Chapter One
December 4th
Dreagan
Constantine, King of Dragon Kings, walked through the manor with a grin on his face. It hadn’t been that long ago that he’d had nothing to smile about. With their enemies vanquished, and his beloved, Rhi once more beside him, everything was as it should be. There was no telling how long that would last, however, so he planned to enjoy every second of it that he could.
He made his way to the conservatory. After meandering through the plants, he went to the hidden door at the back that took him into Dreagan Mountain. The moment he stepped through, he let out a sigh. In the darkest days after the Kings had sent the dragons away because of the war with the mortals, each Dragon King had gone to find solace in their mountain on Dreagan.
Con had never picked out a mountain of his own. Mainly because he hadn’t slept away the centuries as the other Kings had. It was his duty to ensure that everything stayed as it should, and that meant he had to remain awake.
His gaze moved over the rock around him. He loved this mountain. Just as he loved the land. Dreagan was special. Not because the sixty thousand acres of land belonged to them, but because the magic of the realm sprang from there. Con still recalled the day he and the other Kings had come upon the Dragonwood. The forest had the ability to calm him in even the worst of times. So many days, he had walked the woods in his human shape or flown over the tall trees in his true form. The Kings had decided to call it home because the magic welled there. It had originally only been meant as a meeting place for all Kings. Then the humans came, altering the lives of every dragon on the planet.
While Con had learned the hard way that the Dragon Kings had enemies aplenty, he knew that, in the most difficult of times, the Kings always banded together to face whatever nemesis came at them.
Con pushed aside thoughts of battle and instead thought of how much his life had changed since his mating. Every morning, he opened his eyes to find Rhi in his arms. And each time he smiled, because he knew that no matter what came their way, he could withstand any of it as long as Rhi was with him.
He’d let too many years slip away without her, but he had won her back—though he still wasn’t sure how. It was thoughts of his mate that had brought him to the mountain. And, just as he guessed, he found her with the four Silver dragons.
Con said nothing as he watched his mate for a few moments. She sat on the stone floor, her legs pulled up to her chest and her arms curled around her shins as she rested her chin on her knees. Her gaze was locked on the sleeping dragons. Con didn’t need to ask what she was thinking. The same thing had been on both of their minds since their mating ceremony months ago.
“I’m all right,” she said in an Irish accent without looking his way.
He walked to her and sat beside her so their shoulders brushed. “I’m no’ all right.”
Her head turned his way, and she looked at him with the silver eyes of a Light Fae. “I’m not all right either.”
“Come here,” he murmured as he wrapped an arm around her.
Rhi laid her head on his shoulder. “I can’t stop thinking about any of it.”
“I know.”
“What do you want to do?”
He rested his head against hers. “What do you want to do?”
They’d had this very discussion before. Despite Con being alive for millions of years, he wasn’t sure how to proceed. What was a parent supposed to do when they discovered they had children they didn’t know about? Offspring that had seen them but hadn’t made contact.
Looking back, Con knew that he was to blame for much of this. Had he not fallen in love with Rhi all those centuries ago, he never would have noticed how despondent the other Kings became after the dragons departed. Without dragons, none of the Kings could find mates. And after the war with the mortals that’d resulted in the dragons being sent away, Con didn’t expect any Dragon King to go looking to the humans. And he had been right.
By then, though, he had already been head over heels in love with Rhi. However, he’d put aside his happiness for the sake of the other Dragon Kings and had ended things with her. It had nearly killed him to do it. What neither he nor Rhi had known was that she was already pregnant.
“I never should have gone to the Fae Realm,” she said as if reading his mind. “If I hadn’t gone, I wouldn’t have been attacked.”
“You were hurt and angry at me. I escaped to Dreagan. I doona blame you for going to the Fae Realm, regardless of whether it was destroyed or not.”
She shook her head of long, black hair and looked at him. “I knew it was dangerous, and I went anyway. It was stupid of me.”
“You can look back and see all your mistakes, just as I can. But we can no’ go back, my love. What’s done is done. I hurt you when I ended things, and you went to the Fae Realm.”
Her lips pressed into a flat line. “Where I was attacked and injured. If Erith hadn’t found me…”
Con’s heart clutched every time he thought about how close he had come to losing Rhi and the twins. That he hadn’t was all because of Erith, a goddess also known as Death to the Fae. Erith had come upon Rhi and realized that she carried bairns. Erith couldn’t save all three of them, so she made a choice and took the babies, giving Rhi a chance at survival.
A short time later, Con had learned that Rhi was missing and went looking for her. Somehow, he had known that she was in danger. When he found her, she’d barely clung to life. His power to heal anything had saved her.
Only to be forced to let her go all over again.
“I can’t decide if I’m angry at Erith for taking the twins, or happy that she gave them a life.” Rhi looked back at the dragons. “I know if she hadn’t taken them, they would’ve died.”
“But you didna know your children.”
A tear slipped down her cheek as she glanced at him. “Nor did you.”
Con pulled Rhi against him once more. They sat in silence for a long time, each lost in thought of what could have been. It was a waste of time, he knew, but he couldn’t help it. Nor did he try and stop Rhi.
He wished he could’ve had time with his children, but he knew that if Rhi had learned of the pregnancy and told him, he never would’ve broken things off with her. He had ended their relationship for the wellbeing of his brethren. It had been bad enough that he’d found love when they were still dealing with the loss of the dragons. Con couldn’t imagine how things would’ve gone had he also had children. The tight group of Dragon Kings that stood now wouldn’t be. Jealousy and resentment would’ve violently torn them apart.
And that would’ve allowed their enemies to triumph.
He wasn’t the only one who would’ve had a vastly different life. Rhi had walked a particular path, one that she had been destined for. She wouldn’t have taken the chances she had if she’d been a mother, and she certainly wouldn’t have continued on as a Queen’s Guard, let alone risked her life numerous times to help out her friends.
That was the hardest to take in. Knowing that what they had both endured, the actions taken and decisions made, had led them both to where they were now. The Others had been defeated, Usaeil was gone for good, and it looked as if the Light and Dark Fae were seriously considering creating a council made up of representatives from both sides.