Dark Heat: The Dark Kings Stories (2 page)

But she had faced far more daunting things in her life than a flat tire, and she wasn’t about to fall apart now. Cassie lifted the back hatch of the Vauxhall Corsa and managed to find the spare tire.

Thank goodness she knew how to change a tire, or it would have been even longer. As it was, everything was taking twice as long because her fingers were so numb.

Just as she was fitting the spare on the car, it began to snow. Cassie gritted her teeth and kept working. An eternity later, the flat was replaced and she was back in the car.

“Sorry, Duke, but I need to feel my hands again.”

Cassie rolled up his window and turned the heater on full blast, with all the vents pointed to her. The car roared to life, and she hesitantly pulled back onto the road.

Dan had warned her about driving in the Highlands during winter. He needn’t have bothered. Since Cassie had never driven in snow she was already apprehensive, and with the steep inclines, descents, and one-lane bridges, she was moving at a snail’s pace.

And by the line of cars behind her, she was apparently the only one who felt the need to go slow.

As soon as Cassie was able, she pulled into a layby, which was Scots for “passing lane,” and allowed the cars to go by. She might not understand the way the British built their roadways, but she was very thankful for the laybys so others could go around her.

Another thing she never counted on was the sun setting so early. It was only four, and the sun was sinking faster than any sunset she’d ever seen. Which meant she was not only driving in snow, in the mountains looking for a place she’d never been, but she would also be doing it in the dark.

“Lost luggage, Dan bailing on me, having to drive this toy car, getting Duke, a flat, and now snow and dark. Please, God, get me to the house in one piece,” she prayed as she narrowed her eyes to see through the snow.

Duke whined softly, as if offering her comfort.

The roads became more winding and the curves tighter the farther north and deeper into the Highlands she drove. Her fingers ached from gripping the wheel so tightly.

Cars zoomed by her while she struggled to read the signs as the snow fell faster and faster. Twice she missed her turns only to have to double back and find them again.

The GPS was taking her farther and farther off what the Scots called main roadways to small two-lane roads with no stripes and what anyone in the States would call one-way roads.

“Shit!” she cried as she swerved to miss an oncoming car.

Cassie had to jerk the passenger-side wheels off the road to miss another car. It jostled Duke so badly, his head hit the roof of the car.

“Sorry, Duke,” she muttered when the dog gave a bark.

She’d never felt so relieved as when she found the driveway to Dan’s house. At least she didn’t have to worry about oncoming cars anymore. As she drove down the long winding drive, she expected to see lights on in the house welcoming her.

But there was only darkness and stillness.

“Dan, where are you?” she asked.

She knew Dan and his wife were having some issues in their marriage, and it was just like Dan to be forgetful about things. But he had never forgotten
her
before.

“There’s a first time for everything, I suppose.”

Duke’s whine only confirmed her suspicions.

She put the car in park and turned off the engine. Duke pawed at the door, letting her know he needed out.

“Wait,” she said. “Let me unlock the front door first.”

Cassie unbuckled her seat belt and rushed for the door to the cottage. Dan had told her the key was in a black box near the door. What he hadn’t told her was that she’d need a code.

“I’m so going to hurt you, Dan. Badly. Very, very badly.”

By this time, rain was beginning to mix with the snow. Duke’s barking grew louder, and her only choice was to head back to the car and look through everything she had received from Dan to see if he’d given her a code that she somehow missed.

As soon as she opened the car door, Duke jumped out and ran into the darkness.

“Duke!” she called, and tried to go after him.

Her foot hit a piece of ice and slipped out from underneath her. Cassie landed hard on her butt. She sat, the snow and rain seeping into her jeans, immobilized by the pain.

She had no idea how long she stayed there before she crawled back to the car, wincing at the agony of each movement. Her gloveless hands were now so frozen, she couldn’t move them. It took her five attempts before she was able to unzip her purse and pull out her cell phone.

Getting any kind of Internet service was laughable, so she couldn’t look through old e-mails. However, she was able to sift through the texts, but found nothing.

Cassie dialed her brother and listened to the call ring over and over again before finally going to voice mail.

The tears she’d held back all day clogged her throat. She swallowed and laid her head on the steering wheel. She couldn’t get the keys to let herself into the house, she’d lost Duke, and she was most likely going to freeze to death in a toy car that offered no more than a sliver of warmth.

“A fitting day for the beginning of my new life,” she said as the first tear fell down her cheek.

CHAPTER
TWO

Dreagan Distillery

Hal shut and locked the doors to the distillery for the day before he turned and looked out over the land. Snow blanketed everything and the light the crescent moon cast upon the ground made it look almost as if it were glowing.

The need to lose himself in the land in the forest sometimes was overwhelming, as it was this night. Other times he could ignore the call, but not tonight.

Hal didn’t bother to tell the others where he was going. He simply walked down the steps and into the night. The weather didn’t faze him.

His boots crunched in the thick snow, but he never noticed. His gaze was trained on the forest ahead. Every one of them answered to something, and for Hal it was the forest.

Always had been.

Always would be.

Once he was in the trees, he took a deep breath and lifted his face to the sky. Snow landed on his lashes and rain dripping from the limbs above pelted his face.

It was glorious.

Hal smiled and spread his arms wide. He touched his chest, through his jacket and sweater, to the tattoo beneath.

A person could get lost in the glens of the Highlands, and there were thousands of glens. Which made it a perfect place for Hal and the others like him to stay hidden.

It had been a long time since he’d allowed his other self to show, his dragon self. And for some reason, this night he desperately yearned to spread his wings and fly.

To feel the wind around him as he soared through the sky.

He still remembered flying low over the trees, the leaves brushing against his underside as the sun beat on him. He hadn’t needed to hide then. For once upon a time, he had been able to call to his brethren and listened to their roars fill the forest.

So very long ago he had lived a completely different life. Back before the humans betrayed them, before a war that changed everything.

A sound off to Hal’s right had him turning his head in that direction. He dropped his arms as his eyes fastened on a large, fast-moving animal loping through the trees.

Hal let his coat drop from his arms as he sprinted toward the animal. As he neared, he realized it was a dog—a very large dog. And the only person near Dreagan land who had such a dog was Dan Hunter.

With more frustration than Hal wanted to concede, he came to a halt. He had been able to take flight, but now he had to chase a dog. For several moments he watched the Great Dane running, his tongue lolling out the side of his mouth.

There had been a few times in Hal’s life where he’d felt that free, been that free. Those times were the barest of memories now.

When a person was as old as Hal, time blurred.

It was so easy to get lost in his memories, of what had once been, and what
he
had once been. But to allow himself to get absorbed in such recollections was not wise.

He pulled himself back from the brink and gave a loud, short whistle, which pulled Duke up short. The Great Dane turned his head to Hal and issued a deep, booming bark in greeting.

“Come here, lad,” Hal called.

Immediately, the dog ran to him, his tail wagging.

Hal rubbed the dog’s massive head. “It’s no’ like Dan to allow you to run like this. Nor is it like you to run off. What’s the problem, lad?”

Duke jerked against the hold Hal had on his collar. Hal narrowed his eyes. He’d learned very early in life to listen carefully when animals tried to speak. They might not be speaking your language, but they were talking. It was obvious Duke was trying to tell him something.

“Show me,” Hal said, and released the collar.

Duke took off at a run and Hal was quick to follow. Dreagan land extended far as the eye could see, and Dan’s cottage was the closest anyone lived to Dreagan.

It was because Dan rarely rented the property and didn’t cause any problems that Hal and the others hadn’t made a point of getting rid of him.

Hal easily kept pace with the Great Dane as they traversed over the land. When they crested the last hill that overlooked Dan’s cottage, Duke stopped and whined.

Dan’s Corsa could be seen by the light of the moon despite the heavy snowfall. Thankfully, the rain had tapered off, but the snow made it difficult to see where Dan was.

Duke butted Hal’s hand with his head before he took off down the slope to the cottage. Hal had memorized the lay of the land centuries ago and knew where the boulders lay hidden in the snow.

He leapt down the slope and landed in thick snow. Duke caught up with him, and they both ran the rest of the way down the side of the mountain.

Hal rushed to the front door, but found it locked and all the lights out. When Hal turned to look for Duke, he found the Great Dane standing beside the car.

That’s when Hal noticed there was someone inside. In three strides he was beside the car. He tapped on the window, but the figure didn’t move.

Duke barked. Hal opened the door to find the most beautiful face he’d ever seen. Hair as dark as chocolate silk hung over her shoulder and next to her pale skin.

The same dark brows arched over large eyes. Her oval face was streaked with tears. Thick lashes lay against her cheeks. Lips, full and luscious, were slightly parted and tinged a pale blue.

That pulled Hal out of his perusal. He touched her cheek to find it ice cold. Cursing under his breath, he rushed to the lockbox next to the door and punched in the code. With keys in hand, he unlocked the front door before he ran back to the car.

Carefully, he gathered the woman in his arms and walked into the house. He laid her on the couch and stripped her out of boots that were made for walking the streets of Edinburgh, not traipsing through the Highlands.

He found her socks dry, so he left them on her feet and got to work removing her jacket. The hem of her sweater was wet, which led him to inspecting her jeans, only to find them also soaked.

With grim determination, Hal lifted her sweater and unbuttoned the jeans. He was resolute in ignoring the glimpse he got of her flat stomach and the feel of her smooth skin against his hand.

He gritted his teeth and tried to look away from the long, shapely legs revealed as he peeled off her jeans. Tried—and failed.

Hal took in one long glance and felt a stirring of desire before he covered her with the thick tartan blanket from the back of the sofa. The fact she was shivering from the cold prompted him to take action and build a quick fire.

When the flames were dancing before him, Hal looked over his shoulder to find Duke lying in front of the couch as if to guard the woman.

“Doona worry, lad. I’m no’ in the habit of taking sleeping women.”

Duke laid his great head on his paws, as if he were satisfied with the answer.

Hal rose and retrieved the single small piece of luggage and the woman’s purse from the car. His curiosity awoken, he searched her purse to find her wallet and looked at the ID.

Somehow he wasn’t surprised to find she was American. He read over the Arizona driver’s license until he found her name. “Cassandra Hunter,” he read aloud.

He shifted his gaze to Cassandra. So, she was related to Dan, but how? She wasn’t Dan’s wife—that was for sure. Dan’s wife, Shelly, was British and was well known for being outgoing and a socialite.

Hal leaned a hip against the back of the sofa. “So who are you, Cassandra Hunter from Arizona? And why are you here?”

*   *   *

Hal shut his phone off, ending the conversation with Rhys, and put two more logs on the fire. He hadn’t felt right leaving Cassandra alone overnight, so he had called Rhys to bring a few groceries.

Once Hal learned who Cassandra was, and if she was supposed to be there since he couldn’t reach Dan, then he would leave the American to herself.

Hal reclined in the chair and stretched his legs in front of him. His gaze returned to Cassandra. She hadn’t made so much as a sound since he’d brought her inside. Thankfully, the blue tinge to her lips had faded after an hour of him rubbing warmth into her arms, feet, and legs.

Duke had kept his guard duty. If the dog trusted her, then Hal mostly likely would as well. Animals had uncanny abilities in reading people.

Hal must have dozed because he awoke to the sound of a vehicle approaching. He knew before he looked that it was Rhys. Hal rose and walked to the door to open it before his friend could knock.

“Is she still unconscious?” Rhys asked as he walked inside with a bag in each hand.

“Aye. She’s no’ moved.”

“Duke is with her, I see.”

Hal took one of the bags and set it on the counter to unload the milk, orange juice, and water into the fridge. “Aye. Which leads me to believe Dan sent her, but then why couldn’t she get inside?”

“You still have no’ gotten a hold of Dan?” Rhys asked as he set a loaf of bread, cereal, and some bagels on the counter.

“Nay. What did you discover?”