Smoldering Hunger Read Online Free PDF

smugness in Ulrik’s voice as he mentioned how none of the Dragon Kings could shift and take to the skies threatened to break Darius’s calm, but he managed to hold onto it.
    “My battle with Con is coming soon,” Ulrik said. “Pitting us against each other here willna do anyone any good. No’ at the moment, at any rate.”
    “You’ve done what you wanted. You’ve clipped our wings,” Darius said. “For now.”
    Ulrik finished chewing and swallowed before he said in a tight voice, “I wasna able to shift into my true form for thousands of millennia. Doona talk to me about having your wings clipped.”
    For the briefest second, Darius saw the fury in Ulrik’s gold eyes before it was tempered. He’d gone a mere few weeks unable to take to the skies, but Darius had been able to shift. Ulrik hadn’t been able to do either for too many centuries to count. As awful as Darius imagined that was, it didn’t excuse Ulrik from the atrocities he’d committed in the past few years.
    “If you hate Con so much, why no’ just go after him?” Darius asked.
    Ulrik stood and wadded up the empty bag. “Because fucking with all of you is too much fun.”
    Darius knew it was more than that. Ulrik was too cunning to waste time causing trouble. Each assault, each strike was calculated. “So you’ll destroy our entire race because you were exiled?”
    “I wasna merely exiled, or have you forgotten so easily?” Ulrik’s half smile hardened, his gold eyes becoming icy. “All of you killed her. That was my right for her betrayal. And instead of wiping the mortals from our realm, you and the others chose to protect them. The verra ones who were going to try and kill me. The ones who were responsible for our dragons being sent away. You want to know if I’ll destroy all of you? I’ll do it with a smile on my face.”
    “If you’re the only Dragon King left, you willna be able to fight the Dark Fae who will want to take over this realm.”
    Not a shred of emotion crossed Ulrik’s face. Darius hoped to read something in his old friend’s visage to help determine what Ulrik planned, but once more Ulrik was proving to be a master at hiding his plans.
    Darius stood, putting them eye to eye. “You want to fight Con? Then fight him. We all know what’s coming is between the two of you.”
    “Do you now?” Ulrik chuckled softly.
    “Aye.”
    Darius kept his gaze on Ulrik even though he wanted to look around the hospital. Ulrik had proven in the past that he was more than capable—and willing—to kill any woman who could be a mate to a King.
    Darius wasn’t going to allow Sophie to become mixed up in this. He’d do whatever was needed to keep her out of harm’s way—which meant away from Ulrik.
    She was only involved because they had brought her in. Darius made it worse by seeking her out to make love to her. If he walked away now, there was a chance Ulrik would turn his attention from her.
    “I want all of you to understand how it feels to be trapped in human form without any way out. Unless you have a warehouse big enough for you to shift and burn Dark bodies.”
    So Darius had been followed. How had he not known of it? He was normally very attuned to that sort of thing. It grated on his nerves that Ulrik one-upped him again.
    “So your focus is on me now?” Darius asked. “You saved Lily for Rhys, only to kill Darcy to hurt Warrick?”
    Darius left out the part about how they saved Darcy who was living happily with Warrick at Dreagan.
    Ulrik tossed the bag into a nearby trash bin. “Perhaps I’m here to save Sophie.”
    Darius didn’t believe that for a moment. Ulrik had proven that he wasn’t to be trusted an inch. Yes, he had helped save Lily, but he’d also harmed the Kings in more ways.
    “You doona believe me.” Ulrik dusted off his hands. “I could tell you all my secrets right now, and you wouldna believe them.”
    “You’ve proven yourself a liar who is only after his own agenda.”
    “And you