Fire Rising

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

The darkness didn’t scare her.

It was a lie Rhi repeated silently over and over in her mind. In fact, she was more terrified than she had ever been in her life.

No Light Fae had ever come back from torture with the Dark, so no one knew exactly what was done. The fact none had returned said it all though.

Rhi thought back to the dozen new nail polishes she’d recently bought. There was the bright green called Gargantuan Green that she couldn’t wait to wear. Hearts & Tarts, a soft pink that called to her Fae side. Cha-Ching Cherry that would go amazingly with her new shirt. Then there was a stunning deep blue called Keeping Suzi at Bay that begged to be worn. But her favorite was a Chianti red called I’m Not Really a Waitress.

She had to get out so she could try each and every one of her new collection. Panic infused her, distress pouring off her in waves.

Fear she had known before, but this went deeper than fear. This was pure terror. The kind that had her heart knocking against her ribs and her blood turning to ice.

“How do you like your new accommodations, pet?”

She tried to hide her alarm at Balladyn’s close voice. He had snuck up on her without her even knowing. This didn’t bode well.

At all.

“If you want to torture me, then what are you waiting for?” she taunted in what she hoped was a stronger voice than she felt.

His laugh sent a sinister chill down her spine. “That will come. I owe you, after all.”

“Owe me?” She couldn’t believe he blamed her for his becoming a Dark. She wasn’t the one who had pushed him to the edge.

“Oh, yes,” he said, not bothering to hide his delight. “I’ve waited years for this. Years of thinking what I would do to you if I ever had you in my grasp. I didn’t think I’d get the chance, not once I heard you made the Queen’s Guard. I should’ve known. You’ve never done what was expected of you.”

“What did you expect from me?” She hated that the question was past her lips before she realized it.

“You left me!”

The walls vibrated with his fury. She shrank away, despising herself all the more because of it.

She could hear his harsh breathing all around her, making it impossible for her to pinpoint where he was. He was Dark. The darkness was part of him, allowing him to use it to his advantage as well as see in it.

“I saw you fall.” Her voice shook, and she cleared her throat, hoping it would tamp down her fear. “I tried to get to you, but I was stopped. That’s when they told me you were dead.”

“And you didn’t check yourself?”

His rage had vanished. It was replaced with cool indifference.

Rhi didn’t know which bothered her more. Gone was the Fae who had held her, comforted her after her brother’s death.

Gone was the kindness and laughter that had always been Balladyn’s traits.

Gone was the Fae who had stood guard outside her room when she lost her Dragon King lover.

She shifted, the sounds of her chains loud in the silence. “We were in the middle of war. When the battle was done I went back for you, but your body was gone. For a while I thought you might be alive and wounded. I searched everywhere.”

“Not everywhere.”

Rhi closed her eyes. “It never entered my mind that the Dark had you.”

“Even if they did, no one ever comes to rescue a Light.”

His words were twice the blow, because he reminded her that she was well and truly alone. No Light Fae would dare to venture into the Dark’s territory.

“So as revenge you’ll turn me Dark?” she asked.

His answering chuckle was as icy as the temperature. “Oh, I have something else in mind. Perhaps centuries from now you’ll become Dark. Until then, I plan to have my fun.”

“And how will you do that?”

The eerie silence that followed only heightened her already frayed nerves.

“Balladyn?”

Again there was no answer. He had left her to her own thoughts, allowing her imagination to think of ways that he could hurt her. There were many.

That in itself made her want to scream.

By leaving her alone—in the dark—he was making her endure the cruelest torture of all.

Tristan and the others landed in the field that had seen their first battle with the Dark in seven thousand years. He didn’t relish being back in Ireland. It might be a beautiful country, but it didn’t hold the wild ruggedness of Scotland.

He returned to human form and slowly examined the area. He couldn’t see any doorways created by the Fae, nor did he see any Dark.

“They’re here,” Phelan whispered.

Con stood tall, his nakedness not bothering him. “Where?”

“Hard to place them exactly.”

Urgency rode Tristan hard. “Do you see a doorway?”

“I see six.” Phelan turned his gaze to Tristan. “Each of them could lead to the tunnels we were in last time.”

“Or somewhere else,” Tristan finished.

Rhys narrowed his eyes. “They were expecting us.”

Tristan looked from Con to Rhys to Laith. The Dark wanted him. If the others remained there was a chance the Dark could get lucky and nab a second King.

“Take to the skies,” Tristan told them. “The farther you are from here, the less likely one of you will be captured.”

Laith snorted loudly. “I’d like to see them try to take one of us.”

Tristan didn’t bother to tell them he planned to give himself to the Dark Ones. He could survive with them. Sammi couldn’t. And Jane would never forgive him if Sammi wasn’t returned.

Rhys gave a vicious shake of his head. “You can no’ be serious!”

Tristan didn’t pretend not to know what he meant. “There isna another way to find Sammi. We had Rhi last time. It was only because of Rhi that we found Kellan and Denae. Look around,” he said and spread his arms. “There’s no Rhi. We’ll be guessing with whatever doorway we take. It could lead us anywhere. We could be stuck for weeks, months. Do you know what will happen to Sammi in that time?”

Rhys turned away and glared off into the distance. Laith kept shaking his head. The only King who would meet his gaze was Con.

“She means that much?” Con asked.

Did she ever. Tristan wished he had known just how far Sammi had wormed her way into his psyche and his soul. He’d had an inkling of it when he saw her with Ian. His reaction should have been a sign, but even then he was trying to ignore it.

If only he had realized how much he did care for her, then he would have protected her more. The only way he could make up for what he’d done was by rescuing her from the Dark.

“She does,” he answered.

Con’s nostrils flared as he took in a deep breath and slowly released it. “I’ll come with you. They’ll most likely come after me and give you time to find Sammi.”

“Are you insane?” Laith asked angrily.

One side of Con’s lips twisted in a smile. “Quite possibly.”

“Nay. The Kings need you. Dreagan needs you,” Tristan said.

Con gave him a droll look. “Each King makes their own decisions. I’ve made mine.”

“I’m going in with Tristan as well,” Ian said. “I didna come all this way to sit on the sidelines.”

Tristan nodded. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

“Count us in,” Charon said of him and Phelan.

Phelan chuckled and stared at something to his left. “At least we know what’s in those damn tunnels this time.”

“Would Taraeth no’ have moved?” Tristan asked.

Con’s smile grew cold and calculating. “Taraeth would only move his palace if it was completely destroyed. The battle was here last time.”

“Wait,” Charon said, his brow puckered in a frown. “I thought Taraeth’s compound was on this realm.”

“It is,” Con said. “Just hidden. Earth provides humans for the Dark to enjoy, but the realm doesn’t give them everything they need.” He motioned around him with a sweep of his arm. “So Taraeth finds a place he likes, cloaks it in magic so no one sees it, and then peels back the layers between realms until part of the Fae world is visible beneath his great house. It gives him a seat of power, or so he thinks.”

Ian rubbed his forehead thoughtfully. “When we go through one of those doorways we could be in the Fae realm?”

“Potentially,” Rhys said.

Laith turned his back to them. “I think each King should take a doorway until we find the one we want.”

“Too risky,” Tristan said. He quickly looked at Phelan. “Do you remember the doorway Rhi made?”

Phelan squinted. “I might be able to pick it out.”

“Good. Search for it.” Tristan then looked to Laith and Rhys. “We’ll have to work hard to get out of the tunnels this time. The Dark Ones will have things in place to prevent it. You two will be our cover once we do come out.”

Rhys punched him hard in the shoulder. “And you better come out along with Sammi. Doona make us come back in there for you.”

He smiled and let them think he agreed. Tristan knew how hard they had worked, and the luck that had been on their side when they’d freed Kellan and Denae from the Dark.

The Dark had followed them out of the doorway, and it was only with the help of the Kings that they won that skirmish.

This time the Dark were prepared. This time they expected him. And this time there wouldn’t be a way out. Tristan had accepted that. He just hoped the others did as well.

“I doona think I can leave you in there,” Ian whispered as they watched Rhys and Laith shift into dragon form and take to the skies.

Tristan lowered his gaze. “You’re going to have to. Just as you’ll have to convince the others no’ to come back in for me.”

“I lost you once before. Now you’re asking me to let you go after I’ve just found you again? You’re my brother whether you’re a Warrior or a Dragon King.”

He faced Ian and smiled grimly. “I doona have a choice this time. Sammi needs me.”

“Is it love?”

“I doona know. Maybe. I think about her constantly, and I can no’ stand to be away from her. I crave her touch and her kisses as if there were no tomorrow.”

Ian smiled ruefully. “I do believe you’ve fallen for the lovely Samantha. You never looked at a woman as you do her.”

“I never … had someone?” He had been afraid to ask, afraid that he had left behind someone important.

“Never. There were women, but none that ever held your attention or your affections. The same can no’ be said for Sammi.”

“How did you know you loved Dani?”

Ian smiled at the mention of his wife. “When the idea of living life without her by my side seemed pointless. Doona do as I did and fight what’s between you and Sammi. Take hold of her and love her, brother.”

“Even when I doona know why I was made into a King?”

“Even then. Love can no’ be understood. You’ve been given a second chance all around. Will you really throw your chance with Sammi away to let the Dark have you?”

Tristan didn’t want to. He wanted to go on enjoying life—and Sammi.

“Understand,” Con said quietly as he stood beside Phelan and Charon. “The Dark are waiting. They doona plan to do any kind of trade.” He turned his head and looked at Tristan. “If we’re going to win this day, we need a plan they’ll never see coming.”