Fire Rising

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

Balladyn’s answering grin made Tristan want to smash his fist into the Dark Fae’s face. It had all been a trick. But why?

“Are you sure that isn’t your Sammi?”

“She isna mine,” Tristan said in an even tone. He couldn’t show his anger, no matter how much he wanted to. “Sammi doesna have any tattoos. Take me to her. Now.”

“As you wish,” Balladyn said and turned on his heel.

Tristan stayed just one step behind him. No other Dark followed, which put him more on edge than ever. The Dark obviously had a plan. They didn’t try to force him into a room or shackle him. Yet.

It would come. He wasn’t about to lower his guard just because he was being treated as a guest. The Dark wanted something from him. They wouldn’t get it, but they could certainly try.

As they walked down the corridor, Tristan let his gaze wander around. The lighting was dimmed, the furnishings opulent to the point of gaudy.

The place was immaculately clean, but nothing could dispel the cloud of evil the Dark brought. They lived off humans, draining them of love, hope, and happiness—and leaving behind a shell of nothing but an insatiable hunger for sex with the Dark.

“You don’t approve,” Balladyn said, his Irish accent thickening, a small tell that he was annoyed.

Tristan shrugged when Balladyn glanced at him over his shoulder as they turned a corner. “It’s no’ exactly my decorating taste.”

“I’m not referring to the furnishings, Dragon.”

“And I’m no’ talking about this place, Dark.”

Balladyn stopped walking and shifted to the side to look at Tristan. “How does it feel to be the newest King? Have your brethren told you all of their conquests? How about their failures?”

“I know enough. I’ve got a lot of years to catch up on.”

“Thousands upon thousands. You’re a fool if you think they’ve done nothing but good.”

Tristan kept his voice mild as he said, “The humans are still here, are they no’? The same willna be said if your kind take over as you want.”

“The humans are nothing more than cattle. They destroy this realm with the carelessness of a child. And yet you defend them. They ran your dragons out, hunted them one by one.”

“That they did. And what will you do the mortals?”

Balladyn’s smile was pure evil. “We’ll hunt them down one by one.”

“You just want the Kings to step aside?”

“You should be thanking us for doing what none of you could. What kind of race of beings would send their own kind away to save ungrateful, ungracious, vain, self-absorbed, vicious, destructive creatures? Only the Dragon Kings. You’ve alienated yourselves.”

“You went to all that trouble to capture Kellan and now me just to ask us to step aside? I think no’.”

Balladyn began walking again, this time more slowly. He waited until Tristan was even with him before he said, “Of course not. There is something we’re looking for.”

“With all your magic, you can no’ find it?”

“No,” he said flatly. He motioned for Tristan to turn right. “It was hidden by the Kings.”

Tristan stared blankly as Balladyn searched his face. He had no idea what the Dark was going on about, but he would play along for the time being. “There’s a reason for that.”

“It was hidden before Constantine became the King of Kings. It was hidden by the first King of Kings and protected by his successors.”

Tristan wracked his brain for what it could possibly be, but he came up empty. “Why do you want it?”

“Do you ever wonder how Con became the King of Kings?”

“He was the strongest of the dragons.”

Balladyn shook his head. “Ulrik was stronger, but Ulrik didn’t want to rule everyone else. He wanted the Kings to rule themselves, but I’m getting ahead of myself. I’m talking about Con. Do you know how a King of Kings is chosen?”

“Of course.”

“Do you?” he asked thoughtfully. “There were four before Con, and each of them had very short reigns.”

“They were challenged by another Dragon King.”

Balladyn halted before a door. “Precisely. Ask Con what he did to be the next in line.”

Tristan hated that another person was putting doubt in his mind about Con. As far as he knew, Con was doing good in leading the Dragon Kings and running Dreagan.

But how much of the past didn’t he know? The others took it for granted or didn’t care. While Tristan was naïve because he was so new.

Ulrik had put the first seeds of doubt into his mind, and Balladyn was spreading them.

Damn but he hated the suspicion that now rose like a giant within him. Con and the others had welcomed him at Dreagan, they had shown him what it was to be a Dragon King.

But no one was perfect. Everyone made mistakes.

That included Con.

“Show me Sammi,” Tristan demanded again.

Balladyn gave a bow of his head and opened the door. It swung open and Tristan expected Sammi to come running up or hear her voice.

Instead, he saw her floating in midair on her back, her glorious mane of hair softly drifting as if the wind were stirring it.

Rage exploded inside him at the same time a healthy dose of trepidation churned in his gut.

“What did you do to her?” How he kept the fury from leaching into his voice he’d never know.

Balladyn stepped into the room and went to her, leisurely walking around her until she was between them. “We had no choice.”

“Explain that.” Tristan followed him in, but stopped when he reached Sammi. She looked peaceful, as if she were simply asleep.

But he knew better.

“Her mind snapped. She was hurting herself. She broke every bone in both hands. When we went in to calm her, she grew more uncontrollable. It was either this, or…”

Tristan met his red eyes over her body. The Dark didn’t need to finish. Tristan knew exactly the other option they could’ve used. He wasn’t sure why they hadn’t.

“It was a gesture of goodwill,” Balladyn said.

He had known it was coming, just not so soon. “What do you want? I’m already turning myself over to your custody in exchange for you releasing the mortal.”

“I want the location of what we seek.”

“And if I doona have it?”

“Then I’ll wake Sammi and allow the Dark to have her. You saw what they did to the other mortal. Can you imagine what they’ll do to her? A woman who has been with a Dragon King?”

Tristan reassessed his thoughts on Balladyn. The Dark One was clever, and he was banking on Tristan’s feelings for Sammi to get him what he wanted.

All Tristan wanted to do was gather Sammi in his arms and run like the wind. With her in her current state, she couldn’t hear or see him. Which could be to his benefit.

He could test his theory and turn and walk away, but he wasn’t likely to get very far. Besides, he had come in exchange for her. He couldn’t change his mind now.

“What will it be, Dragon King? Will you give me the location?” Balladyn pressed.

“You ask too much.”

“Is it so difficult to agree to wipe out the humans?”

Tristan sent a shout to Con through their link as he said to Balladyn, “It is. We were charged with protecting them.”

“Have you found Sammi?” Con asked.

“Aye. They have her deep within the palace. Lock onto my location and you’ll find us.”

“How is she?”

“They’ve used their magic to make her sleep. Balladyn said she lost her mind and they had no choice. He’s threatening to wake her and give her to the Dark if I don’t give him something in return.”

There was a loud snort from Con. “What does he want now?”

“The location to something he seeks, something he says was hidden by the King of Kings long before you.”

There was silence after his statement. That worried Tristan even as he pretended to listen to Balladyn lament about the humans.

“You know what he seeks.” Tristan stated the obvious, hating that Con didn’t trust him enough to tell him what it was.

“Aye.”

“But you willna tell me.”

“Tristan, you must understand that few of the Kings know of it. Kellan does because he records our history. I do because I’m the King of Kings.”

It made sense, and it also made Tristan feel better that he hadn’t been intentionally left out. “What is it?”

“Something you better hope never falls into their hands. It was hidden for a reason, Tristan.”

“I need to give him something so that he might let Sammi go.”

There was a long pause before Con said, “I’ll take care of that.”

“Well?” Balladyn urged. “Are you going to give me what I want, or shall I call in my fellow Dark?”

Tristan started to make up a lie about a location the object could be when shouting rang out through the palace. Balladyn’s eyes narrowed as he ran around Sammi’s body to the door.

“It’s Constantine!” a Dark shouted as he ran by.

Balladyn whirled around to glare at him. “Is this some trick?”

“Do you want me or do you want Con?”

“I’ll have both,” Balladyn snarled before he stalked out of the room, the lock clicking loudly into place.

Tristan spun about and reached out to touch Sammi. He hesitated, unsure of what kind of Dark Fae magic had been used to put her in such a state.

With a growl of frustration, Tristan tucked his arms beneath her and pulled her against him. Instantly, the magic holding her evaporated and her body slumped.

His anger grew when he felt the dampness of her clothes. She had been wet and cold, and the Dark had done nothing. He glanced at her hands to find them covered in dried blood. Had the Dark healed her broken bones? He doubted it. More worrying was Balladyn’s insistence that Sammi had lost her mind.

There was no telling what the Dark had shown her or done to her. A mortal, even one as strong as Sammi, could only take so much before they snapped.

Tristan turned to walk to the door when it crashed open and Ian filled the doorway, the pale blue skin of his god giving off an eerie light.

“You found her,” his brother said with a relieved smile. “Con let himself be known. The Dark are after him.”

Tristan hurried to Ian. “Only for so long. Balladyn wants both of us. He’ll be back soon.”

“He willna expect you to have gotten out of the room,” Ian said with a sly grin.

“What did you do?”

Ian held up his pale blue-skinned hand and the long light blue claws as they raced down the hallway. His smile showed the fangs protruding, and his eyes were the same pale blue from corner to corner as his skin. “I may no’ be able to do magic, but I can sense it. The Dark, or more precisely, Balladyn’s is interesting. Getting through his magic was like picking a lock.”

“That’s fascinating since the Dark can prevent us from shifting into dragon form. How are you no’ affected by it?”

“I didna say that,” Ian said while wrinkling his nose. “The Dark are worse than the droughs we battled.”

There were no more words as Ian moved ahead of him and scouted out approaching Dark. They found the hallways clear of everyone. Tristan just hoped Con would be able to get out. He didn’t want to return to Dreagan and tell everyone the King of Kings was being held by the Dark.

“Wait,” Tristan said to stop Ian. When Ian faced him, Tristan carefully placed Sammi in his arms. “Find the others and get out of here. If I know Sammi is with you, then I can fight the Dark as I want.”

“You’re going after Con.”

“I am.”

Ian nodded gravely. “Be careful.”

“Take care of her, brother,” Tristan said before he turned away.