“We must have killed several thousand,” Fallon said with a shake of his head. “Why do I feel like we didn’t even make them blink?”
“Because we didna,” Thorn said.
Guy clapped him on the shoulder as he walked past. “She’s fine, my friend. She’s on Dreagan.”
“Who’s there?” Thorn asked Con.
Con put on a T-shirt Guy handed him. “Kellan, of course. Cain, Arian, Roman, Anson, and Dmitri.”
So few. Con was King of Kings. He made decisions that he thought best for their race. But he had spread them too thin, especially knowing that the Dark had been seen outside of Dreagan.
“We would be there as well,” Guy added. “I’m glad we came though. You needed our help.”
“I’m no’ denying that.” Thorn ran a hand through his hair. If only he could talk to Lexi and know that she was all right.
“Rhi,” Phelan suddenly said.
They all turned and found the Light Fae sitting on a stack of crates with one leg crossed over the other. The hilt of her sword could be seen sticking up behind her right shoulder. She swung her leg casually and rested her hands on either side of her legs on the crate. It didn’t seem to faze her that her shirt was riddled with holes from Dark magic. “Hello, lovelies.” She then cut her eyes to Con. “And asshole.”
Con turned his back to her. Thorn watched as Con pulled his cuff links out of his pocket and held them in his hand, rotating them in his palm.
“I hope you’ve all rested, because a storm is coming,” Rhi said and pointed upward.
“If only we could take to the skies,” Thorn said. “We could end this battle quickly.”
Guy frowned as he stared at the clouds and darkening sky. “Aye, but we can no’.”
“Why not?” Aisley asked. “The mortals are too busy either running or throwing themselves at the Dark. Use that to your advantage.”
“She has a point.” Con turned to face them as Darius walked out of the warehouse fastening a new pair of jeans. “It’ll be dark as well.”
“And raining,” Guy said, excitement showing in his pale brown eyes.
Darius raised a brow. “Lots of cloud cover.”
“The Dark would never expect it,” Thorn said, smiling for the first time in hours.
Con put the cuff links back in his pocket. “Thorn, you and I will take to the skies. Guy, you and Darius remain here fighting.”
“What about us?” Fallon asked.
Con replied, “How do you want to use your people, Fallon?”
Thorn bit back a smile. For all of Con’s faults, he recognized Fallon was a leader, a king, if you will, of the Warriors. He was letting Fallon make the decision on where to place his people. Not everyone would have been so gracious.
“Will he ever stop surprising me?” Darius asked in a whisper.
Thorn gave a shake of his head. “Likely no’.”
“Never,” Guy agreed.
Fallon gave a nod of appreciation. “Splitting up worked earlier. We’ll stick to that.”
Thorn noticed Rhi hadn’t said a word. She was looking to a spot off to her left with an expression of annoyance.
“What about Rhi?” Phelan asked.
Con shrugged, as if he couldn’t care less.
Rhi looked at Phelan and winked. “Oh, don’t worry, stud. I’ll find a group to fight.”
“You shouldn’t be by yourself,” Larena said.
Rhi smiled brightly. “That’s sweet. Really. But I’m a … was … a Queen’s Guard. They don’t stand a chance.”
Thorn glanced from Rhi to Con at Rhi’s news. If Con was as shocked as the rest of them, he hid it well.
“What does ‘was’ mean?” Guy asked.
Rhi jumped down off the crates, landing as gracefully as a cat wearing four-inch heels. “Exactly what I said, gorgeous.”
“Why did you leave the queen’s service?” Darius asked.
Rhi’s smile faltered. “I got tired of it. It’s time for a new chapter.”
Every King there knew it was a lie. The greatest achievement of Rhi’s life had been her service to the queen.
It was unheard of for a Fae to leave the Queen’s Guard. It was just as rare for the queen to dismiss someone as her Guard.
Rhi licked her lips and looked around at them. “The Dark are vain. Aisley, if you and Larena are up for it, I’ve got a plan we three could execute.”
“Name it,” Larena said.
Aisley smiled. “Count me in.”
“Wait,” Phelan said, but Aisley put a hand up to quiet him.
Thorn could well imagine Lexi doing the same to him.
“We each find a group of Dark and pretend to be just as enamored with them as the humans. Once we’re close enough, we kill them.”
Aisley nodded sharply. “I like it.”
“I doona,” Phelan stated with a look of dread.
Rhi walked up to him and patted his face as she looked at Fallon. “The best part is when you and Fallon jump in and start killing.”
“Now that I like,” Fallon said.
Thorn noticed how Con watched Rhi as she spoke. He couldn’t tell if Con liked her plan or not since it looked as if he’d eaten an entire plate of prunes.
“Let’s get in place then,” Con said.
Thorn walked to Rhi before she could disappear. He touched her arm to get her attention. She swung her head to him. “I wanted to thank you again for being there to help Lexi.”
“It’s my pleasure, gorgeous,” she said. Then her gaze softened a fraction. “She’s pretty.”
“Aye.”
“Am I to assume by your interest that Lexi is yours?”
Thorn looked at the sky as he thought of their night together. “I doona know.”
“That’s answer enough.”
“Is it?” Thorn lowered his gaze back to Rhi. “When it comes to Lexi I know the best thing to do would be to let her go and have her memories wiped again. But the thought of her gone is … devastating.”
Rhi’s silver eyes widened. “You’ve already wiped her memories?”
“She got them back.”
Rhi gaped at him for long moments. “What?”
“I know. That’s what brought Con here.”
The Light Fae’s gaze slid to Con who was talking with Fallon. “What did he do?”
“Nothing.”
Rhi made a face. “Nothing? Are you sure we’re talking about the same jerk?”
Thorn smiled as he nodded. “The verra one.”
“Look, stud, I know none of this is my business, but if you’ve had Guy take her memories and she got them back, that’s telling you something.” She started to turn away and stopped. Rhi looked back at him and gave an exasperated shake of her head. “Perhaps I’m not the one to give advice. I’ve always said to follow your heart, and that has gotten me nowhere. Maybe I should say protect yourself at all costs.”
“Rhi,” Thorn said, not liking the way she was talking. It was almost as if she were saying she was giving up on her Dragon King. No. That just couldn’t be possible.
“If you hunger for her more than you want to be in the sky as a dragon, and if you crave her on a level that goes so deep it physically hurts, then that’s a warning, Thorn. For a select few, they get their happily ever after.” Rhi blinked rapidly.
Thorn could only stare at the vibrant Fae who was being torn in two. It made him want to punch the King into the next century for being such a prick to let something so precious as Rhi and their love go.
“There are some who never experience it. The worst, the absolute saddest, get a taste of that wonderful life only to have it ripped so viciously from our grasp.” Her smile was sad and pitiful. “You want to know a secret? You want to know how I survived Balladyn’s torture and the Chains of Mordare?”
Thorn nodded slowly, knowing in his gut that he wasn’t going to like what he heard.
“None of it came close to the pain I’ve been living with for all these centuries.” Rhi laughed and lowered her head. Then she whispered, “It’s killing me.”
In a blink, she was gone. Thorn could only stare at the place she had been. They had all been such fools to think that Rhi was soldiering on always waiting for her King to remember why they had fallen in love.