Smoke and Fire (15 page)

Ryder walked to the cage and placed his hand upon the dragon nearest him. These weren't his dragons, but they were dragons. Right now he needed to remember who he was.

Because every moment he couldn't have Kinsey was tearing him apart.

He hadn't realized how much he hungered, craved her until she was within arm's reach. She was closer than she had been in years, but yet she was further away than ever before.

Ryder rested his forehead on the bars and focused on the dragons' breathing. These were the last four dragons on the realm. Every time he came to see them, it made Ryder sad. They should be flying, their wings outstretched and the sun upon their scales.

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.

It was a dream Ulrik had held onto for thousands of years. He couldn't believe how close he was to fulfilling it. All that had gone wrong so long ago would be set right.

Ulrik searched for a twinge of remorse at the thought of killing Con, but there was nothing there. Whatever had bonded him and Con together millions of years ago had been severed with Con's betrayal.

Con had been part of his family at one time. Ulrik would've died for Con. How had he not seen the true Constantine?

That was because Con was a great actor. He pushed all his emotions aside. He shut down and refused to let anyone in. Con was a master at it.

All too soon the peace that Con built around himself would be shattered. Ulrik had refused to fight him when Con became King of Kings. It was a mistake Ulrik had made because of love. He'd loved Con as a brother then.

That ridiculous emotion changed Ulrik's life forever. It made him an outcast, banished from his home and his brethren.

Con used to tell him not to allow emotions to rule his life. It took the treachery of his most trusted friend for Ulrik to see how true Con's words were.

All emotion but one was erased within Ulrik. He lived, breathed, and cultivated the resentment housed inside him. It pulled him past the brink of madness.

It focused him.

For tens of thousands of years Ulrik had been setting a plan in motion. And it was going beautifully.

Ulrik walked from the shadows to his Silvers. “Hear me,” he whispered.

He didn't need to speak to them. Their link was mental, but they liked the sound of his voice. In response, the one closest to him moved his front limb.

“A wee bit longer,” he soothed. “Then you'll be free of this cage and the sleep. We'll bring our own brand of justice down upon the mortals. And this time nothing will stop us.”

Ulrik walked to each of the dragons, whispering their names as he touched them. Being near them gave him strength, reminded him of how important it was that he win.

He would win. Of that he had no doubt. Ulrik had known from the beginning he could beat Con. He hadn't wanted to before. Now was a different story.

Ulrik returned to the shadows. Just as he was about to teleport away, he heard voices. His enhanced hearing picked up Dmitri's and Thorn's voices.

“He wants her,” Dmitri said.

Thorn chuckled. “Of course Ryder does. It's obvious in the way he looks at her.”

“She's verra beautiful.”

“I'm just thankful she's on Dreagan.”

“I'd feel better if we could locate Ulrik,” Dmitri said.

They walked into the cavern and stood beside the cage looking at the Silvers. Thorn crossed his arms over his chest. “After the last run-in we had with Ulrik, I think it's imperative we know where he is at all times.”

“He must've been watching all of us for years. How much did we give away without knowing?”

Thorn exchanged a look with Dmitri. “Probably too much. I believe Ryder is the only one being targeted right now.”

“Can we assume that? With the network Ulrik has, he could be aiming his malicious intent at any number of us at once.”

“With MI5 crawling over Dreagan, there isna much Ulrik can do without exposing himself as well.”

Dmitri squatted down and rubbed the forehead of one of the Silvers. “Do you really think that will stop him? He wants the humans gone. This is the perfect time for him to strike, because he knows we willna do anything.”

Ulrik smiled knowingly. Everything was lining up. There were just a few more critical things that needed to happen before he could challenge Con.

“You sided with Ulrik before,” Thorn said. “Will you again?”

Dmitri blew out a breath. “The truth is, I'm tired of hiding who I am. We've done it for so long that we've accepted the invisible chains around us. This was our realm, Thorn.”

“Then we agreed to share it.”

Dmitri gave a shake of his head. “Did we? Or were the mortals put here for us to annihilate? Did any of us ever consider that?”

“I'm mated to one of those humans,” Thorn said in a low voice.

Dmitri held his gaze. “You'll no' find me taking one into my bed. It's why I've always chosen the Light Fae. I'm glad you and the others have found love, but can you really trust your women? Look what Ulrik's woman did. It'll happen again, Thorn. Mark my words.”

Ulrik's smile grew. This discord within the Dragon Kings was growing, just as he knew it would.

 

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Ryder picked up a jelly donut and bit into it. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Kinsey glance his way. Since his return from visiting the Silvers, Ryder had ignored her.

And she didn't like it.

He found her looking his way every so often with a side glance. She hadn't said a word, but her constant shifting in her chair was giving her away.

Ryder clicked a tab on the computer and music filled the air. Seether's “Words as Weapons” began to play. Ryder set the playlist to shuffle and repeat before he checked on the scans of Ireland.

Still no sign of Ulrik. Where was he? Ryder couldn't help but think they were missing something that was right in front of their faces.

There were still sections of Ireland to be scanned. While that worked, he checked on the mortals on Dreagan. The software program he'd written that captured all the information about the humans was collecting data at a rapid rate, cataloging it perfectly.

Ryder scanned the list. Over fifty agents on Dreagan. Surely MI5 wouldn't continue to keep such numbers on Dreagan when there were other threats across Britain.

Something kept nagging at Ryder. He began to read over the data on the agents more closely.

There was a tap on his shoulder. He blinked and looked up to find Kinsey standing beside him. The annoyed look on her face had him asking, “What is it?”

“You did it again.”

“Did what?” he asked, glancing around before he paused the music.

She pointed to the three monitors he had taken over. “You got engrossed. You've been staring at those screens for three hours. I've left twice without you even hearing me.”

Ryder slid a hand down his face. Damn. He was supposed to be keeping an eye on her. If he was going to take responsibility for Kinsey, he couldn't allow himself to become so absorbed in his work.

“Don't worry,” she said as she rolled her head from side to side, stretching out her neck. “I went to the kitchen and the bathroom only. What are you looking for?”

“I'm no' sure. Just a feeling that something isna right.”

Kinsey put her legs together and bent forward, placing her hands on the floor to stretch. “You said MI5 was used against you before. Perhaps that's what you're thinking about.”

He watched as she remained in that position for a moment before she straightened, flipping her long hair over. “Possibly. My feelings are no' usually off.”

“All right.” She came to stand beside him. “Since I'm still searching through tens of thousands of e-mails of crapola, give me something else to think about for a bit.” She read over the data on one screen. “Wow. That's a lot of information.”

“I wanted to make sure we had everything.”

“What about pictures of these people?”

Ryder cut her a dry look. “It's the first thing taken.”

“Show me.”

With a few punches of the keys, he pointed a monitor toward her. The faces of the MI5 agents began to play through one by one every three seconds.

“Stop,” Kinsey said.

Ryder quickly halted the rotation. His mouth dropped open in surprise.

“Your instincts weren't wrong,” Kinsey with a sad look. “What are you going to do?”

Ryder looked into the face of Esther North. She wore colored contacts, making her eyes brown, and dyed her hair black. Not even the fake nose and chin could hide who she was.

“Whoever taught her is good,” Kinsey said.

“MI5 trained her.”

Kinsey looked down at him. “Is she with MI5 then after what we saw in her file?”

“That's a good question. I'm going to need to show Con and Henry this.”

“Henry has already been up here twice. He tried to get your attention to see if you found anything about his sister.”

For once, Ryder was glad he'd been too preoccupied to know someone was there. “You didna tell him?”