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walked away, his smile too smug for Darius.
    The woman’s screams stopped and she was helped to her feet a moment later.
    Darius wanted to talk to Sophie, but he followed Ulrik instead. Right up until Ulrik vanished into thin air a minute later.

 
    CHAPTER
FIVE
    Pompeii, Italy
    Balladyn stared at the ruins of Pompeii, remembering how he tracked Rhi there. He’d searched all over the realm for her. Every time he got close, she slipped away. He felt her, just as she had felt him.
    He still wasn’t sure why she stopped running from him. But he was glad when she did.
    From the time she was a young hellion of a Light Fae, she’d run rampant over everyone and everything. It wasn’t just Fae who were drawn to her. It was everyone and everything—plants, animals, wind, water, and even the sun.
    She was a force to be reckoned with, and she wasn’t even aware of it.
    Though all Fae were naturally beautiful, Rhi had an inner glow that no other Fae possessed—not even Usaeil, the Light Queen.
    It was his friendship with Rhi’s brother, Rolmir, that had afforded Balladyn the privilege to know her. For centuries he’d loved her from afar, waiting until she was old enough to want a husband.
    Instead of following in the footsteps of most female Light, Rhi followed him and Rolmir. She trained with them, fought with them, and earned herself a position as the only female in the Queen’s Guard.
    It was one of the highest honors a Light Fae could ever achieve. It was truly a day of celebration. For Balladyn, it was doubly so because it he was able to spend more time with Rhi.
    However, while he was eating meals with her, training beside her, and dreaming of her at night, Rhi was falling in love with a Dragon King.
    Balladyn still remembered the sensation of a dagger slicing him open when she told him all about the Dragon King she’d met. It was all Balladyn could do not to tell her how he felt.
    Caution stopped him, urging him to give her time. Because surely whatever was going on with the King would never last.
    As if fate conspired against him, the affair went on much longer than he ever thought possible, and then just when he was ready to give up, the King abruptly ended the affair.
    The next thing Balladyn knew, he was holding Rhi as she cried unending tears, her anguish tearing him apart. Balladyn went from hating the Dragon King, to wanting to cut him into tiny pieces for breaking Rhi’s heart.
    For days he remained by Rhi’s side comforting her as best he could, even when all she did was cry. It was enough that she’d turned to him. It meant she knew he’d always be there for her.
    Then Usaeil summoned him. Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine Rhi would venture into the darkest side of the Fae realm where no Light Fae dared to go.
    But Balladyn had been ready to follow her. Only he saw Rhi’s Dragon King go in after her first. To this day, Rhi had no idea who brought her out of that death trap.
    Balladyn dropped his chin to his chest as those memories assaulted him. He’d sworn to stay beside her always. So he was prepared to wait for her to get past her broken heart—except the Fae army was called to war. As a Queen’s Guard, they led the charge.
    He touched his left shoulder where he’d been hit with an arrow from a Dark. The tip came so close to piercing his heart he was still surprised he hadn’t died. In some ways, it would’ve been better had it killed him instead of him ending up in a Dark Fae dungeon where he was consequently turned.
    All the love he once held for Rhi was then twisted to hate. He made it his mission to capture and turn her. When she ventured into Taraeth’s domain, Balladyn had scarcely believed his fortune.
    For just a second, he’d believed she was there for him, to try and bring him back to the Light. Then he learned of the Dragon King, Kellan, who was being held. Despite all that Rhi’s lover had done to her, she was still helping the Dragon Kings.
    It infuriated him,