Lady Blaer. Nic’s dragon hissed deep within him.

He had a bad feeling she was the fae behind this.

Long-lived and powerful, the fae were at the top of the magical world’s food chain. To them, fada and humans were little better than animals—servants, even pets—who lived to do a fae’s bidding. If the fae had their way, the other two races would be their slaves.

But fortunately, the three fae rulers—King Sindre of the ice fae, Prince Langdon of the night fae and Queen Cleia of the sun fae—were more concerned with jockeying for power amongst each other than worrying about the fada. And shapeshifters had their own ways of fighting back, so the fada and fae had come to an uneasy truce.

A truce that was frequently broken. Could Blaer be behind this?

Cassidy touched his arm. “What’s the fae lady’s name? Write it down for me. I want to know.”

He dipped his finger in the pool and traced the name on the step between them.

Blaer. Cassidy’s mouth formed the word without speaking it aloud.

“I met her at the May Day ritual the spring before I came to Shannon.”

Four years ago, Nic had bought a glamour so he could attend the ice fae’s May Day celebration in the hopes that he could finally get some answers about his parents’ disappearance.

It had been spring, the time when an ice fae’s power wanes. May Day was their last large gathering before they went underground for the summer in their cool caverns. Much of the fae world took part in the May Day ritual and party that followed. It was one of the few times that Sindre’s court was open to outsiders.

Nic had slipped in disguised as a human, a little shorter and broader, and his face changed enough to make him unrecognizable. A fada would have sniffed him out, but the ice fae didn’t allow fada into their inner court.

The party was held in a huge, hexagonal ballroom festooned with ropes of frozen flowers. Silver and blue fae lights floated above the crowd, shedding a silvery light on the dancing, glittering fae. Tall stone statues of various animals presided over each of the ballroom’s six corners—a polar bear, a giant bird, a narwhal with its spiral tusk.

He spent a couple of hours snooping around the edges of the court, but hadn’t learned a damn thing about his parents. Then Lady Blaer had asked him to dance. He’d been flattered, even though he’d known it was a bad idea. Blaer was tall and curvy with a night fae’s black eyes and an ice fae’s blond hair, and a fae’s glittering charisma. No unmated male would’ve turned her down.

When Blaer invited him to her sumptuous bedroom, he’d smiled and followed her through the ice fae castle’s long white halls like a dog on a leash.

“I see,” Cassidy said in a flat voice, clearly reading between the lines. After all, May Day was a fertility celebration.

“I didn’t know you then. Trust me, you have nothing to be jealous about.” It had been the most soulless sex he’d ever had, like making love to your fantasy woman and then waking up to find she was actually a doll. “It was a one-time thing. The next morning, I left.”

He grimaced, recalling how he’d slunk out of the castle with his tail between his legs and headed straight for the Atlantic Ocean. He’d swum as his river dolphin until he was far enough north that no one would see his dragon, and then ridden the waves of the North Atlantic for several weeks. When he felt clean again, he’d headed to Ireland and his granddad.

And there, he’d met Cassidy. She was the anti-Blaer, witty and fun-loving, the kind of woman who drew others to her like bees to honey. A woman open-hearted enough to try and warm even a dragon’s soul.

“Truly?” Cassidy replied. “I’m surprised you even noticed me after sleeping with a fae.”

“You’re twice the woman she is. Once I saw you, I never wasted another thought on her. You made me happy, Cassidy.” He reached for her and then clenched his fists on his thighs. “You’re warm and funny and special. I never smiled so much as I did that summer. My heart was yours from the first week.”

She hmphed. “You did a bloody good job of hiding it.”

“Because I was trying to do the right thing, damn it.”

Her look would’ve set a lesser man on fire. “You thickheaded arse. You don’t get to decide what’s right for me. I do.”

He glanced at Rianna, playing in the pools. He was coming to see that he’d treated Cassidy like a child who couldn’t make up her own mind. “I know. I’m sorry.”

Her mouth flattened, but she gave a short nod. “Just so you remember in the future.”

Hope sparked in his chest. Maybe, just maybe, she was starting to forgive him.

“So this Lady B,” Cassidy continued. “Are you thinking that she figured out you’re a sea dragon?”

“I don’t know.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “I was a hundred miles off Iceland and fifty fathoms deep before I shifted to my true form. And don’t forget, this was four-and-a-half turns of the sun ago.”

“Which isn’t long to a fae.”

“But why would she turn up at the Shannon base? I used a glamour. She didn’t know I was a fada, and even if she did, no one would guess I was part-Irish.” His accent was American with a touch of Portuguese, and his glamour may have changed his looks, but not his coloring, leaving him with a Latino’s dark hair and olive skin.

She shrugged. “Could be it’s a coincidence then.”

“It must be.” But he couldn’t shake his uneasiness. Had Blaer guessed he was a sea dragon? But how? He’d had a few shots of Reyka vodka, but not enough to make him drunk—and even hammered off his ass, he wouldn’t have shared his deepest secret with a fae.

Cassidy stirred at his side. “I’m sorry about your parents. If I thought there was a chance that my mam and dad were alive, I’d do anything to find out for sure, too.”

“Thanks.” He looked down at his hands. “It’s the not knowing that drives me insane.”

“I know.” She nodded at Rianna, backstroking her way across the center pool. “I wish my parents could’ve met her. That’s the hardest thing about having them gone. They’d have doted on her. Aunt Maire and Uncle Fergus are the best grandparents you could ask for, but it’s not the same.”

“Same here. My pai was a gruff, old-world Portuguese, but the pups loved him.”

Rianna dove underwater and surfaced at their feet. “Can we play now? Please?” She flashed her dimples.

“Of course, menina.” Nic stood up. The pup was adorable. Even if she weren’t his, he’d be tempted to spoil her rotten. But for a man who’d thought to live out his life as a solitary, the idea that this incredible little girl belonged to him was heady stuff.

She tilted her head. “What’s that mean?”

“Menina? Little girl. It’s Portuguese.”

“How do you say princess?”

“Princesa.”

“Preen-say-za,” she repeated.

“That’s bom. Good.” He stepped into the pool. “Last one to the other side of the pool is a rotten egg,” he said, and then gave her a head start so that she tapped the other side just before him, chortling with glee.

The three of them played in the water for another hour, and then got dressed and went up top to see the herd of five goats, Rianna proudly wearing her felt horns.

The island was covered in brush and tufts of wiry grass. The only source of fresh water was the pool Nic had discovered, so humans had never tried to colonize it. But the goats were happy to browse on the woody shoots and scrubby grass. Ben supplemented their diet with alfalfa hay, and the occasional handful of grain.

The goats were friendly enough. When they heard Nic’s voice, they trotted into the cavern where Ben had built a shelter for them. Nic filled a pail with grain for Rianna to feed them, and she was thrilled when they crowded around her, not caring when a white-and-tan female almost knocked her off her feet.

Nic jumped to steady her but she just laughed. The girl was fearless.

When the pail was empty, the goats nibbled on her clothes, looking for more, and she giggled so hard, Nic couldn’t help joining in.

Cassidy stared at him, arrested.

He gave her a wink. “What, you never heard me laugh before?”

She just shook her head.

After making sure the surrounding area was clear of boats, they let Rianna run around in the sun with the goats for a half hour before heading inside again. On the way back, Nic showed Cassidy a couple places where she could hide with Rianna if necessary.

“The best place is probably the pool in my quarters,” he added. “That way you have the option of escaping to the ocean.”

She nodded, eyes shadowed.

“But it won’t come to that,” he hurried to say.

“I hope not.” She rubbed her nape. “But I know they’ll come. I feel it.”

In the dining hall, Ben had a tasty fish stew waiting. This time, Rianna ate her entire portion before hopping off her seat. She leaned against her mom, rubbing her eyes and yawning.

“Naptime.” Cassidy scooped her up and started for Nic’s quarters.

“I’ll take her.” He eased Rianna from her arms, pleased when she came without a protest.

In his quarters, he set her on the futon mattress next to her ragdoll. Rianna threw a skinny arm over the doll’s smiling embroidered face and closed her eyes.

“She’s tired,” Cassidy murmured—and smothered a yawn.

“So are you.”

“I am at that.” She stretched like a sleepy kitten, her T-shirt riding up to expose her creamy belly.

Nic’s whole body went taut. He yearned to pull her into his arms. Not to make love—she was still recovering from her ordeal—but just to hold her.

But he’d promised not to touch her.

“Go ahead, take a nap,” he said a little hoarsely, so that Cassidy’s brow furrowed.

“Maybe I will.”

But neither of them moved. She gazed at him with that perplexed expression until Nic’s heart slammed in his chest.

Cassidy moved first. “I’ll see you later, then.” She took a step toward the bed.

He jerked his chin in assent. “I’ll be in the next room if you need me.”