Dark Heat: The Dark Kings Stories by Donna Grant Page B

this.”
    She couldn’t shake the feeling there was an undercurrent of something dangerous and not exactly dark, something she couldn’t understand, going on.
    “How much do you care for Hal, Cassie?” Con asked, his voice ringing in the cavern.
    “A lot,” she answered without looking at him.
    Hal’s head jerked up as he looked at Con over her head. “Con,” he warned.
    “Cassie, I’ve something to tell you.”
    It was only when Hal tried to talk that she put her fingers over his lips to silence him. Then she turned toward Con. “So that’s what this is about? Let me guess. You want to tell me something to frighten me away? But Hal wants to be the one to tell me.”
    One of Con’s blond brows lifted. “Aye.”
    “All right.”
    “Nay,” Hal growled. “I’ll be the one to tell you.”
    Cassie smiled at him. “Nothing Con will say will scare me off from you. Let him tell me.”
    “Cassie.” His voice was low and deep, and it tore at her heart because she could see the anguish in his eyes. He feared what Con would tell her.
    The only way she could prove to Hal that she wasn’t easy to scare away was to come back to him after Con was done. Only then would Hal understand.
    She leaned up and gave him a quick kiss before she turned to Con. “Shall we get on with it then?”
    Hal kept a hold of her hand as she followed Con. With one last squeeze, Hal released her hand. Every step she took away from him was like a piece of her heart was being torn from her. And left behind.
    Cassie didn’t look at any of the other men, for fear she might lose control of the tight rein she had on her emotions. She inhaled deeply as she reached the outside and let her eyes look over Dreagan land.
    It was beautiful blanketed in a thick layer of white, but she imagined it was stunning in the summer when everything was vibrant and green.
    Would she be around to see it, was the question.
    *   *   *
    Hal watched his King and Cassie walk away, knowing Constantine was going to do his damnedest to scare Cassie away. He’d have won against Con, Hal knew it. But it had been Cassie who stayed his hand and took the decision from him.
    It killed him to see her walk away with Con, recognizing she might never return to him.
    Banan came up beside Hal and laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Cassie feels for you, old friend.”
    “Aye. But is it enough?”
    “We’ll soon find out,” Rhys said.
    Guy pushed away from the wall and stared out the cavern entrance. “I didna want to believe our dragon magic had failed and Hal felt something for a human. But none of you were standing there when Cassie wanted to return to him. She was prepared to fight me to get to Hal.”
    “Has dragon magic ever failed before?” Banan asked.
    “Kellan would know.”
    Hal looked to Guy. He was right. If anyone knew everything of dragon history, it was Kellan, who did nothing but keep track of it. “So we walk to Kellan.”
    “Only Con knows where he’s at,” Rhys pointed out ruefully.
    “Then all we can do is wait.” Hal slumped down on a boulder and dropped his head in his hands. “I was selfish, wanting to be with Cassie. I knew nothing good could come of it. Even when I knew I needed to stay away, I couldna.”
    Rhys sat down beside him. “I thought Cassie might have done something to disturb the Silvers and the magic preventing us from feeling, but I doona think that anymore.”
    “Then it’s something else that caused this,” Banan said, his lips twisted in a sneer. “I was quite content no’ having to battle the treachery of humans.”
    Guy began a slow circle around the cavern, his forehead furrowed as he thought. “It can no’ be Ulrik. The only ones who could break dragon magic would be us, and we all know no’ to touch that magic.”
    “Which leaves what?” Banan asked.
    Rhys snorted. “And what does that mean for the rest of us?”
    Hal looked to each of his friends. For the first time in eons, their futures were