Fire Rising (Dark Kings) (23 page)

The silence stretched on as she debated whether to go to him as she longed to do or keep her distance. The thought of never knowing the taste of his kiss again, of never feeling his body against hers made her ill.

“Will you return with me?” he asked.

Everything hinged on her answer. She could feel it in her bones, and yet she didn’t have an immediate response. “Was the Dark attack real?”

“Verra.”

Rhys cleared his throat and dropped his hand from holding Tristan back. Sammi jerked as she glanced around, remembering they were surrounded by people.

“He’s no’ lying,” Rhys said. “The Dark could attack at any moment.”

Sammi bit her lip. “I didn’t know. I thought it was a ploy to get me to the manor as Jane wanted.”

There was movement behind her as Ian stood. She watched Tristan’s eyes shift over her shoulder. If she hadn’t been studying him she would never have seen the slight stiffening of his body.

She crossed the distance separating them to lend whatever support he might need. Sammi couldn’t imagine what Tristan was thinking, but the bland expression said what his lips would not.

“Dunc … Tristan,” Ian said with a hopeful, joyous light in his eyes. “I never thought I’d see you again.”

A man with long, almost black hair shouldered his way past Rhys and another man Sammi had just noticed to take the glass of whisky from Charon’s hand. He drained the scotch in one swallow. “It’s taken long enough to get the two of you together.”

“Phelan,” Charon said with a frown. Charon then looked at the two brothers. “The last time I saw the both of you together was in Cairn Toul. If it hadna been for Ian’s hair being shorn, I wouldna have been able to tell you two apart.”

Tristan had yet to utter a word. He was getting the look of a man who was trying to find his footing. Sammi slid her hand into his and interlocked their fingers.

When he squeezed her hand, she let out a relieved breath. She might not be happy with what he had done to her, but Tristan needed her right now.

She put her other hand on his arm. “I met Dani, Ian’s wife, in the store and she brought me here. They told me what happened and why you don’t remember him.”

To her surprise, Tristan turned his head to her. “Are you ready to leave?”

Sammi blinked. Apparently Tristan had nothing to say to Ian, which in a lot of ways she could understand. Yet, Ian stood a few feet away from a twin he had been trying to see.

“Don’t walk away,” she whispered.

“The Dark could be closing in. We should get back.”

He said it as if she hadn’t just asked him to face his brother. Sammi glanced at Rhys, who wore a glower of disapproval. She was searching for a way to stop Tristan when he turned on his heel and dragged her to the door.

It was only because he wasn’t expecting it that she was able to shove him around so that he hit a wall. She plastered her body to his and put her lips to his.

The kiss was meant to slow him, to stop him, but with one taste, the inferno inside her blazed. His arms wrapped around her, molding her to him as he ravaged her mouth like a starved man.

Sammi, for her part, was just as ravenous. She slid her hands into the silk of his hair and gripped the locks tightly. The passion, the soul-stirring need knocked her off her feet and kept her unbalanced, and yet she sought it out, yearning for more of it.

When he pulled back to end the kiss, she clung to him, not ready to stop the delicious desire coiling within.

“I can no’,” he said in a voice so low she barely heard it.

She didn’t need to ask to know he spoke of Ian. It was too hard for him, just as it had been difficult for her with Jane. Sammi understood all too well.

Tristan knew he was holding her too tightly, but he couldn’t seem to loosen his hold. Just having Sammi in his arms calmed the turbulence and turmoil of finding her gone.

“Then don’t.”

He’d expected her to argue the point in staying and talking to Ian, not to give him a pass. Tristan looked into her blue eyes and was drowning in the pale light.

Images filled his mind, memories pulled up from a deep crevice, of him and Ian. They stood side by side fighting, laughing, and living.

Tristan lowered his forehead to rest against Sammi’s. The memories incessantly slammed into him on a playback so that he lived the same battle, the same fight in a mountain again and again.

Blood coated both him and Ian. He looked down to see his hands and the pale blue skin and claws he recognized. They slashed flesh and beheaded small yellow creatures that he knew were Deirdre’s creation called wyrrn.

He saw Ian battling another Warrior as a second snuck up behind him. Tristan hadn’t hesitated. He had let out a roar and attacked.

Sammi’s hands caressed his face as she moved aside his hair. Her touch was cool against his heated flesh, and he dug his fingers into her back.

The sounds, smells, and sights of those memories were as clear as if he were in the middle of it. He lifted his head and met Ian’s gaze.

The twin he wanted to deny stood watching him. They were identical down to the small mole on the left side of their necks. Beside Ian stood a woman with silvery blond hair and bright green eyes.

That was Ian’s wife, Dani. Was it coincidence that both he and Ian had women with male names? It had to be. Right?

Fallon gave a shake of his head. “I thought when you came to the castle that you were ready to see Ian.”

Tristan thought he had been. Then he saw Ian and knew he wasn’t remotely ready.

“It doesna matter,” Ian said as he dropped his gaze. “We need to get Sammi back to Dreagan before the Dark show up.”

Phelan elbowed Charon. “It’s been awhile since we battled anything evil.”

A brunette with moss green eyes shot Phelan a withering look. “After what you told me and Charon about fighting the Dark in Ireland?”

“Now, Laura,” Charon said as he pulled her against him and nuzzled her neck. “You know we Warriors need battle to appease our gods. Besides, we’ll just be helping the Kings if they need it.”

Laura gave him a droll look before spearing Phelan with another hard look. “Have you told Aisley yet?”

“I’ll handle my wife,” Phelan murmured.

Rhys laughed, the sound loud and booming. “Oh, I’d like to see that. The Phoenix will have something to say, no doubt.”

Phelan’s forehead crinkled in a frown. “My wife understands my need to kill something evil.”

Tristan noticed that Ian had yet to say anything. Dani was whispering something in his ear while he rubbed a hand up and down her back. Their love was strong, a bond unbreakable after all they had endured to give their hearts to each other.

He looked down at Sammi to find her eyes on him and full of worry. He understood her worry. “You doubt our night together was real.”

“Yes.”

“It was.” He wound a lock of her wavy, sandy hair around his finger. “I think the kiss we just shared proved that when it comes to you, I have no control. I see you, I want you, and I have to have you.”

“Lust. It’s a powerful emotion.”

“That it is.” She seemed content to stay in his arms, and he was in no hurry to move.

Her tongue peeked out to lick her lips. “What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to take you back to Dreagan while we hunt the group of Dark who are trying to take you.”

“That’s not what I meant,” she said with a lift of one brow.

He knew, but he wasn’t ready to talk about Ian. That was a subject he needed more time to think on. Seeing Ian was a blow, but it was also like coming home.

“How do you know they’re coming for me?”

Tristan ran his thumb over her lips. “Ulrik told me. He said he would call off the attack if I joined him.”

“Ulrik? Is that who is behind all of this? Who is he?”

“He’s a Dragon King who had his magic taken away by Con and can no longer shift. He wants revenge.”

Her nails lightly scratched his scalp. “Apparently. This could be a trap for you or any of the Kings.”

He had already considered as much, but he could endure whatever the Dark had in store for him far more than Sammi could. “I’m sure it is.”

“And you’re still going to go?” she asked in surprise as she paused in her caress.

“I must.”

“If you stop the Dark Ones this time, will it be over?”

Tristan had kept the truth from her, and it had made her run. It was time to stop lying to and evading her. “It’s doubtful.”

“I won’t stay in that mountain the rest of my life.”

“I willna let you.”

Tristan had been thinking of how he was going to stop the Dark, and he knew there were only two ways. He could join Ulrik or he could let himself be taken by the Dark Ones.

Neither option was optimal, but neither was keeping someone as vibrant and beautiful as Sammi hidden away just to keep her safe.

“What are you planning?” Sammi asked suspiciously.

The entire room grew quiet as they waited for him to respond. He smoothed his hands down her hair and gently set her away from him. “Rhys, take Sammi to Jane and Banan.”

“Tristan,” Sammi said in a low voice.

He then looked to Phelan and Charon. “With the other Kings in the air scouting for the Dark, having someone on the ground with the woman at Dreagan will be helpful.”

“Consider it done,” Phelan agreed.

Tristan then turned to Fallon. “If you would be willing, I’d like for you to jump me to Perth.”

Rhys let out a string of curses as he began to understand the plan.

Next, Tristan looked to Ian. “I’ve no right to ask…”

“Ask,” Ian said with a firm nod.

Sammi forced him to look at her. “What are you doing?”

“I’m ending this.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Rhys prowled through the mountain in a fury. Tristan’s plan had merit, but not when he was facing Ulrik alone. Especially after Ulrik had tried to recruit him.

Whether Tristan wanted to admit it or not, Sammi was important to him. It was just like Tristan to be honorable and sacrifice his freedom for Sammi.

Or worse—join Ulrik.

“Fuck!”

“I’ve never seen you at such a loss for words.”

Rhys whirled around to find Phelan leaning against the entrance to the mountain. “Sod off, Warrior.”

Phelan waited until Rhys walked past him before he fell into step. “You doona think Tristan’s plan will work?”

“It might.”

“Then what’s got your knickers in a knot?”

Rhys stopped and glowered at the Warrior. “I counted on Con to put a stop to Tristan’s plan.”

“Ah,” Phelan said, understanding dawning. “But Con isna.”

“Nay. It defies reasoning. Con has never wanted any of us to contact Ulrik. He about busted his scales when he learned Banan went to see him. Now he wants to do nothing when Tristan is doing the same?”

Phelan shrugged as they began to walk to the manor. “Who knows what’s going on in that warped mind of Con’s.”

“If I have to, I’ll go into the world of the Dark to find Tristan.”

“And I’ll go with you,” Phelan said. “However, you’re forgetting one important fact.”

“What?”

“Tristan may join Ulrik.”

After the way Tristan had spoken of Ulrik it was a distinct possibility, and that was why Rhys was so upset. He liked Tristan, not to mention he made one hell of a Dragon King.

If Ulrik managed to woo Tristan to his side, then Tristan would do in one fell swoop what Ulrik had been unable to do for thousands of millennia—undermine Con.

Was that why Con had let Tristan go?

“I see you’ve considered that,” Phelan said.

“Aye.”

Rhys stopped outside the manor and looked to the sky to see dragons circling. There were no visitors to Dreagan, and all mortal workers had been given the day off. But it wasn’t a celebration they planned.

It was a battle that could be the beginning of the end of Dreagan.

“Deirdre, Declan, and Jason all tried to tear us apart from within,” Phelan said. “We survived it all, and we were no’ together nearly as long as you Kings.”

Rhys looked into Phelan’s blue-gray eyes. “Ulrik’s banishment nearly tore us apart. I can no’ see any meddling he does no’ harming us in some way.”

“Then let’s no’ let him meddle.”

Rhys found a reason to smile as they entered the manor.

*   *   *

Tristan stood across the street from The Silver Dragon antiques shop and considered his plan. It was the only move he had, and yet he couldn’t get the taste of Sammi’s kiss out of his mind.

If only there had been time to strip off her clothes and make slow, sweet love to her. Her image was burned into his mind, as was the first time they had made love.

He couldn’t keep his hands off her. It was a problem because Ulrik and the Dark would use her against him if his plan didn’t work.

Kellan might have withstood the Dark as they threatened and harmed Denae, but Tristan wasn’t so sure he could do the same. He had failed at being a Warrior, and somehow had been given a second chance as a Dragon King.

Was he going to screw that up as well?

Tristan pushed away from the building and ran across the street, dodging an oncoming car. Charon had loaned him a shirt and shoes, so it saved him from having to return to Dreagan.

He pushed open the door, and the tinkling of a bell sounded above him, announcing his arrival. He glanced around the shop for Ulrik.

It wasn’t until his gaze lifted to the second floor that he spotted his target. Ulrik stood staring down at him with a bored expression. His long hair was loose, a contrast to the tailored suit he wore.

“Wipe your feet. I doona want my floors ruined.”

As far as first words went, they couldn’t have been further from what he expected. Tristan complied and wiped his feet on the rug while Ulrik closed the book in his hand and shelved it.

Tristan grew impatient as Ulrik continued to peruse the bookshelf that housed first editions and books dating back centuries.

“Are you going to just stand there, or are you going to tell me what you want?” Ulrik asked.

Tristan held back his retort and took a deep breath. “You’re the one who contacted me, offering to stop the attack on Sammi if I joined you.”