Destiny brought them together. Fate tore them apart. But time may heal all wounds.
Continue reading for a sneak peek at Of Fire and Flame.
Excerpt of OF FIRE AND FLAME
A Dark Kings Special Novella
RHI
The Promise Broken
Long, long ago…
Blood pounded in her ears. Her lungs struggled to draw in air. A fat raindrop landed on her cheek. The world spun around her, out of focus. As if from a great distance, she heard her name as the skies opened, and a downpour ensued.
“Rhi!”
A crack of lightning split the air and startled her. She blinked. That one movement brought everything into harsh focus. The lightning storm was thunderous, but it couldn’t drown out the hammering of her blood.
Or the shattering of her heart.
“Rhi.”
She lifted her gaze to find Darius before her. His pained expression conveyed how much he hated his involvement.
“Say something,” he urged in his Scottish brogue as he shoved long, wet, blond strands of hair from his face. “Please.”
Rhi swallowed, anger mixing with her disbelief. “I–I don’t understand.”
“I know only what I was told to tell you.”
It’s over didn’t seem nearly enough for the love she and Constantine shared. She turned her gaze to the east and the manor. She was on Dreagan land, which meant that Con hadn’t put up wards to ensure she couldn’t return. With water dripping from her lashes, she looked around, waiting to awaken from the nightmare.
“I’m sorry, lass.”
She shook her head, not accepting what had happened. “Everything was perfect yesterday, as it always is. He didn’t say anything, didn’t do anything.”
Darius briefly lowered his head as he shrugged uncomfortably.
The rain hid her tears that wouldn’t stop. She thought about going to the manor and demanding Con give her an explanation. But the fact that he had sent one of the Dragon Kings to do his dirty work was a blow that she couldn’t take.
Rhi was too hurt, too upset to stay on Dreagan. Where could she go, though? Who could she turn to? Con was her best friend, her love, her…everything. He was the one she went to when she was distraught. Now, he was the cause of her anguish.
Without a word to Darius, she teleported to the Light Castle in Ireland. As she stood outside, soaking wet, gazing up at the impressive structure, she didn’t know what to do. There was no one to talk to, no one to cry with. The only one that mattered no longer wanted her. And that’s what she couldn’t reconcile.
Rhi briefly thought about going to Balladyn, but she didn’t want to hear that he had known this would happen. Her father hadn’t been pleased with who her heart had chosen either. Had everyone seen something she hadn’t?
She spun around, turning away from the castle, and started down the hillside to the cliffs. With Con, the world had been as close to perfect as it had ever gotten. They fit like puzzle pieces. She had loved him from the first instant she saw him flying, and she had seen that same love in his eyes whenever he looked at her.
They had shared vows on a mountain at Dreagan, pledging their love for each other through eons of time. How could Con do that, only to end things so…callously…now?
Rhi heard someone shout her name. She didn’t want to see anyone and have them ask what was wrong. How could she explain it when she didn’t understand it herself? There was too much turmoil in her mind and heart. She had to get away. Somewhere that didn’t make her think of Con, the Dragon Kings, or Scotland. She jumped to one location after another, but each one brought a different memory of Con.
With a scream of heartache and despair, she dropped to her knees, her head in her hands as she sobbed uncontrollably. Darius’s words were on repeat in her head, but she didn’t hear his voice, she heard Con’s. Had she mattered so little that he hadn’t been able to face her and tell her that he was ending things?
“I have to get off this realm,” she said as she suddenly got to her feet.
And there was only one place she knew to go. It was hazardous, but she couldn’t remain on Earth. Not now.
Not ever.
Rhi squared her shoulders, even as the tears continued. She teleported to the hidden Fae doorway. But she hesitated in going through. If she left Earth, it would end a chapter of her life she had believed would continue into eternity.
She looked over her shoulder into the distance as she pictured Dreagan—and Con. She knew that what they shared was true love, the kind that every being in the universe sought. Rhi wiped at her tears and jumped back to Con’s bedroom. She stood in the middle of it and stared at the bedsheets, still rumpled.
How she hated that she hadn’t been with him the previous night. She’d had duties to handle for her queen that couldn’t wait. Rhi couldn’t help but wonder if things would be different if she had skirted her responsibilities and remained with Con.
She thought back to when she had last seen him. They had laughed and talked like always. His behavior had been light and easy. Though Con had a knack for wiping all emotion from his face, he didn’t do that with her. They had always communicated well, talking about anything and everything.
So, what happened?
Rhi walked to the bed and lay in his spot. She breathed in the smell of him from the sheets. Her eyes closed as the tears came once more. She needed to talk to Con. Rhi sat up and got to her feet. He knew she was on Dreagan. Every Dragon King knew the instant she crossed the invisible magical barrier surrounding the sixty-thousand-acre estate.
She dashed at the tears and strode from the bedroom. Usually, she ran into other Kings as she walked through the manor, but today, there was no one. Did that mean everyone knew what’d happened and was staying clear of her? If so, good. That ensured she would be alone with Con when she demanded an explanation.
Rhi walked to his office to find the door closed. He was always at his desk working during the day. She tried the handle, only to find it locked. That never stopped a Fae. All she had to do was teleport inside. Except, the locked door was significant. It told her that Con wanted her out of his life.
She placed a palm on the panel as her body shook with fresh tears. They fell rapidly down her cheeks as she leaned forward to place her forehead against the wood. Of all the people she’d thought would hurt her, she had never believed it would be Con. He had been the one to shelter her. Defend her.
Love her.
“Con,” she whispered, knowing he could hear her on the other side of the door. “Please. Talk to me. I deserve that, at least.”
The silence that followed was like a knife twisting in her heart. Darius had delivered his words, but Con had made sure she got the message loud and clear with the locked door and complete silence.
Rhi shoved away from the doorframe, stumbling backwards in incredulity—and even a bit of anger. Her vision blurred with her tears, her world gone flat. She had woken up believing it would be another great day with the dragon she loved. Only to discover that her perfect world had been ripped asunder. How was she to carry on?
The other half of her heart, her soul, had turned his back on her. He had withdrawn his love. And she had no idea why. It was the worst kind of blow.