Smoke and Fire (25 page)

A woman with wavy blond hair and kind brown eyes smiled as she said, “Hi, Kinsey. I'm Iona. I hear you're giving Ryder hell. Good for you.”

Another Scot, though her accent was barely there, as if she'd spent a lot of time away from Scotland. Kinsey chuckled. “He can run circles around me on the computers, but don't tell him I said that.”

“Never,” Iona said with a wink.

Kinsey turned to the last woman who had sandy blond hair pulled back in a ponytail and beautiful powder blue eyes. She shot Kinsey a half-smile.

“That's Samantha, though we call her Sammi,” Lexi explained.

“Sammi,” Kinsey said with a nod, unsure of how to approach her.

Sammi glanced at the others, then spoke in a thick Scots accent. “They don't want me to ask, but I need to.”

“Ask what?”

“We've heard you're afraid of Ryder.”

Kinsey should've known something like that wouldn't stay private. She'd hoped it would remain between her, Tristan, Con, and Dmitri.

Though she didn't know how many Dragon Kings were on Dreagan, she knew it had to be several. Add in the women, and it was a lot of people. Almost like a small village.

Nothing stayed quiet or private in a village.

Lexi touched Kinsey's shoulder. “You don't have to answer.”

“No, it's okay.” Kinsey swallowed. “Yes, I said that.”

Sammi took a deep breath, a small frown forming. “You spent a year with him. You knew him.”

“I didn't, actually. He kept secrets from me.”

“But he saved your life,” Iona added.

Kinsey nodded, agreeing. “That he did. However, seeing a dragon drop from the sky breathing fire, only to shift right in front of me to the man I knew was terrifying.”

“Not once in a year did he allude to being a dragon?” Lexi asked.

Kinsey turned and grabbed a mug to fill it with coffee. It was too early in the morning to be answering such personal questions without at least two cups of caffeine in her. “No.”

“But you saw the tattoo, right?” Grace asked.

She turned back around with the coffee between her hands to face the women. “Each of you are mated to a Dragon King, correct?”

“Yes,” they answered in unison.

Just as she'd figured. “Tell me how long you were with them before they told you who they really were.”

All four looked at each other, suddenly very uncomfortable. Whatever hurt Kinsey thought she was getting past reared its head again. She knew the answer. Why did she have to ask it? Did she like being hurt again and again?

Sammi was the first to say, “Tristan was sent to help me since I was being targeted by the Mob, which of course is run by Ulrik. I saw him in dragon form when I fell from a mountain and he caught me. I'll admit, I was scared for a bit.”

“My father was murdered,” Iona said. “That's why I returned to Scotland. Since Campbell land borders Dreagan, I became the custodian. I fell for Laith the first time I saw him, and loved him before I knew he was a dragon. I learned about Dreagan and the Dragon Kings slowly, so when Laith shifted, I was in awe, but never afraid.”

Kinsey wanted to curl up into a ball. She started to tell the others never mind, that she didn't need to hear any more, but Grace was already talking.

“I had writer's block and found Arian's mountain. I saw him battle a Dark Fae, and I'll tell you, I was horrified and scared out of my mind. I'd only known Arian for a few hours, but he was injured from the Dark magic. I couldn't leave him. Helping him back to the mountain prompted him to tell me everything. Mostly because he thought I was working for Ulrik, which I kept telling him was wrong,” she ended with a laugh.

Kinsey stared into the black liquid of her coffee. Her blood pounded in her ears as each story was confirmation of what she'd suspected from the beginning.

Long minutes passed before she realized there was silence in the kitchen. Kinsey looked to Lexi who was staring at her. “And you?”

“I don't think it matters,” Lexi said.

Kinsey appreciated her kindness. “It does. Please tell me.”

Lexi swallowed, sadness in her slate gray eyes. “I already told you how I saw a Dark kill my friend and I began hunting them. I knew there was something different about Thorn, so I followed him one time when he left me at the flat. I saw him shift in the warehouse in Edinburgh to burn the bodies of the Dark he'd killed.”

“Don't forget how Guy wiped your memories of Thorn, and yet they returned to you,” Grace said.

They could wipe memories? Now that was something Kinsey hadn't known. Interesting. And freakishly chilling.

Lexi shrugged at Grace's words. “The point we're all trying to make, Kinsey, is that the first time we see them we're all a little scared. They're huge and powerful and immortal.”

“The point, Lexi,” Kinsey said with as much of a smile as she could muster past the hurt in her chest, “is that each of your men showed you who they were. They chose to make that decision. Ryder kept it from me. He left me. For three years I had no contact with him or a way to talk to him. Then, out of nowhere he's there. One minute as a dragon, and the next as a man.”

Sammi's gaze was full of misery and sorrow. “You're in love with him.”

“No,” Kinsey stated firmly. At one time she was, but not anymore. “That time is long gone.”

“Perhaps not,” Grace said.

Kinsey walked past them as she said, “It was nice meeting you.”

She hurried up the stairs to the third floor. The walk down the corridor to the computer room seemed exceptionally long that morning. She couldn't help but feel as if everyone at Dreagan was watching her.

Or it could be the dragons in the pictures lining the hall.

Either way, it was eerie.

“Did you sleep well?”

She halted at the voice coming from inside a darkened room she'd just passed. Kinsey backed up and leaned to peer inside the room. A form moved from the darkness and walked into the hallway. Constantine.

“I did,” she replied. So she had been watched.

Con walked slowly toward Ryder's office, motioning her to follow him. “I'm glad to hear it,” he said with a bit of an edge to the words.

“Why don't I believe that? You say the right words, but your tone says something completely different.”

He cut his black eyes to her. “I appreciate your frankness, Kinsey.”

“Because you don't get it from humans often?”

“Nay, I doona. They're intimidated by me.”

She snorted. “Just the way you like it.”

A small smile lifted one corner of his lips. “Perhaps.”

That's when it hit her that Con knew about her night with Ryder. “You don't approve of me and Ryder, do you?”

He halted and turned to face her. “If I say yes?”

“I'd tell you that you don't need to worry. Whatever was between us is gone. I enjoy being with him. He's an amazing lover.”

“You wouldna continue the relationship?”

“No.” She was really getting good at lying. Soon she'd be able to convince herself.

Con's look was doubtful. “What of Ryder?”

“What about him? He's a Dragon King and immortal. Not to mention he left me.”

“I believe he regrets that.”

Kinsey shot him a dubious look. “Why tell me that? You don't approve of us, but imparting that kind of information could change things if I was of a mind to try.”

“Are you? Of a mind to try?”

There was no emotion on his face or in his gaze. Kinsey wasn't sure if he was teasing her or testing her. “No.”

“You said that a wee bit fast.”

“Truth comes quickly.”

Con gave a nod before he pivoted and walked away. She shook her head, wondering why every encounter with Con left her more confused than before.

Despite her wanting to ignore Con's words, she couldn't. Did Ryder really regret what he'd done? He'd said as much when he thought her asleep, but she hadn't believed him. She wasn't even sure she believed Con.

They could be attempting to get her to fall for Ryder again so they could use her as a mole in Kyvor.

She started toward the computer room when she heard her mobile phone ringing. Kinsey walked faster, but it stopped long before she reached her chair.

When she checked the phone she saw that Cecil had called her three times last night and twice that morning. She set her coffee down with a groan.

“Bad news?” Ryder asked without looking in her direction.

Kinsey turned her head to answer him when she saw he was now working on fourteen of the monitors. “It's Cecil. I forgot to turn in a work order yesterday to give me a reason to remain on Dreagan.”

“They didna put a tracking device on your phone, but they could hack in and locate your GPS. However, on Dreagan, they wouldna be able to find you.”

That was a small comfort. “If that's true and my tracking isn't showing up, then they know I'm still here.”

“Aye,” he said, typing.

She leaned back in her chair. “Will you sign whatever work order I draw up?”

“Of course. We need you here.”

She almost asked if they would allow her to leave, but then she realized it didn't matter. If she wanted to prove her innocence, she needed Ryder. The only way to do that was to stay on Dreagan for however long it took.

Kinsey pulled out her tablet and typed up three different work orders. They weren't anything that would look suspicious. In fact, they were add-ons to what she originally was sent to Dreagan for.

When she finished, she handed the tablet to Ryder, who signed without looking at what she wrote.

“Aren't you even curious about what they say?”

“Nay,” he replied before returning to his monitors and scrolling through picture after picture of men.

Kinsey sent the orders to Cecil. Then she picked up her phone to return his calls when she hesitated. “I thought you'd still be in bed when I woke.”

Ryder gradually turned his head to her. “You were sleeping soundly, and I was needed here.”

“We didn't talk much last night.”

“You were clear in your thoughts.”

Was he upset? Had she hurt his feelings? That thought unsettled her. For a while she used to want to wound him as he'd hurt her, but those thoughts had faded quickly.

Now the idea that she caused him to suffer distressed her. He'd wanted honesty last night, but she hadn't been able to give him the answers he wanted to hear.

But how easy it would've been to give in and see if she could have a future with Ryder.

 

CHAPTER THIRTY

Kinsey saw Ryder tense slightly when her mobile rang again. She didn't glance at him as she answered it, putting it on speaker as she continued to run encryption software on the e-mails.

“Hello, Cecil,” Kinsey said. “I was just about to call you.” It was a lie, but Cecil would never know. The man was too concerned about gaining another title to consider anyone might be lying to him.

“Good, good,” his voice came over the mobile. “I was getting worried.”

Kinsey paused in her typing and looked at her phone. There was strain in his voice. Her gaze shifted to Ryder to find him looking at her as well. She shrugged, letting Ryder know she didn't have a clue what was going on.

“Because I was late with the work orders?” she asked.

Cecil laughed nervously. “I told you it was important.”

“And I said I'd get it done. I did.”

“Well, girl, you've never let me down before. This would be a bad time to start.”

That took Kinsey aback. “What's that supposed to mean? I've always done my job.”

“Of course you have,” he said quickly, then laughed to try and divert her questioning. “There's just a lot going on around the office.”

But Kinsey wasn't going to let it go. “Why would you think I'd let you down?”

“Well,” Cecil said with a slight hesitation. “They put a lot of emphasis on how well my people do.”

“They always have. Yet I've got the distinct impression that you're making it sound much more serious. What's going on?” she asked.

Ryder gave a nod of approval at her approach, which made her want to smile.

Cecil stuttered over himself before he said, “Nothing you need to worry about.”

“We're way above quota. Right?” she urged when he was silent.

“Right.”

But his answer was much too hasty. Kinsey lifted her hands helplessly to Ryder. He motioned for her to continue where she was going with her questions.

“Is your job in jeopardy, Cecil?”

His nervous laughter was answer enough. “In this era of hacking, encryptions, spying, and protection of everything electronic, my job is never completely secure.”

“Then perhaps I should talk to Harriet. She needs to know that you're doing a good job managing us out in the field.”

“That's not necessary. I wanted to let you know I got your work orders. Good job.”

The line disconnected. Kinsey frowned at the mobile phone and sat back in her chair. “That was odd.”

“He's being pressured,” Ryder said.

“Obviously. But by who?”

“Whoever made sure you were sent to Dreagan.”

She bit her lip and slid her gaze to him. “I really hate not knowing who this asshole is.”

“Then what's stopping you?” he asked with a wink.

Kinsey returned his smile. Ryder was the best there was at hacking. “I'm waiting on you.”

He gave a push with his feet that sent his chair rolling toward her. Ryder stopped it right before they crashed into each other. “Let's go over what we know.”

“All right. We know that someone at Kyvor used the desk of Clarice Steinhold to put in the fake work order with my name sending me here.”

Ryder tapped his finger on the table. “We also know that they were smart enough to block the camera on the computer as well as have those in the office recording their movements in and out of the building erased.”