“Yes.”
Her shoulders slumped a little before they went back again and she looked to the doorway. He sensed her urge to bolt as she folded her hands before her and shifted from foot to foot, but she didn’t try to leave.
“Was it…? Did he… did he suffer?” she whispered.
Cole recalled watching Del go down beneath the crush of bodies. He didn’t know if the man suffered or not, as that was the last time he saw him. By the time they were able to hunt for the bodies of their fallen, the sun was already up and Del was nothing more than ash, but he couldn’t tell her that.
“No,” he said.
A single tear slid free before she wiped it away. Tears had never moved him before, and he never felt sympathy for anyone outside his family, but he found himself wanting to comfort her.
Over the years, he’d probably caused hundreds of tears to fall in his lifetime, and not once had they swayed him to compassion. But he hated the sight of her tears.
“Good,” she said. “I should go.”
At the same time, he asked, “Was your mother a lycan?”
She frowned at him. “No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. I never met my mother, but she was human.”
“I see,” he murmured as he glanced at the flowers still tilted toward her. “The luna flowers are from the lycan realm. I’ve only ever seen them respond to lycans, such as myself.”
He found himself entranced by her as she studied the flowers again.
“I didn’t know the lycans had flowers.”
“The luna flowers grow in their land. They only bloom when the rays of the moon are shining down on them.”
“Amazing,” she whispered.
“They’re reacting to you like you’re a lycan.”
When she laughed, the sound made him blink. He’d never heard a sound so clear and sweet before. It reminded him of the joy he experienced as a child when he’d run through the fields with his arms open and the full moon shining down on him.
It was a time before the death of his mother and centuries before the war. A time when he was still innocent too. It was a time so long ago that he’d forgotten about it… until now.
Elexiandra’s eyes twinkled when she looked at the flowers again, and her laughter trailed away.
“I hate to disappoint them, but I am a vampire,” she said.
As she spoke, he saw the tips of her small fangs again. They would extend when she fed, but no vampire could ever completely hide them like a lycan could.
“I can see that,” he murmured.
Her head bowed as a blush crept up her neck and spread across her cheeks. It was so endearing his fingers itched to brush the hair back from her face, but he kept himself restrained.
He didn’t know why; he’d always gone for and almost always gotten what he wanted. But though he longed to touch her, he simply stood and watched as she stretched a hand toward one of the flowers before pulling it back.
When Cole clasped one of the flowers, some of the vines slid down to brush his arms as he moved. The flower’s petals were as smooth as silk and just as soft as he ran his finger across it before bringing it toward her.
Her fingers inched toward the flower, and when they landed on it, a smile lit her face. In response to her touch, the petals closed around her hand. She jumped and started to pull away but kept it there instead.
“It tickles!” She laughed.
Cole was stunned to realize he was grinning while watching the interaction between her and the flower. Its petals moved over her hand before it released her. Cole carefully returned the plant; it lifted its petals to the moon before twisting toward her again.
“They’re amazing!” she breathed.
There was something far more amazing to him inside this room.
“This was my mother’s room,” he told her. “My father had it built for her so that no matter where she stood in it, she could see at least a piece of a moon.”
A wistful smile played across her full lips as she gazed around the room. “It’s beautiful. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be here. I was trying to find the room I was assigned to and got lost.”
“That can happen in this place. Sometimes, it changes around you.”
“Really?”
When he grinned at her, Cole realized he couldn’t recall the last time he genuinely smiled at anyone, but she made it easy to do.
“No, but it’s something my father used to tell me when I was a child. I think he was teasing me because I always got lost in this place.”
CHAPTER 11
Lexi couldn’t see the intimidating king of the dark fae teasing anyone, even his son, but she saw no reason for the prince to lie to her. Then again, she didn’t understand why he was talking to her.
Part of her remained tempted to bolt out of here, but he so entranced the other part of her that she found herself eager to learn more.
“Do you still get lost here?” she asked.
“On occasion,” he said with a rueful smile.
She didn’t know if he was telling her the truth or saying that so she wouldn’t feel bad, but either way, it made her laugh. “It is a rather large castle.”
“There are over a thousand rooms.”
Lexi’s mouth dropped; a thousand rooms! If that were true, then he wasn’t lying about still getting lost in this place.
“What can someone possibly do with a thousand rooms?” she blurted, and then her hand flew to her mouth and her blush deepened as she realized the question was rude.
He didn’t seem to find it such as he laughed. “I have no idea, and I certainly haven’t seen them all. I could spend the rest of my life exploring this place and never find all of them. Some are hidden. Some are lost rooms only entered by past kings and queens, and those same rulers sealed others away.”
His words intrigued her. She would love the chance to explore this place for a week in search of those hidden and lost rooms. It would be fascinating. “I would try to find them all.”
“Perhaps one day,” he murmured.
As he spoke, more vines moved to brush against him, and a few encompassed his biceps before slipping away again. He was oblivious to them, but Lexi’s amazement of the plants grew; not only were they lycan plants, but they craved the touch of a lycan.
Under the silvery glow of the moon, his eyes were impossibly bluer as they perused her. Unlike Malakai, whose lascivious gaze seemed to strip her bare, she didn’t squirm beneath the prince’s inquisitive stare.
He didn’t make her feel dirty or exposed before him; instead, she felt as if he was trying to understand her better, and she was becoming increasingly intrigued by him. For some reason, this terrified her more than Malakai’s obvious lust.
The dark fae were not known for their kindness or interest in others. They were known for their ruthlessness, power, and ability to turn once perfectly normal beings into mindless sex slaves.
It wasn’t something the dark fae did to all of their sexual partners, but they did it enough that cautionary tales about them abounded.
Despite the warnings to stay away, there were still those who got too close and eventually became one of the shadow kissed creatures seeking only sexual gratification.
She would not be one of them.
“So, Elexiandra, is this your first time in a Shadow Realm?” he asked.
“Lexi,” she replied.
“Excuse me?”
She edged a little further away. “Please call me Lexi. It’s what I go by.”
He smiled at her as he prowled a little closer. When he was this close, the heat of his body caressed her skin, and her fingers itched to trace his ciphers.
Lexi gulped and shuffled a few steps back. Getting involved with a dark fae was an excellent way to lose her mind.
“Lexi then,” he murmured.
“And you’re Colburn,” she said.
“Call me Cole.”
She tried to think of a response, but her mind and common
sense had taken a vacation when she required them most.
“Have you ever been to a Shadow Realm?” he asked.
“No, and I admit, I find it fascinating as well as a little frightening.”
“I think that is most immortals’ reaction to the Gloaming.”
Turning, she gazed out the windows and focused on the lush forest outside the glass as she tried to calm her racing heart. “Is there a sun here, or is it always night?”
“There is a sun, and like on Earth, it rises and sets. However, there are always at least two moons visible at one time, and at midnight, all four are clearly seen for at least an hour. There are all kinds of creatures in this land. Some are like the human realm, and others… well, others would give you nightmares for a week.”
“Amazing,” she murmured.
She’d love to walk outside this castle and into those woods to explore the wonders they hid. She never heard him move, but his chest pressed against her back.
Lexi gulped as her skin tingled like little pulses of electricity were running through it, and her heart raced like a horse pulling a chariot. The hair on her nape rose as bumps broke out on her arms. If she turned, she could touch him and discover what he felt like.
Don’t be an idiot!
She tried to remind herself of all the deadly things the dark fae could do and how treacherous they were, but it wasn’t doing her any good. She yearned to touch him and ease her curiosity.
She couldn’t get any saliva into her suddenly parched mouth as the power he emanated crackled against her until she felt dizzy from it. Clasping her dress, she forced herself not to touch her forehead and swoon like some woman from the past who suddenly got the vapors.
“That”—he leaned over her shoulder and pointed to the moon on the right. When he spoke, his breath brushed her cheek—“is Orius, and that one”—he pointed to the moon on the left— “is Carpton. You can’t see them right now, but the other two moons are Dashius and Golen.”
Lexi found it increasingly difficult to breathe as his presence overwhelmed all her senses. He smelled of allspice and something else, something musky and powerful, something she couldn’t quite put her finger on, but it was alluring.
“They’re beautiful,” she managed to croak out.
Larger than the moons on Earth, they cast a lot of light upon the realm. And they were beautiful. One was full, while the other was a crescent sliver.
“Yes,” he said, and she felt his eyes on her.
Lexi gulped; she shouldn’t do it, but her head turned toward him, and their eyes met. They were so close, she could tell that no other colors marred the perfect Persian blue of his eyes.
She didn’t mean for it to happen, but her gaze fell to his lips. Sheltered her whole life, she hadn’t spent much time around boys or men.
She was aware her father protected her, probably too much, but she’d never argued with him about it. He always said she would have plenty of time for those things when she was older, but she would never be a child again. He was determined she enjoy her childhood for as long as possible.
She’d probably stayed sequestered for too many years, but though the war only lasted a couple of years, the tensions building up to it started years before then. When she might have normally spread her wings, she remained at home to run things while her father became more entrenched in the events unfolding.
And now she was standing with one of the most powerful and deadly creatures ever to walk the realms, and she longed to kiss him. When his gaze fell to her mouth, her breath caught.
Was he going to kiss her?
She should run as fast as she could from here. Getting entangled with the prince of the dark fae was the worst idea ever, and Lexi didn’t want to end up shadow kissed, but she couldn’t move away from him.
One kiss couldn’t hurt. It took far more than one tiny, curiosity-easing kiss to turn someone into a mindless sex slave. She didn’t know how much more, but since she planned to keep her clothes on, she wouldn’t have to worry about it.
He was leaning toward her, so close his breath warmed her lips, when a piercing scream shattered their solitude. The prince jerked away as more screams and shouts preceded a loud bang.
“Stay here!” he commanded and ran from the room.
Sahira! Lexi hesitated only a second before running after him.
CHAPTER 12
Cole raced down the hallways as the shouts and screaming continued. Another bang shook the floor and rebounded off the walls a second before he burst into the ballroom. He scanned the room as he tried to ascertain what was happening.
And then he spotted a group of lycans, vampires, and dark fae fighting on the other side of the room. The musicians had stopped playing, and Brokk, along with some dark fae guards, were carving their way through the fighters and tossing them away.
When one of them punched his brother in the back of the head, Cole snarled as he sped across the room to help him. They hadn’t survived the war to be taken down by a bunch of assholes in their own home. He’d already lost too many of his brothers; he would not lose anymore.
Brokk turned toward his attacker as Cole seized the vamp by the shoulder and threw him away. Guests scattered out of the way as the vamp skidded across the floor before crashing into the wall.
Dark fae guards surrounded the vamp and hauled him to his feet. Brokk nodded his thanks to Cole, but he didn’t have a chance to speak before the growing brawl drew his attention.
Power thrummed through Cole as he drew on the air surrounding him and pulled it toward him. When a couple of vamps and a lycan lurched toward each other, he held his hands out, turned them over, and pushed them apart with his palms facing outward.
The air around him shuddered as he pushed it outward. The impact of the air shoved the fighters back. They hit separate walls with loud thuds. The air rippled as he held out his palms to keep the fighters pinned against the wall.
Brokk punched a warlock in the face before gripping the back of his head and slamming it onto his knee. Brokk kicked the fighter away and lunged over a witch to snatch a candle from the wall.
Lifting the flame to his mouth, Brokk blew on it. Instead of the fire going out, it surged into a rolling inferno that torched those closest to him.
Immortals screamed as they raced away from him or fell to the ground and rolled as they attempted to smother the flames consuming them. The scent of burnt clothes and flesh permeated the air. The fire wouldn’t kill them, but they’d hurt.
When a vampire lunged toward him, Cole released his hold on the prisoners and spun to face his attacker. Red eyes met his a second before Cole drove the heel of his palm up and into the vamp’s nose.
Blood erupted from the vamp’s shattered nose, and it howled as its hands flew to its face and it staggered back. Lifting his foot, Cole planted it in the vamp’s belly and shoved it away from him.
“What is going on here?” his father’s voice boomed throughout the vast hall. “Who dares to fight in my home?”
Footsteps echoed across the floor and rebounded off the ceiling as his father stalked toward them. Immortals scrambled to get out of the way, and more of the innocent guests fell back. Tove’s fury vibrated the air around him.
“Guards, seize every single one of the fighters,” Tove commanded. “They will all reside in my dungeon until I decide it’s time for them to go.”
“You can’t do that!” a vampire protested.
His father stepped so close to the vampire their noses almost touched. “Are you going to stop me? I helped fund the Lord’s war. I gave him my best fighters, including my sons, and if you open your mouth one more time, I will give you to his dragons.”
The vamp blanched but wisely shut his mouth.
“Take them away,” Tove commanded.
The guards captured the twenty-five or so fighters. The remaining guests didn’t speak as they led the prisoners away. Some of their gazes flicked from the blood on the floor to the king of the dark fae.
Cole didn’t have to look at his father to know he was infuriated; it continued to vibrate the air in the room. More of the guests edged away from the king. He was the most powerful being in this room, and everyone knew it.
“This party is over; everyone go home,” his father commanded. “Everyone is to be out of here in twenty minutes.”
With that, his father turned and stalked away. Cole glanced at Brokk, who stared after their father’s retreating back.
“That was a quick celebration,” Brokk said.
“There wasn’t much to celebrate,” Cole muttered.
And then he recalled Lexi. Turning, he pushed his way through the crowd as it funneled toward the exit. Breaking free of them, he jogged down the hall to the moon room, but she wasn’t there.
“Shit,” he hissed.
He ran back to the main hall, but half the revelers had already left, and more were on their way out. Still, he searched for her amongst those who remained, but she was already gone.
• • •
“I cannot believe they dared to fight in my hall,” his father growled as he paced his solar.
The airy room allowed plenty of room for his angry movements as he stalked to one end, turned on his heel, and stormed past the large table in the center of the room. He reached the window on the other side of the room and paused to look down on the courtyard a few hundred feet below.
Silver sconces hung on the walls, and the torches situated inside them cast shadows across the walls and floor. Tapestries decorated the walls. Most of them were landscapes of different areas of the Gloaming, but one was of his mother, and the others were of all the king’s sons.
Despite the fact half of his sons fought against their father in the war, he would never remove their tapestries from his solar. They’d stood against him, but he still loved them; he always would.
If push came to shove, the king would lay down his life for those sons. They were now hunted as traitors, but he would do what he could to make sure they survived. Brokk and Cole were under strict orders to save them if they could, but they didn’t require any such orders; neither wanted Orin or Varo to die.
Shadows of Fire (The Shadow Realms, Book 1) Page 5