Free Rylin's Fire by Michelle Howard

to strike against the Black, the King himself, than to attack a woman he wished to claim as his lira?
    Ry entered his room as his essence rose and his Dracol awakened at the potential threat to Dara.
    “Ry?”
    Ry spun around in a crouch with a snarl. Nolan froze and hesitated at the door. Ry’s thoughts had been so engrossed that he hadn’t heard the advisor approach.
    Ry settled back on his heels. “What is it, Nolan?”
    “We have received confirmation from the other sects.” Nolan’s expression hinted at the answer.
    Ry stilled. “How many?”
    Nolan’s throat moved and dismay clouded his gaze as he answered, “Sixteen in all.”
    “Sixteen?” Scales shimmered along Ry’s arms and smoke seeped from his nostrils. “Sixteen females dead among the other sects?”
    “Yes, my King.”
    Ry didn’t like this. Didn’t like it at all. A Dracol with a developed appetite for attacking liras . The number, plus the three of his own, gave credence to Ry’s worry that this was no petty sect squabble or vendetta.
    “There is more.” Nolan took a deep breath. “Two of them occurred last night. They were relations of Faris.”
    To strike against those close to the King of the Silver implied at a boldness not to be ignored. The rogue who hunted among them was proving fearless.
    Ry pressed his lips together, gathering the strength of the mantle about him with a mere thought. The ancient power crashed around him in a wave that almost overwhelmed all at once. Delving deep, Ry once again sought signs that one among them was unbalanced. He surfed through the hundreds of minds pouring behind his filter in a steady stream.
    Nothing stood out to him on the mental plane. Nothing to pinpoint if the killings were the actions of a Black Dracol or another. “I can’t sense any disturbance from the mantle. Did the others say anything more?”
    Nolan shook his head, his gold eyes flickering with the signs of his Dracol in response to Ry tapping into his essence through the mantle. “No, but I received official word that Konlan will be here with or without your permission.”
    Ry cursed. He’d expected the volatile King of the Purple to react in this exact manner when he received news of the dead liras . It didn’t matter that Ry had assured Dairin that Breya lived. Kon would wish to view the proof with his own eyes.
    “He has permission, but have the guards keep an eye on him. Warn Breya.” Though it wouldn’t do any good.
    Willow’s mating was tonight and every available Black planned to attend and celebrate, which meant Breya would be there and so would her mate, Ranald. Now it looked like Ry would have to deal with a violent, jealous Dracol King in addition to everything else going on with his people.
    “Perhaps you want to give thought to the other matter at hand.”
    Nolan’s words brought Ry’s head up. He stared at the advisor, a man he’d grown to call friend. “What do you mean?”
    Nolan cleared his throat and shifted his feet. “The…the ah…Earth female. I believe you’re considering her as a lira .”
    “Yes.” Ry kept his expression guarded, knowing where Nolan was going with this tangent.
    “Is now the time to bring someone into your life?”
    He shouldn’t have disclosed his desire to make her his lira so publicly, but there was nothing for it. “Tell me your thoughts.”
    “Only...” Nolan shrugged. “Only consider that she could become a target in this madness. An Earth woman without any defense against a crazed Dracol male with three times her strength would be the perfect opportunity to weaken you.”
    His own exact thoughts of earlier. But to deny his feelings for Dara, a female he wanted more than any other, required a strength Ry didn’t possess. “She doesn’t weaken me.”
    “Hear what I’m saying. She’s a vulnerability, and if you care for her what better way to strike at the Black?”
    Ry wanted to resist the truth in what Nolan said but he couldn’t. The killings were