Passion Ignites Read Free Page B

like fucking roaches,” Darius grumbled. “The more you kill, the more you find.”
    Thorn chuckled as he moved away for Darius to dump his two bodies. “It’s a never-ending job, but someone has to do it.”
    â€œSo true,” Darius said, his dark brown eyes lighting on Thorn as he grinned. “It feels good to kill the evil buggers.”
    â€œWe’re stretched too thin.” Thorn looked at the corpses. “Con has us all over the U.K., but it isna enough.”
    Darius ran a hand through his shoulder-length blond hair. “He’s keeping enough of us at Dreagan to hold the magic there.”
    Thorn pulled out his knife and spun it on his open palm. He caught it before it stopped spinning. Dreagan wasn’t just their home. It was sixty thousand acres where they distilled whisky and remained hidden from the world. “The Dark have the numbers, but we have the strength.”
    â€œAye,” Darius said, his gaze on the ground.
    Thorn knew Darius’s thoughts were on Ulrik. All of the Dragon Kings’ thoughts were on him. A Dragon King who had been banished.
    For centuries, Thorn had been against Ulrik. All that changed a few weeks ago when Thorn was with Warrick in Edinburgh watching over the Druid who had unbound Ulrik’s magic.
    The last thing Thorn had expected was to come face-to-face with Ulrik after so many eons. It alarmed Thorn how much Ulrik had changed.
    â€œI doona blame you,” Darius said.
    Thorn blinked as he was pulled out of his thoughts. “What?”
    â€œWhat happened with Ulrik here. Warrick was in love with Darcy. You did what any of us would’ve done for another King.”
    â€œNo’ any of us,” Thorn said tightly. “Con would never have joined forces with Ulrik.”
    Constantine was King of Kings, the one Dragon King who had more magic and power than any of them. He led them, kept them together all these millennia. But things were beginning to unravel.
    â€œCon sees one goal—our survival.” Darius shrugged. “Everything else comes in second. He’s sacrificed a lot for us.”
    â€œWe’ve all sacrificed.” Thorn paused and shook his head ruefully. “I wouldna trade places with him for anything.”
    Darius crossed his arms over his chest. “Neither would I. Ulrik will challenge Con soon.”
    â€œEventually. Right now, our focus is the Dark. The bastards are getting bolder. They’re freely showing themselves to humans, and it willna be long before they show them magic as well.”
    â€œWith more and more bodies piling up, the city is trying to crack down on who’s to blame.”
    Thorn grunted. “It willna take them long to focus on the Dark. And that willna end well.”
    â€œIt never does.” Darius dropped his arms and began to remove his clothes.
    Thorn spun on his heel and walked out. They took turns burning the bodies of the Dark. While Darius shifted, Thorn would take watch to make sure no humans took interest in them.
    As he stood atop the roof walking the perimeter, Thorn found himself thinking of the female he’d encountered earlier. He had a sinking feeling that he would happen upon her body very soon.
    He frowned as that thought angered him. The mortal had spirit and gumption. She recognized the Dark as dangerous and sought to go after them. Despite the silliness of a human against a Dark Fae, the mettle that took kept her in his thoughts.
    Thorn touched his side where she had plunged the dagger. She was quick with the blade, and obviously ready to take action against anyone she felt was a threat.
    He might not have always agreed with the way humans went about their lives, but they were oblivious to the magic around them. They had no idea that dragons had been around since the beginning of time, and were on the realm long before the humans ever were.
    They didn’t know of the Fae—Dark and Light—and how they fought to