Dark Alpha's Embrace (3 page)

He heard Talin moving behind him, but Kyran was too engrossed with the librarian. River. The name evoked fluidity, refinement, and strength.

When he’d first seen her standing there with her dark hair pulled back in a bun so severe it looked painful, her black glasses, and the frumpy clothes, he nearly laughed.

Then Kyran saw her fight. She moved as if she’d been born to the weapon. With her glasses gone, he saw how pale her blue eyes were. They were a beacon in her face, drawing everyone’s gaze to their odd color.

The battle had shaken her tight bun so that long dark brown hair hung straight and glossy down the middle of her back. Kyran wanted to sink his fingers into the length and grab hold of it, to keep her steady as he kissed her.

She watched him with one thin chocolate brow arched. With her hair down, she didn’t look so stern. She had impossibly high cheekbones and lips so full they made him long to have them on his skin.

Kyran lowered his gaze from her beautiful face and unusual eyes. The battle had done its damage to her clothes as well. The top two buttons of her shirt had come undone, giving him a glimpse of the swells of her breasts.

And bright pink lace.

He ached for

He looked at her plain blue plaid skirt and navy shirt. They were clothes an elderly human would wear. Not a woman like River.

But how he ached. For her.

To have her, to hold her.

To make love to her.

Kyran wanted - no, he yearned – to have her near again so he could inhale her fresh scent and femininity. They way she stood up to him turned him on as nothing else could.

Her pale blue eyes glittered with anger as she held the dagger to his neck. Never had he seen anything so stunning – or wanted anything more.

River.

If they were alone, he’d already have her in his arms, kissing her, touching her. He wanted to feel her melt against him, to feel her give into the attraction that had both of them in its grip.

Her lips parted as their gazes held. Kyran barely held himself back from reaching for her.

“We need to tell Cael about this,” Talin said as he came up beside Kyran.

“Then go tell him.”

River cocked her head to the side. “Both of you go tell him. I want you gone. Now.”

“Not going to happen,” Kyran said.

She raised her dagger in front of her. “If I have to make you, I’ll do it.”

“How do you know of us?” Kyran asked.

She glanced away. “The how doesn’t matter. I do.”

Talin made a sound. “Actually, it does matter.”

“Why?” She shot him a look, her pale blue eyes pinning him. “Your kind comes here, sleeps with a mortal, and leaves without a second thought. You don’t care how you left the mortal or the consequences of such a union. All you care about is your pleasure.”

Talin shifted feet uncomfortably. “Those are a lot of generalities.”

“Tell me it isn’t true,” River demanded. “Tell me the Light don’t do that.”

“I can’t.”

“Now tell me about the Light who return and see if they have any offspring? Or better yet, tell me about the females who keep the babies in the Fae world.”

Kyran was amazed at how much River knew of their world. She was roasting Talin. And he wasn’t keen on her turning that ire on him.

Talin shrugged helplessly. “The half-Fae offspring don’t always have magic. They could never survive in our world.”

“Then why mix with us?” she asked, her voice rising.

Though Kyran loved the sound of her Scottish brogue, he wanted her calm. Until she was in his arms. Then he wanted all that fiery passion unleashed. The mere thought made his balls tighten.

He took a step toward her, and just as he wanted, her attention swung to him. “Is it my turn now?”

“Leave. And never return.”

“That’s not going to happen. We need these books.”

She smiled tightly. “Then I’ll have to kill you, because these books aren’t leaving this room.”

Talin blew out a breath. “She knows of us, Kyran. Why not just tell her?”

“Have you lost your mind?” Kyran asked, looking at him sideways.

“Perhaps.”

River motioned to the door with her blade. “I don’t want to know anything. I just want you gone.”

Kyran let just enough magic leave his hand to knock the dagger from hers. In the next instant, he had her up against the wall, their bodies pressed together.

For a heartbeat, he couldn’t move. It felt so good to have her against him, to feel the heat of her. Then he made the mistake of looking down.

She watched him with wide eyes, her lips parted and the pulse at her throat beating double. Kyran meant to frighten her enough to help them, but all he’d managed to do was fill his body with lust.

“We’re trying to be nice,” he murmured.

Her mouth was so close to his. And her eyes. By the stars but they were even more amazing up close. He saw lines of silver in their depths as well as a thick ring of silver around the iris.

Their first look at her brought to mind anything but a Fae. Now that she was exposed, it was so blatantly clear he couldn’t believe her disguise worked.

Thick black lashes fell as she blinked and composed herself. “I’ve gone to great lengths to keep the Fae out of my life. They’re just books.”

“We need them,” he attempted to explain.

Kyran didn’t want to steal them, not now, not after talking with River, but she was leaving them no choice.

She turned her head to the side, refusing to look at him. Kyran frowned. Her words disturbed him, especially when he put them together with her earlier declaration that she’d worked most of her life to gather these books.

“We need to go,” Talin said.

Kyran glanced at him over his shoulder. “Don’t touch a single book.”

River’s head snapped back to him. “What?” she asked in confusion.

“I get the feeling there’s something important you aren’t telling us.” Kyran released her and took a few steps back. “The fact is, River, you’re going to have Fae here.”

Talin nodded. “And not just us.”

“The other Dark,” she said.

Kyran bent and retrieved her weapon. He held it by the blade and handed it back to her. “Aye, the other Dark. They were hunting half-Fae.”

River’s forehead crinkled as she pieced it together. “And killing us.”

“Viciously,” Kyran said. “Your concealment was good enough to even mask you from us, but the others know of you now. You’re not safe.”

“Great,” she mumbled sarcastically.

Talin walked from one case to the next. “We could use magic to keep the Dark out.”

“That might work,” Kyran said. Then he looked at River. “If she remains in this room.”

“And this is why I dress like this,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “Almost two decades I’ve hidden. In one night both of you ruined that.”

Kyran held up his hands. “We had no idea.”

“No, all you cared about was getting what you wanted,” she rebuked him.

Kyran exchanged a look with Talin before he said, “You’re right. We wanted them to help us stop the Dark from killing any more half-Fae.”

“Sure you did,” River said as she went to examine one of the cases to make sure it wasn’t damaged.

“Why don’t you believe us?” Talin asked.

“You’re Irish.”

Now that intrigued Kyran. “We’re Fae.”

“Who have Irish accents,” she said as she went to the next case.

Talin raised both brows high in his forehead and turned away with his hands up, leaving Kyran to sort through River’s statements.

“It’s how all Fae speak.”

River didn’t respond.

He watched her walk from case to case, growing more fascinated as the minutes passed. “My accent is why you won’t talk to me or help us?”

“My reasons are my own.” She straightened from looking at one of the keypads. “If you’re going to take the books, make it look like a robbery. I don’t want to be accused.”

Talin produced a bubble of magic. “That’s reasonable.”

Kyran walked to him and shoved down his hand. Then he turned back to River. “We’ll leave. But be warned, River, more of those Dark will be here looking for their companions and whatever else it is they want, which I suspect is the books. They’ll eventually find out who you are.”

“That’s my problem.”

“You know what the Dark do,” Talin said. “Let us help you.”

“Will you leave the books?”

Kyran shook his head. “We can’t. I told you why we need them.”

“And I need them to.”

“Why?” Talin asked.

Kyran could see how upset she was, and he hated it. “You know you won’t win against us no matter how hard you fight. We’re fighting against evil.”

She drew in a long breath and released it. Then she retrieved her broken glasses and put them in a pocket of her skirt. With the dagger tucked along her arm, she turned on her heel and walked from the room.

The door sealed behind her with a soft click. Kyran stared at it for a long minute.

“I know that look. What are you thinking?” Talin asked.

Kyran crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m thinking River White has something to hide, and she wants to make sure it stays that way.”

“Aye. I get that same feeling. She knew too much about the Fae.”

“But not about us.”

Talin twisted his lips. “That’s a good thing. More of Bran’s men will come. They’ll see the books and take them simply because we were here.”

“I know.” Kyran wanted to leave them behind. There was something about the way River spoke of the books that struck a chord deep within him. “We can’t allow Bran to get ahold of them.”

Talin briefly looked at the door. “She fought so hard to protect them. It feels wrong to take the books.”

It did at that. “We’re trying to keep her safe. If the books are gone, then Bran has no reason to focus on River.”

“You hope,” Talin mumbled.

Kyran dropped his arms to his side and walked to the case nearest him. The glass protecting the books was thick, blocking out the elements. “We take the books, but for anyone who comes to check, make it appear as if they’re still here.”

“I like that,” Talin said.

Kyran knew that was enough for the humans to leave River alone, but it wasn’t going to keep her safe from others. If Kyran had his way, he’d take River with them. But he was certain Cael wouldn’t be thrilled with him kidnapping anyone.

Nor would River for that matter.

Somehow Kyran was going to have to keep an eye on her. It wasn’t just out of obligation, but because he couldn’t deny the need to protect her.

Within minutes they collected the books and used magic to return everything to how it was. Then they teleported back to the caves.

Kyran led the way into the section where Jordyn’s library was. She was bent over a table reading a book. She looked up at them and smiled.

“You found them.” Jordyn rushed to take the ones from Kyran, but he held them away from her. She looked at him askance. “Kyran?”

He glanced at Talin, who nodded in agreement. Kyran then swung his gaze back to Jordyn. “Look through these as quickly as possible. We need to return them.”

“Return them?” Jordyn asked in shock. “That’s not what was discussed. We need them here.”

Talin gently set his stack of books on the table. “We return them, Jordyn.”

“It might take me months to go through each of these.”

Kyran shook his head. “Then work faster. These are ancient texts that were being stored in pristine conditions. They need to be returned exactly as they are.”

Jordyn threw out her hands to her sides, before letting them slap against her thighs. “I don’t have that kind of facility.”

“Then we’ll see to it,” Talin said.

Kyran handed his books to Talin to protect with magic. He turned away and found Cael blocking his path.

“Something you want to tell me?” their leader asked.

Behind Kyran Talin said, “We found a half-Fae.”

“What?” Jordyn asked in disbelief.

Kyran blew out a breath. “It’s the librarian.”

“No way,” Jordyn said in awe.

Talin laughed. “Yes way. You should’ve seen her fight.”

Kyran could’ve kicked him.

“Fight?” Cael asked with a frown.

“Some of Bran’s men arrived. They must’ve tracked us,” Kyran explained.

Jordyn shrugged. “Or found out about the books as well.”

That was something Kyran hoped to hell wasn’t a possibility, because if it was, then Bran would eventually look for River.

Talin grinned. “You should’ve seen her, Cael. The Fae dagger is gorgeous. I don’t know who taught her how to use it, but she’s good.”

“Really?” Cael looked between the two of them. “I think I’d like to meet this half-Fae Kyran is so adamant about returning the books to.”

“Well, someone needs to talk to her,” Jordyn said.

Kyran and Talin turned to look at her. “Why?” Kyran asked.

Jordyn held up the first book, opened to the middle. “Because it’s in a language I don’t understand.”

Chapter Four

River closed the door and leaned against it. Her dagger fell to the floor as her fingers, numb from fear, lost their grip.

She looked down at her hands to find that they were shaking. A moment later, her knees buckled. She slid down the door to the floor and buried her face in her hands as the tears came.

Never had she felt so stupid and foolish. All those years of thinking she could handle herself if a Fae approached her. All those years of practicing. None of it did any good.

Aunt Maureen warned her that knowledge was power, but when it came to the Fae, it was all about the magic. River never really believed her. She put all her effort into the books, believing that was all she needed.

River learned her lesson tonight.

Not even the warding marks she learned from her books and inscribed with her own blood around the vault door prevented the Fae from entering.

She looked down at her clothes and squeezed her eyes shut. Maureen cautioned her to dress ugly, to be ugly to keep the Fae away. For years that worked. What changed tonight?

River glared at the dagger. If she hadn’t pulled the weapon there was a chance the Fae would never have discovered what she was.

That wasn’t true. Kyran would have. There was nothing that went on around him that he didn’t take note of and catalogue. He must have been laughing at her. The poor, pitiful half-Fae trying to stand up to them.