a long way from the timid woman who’d first arrived at Dreagan.
He took her hands and felt something against his finger. When he looked down he noted the five-carat cushion-cut yellow sapphire set in a thin band of platinum. Rhys gave Con a nod of appreciation. None of the Kings knew what gift Con would give the mates, but Con always managed to get just the right thing for each of them.
“Ready?” Rhys asked Lily.
Her smile widened. “Try and stop me.”
They faced Con together as the ceremony began.
*
Warrick stood at the very back. It wasn’t that he didn’t appreciate or approve of Rhys and Lily’s union, it was just that he chafed at being around so many. None of the Kings understood why he felt this way, and he didn’t bother to tell them.
He waited to witness Rhys and Lily share a kiss and the dragon mark to appear on her upper arm before Warrick turned on his heel and walked out of the cavern. There would be celebrating all night long in the manor. It made him itch just thinking about it.
Warrick began to shed his clothes when he came to the entrance of the mountain. With a thought, he shifted into dragon form and took to the skies. It was the only place he felt truly at home—and at peace.
He was alone with only his thoughts and the moon and stars. It also gave him a chance to look in on the humans, who fascinated him to no end. Other Kings despised them, but Warrick found them intriguing. Not that he would ever tell the others that.
The one thing he never had to worry about was Con sending him on any kind of mission with other Kings. The short one he willingly went on with Rhys had been enough to prove he was much better off by himself.
As it had always been.
As it should be.
*
Rhi wandered the ruins of Pompeii. She had long been fascinated by how beautifully the city had been preserved by the ash of the volcano. It was a pity that none survived. She remembered Pompeii before the volcano. It had been a vibrant, beautiful city laid to waste in a matter of hours.
Which would be what happened soon to the entire realm. Perhaps she should go to Usaeil and convince the queen to have all Light Fae leave the realm for good. That meant she would leave behind her lover and any last shred of hope of rekindling their love.
“Perhaps that’s for the best,” she told a bird who’d landed on a stone near her.
The bird flew away, and that’s when she spotted Balladyn. He stood at the far end of the road watching her. His long black and silver hair was free of any braids. He wore black pants and a dark gray shirt.