Free Fire Rising (Dark Kings) by Donna Grant

moved about the room.
    She was just about to plunge her sword into the chest of a Dark when she was knocked from the side. She tucked her shoulder and landed so that she rolled to her back and then returned to her feet without jarring anything too harshly.
    When she stood once more, her gaze landed on none other than Balladyn. Just as the first time she’d seen him as a Dark Fae, it was like a kick in her stomach, leaving her wheezing for air.
    Balladyn’s red eyes gleamed as he wrapped his big hands around one of the three humans’ head, stopping the man in his tracks. With barely a twist of his hands, Balladyn broke the mortal’s neck.
    As if it was a signal, the two remaining humans were quickly dispatched, leaving only the Dark, the Kings, and Rhi.
    She twisted her wrist in a circle as she swung her sword around her. The man who had helped her grieve through her family’s death and the loss of her lover was gone. In his place stood a monster filled with only evil and malice.
    It was just her luck that Con zeroed in on Balladyn as well. Rhi teleported between the two before Con could attack Balladyn.
    “Rhi,” Con said with a grimace.
    She ignored the derision in his voice. “This one is mine.”
    Con’s black eyes narrowed as he looked over her shoulder to Balladyn. “Why?”
    Rhi gave Con a shove and whirled to face her ex-friend with her sword raised and ready.
    “Hello, pet,” Balladyn said in his Irish accent, using the nickname he’d given her when she was just a young Fae. “I should’ve known you’d do anything to spend time with this lot.”
    “I warned you to pick a side. I warned you that I would kill you.”
    “Dangerous times, remember, pet?” His red eyes blazed for a moment.
    Rhi hated the lump in her throat full of emotion for the man who had been a rock for her, a rock that had faltered and crumbled. Now she was going to have to kill him.
    She took a deep breath and swung her sword.
    In the space of a second, the Dark vanished. Rhi had used so much momentum in her attack that she couldn’t stop her sword. It clanged against the tiled floor.
    For long minutes she remained in that position while she tried to get her emotions under control after encountering Balladyn again so soon.
    “Who was that?” Con asked softly from beside her.
    Rhi hated that she hadn’t heard him approach. She lifted her sword and slid it into the scabbard she wore along her back. Of course Con would want to know the very thing she didn’t want to tell him.
    “Rhi,” Rhys said from across the room. “How did you know?”
    Ah. Something she could—and would—answer. “My queen told me. What was going on to bring the Dark to you?”
    Con stepped in front of her. “A situation. You’re no’ going to tell me who that was, are you?”
    “No,” she replied simply and walked around him. He could push her, especially since she couldn’t lie without experiencing great pain. Something Con knew all too well. “Dark Fae so close to Dreagan. That’s not a good sign.”
    Laith nudged one of the dead mortals with his foot. “And neither is the fact they killed these men.”
    She considered that for a moment. “They killed instead of rescued the mortals? That’s someone who doesn’t care who is lost. That sounds like Taraeth for sure.”
    “Have you seen him?” Con asked.
    He was being too nice, his voice too soft. It grated on her nerves. She saw Laith staring at her again. “No. Is Denae still safe?”
    “She’s with Kellan.”
    Which meant that of course she was. Rhi rolled her eyes. The conceit of the Dragon Kings. It didn’t help that they had every reason to be so arrogant. “Good.”
    She was about to teleport out of the house when Con’s hand latched onto her arm. Rhi turned her angry gaze to him. “What?” she demanded.
    “That Dark Fae knew you.”
    Rhi shrugged, noticing out of the corner of her eye that the other Kings were watching and listening intently. “If you’ll remember your