Nothing but a dragon could survive dragon fire. It burned hotter and longer than anything else in all the realms. And the Dark knew it.
It wasn’t the knowledge that the mortals would freak at seeing him in his true form that stopped Warrick from shifting. It was the fact that he knew the Dark couldn’t get to Darcy in her shop.
That alone kept him calm enough to return to a slow walk so as not to draw too much attention to himself. “Rhi,” he said as he walked. “If you can hear me, I need your help with Darcy.”
It wasn’t often that Warrick asked for help, but he wasn’t too proud to do it. Darcy was the one who needed the food. He could take care of himself.
“Rhi,” he said again, a little louder.
Still the Light Fae didn’t appear. Not that he expected her to. She only seemed to answer to Rhys.
Warrick lengthened his strides as he saw more and more Dark the closer he got to Darcy’s shop. He was halfway there when he noticed how the Dark began to surround him. Warrick paid them no attention as he continued on his way.
“Going somewhere, Dragon?” taunted one Dark.
Warrick gripped the handles of the basket tighter. He didn’t slow, didn’t turn and punch the idiot. But he wanted to.
“Forget it,” shouted another Dark. “The Kings are afraid to fight us in front of the humans. They want to stay hidden.”
There was a snigger from yet another Dark. “Hidden? Hell, the best place to live is out in the open so the mortals fear you. Hear that, Dragon?”
“The humans will know of them soon enough,” said another.
Warrick was close enough that he could see the door to Darcy’s shop. He hoped she wasn’t watching, because things were about to get ugly.
He gave a mental nudge to Thorn and said, “Stay hidden. No matter what, keep an eye on Darcy.”
“We should’ve called in other Kings.”
Warrick didn’t have time to respond as he was blasted in the back with magic. It crackled over his back, making his skin burn.
He waited for the magic to wear off, then he carefully set the basket of food down and turned to face the group of Dark. Warrick counted eleven of them. That didn’t even take into consideration the others who circled the building.
“If you wanted my attention, all you had to do was ask,” Warrick said.
“As if you’ll fight us.”
Warrick didn’t know which of them said it. He looked from one set of red eyes to another. All had silver in their hair, but it wasn’t as thick with silver as older Dark who had done more evil. “I’ll gladly fight.”
“Here? Right,” came the sarcastic reply.
“How about the smartass who keeps mouthing off stepping forward. I’ll deal with him first.”
*
Darcy hated being mad. She hated feeling deceived as well. As irritated as she was at Warrick, she knew he could’ve kept the information about Con’s plans to himself.
She had reacted harshly and quickly, but she needed time to herself. All she could think about with Warrick near was his mind-blowing kisses and the way he set her body ablaze with desire.
At this point, she wasn’t sure who the bad guy was anymore. Was it Ulrik? Was it Con? Was it all the Dragon Kings?
She ground the heels of her hands into her eyes. Her stomach was nauseated from lack of food, and the added cup of coffee loaded with caffeine hadn’t helped. She really needed to look into decaf.
Darcy didn’t know what made her get up and check the magic as Warrick had done countless times. She felt along the walls to sense how their magic was holding up. As far as she could tell, it was all still in place.
She glanced out the back, and didn’t see anything but rain. It wasn’t until she went to the front that she spotted the group of men through the rain. They had black and silver hair of varying lengths, and were all standing in the street.
They seemed to be surrounding someone. It took some ducking and weaving, but she finally saw who it was.
“Warrick.”
Her heart pounded wildly in her chest as her blood iced. He didn’t seem the least bit concerned that there were over a dozen Dark Fae focused solely on him.
Then she heard his voice muffled through the glass of the door. “How about the smartass who keeps mouthing off stepping forward. I’ll deal with him first.”
Darcy winced as several of the Dark looked at each other with smiles, as if they had been waiting for just such a suggestion.
A tall Dark Fae with his hair in a Mohawk that was now falling down due to the water walked through the crowd and faced off against Warrick. The Dark looked him over. “What’s one King going to do to us?” he asked with his arms wide, indicating the other Dark.
Warrick waited until the laughter stopped. Then he said, “You mean besides kick your ass?”
That’s all it took to send the Dark into a fit of fury. A large ball of magic formed in the Dark’s hand before he reared back and threw it at Warrick.