Darcy didn’t want to hear any more. “Stop. Please.”
“Remember when I said you stepped into a war? These are the specifics. I was able to give Rhys the opportunity to shift once more. When the mortal he was in love with got into danger, he shifted into human form. For her. But not even his love could help him deal with the fact that he couldn’t return to his true form.”
“Ulrik wouldn’t do that,” Darcy argued. “Ulrik can barely deal with it himself. The pain and frustration consume him. He wouldn’t put that on another.”
“He would. He did.”
CHAPTER
FIFTEEN
Darcy shook her head. She had experienced Ulrik’s memories. She knew firsthand how he was tormented by what his fellow Kings did to him.
“It couldn’t have been Ulrik,” Darcy argued. “He labored for thousands of years to come to terms with the fact that he couldn’t shift. It’s torn him apart in ways no one could begin to fathom.”
“He’s the only Dragon King unaccounted for,” Rhi said. “Con might be a world-class ass, but he protects the Kings. He found out where every King was during that battle, which left only Ulrik.”
Darcy rubbed her hands over her face. “So everyone blames me since I was able to release enough of Ulrik’s magic so that he could allegedly do this.”
“You’ll have to accept the fact that Ulrik is out for blood. He’ll do whatever it takes to get what he wants.”
“Killing Con?”
“That’s part of it. He wants all of his magic and to be able to shift again. He wants to talk to his Silvers. Don’t get me wrong. I know how amiable Ulrik can be when he wants. But he has an end purpose, and nothing will get in his way.”
Darcy didn’t want to talk about Ulrik anymore. She was having a hard time combining what Rhi was telling her with Ulrik’s memories she hadn’t just seen, but experienced herself. “You were telling me about a way to stop the Dark from entering.”
Rhi regarded her with a knowing look, and then continued on with her story. “Ulrik sent two human men onto Dreagan and used Rhys’s woman to do it. They shot Rhys in the head with a bullet laced with dragon magic. It wasn’t enough to kill him, but it incapacitated him long enough for them to search the place they thought the weapon was.”
“Tell me they didn’t find it,” Darcy urged.
“They didn’t. Rhys called to me to help Lily. When I tried to enter the cottage, I couldn’t. The symbols we used against other Fae were carved into the doorway.”
“How did the Kings discover the symbols?”
Rhi smiled wryly. “It wasn’t the Kings who carved them into the door. It was the two humans Ulrik sent.”
Which meant Ulrik had found out about the symbols. Darcy began to feel sick to her stomach.
“I’m not comfortable with any being but a Light Fae knowing those spells,” Rhi continued. “Yet, I may not have another choice but to show them to you.”
“Why would you do that?” Darcy asked, confused. “Wouldn’t that keep you out as well?”
Rhi nodded her head of long midnight hair. “Your magic is strong, Darcy, but not nearly powerful enough to keep out a Dark. Only Fae or dragon magic can do that.”
“Then why hasn’t Warrick used his magic?”
“He has. As has Thorn.”
Darcy tossed aside the pillow as she scooted to the edge of the sofa. “Then that should be enough.”
“Should be, yes.” Rhi nibbled her bottom lip with her teeth. “The thing is, I made a promise to keep you from the Dark. I owed a debt, and it’s been called in. I can’t fail.”
“So you would use something that I could possibly recreate against you in the future?”
Rhi’s silver eyes crinkled. “It appears so.”
“Who would you do that for?”
“Ulrik.”
If Darcy had been surprised before, she was floored now. She got to her feet and glared at Rhi. “Ulrik? The same Ulrik you’ve been trying to tell me is responsible for those horrible things?”
“The very one,” the Light Fae said as she lifted a leg and half-sat on the back of the couch.
Darcy made a face while throwing her hands out in confusion. “Care to explain?”
Rhi sighed dramatically. “I was in a bit of a predicament recently.”
“When Balladyn captured you?”
“Well,” Rhi said in a haughty tone. “I see the Kings did fill you in on some of the less important things.”
“I wouldn’t call a Dark abducting you unimportant.”
“Did Warrick tell you why Balladyn took me?”
Darcy gave a slight nod.
“Perfect,” Rhi said, but her smile was too tight. “So you know he took me and why. Did they tell you what he did to me?”
Darcy fought the urge to take a step back. “Not really.”