He closed his eyes and thought back to his Greys. How he loved to rub their single horn that projected above their noses. They had made a sound at the back of their throats that rumbled in their chests, which sounded very much like a purr.
Ryder smiled at the memory. His dragons always brought him comfort, even when it was just a memory of them. There was only one other thing that could do that to him—Kinsey.
His smile vanished. Kinsey. What a fool he’d been to take for granted the time they shared. How easily she once walked into his arms, lifting her face for a kiss.
How they had laughed and talked, walking arm in arm down the street.
What Ryder wouldn’t do to have that time back. He told Dmitri last night he was willing to fight for Kinsey. Sleeping beside her had only solidified his decision.
But the longer she was around him, the more distant she became.
Ryder petted the Silver as he wondered what prompted Kinsey to act as she did. When she first arrived at Dreagan she was shocked and angered to find him there. Now, she appeared as indifferent to him as she was to everything else.
His hand paused and his eyes flew open. Indifferent? Kinsey wasn’t indifferent. She was afraid. What she was doing was attempting to erect a wall between them that would keep Ryder out forever.
The only problem with that was that Kinsey had no idea how determined a Dragon King could be.
Ryder made his way to each of the Silvers and petted them while he began to decide how to bust through Kinsey’s wall. She had to still feel something for him. Why else would there have been such anger the day before?
Touching the Silvers helped Ryder to sort his way through his thoughts, but he wished he could shift and take to the skies. He needed to fly.
To dive through clouds, turning over and over again, wrapping the clouds around him. There was something beautiful and amazing about looking down at the earth through his dragon eyes.
Hopefully they would find Ulrik soon and put a stop to this nonsense. The one thing Ryder was grateful for was that Kinsey was at Dreagan. Security—really their dragon magic—was heightened to ensure that no Dark could venture onto the land.
Unbeknownst to every human who entered Dreagan, they were being scanned by Ryder. He couldn’t tell who was working for Ulrik—yet. But every face, every voice was being logged into a database along with where the person went and how long they were at Dreagan.
The mates were watched by multiple Kings at any given time. So if Kinsey had to be anywhere, Dreagan was the best place to be. No matter who was using her or why, Ryder knew she would be safe.
Which allowed him to think of how he could break down her barriers and get her back in his arms again.
*
Ulrik stood in the shadows of the cavern until Ryder walked out, his boots making a slight echo on the stones. Ulrik slid his gaze to his Silvers. He counted five Kings who came to see his Silvers in the last two hours.
All this time he’d thought his dragons were the ones trapped, but he was beginning to see that the Kings were as well. They needed his Silvers, whether they knew it or not.
Did the Kings even realize how often they visited his dragons? How many times they touched the scales, caressing them? Some simply stood in the cavern staring at the Silvers.
Ulrik didn’t need magic to know those Kings were thinking of their own dragons. Up until he was able to get part of his dragon magic back, Ulrik had gone mad several times over wondering about his dragons.
The first time he snuck onto Dreagan, he spent an entire day with his Silvers without a single King knowing about it. It almost killed Ulrik to leave them, but each day drew him closer to the time he could awaken them and rid the world of the humans.
Ulrik came as often as he dared to Dreagan. It amused him how many times he stood near Con in the shadows of the cavern. The almighty Con hadn’t even been aware his enemy could’ve killed him a hundred times over.
That had tempted Ulrik on several occasions. To end Con and take over as King of Kings. Everything he’d dreamed of and worked toward could come to fruition.
There had even been one instance when Ulrik nearly gave in to that desire and killed Con while he looked upon the Silvers. Being stabbed in the back was just what Con deserved after all he’d done to Ulrik.
But that wasn’t who Ulrik was. He wanted Con to know he attacked him. He needed Con to know that he was going to lose—and die.
Only then would Ulrik get his satisfaction and his vengeance. Only then would he be able to face the future without the cloud of anger and resentment weighing him down.
When he was King of Kings, Ulrik would remove every last human from the realm and then he would return the dragons. He smiled as he thought of the Fae. With the mortals gone, the Fae would have no reason to remain.
The earth could return to what it was always meant to be—a dragon realm.