Smoke and Fire: (8 page)

She slowed the car as she exited the highway and drove under a bridge to make her way back. Rhi was silent for a long time as she thought over all Balladyn had shared with her about the Reapers.

Wasn’t it those in charge who should take the arrival of the Reapers seriously? Usaeil would rather talk about her next movie or magazine cover than a valid threat.

The more Rhi thought about Usaeil’s dismissal of the Reapers, the angrier she became. It didn’t matter that no one—not the lowest Fae or a king or queen—could stand against the Reapers. Usaeil should at least be comforting the Light, assuring them with knowledge.

By the time she returned to the storage unit, Rhi knew she had to see the text that Balladyn found with her own eyes. She parked the Lamborghini and shut off the engine, but she didn’t exit the car.

Then something occurred to her that left her cold inside. The Reapers were judge, jury, and executioner for the Fae. No one knew how the Reapers were chosen or where they went, but without a doubt, every Fae knew the Reapers put balance back into the world.

Her watcher had shown up near the same time as whispers of the Reapers reached her. She also hadn’t made such great decisions lately. Could she be targeted by them?

Rhi turned her head to look at the empty space her watcher occupied. Her blood was chilled at the thought of dying, but there was also a small voice that said she might actually find peace. “Are you a Reaper? If so and you’ve come to kill me, then get on with it. Drawing this out is just wrong.”

Silence. Always silence.

She closed her eyes and faced forward. There was one time she’d wished for death—when her Dragon King lover left her. Rhi had even ventured into an area that guaranteed her death. And yet she’d somehow lived.

Her grief had been so profound that she wondered if she’d dreamed it all, because when she woke she was back at her cottage in Italy.

A hand covered hers.

Rhi looked down at her right hand. She couldn’t see her watcher, but she could feel him. He was comforting her in the only way he could. And she had a feeling he wasn’t supposed to be doing even that.

It wasn’t the touch of someone about to end her life. She breathed a little easier, even as she contemplated some of her latest decisions.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

His fingers tightened around hers for a moment, and then his touch was gone.

She opened the car door and climbed out. As she straightened, movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. “Ulrik,” she said when she found him leaning a shoulder against the side of the entrance with his arms crossed over his chest.

He wore dark denim and a long-sleeved goldish taupe Henley with the sleeves pushed up to his elbows. His long black hair was pulled back in a queue showing off his chiseled features.

“Hello, beautiful.”

The fact he was there caused her to be leery. She shut the car door and faced him. “How did you find me?”

“The same way I knew of your cottage in Italy. I pity you deserted it, by the way. The place suited you.”

“I need privacy. The fact you knew about it made it pointless,” she retorted.

He smiled, but it didn’t reach his gold eyes. “There’s no need to get upset. You’ve paid me plenty of visits lately.”

“True. So what do you want?”

“To talk.”

She leaned her hip against the black Lamborghini. “Try again. You blasted me with dragon and Dark magic the last time we met.”

“Did I? My apologies. You know I’d never intentionally harm you.”

Oddly enough, Rhi believed him. “You look … different.”

Rhi blinked, shocked to her very core when she saw a true smile from Ulrik. It filled his eyes, and that’s when she saw a contentment about him she hadn’t seen before.

But as quick as it came, it vanished.

“You look different as well.” He tilted his head to the side as he studied her. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you’ve been well and truly bedded.”

Rhi held his gaze, determined not to look away. Her love life—as well as who she took as a lover—was no one’s business. Especially anyone, even remotely, connected to Dreagan.

“I’ll be damned,” Ulrik murmured with a grin. “Did you give in to Balladyn?”

She looked down at her Christian Louboutin black booties as if bored. “This is where you tell me why you’re here.”

“All right. You doona want to talk about Balladyn, then we willna. Let’s talk about Dreagan.”

“We won’t be discussing that place either, because I know why you want to talk about it.”

His black brows rose. “Do you?”

“Stop,” she said harshly. “I’m tired of the games. All games. I’m tired of everyone wanting something from me, and more than anything I’m beyond exhausted with everyone wanting to talk about that asshole. I’m done with him, with whatever it was we had. It’s been over for thousands of years, and I’ve finally accepted that. So, do me a favor and never mention him again. Or I won’t be responsible for what I do to you.”

For the second time in minutes, Ulrik gave her a rare—and brief—smile. “That’s what I wanted to know.”

“What?”

“I wanted to see if you’ve let him go. You have.”

Rhi pushed away from her car and hooked her thumb in the front pocket of her jeans. “Why do you care?”

“Oh, you know exactly why.”

She swallowed hard. “Keep your revenge to the one who deserves it.”

“Con will get his. Of that you doona need to fear.”

Fear? No, that’s not what she felt at all. She wasn’t sure she could name the emotion within her. “I still have friends there, Ulrik.”

“Meaning you’ll come to their defense if they ask.”

“They won’t have to ask. I’ll be there for them. Always.”

He nodded and dropped his arms before he stood straight. “I hear Henry is looking for you.”

“How do you know all of this? Henry wouldn’t talk to you, nor would any of the Kings.”

“True. Verra, verra true,” he replied with a wink.

Rhi was fast losing patience. “You’re not going to tell me?”

“What would be the fun in that? So you could run back to Dreagan and tell them?”

“Of course not.” Not unless he endangered the others, which was a very real possibility. “You already attacked Con.”

Ulrik laughed, but it was hollow and fake. “My dear, Rhi, that wasna a battle. You’ll know when I challenge Con.”

“Is it going to be soon?”

Ulrik shrugged and walked to the passenger side of the Lamborghini. He stopped and leaned his arms on the roof, his hands clasped together. “Stay safe.”

Then he was gone. Rhi turned in a circle looking for him, but the King of the Silvers had apparently teleported away.

“Since when do the Dragon Kings have that ability?” she asked herself.

Ulrik’s power was to bring people back from the dead. Teleportation was something only the Fae and Fallon, one of the Warriors, was able to do.

If Ulrik had the ability to go anywhere he wanted at any time, then that was a distinct advantage over Con. She started to go to Dreagan and tell Con, but she hesitated. If the positions were reversed, she knew for a fact Con wouldn’t tell her.

It wasn’t as if she would never tell one of the Kings what she’d learned, but she wasn’t in a hurry to do it.

“Later,” she said and looked to her watcher. She hit the button that would close the storage unit and lock it. “Time to leave.”

Chapter Twenty-one

Kinsey shifted uncomfortably from both the cold and the situation as she stood behind a row of thick hedges that separated the manor from the distillery.

Beside her was Henry who looked as if he were about to be sick. Con was on her other side, his gaze focused through the hedges. Ryder was strolling the grounds, whistling, as if he were on his way to one of the other buildings.

“I don’t want to believe this about Esther,” Henry said.

Kinsey glanced at the Brit, hurting for him. But there was nothing to say to make it any better. The facts were all laid out, and though Henry didn’t want to accept it, he already had.

She turned back to peering through the leaves of the evergreen to watch Ryder as he approached Henry’s sister.

Esther glanced up when she heard Ryder and tried to duck out of the way, but there was nowhere for her to go. That’s when Ryder pretended to just see her.

“Hello,” he said with a smile. “Can I help you with something?”

Esther shook her head of dark hair. “I’m fine, thanks,” she responded in a perfect Welsh accent.

“It’s freezing,” Ryder said and glanced at the sky. “We’re supposed to have a nasty snowstorm later. Come inside for some tea with the other agents.”

“Thank you, but I’m fine.”

Ryder walked closer to her and lowered his voice as he glanced around. “You’re trying to prove you can do as much as the men. I get it. But you can no’ do that if you’re frozen solid. Your lips are turning blue, lass.”

She hesitated, absently rubbing her gloved hands together. As if on cue, the flurries turned into flakes that began to fall harder. Kinsey wondered if it was something one of the Dragons Kings had done since it was timed so perfectly. Now that she knew what Ryder’s secrets were, she looked at everything—and everyone—at Dreagan as magical.

Whereas just a few moments before Esther had looked hale and hearty, she appeared to weaken right before their eyes. Kinsey frowned. Was it more magic she was witnessing?

“He’s got her,” Con whispered when Esther followed Ryder into one of the buildings.

Kinsey didn’t know one red-roofed building from the other, but wherever Ryder was taking Henry’s sister, it was someplace that was secluded.

She, Con, and Henry walked in through a second door, pausing when they heard Ryder’s voice over the huge copper stills.

A moment later they walked through another glass door. It wasn’t until Kinsey neared it that she realized it was a small room next to an office. Inside the room was an old iron fireplace that Ryder was feeding wood.

Esther sat on a chair huddled in front of the growing fire as if she were frozen from the inside out. She was so intent on the fire that she never heard the door open or the three of them walk inside.

Con pulled Kinsey with him as they moved behind Esther. Henry remained by the door. Then he slammed it shut. Esther’s head jerked up, her gaze meeting her brother’s.

“Hello, Esther,” Henry said. “Fancy seeing you here, sis.”

Kinsey had to give Esther credit, she remained in character while putting her hands near the fire. “I don’t know an Esther.”

“Give it up,” Henry said, his voice dripping with anger and agitation. “I know it’s you. You’re good. I’ll give you that, but you forgot to make sure to cover the small scar near your temple. The one I gave you years ago when we played cricket.”

There was a drawn-out pause before Esther sighed and gave a shake of her head. “What the bloody hell are you doing here, Henry?” she asked in the same refined British accent as her brother.

“I asked first. When were you going to tell me you joined MI5?”

She lifted her chin. “Eventually. How did you find out?”

“Me,” Ryder said. “I check everyone who walks onto Dreagan.”

Esther shrugged, as if she didn’t care that her cover was blown. “I like MI5. It suits me as it always suited you.”

“Do our parents know?”

She looked at him as if he’d just asked her to strip naked. “Of course not. What kind of daughter do you think I am?”

“I’m wondering what kind of sister you are,” Henry said as he clasped his hands behind his back. “You lied to me. Repeatedly.”

“And how many times have you lied to me and our parents?” she retorted. “Too many to count, that’s for sure.”

Henry scrubbed a hand down his face. “So MI5 is working out great for you, aye?”

“Yes.”

“Is that why they decommissioned you?”

She got to her feet and glared. “How do you know that?”

“That doesn’t concern you.”

“It does if you’re looking into me,” she said and moved a step closer to him.

Henry looked down his nose at her. “Which side are you on, Esther? Are you on the side of MI5 that I’ve been working to eliminate? The ones who focus on people like those here at Dreagan, concocting all kinds of lies to keep them under surveillance?”

“No. Never,” she said, appalled.

Henry gazed at her a long time before he said, “Prove it.”

“Stuart, your boss and friend, took a liking to me. He didn’t approve of the group training me and took me under his wing. He said if I was going to be an agent, he was going to make sure I was trained right. That’s how I learned what the two of you were doing. I offered to help out.”

“And?” Henry urged when she stopped.

She threw up her hands in aggravation. “What do you think? I was relieved of duty.”

Kinsey saw the subtle way Henry shifted his feet. Ryder also positioned himself closer to the door. Whatever answers Esther was giving, they weren’t the ones they were looking for.

Henry bowed his head. He stood with his hands on his hips as the silence of the room was broken only by the pop of the fire.

“It’s time to stop with the lies,” Henry said without lifting his head. “It’s easy to become so engrossed in them that even when we need to tell the truth, we can’t. I’ve been there many times. You have to force yourself to let go of the shroud of lies.”

“I’m not lying.”

At this, Henry’s head lifted. His eyes were now as hard as iron. His entire demeanor changed. Gone was the concerned brother. In his place was a man intent on getting answers—no matter who stood across from him.

“Stuart never mentioned you. He would’ve, Esther. He, more than most, knows how important family is since his brother was an MI5 agent killed in the line of duty. He would’ve alerted me the moment he discovered you.”

Esther shrugged, as if she didn’t care that he’d caught that lie.

“As for the rest, I was there when most of the bad seeds were terminated. You weren’t one of them. You have one more chance to tell me the truth.”

She resumed her seat and looked back into the flames of the fire. “Not going to happen.”

Kinsey didn’t so much as move a muscle. She couldn’t believe a brother and sister who seemed as close as Henry and Esther could grow apart so drastically. The idea that it could happen to her and her sister made Kinsey’s stomach roll with dread.