Shadows of Fire (The Shadow Realms, Book 1)

by Brenda K. Davies

  “That’s not going to happen.”

  “You’re part dark fae, Cole. It’s what the fae do.”

  “You’re as much dark fae as I am.”

  “I didn’t say I wasn’t, but I’m also not trying to screw our host. So, in that sense, I’m less dark fae than you while we’re here.”

  “I’m not trying to screw her,” Cole said.

  “Yes, you are. You can deny it, but we both know the truth. It’s what the dark fae do. But this time, before you act, take a look at what you’re leaving in your wake.”

  “You nearly died, but I’ll still beat the shit out of you.”

  Brokk laughed as he lifted his book. “You could try, but we both know you love me too much to mar the perfection that is me.”

  Normally, Brokk’s arrogance made Cole smile, but as his gaze returned to where he last saw Lexi, he didn’t feel much like smiling. What did he want from her?

  No doubt, he planned to have her in his bed, but what would the aftermath be for her? She was an innocent; he couldn’t deny that. After hundreds of years, he knew how to spot one, but so what?

  She wouldn’t be the first woman whose innocence he took, and she wouldn’t be the last. Something inside him recoiled at the idea of taking another woman to his bed, but he was dark fae, and that was what they did.

  It’s what he’d done his entire life, but even after he moved on, he would make sure she stayed safe from Malakai.

  “I’m enjoying this book,” Brokk said.

  “I told you it was good,” Cole muttered as his attention shifted back to his brother.

  “These witches and wizards are much more likable than our witches and warlocks, though.”

  This time, Cole did laugh. “That they are.”

  CHAPTER 42

  The howling wind rattling her windows woke Lexi. She blinked into the darkness before rolling over to stare at the night pressing against the glass.

  Rain plastered the window as the wind blew it against the panes and whipped it across the land. Normally, she loved the sounds of a storm, but there was something about this storm that made her feel lonely. It was as if the world beyond that window had ceased to exist and only she remained.

  Pushing aside her blankets, she rose and walked over to the glass. She rested her fingers against the cool surface as a rolling wave of thunder built to a crescendo that shook the manor. In the distance, lightning pierced the earth.

  Electricity crackled the air as more bolts illuminated the scorched earth beyond the glass. The broken and barren landscape didn’t help her feel less alone in the world. She turned away from the window.

  She eyed her bed, but sleep would elude her for as long as the storm raged. She grabbed her robe—her adult one—pulled it on, and tied it. Leaving her room behind, she padded down the hall to find something to munch on while watching the storm.

  She was almost to the end of the hall when a muffled shout halted her. Straining to hear over the rain beating against the roof and the howling wind, she listened for another sound but didn’t hear anything.

  Had she imagined it? Did the storm create the noise?

  Turning, her eyes fell on Brokk’s door, and she crept toward it. Had he experienced a setback?

  Her hand fell on the knob, and she hesitated before starting to turn it. She didn’t want to knock and risk waking him if he was sleeping, but she couldn’t just walk in there.

  When the thunder faded away again, another muffled shout sounded, and she realized it wasn’t coming from Brokk’s room. She retreated from his door and retraced her steps down the hall until she stood outside the room she’d given to Cole.

  She rested her hand on the knob but didn’t turn it. However, when another muffled shout started seconds before another clap of thunder boomed through the night, she knew she couldn’t walk away without checking on him first. For all she knew, someone had broken into the manor and was attacking him.

  That possibility speared her into motion, and before she could think about it anymore, she turned the knob and inched the door open. If someone was attacking him, then she couldn’t alert them to her presence.

  The element of surprise was her biggest advantage here. And if no one was in the room with him, then she didn’t want to wake him.

  However, when the door was open enough for her to see into the room, she realized he was alone. Flashes of lightning revealed the small dresser, fireplace, and bathroom door across from the king-sized bed. Dark blue curtains framed the windows.

  On the bed, Cole lay entangled in the dark blue comforter. His face was turned away from her, and his hands were twisted into the sheets. The corded muscles of his arms and neck stood starkly out.

  Black ciphers ran from the tips of his fingers, up his arms, across his shoulders, and a few of the flames licked at his chin. She couldn’t tell if they went down his back, but there weren’t any on his chest.

  When his head turned toward her, Lexi prepared to bolt. She was about to be caught entering his room. However, when his eyes remained closed, she realized he was having a nightmare.

  Some of her tension eased, and she started to retreat, but a muffled sound of anguish stopped her. She’d heard sounds like that coming from wounded animals before, and it tore at her heart.

  She couldn’t walk away from any creature in distress, let alone Cole.

  Knowing she was playing with fire, she stepped away from the door and closed it behind her. She stared at it for a second before taking a deep breath, gathering her courage, and cautiously approaching the bed.

  Uncertain of what to do, she stood beside him as thunder boomed and lightning illuminated the room. This close to him, she couldn’t help but marvel over the power he emanated.

  He was nearly twice her size, and though he was also a half-breed, he was a combination of two of the most powerful immortal creatures in existence. His half-breed status made him more powerful, unlike her.

  Her human half made her weaker; she was immortal, and she was faster and stronger than any human, but she didn’t possess the same strength as a full-blooded vampire. She couldn’t even transport.

  When he thrashed on the bed and his head twisted away, Lexi buried her trepidation and stretched a hand toward him. A bolt struck right outside the manor; its electricity caused the hair on her nape to rise at the same time her fingers met his flesh.

  She wasn’t sure if it was the electricity pulsing through the room or the contact with him, but her entire body tingled and her heart raced. She didn’t have time to figure it out before his eyes flew open, his hand seized her wrist, and he jerked her forward.

  Before she had a chance to react, he pinned her beneath him, and his hand was enclosing on her throat. Then her air cut off.

  CHAPTER 43

  The thunderous boom of the dragons ravaging the earth reverberated around Cole. He was swept up in a sea of death, surrounded by enemies, and hacking his way through their bodies as he sought to destroy the adversaries closing in on him.

  Why couldn’t they all die? And where were they all coming from?

  Blood coated his hair, slid down his face, and plastered his clothes to him. Those clothes weighed him down, but he continued to hack and carve and slaughter his way through the immortals surrounding him.

  The stench of blood clogged his nose as it caked his nostrils. Breathing through his mouth was the only option, and when he did, he inhaled blood until it coated his tongue.

  He spit the blood out, but it filled his mouth faster than he could rid himself of it. The dragons released another wave of fire upon the world. Their flames leapt so high that shadows of fire danced across the land until it looked like a black inferno was spreading toward them.

  One of his enemies grasped his sword hand, and spinning toward the faceless beast, Cole seized its throat and smashed it into the ground.

  The roar of dragons and the pulse of blood filled his ears as his hand tightened on his enemy’s throat. Their fists battered him, but he barely
felt the blows as blood dripped from his hair and splashed onto his victim.

  The punches hit him harder; his victim squirmed beneath him, but he kept them pinned as he sought to destroy them. I will not let them win.

  He bared down as his faceless victim shifted and blurred. He glimpsed red hair as the smell of strawberries pierced through the stench of blood. Cole blinked to clear his mind of the image, but the woman… no, Lexi didn’t go away.

  A fist hit him square in the jaw. It snapped his head back at the same time it knocked away the remaining dregs of his nightmare and threw him back into reality.

  He wasn’t strangling some nameless opponent; he was strangling… Lexi!

  With a shout, he threw himself away from her and rolled across the bed. Her wheezing, choking sounds followed him. Even more than the blood and death of the war, he knew those sounds would haunt him for the rest of his days.

  “Fuck, fuck, FUCK!” he snarled as he launched to his feet.

  Turning back toward her, he watched as she rolled across the bed and slid off the other side with a hand on her throat. He didn’t recall moving, but suddenly he was around the bed and going toward her as she huddled against the wall. Her fingers touched her temple before pulling away.

  He spotted a red lump on her forehead along with what looked like a bit of silver. He glanced at the bed frame; she must have hit her head on it when she fell off the bed. She rubbed at the mark, and the silver vanished, but the lump remained.

  When she saw him coming, she held out her palm to stop him. The wild beat of her heart and the pungent stench of her terror froze him.

  “Shit, Lexi. Shit! I didn’t…. I wasn’t…. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I would never….”

  His next words froze in his mouth. Cole couldn’t say he would never harm her when he just had, but he hadn’t meant to.

  Kneeling in front of her, he ached to draw her into his arms as her striking green eyes studied him warily. He didn’t reach for her and instead rested his fingers on the ground.

  “I would never hurt you on purpose,” he said.

  He’d cut off his hand before he ever hurt her on purpose, but that hand had also left red welts along the delicate column of her throat. When he leaned closer to her, she shied away from him, and he recoiled.

  “And who is going to protect her from you?”

  “Who indeed, brother?”

  Sahira and Brokk’s words ran through his mind as he gazed at her. He’d promised to keep her safe from Malakai, but he was the one who did this to her.

  He slammed his hand onto the floor. “Fuck!”

  Her eyes widened, but she didn’t recoil from him again; even still, more waves of self-hatred swamped him. He should be trying to calm her; he was making things worse.

  “Lexi,” he whispered. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…. I would never do this to you on purpose. I swear, I would never do this on purpose. I….” He glanced at the windows as a crashing wave of thunder shook the house.

  His nightmare rushed back to him; only it wasn’t a nightmare. At one time, it was as real as the storm raging outside. He’d stood, covered in blood, on that field. The thick liquid had clogged his nose and filled his mouth as he hacked his way through so many.

  When the falling bodies littered the field, he climbed over the growing mound they created. He lost himself to the bloodlust as he sought to survive, but he didn’t let the lycan part of himself take control.

  He relied on his fae magic, superior strength, and fighting skills to carry him through the battle. However, knowing she was in danger—even if he was the threat—caused the beast to prowl beneath the surface. His claws scraped the wooden floor as they lengthened and retracted.

  “It won’t happen again,” he said as he edged away from her. He’d make sure Malakai stayed away from her, but so would he. “You should go.”

  But he didn’t want her to leave. He’d give anything to shelter her from the world as he lost himself to her kiss again.

  She would chase away the nightmares, he was sure of it, but in the process, he might become her biggest nightmare. He refused to let that happen.

  “What… what were you dreaming about?” she whispered in a hoarse voice.

  The rawness of her voice made him wince, and he crept further away. His fangs extended as his teeth ground together.

  If anyone else had dared to do this to her, he would have torn them to shreds, but he couldn’t destroy himself… no matter how badly he wanted to.

  “It doesn’t matter,” he said.

  “It does matter,” she whispered.

  “No, it doesn’t.”

  He rose, and when her eyes became saucers that latched onto his waist, he recalled his nudity.

  CHAPTER 44

  Lexi forgot about her sore throat as she took him in. The thick wall of carved muscle was so deep across his stomach she could dip a fingertip into the hollows they created. A trail of black hair ran down from his belly button, and when she looked….

  Her jaw almost became unhinged as she took in all of him. She should look away, but her attention remained riveted on the limp cock resting against his thigh.

  She’d never seen a naked man before, and it was as fascinating as it was startling. Her hand fell away from her throat as she tried to process everything she was seeing.

  It was rude to stare, but she remained riveted on him. And then her gaze traveled lower to his thighs and legs as he stood with his feet braced apart. Despite her every intention not to look again, her gaze returned to his dick before he turned away.

  She found herself staring at his taut ass and wondering what it would feel like to grip it in her hands before he moved out of view. Once he was gone, the fire burned up her neck and face.

  She’d been openly ogling him, and he’d seen her do it. What was the matter with her? He’d just been choking her, and she was pondering what it would be like to grab his ass.

  The lack of oxygen to her brain had caused some damage.

  Resting her hand against the wall, she took a deep breath and steadied the tremble in her legs before rising. As much as she’d love to remain huddled on the floor, she couldn’t do it.

  However, she had to walk around the bed and in front of him to leave the room. She wasn’t sure her shaky legs would carry her that far.

  As she waited to make sure she wouldn’t make an ass out of herself by falling on her face, she turned to discover him sitting on the other side of the bed with his hands on his knees.

  More ciphers ran across his shoulder blades and down his back, where they stopped at the edge of his waist. He had far more of the markings than she’d realized.

  How powerful is he?

  Her attention was drawn away from the markings as his shoulders hunched forward and his head bowed. Misery radiated from him. If it wasn’t for her throbbing throat and the panic still thrumming through her, she would have climbed onto the bed, hugged him, and offered him some solace.

  However, when she considered doing that, she flashed to him on top of her as his hand clamped around her throat. His mouth had twisted into a snarl that revealed his four fangs as she beat against him.

  When his eyes flew open, she’d seen savagery, the likes of which she’d never witnessed before, in their silver depths. She’d also seen an emptiness that turned her blood to ice.

  Before, when he looked at her, she always felt seen. But when he was choking her, he looked straight through her to something else. She’d realized he could kill her without knowing it was her.

  Her struggles had increased, and she’d beat against him, but it hadn’t lessened his hold. It wasn’t until she landed a blow that shot his head back that he emerged from the grip of whatever controlled him.

  She saw the clearing in his eyes and the devastation on his face when he realized what he was doing before he released her.

  And now, she saw the dejected despair enshrouding him. Whatever he’d been dreaming about, it still haunted him, and so did h
is actions.

  Still, she couldn’t stay here. He’d nearly killed her.

  Her gaze traveled to the doorway as she edged around the bed. She couldn’t bring herself to look at him as she compelled herself not to run for the door.

  He’d leave tomorrow. She did not doubt it. Even if Brokk weren’t ready for travel, he would go after the events of this night.

  She ignored the sadness accompanying this realization. It would be better if he left. They should stop this treacherous game they played, but she didn’t want him to go.

  She told herself she wouldn’t look back, but when her hand fell on the knob, she couldn’t stop her gaze from returning to him. His shoulders tensed as another round of thunder boomed throughout the room.

  Darkness descended before lightning illuminated the room in a series of flashes. She recalled listening to the dragons as they ravaged the land. They sounded like this, and their fire had flashed over the walls the same way the lightning did.

  Then she recalled his reaction when she asked him if the war was horrible. She remembered his hesitation before speaking and the anguish on his face.

  It had been the look of a man who had committed and experienced atrocities she could never imagine. It had been the look of a man who hadn’t been broken by those atrocities, but they had forever altered him.

  She hadn’t known Cole before the war, but she had no doubt he wasn’t the same man now as he was then.

  How could he be?

  He’d lost most of his family during the war and more than a few friends.

  Her hand fell away from the knob as he remained sitting with his shoulders hunched forward, his head bowed, and his hands gripping his knees. He’d terrified her tonight, but she couldn’t bring herself to walk away from him while he was like this.

  After Orin, she should have learned her lesson about trying to help others, especially the dark fae, but she found herself creeping toward him. Her mind screamed at her to run; this was a bad idea, but her heart and her feet propelled her onward.