Burning Desire by Donna Grant Page B

differences continued, but Shara stopped noticing them. Her heart had accelerated at the thought that Kiril could end up in the compound, and that alone, alarmed her.
    She wanted to be a part of her family. It had been all she thought about those six centuries of her imprisonment. She was willing to do anything to once more belong instead of being locked away. Already she had put herself in an untenable position by telling Kiril the things she had and keeping other things from her family.
    If her family discovered where she was and what she had planned, anything could happen. They might praise her for taking action, but most likely she would be punished for thinking she could make her own decisions.
    How was she to follow the wishes of her family so blindly after living over a thousand years on her own? She craved her freedom, yearned to make her own choices about what she wore and who she spent time with. Most of all, she wanted to decide who would be her husband. That shouldn’t be her father’s choice. She should have the final say, regardless of whether it was Dark tradition or not.
    Her father thought confining her for six hundred years would rein her in, and for the most part it did. Until she was back out in the world. Until she met Kiril.
    Kiril made her hunger for things she had forgotten, to desire the one thing she was meant to betray—him. How had she gotten into such a horrible position?
    Choices. Her choices. That’s how she had ended up there. That and the fact of who her family was. To go against them would be like declaring war on them, and in order for her to live, she couldn’t do it alone. She had to have allies, strong allies.
    “Are you all right?” X asked her.
    Shara swallowed her fears and flashed a bright smile. “Fill me in on everything and everyone. I want to know who are the strongest Dark, the ones everyone fears. I’ve been away for so long.”
    X hesitated, a look of uncertainty filling his face. “But your brother—”
    “Isn’t master here,” she interrupted him. Shara stopped and faced the Dark. “Who do you answer to? Balladyn or Farrell?”
    “Balladyn, of course,” X hastened to answer. “But Farrell is coming up through the ranks quickly.”
    “Quickly enough to defeat Balladyn?”
    The Dark laughed low and deep, a sinister smile upon his thin lips. “That will never happen. If anything happens to Taraeth, Balladyn will be the one to lead us.”
    “Then why are you afraid of my brother? If you serve Balladyn, then he will protect you.”
    “I will protect X from what?” came a deep, gravelly voice behind her.
    Shara’s heart plummeted to her feet as she turned and found a tall Dark with red eyes narrowed at her. His hair was long, hanging midway down his back, with thick strips of silver running through his black hair.
    His bare arms, crossed over his chest, showed chiseled muscles. As menacing as he looked with his black leather vest and pants, his strength couldn’t compare to that of Kiril’s. Thinking of her Dragon King, Shara found her heart calming, her breath evening. She had an opportunity here. She couldn’t let it slip through her fingers.
    “I’ll ask you again, female, why are you declaring that I, Balladyn, will protect X?” he demanded, his arms dropping to his sides as he took a menacing step toward her.

 
    CHAPTER TWELVE
    Shara couldn’t speak for a full minute. She’d never expected to come face-to-face with Balladyn during her first visit. She wasn’t prepared to speak to him, but she had no choice. Most Dark in his position didn’t mix with the hangers-on that littered his fortress; the fact he did was another revelation.
    She wanted to run back to the doorway that would take her home. That was the girl she used to be. Her family had forced the woman to come forward. If she were going to take her life into her own hands, then she needed to begin to act like a Blackwood.
    “I’m Shara Blackwood.”
    His angry demeanor vanished. It