“You’re probably right,” she said as she looked at him.
The SUV got quiet as they drove across the Skye Bridge. It had been seven years since she’d left, and it felt odd to be back after so long.
“Nervous?” Warrick asked.
She nodded, looking at the water from the window. “I’ve not seen my family since my mother died. I should’ve known better than to keep reading her future. No good can ever come of that.”
“Is that why you willna read mine?”
She glanced at him with a smile. “Oh, I’ve tried. I can’t see anything. I’m not sure if it’s because I no longer have my magic, or if it’s because you’re immortal. I couldn’t see Ulrik’s either, remember.”
“I doona need my future read. I know it involves you, and that’s enough for me.”
Darcy took his hand in hers and brought it to her lips for a kiss. “I need to warn you that my family can be … well, they can be a bit much. They’re loud and everyone talks at once.”
“I’m going to love them.”
“No, you won’t,” she said with a grin. “They can only be endured in small doses.”
With their talk, Darcy didn’t realize how close they were to her family’s home. Her stomach tied in knots. It wasn’t about her not having magic anymore. Her family didn’t need to know about that.
It wasn’t even about Warrick and keeping him and Dreagan a secret. That was the easy part.
It was seeing her family after so long. So much had changed her that she wondered if she would see them differently. Or would she be different?
All too soon Warrick pulled into the drive and parked the Range Rover. He turned off the vehicle and turned his head to her. “Ready?”
“I don’t think I can do this,” she said, suddenly sick to her stomach.
The front door opened and her father walked out, followed by her two aunts, one of her uncles, her grandmother, and her sister. It was her sister who came running to the SUV and opened the door to envelop Darcy in a tight hug.
Darcy was promptly hauled out of the Range Rover and passed from one person to another. She was finally able to search for Warrick, and she found him standing off to the side with her father, talking.
Warrick winked at her and mouthed, “I love you.”
Despite everything that had happened to her, and that she had caused, Darcy was alive and in love with a dragon. Could life get any better?
But she knew the answer to that. It was yes. Just as soon as they were mated, and she was officially his.
Dublin, Ireland
Rhi was on her fifth whisky. It was Jameson. Good stuff, but she still preferred Dreagan.
Damn it.
She tossed back the last of the whisky and caught someone staring at her through the mirror behind the bar. This was the third Fae club she had visited since picking herself up off the sand in the desert. All the clubs were neutral ground, so the Dark and Light mingled together.
The Light staring at her reminded her that she was looking for a fight. She wanted to pick a fight with Balladyn, but she couldn’t find him. This guy, however, would do.
Rhi turned on the bar stool and raised a brow as she looked at him. He stood in the corner wearing all black from his shirt down to his boots.
The top part of his midnight hair was pulled away from his face with a strand or two falling free to lay against his chiseled cheek.
It was hard to determine just how long his hair was by the way he stood. Not that his thick shoulders and don’t-fuck-with-me attitude scared her away.
She hopped down off the stool, her four-inch heels not wobbling once. Rhi flicked her hair over her shoulders and was about to walk to him when she picked up hurried whispers running throughout the club.
“The Reapers,” someone said in a panicky voice.
Rhi snorted. As if. The Reapers were a myth, legends and tales told to frighten children—and even a few adults.
She ignored the talk and headed to the man. Not once did his gaze waver from hers. No one went near him, not even the waitresses. Rhi grabbed a whisky off a passing tray and tried to hand it to him when she reached him.
“You might actually get someone to take your order if you were friendlier.”
His eyes dropped to the whisky she held out before skating back to her. His silver eyes watched her, studied her.
When he didn’t take the whisky, Rhi shrugged and tossed back the alcohol. She waited until another waitress walked past and put the now empty glass on the tray.
Rhi turned back to him. “The silent type, huh? I’ve never understood males like that. Is it because you have nothing to say? Or is it because you think females like it?”
There was a ruckus at the front door of the pub. Rhi turned to see what was going on. As usual it was a Dark causing the problems.
“This would be a nice establishment if the Dark weren’t allowed in.”
She laughed at her own joke and turned back to Mr. Silent.