The man holding her shushed her as he swayed her gently from side to side. At first, Lexi thought he was rocking to comfort her, but she realized he was doing it because he was about to fall over.
“We lost her mother yesterday,” Orin said.
Lexi winced and lowered her shovel.
“Are you going to turn them away?” Orin asked.
She scowled at him, but when she glanced back at the refugees, some of her anger deflated. Then she looked toward what remained of the marketplace.
Smoke no longer rose from the ashes, but the stench of fire lingered in the air. For over a week now, she’d felt utterly helpless as she brought food to the broken masses passing her property.
The Lord must be stopped; it wouldn’t be with this ragtag bunch of fugitives, but could she turn them away?
She glanced toward the manor, but she couldn’t see it through the trees. However, she knew her home was there. The manor and Sahira were all she had left in this world.
No, they weren’t all she had left. She also had herself, and how could she possibly live with herself if she turned these broken refugees away and the children died?
However, if she agreed to this, she was putting everyone and everything she loved at risk. What would her father think about her jeopardizing everything he worked to accomplish?
But she knew he wouldn’t have turned any of them away. Her father had presented a gruff, tough exterior to the world, but he’d been a big old softie at heart. He’d fought for the Lord, but he never would have approved of what that monster did to the human realm.
The war over the mortal realm had been waged, but it wasn’t over. Instead, a new war was beginning, and she had to choose a side.
But if she chose this side, it would pit her against Cole.
She immediately hated herself for thinking that. It didn’t matter if they ended up on opposite sides of this new war. He wasn’t coming back, and she had to accept that.
And even if he was coming back, this was her stance to take. No matter how much she cared for him, she wouldn’t let any man dictate where she stood in this world.
She had to get on with her life, and no matter what side Cole and her father chose, she had to do what she believed was best. And there was only one decision that would allow her to have any respect for herself for the rest of her life.
What about Sahira?
Guilt tugged at her. Her aunt couldn’t know about this; it would only put her in danger. If Lexi was caught, Sahira could truthfully plead that she hadn’t known anything about this. It might be enough to save her.
I’ll have to make sure I don’t get caught. She didn’t think it would be that simple, but she would do whatever it took to protect her aunt.
Knowing she was putting everything she loved at risk, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath before saying. “I don’t have much food to spare.”
She opened her eyes to find Orin grinning at her. Her teeth ground back and forth as she glowered at the arrogant prick.
“I’ll help with feeding them,” he said.
“I can’t have you coming and going from the tunnels.”
“I’ll be careful and conceal myself in the shadows.”
She swallowed the lump rising in her throat. If she made this choice, she couldn’t turn back. She’d be putting her neck on the line for a bunch of strangers and a douchey fae as trustworthy as a crocodile with a toothache.
“Why are you really doing this?” she asked.
“The war against the Lord is taking on many forms. Undermining him every chance we get is only one of those forms.”
She suspected it was more than that, but she couldn’t bring herself to believe he might actually have a heart, even if it was a minuscule one.
“How many others are fighting on your side?” she asked.
“I can’t reveal that.”
“Will you reveal my tunnels to them?”
He hesitated before replying, “No. Your secret is safe with me.”
She shifted her hold on the shovel and lowered her forehead to rub it with one hand. He was probably lying to her, but putting her decision off was pointless, and standing out here only put them at a greater risk of exposure.
They both knew she wasn’t going to turn these poor fugitives away.
“Elexiandra.” She lifted her head to look at him. “I won’t tell anyone about these tunnels.”
“You’ve already told these people.”
He slipped a vial from inside his shirt pocket and held it before her. “It’s a forgetting potion. Once they’re safely ensconced inside, I’ll give it to them.”
She wished she’d had that to use on him.
“They’ll never remember how to get here,” he continued. “I will keep your secret safe because it benefits me to do so.”
And that was a truth she could count on. While the tunnels remained a secret, he would have a place to hide. Lowering her hands, she looked up at him.
“Were you planning on entering the tunnel no matter what?” she asked.
“You told me you were going to shut it off.”
“Don’t play your games with me; yes or no? Were you going to try to get into the tunnel without me?”
“Of course, but I don’t have to do that now, do I?”
Her teeth were going to be nubs if she didn’t stop grinding them. No matter what happened, when this was over, she was going to find a way to get back at this asshole for all the shit he’d put her through.
“I’ll hide them,” she bit out.
“I knew I could count on you,” he said with a wink.
Without realizing she intended to do it, her hand fisted and she swung at him. Her punch was so hard and fast that he didn’t have time to dodge it before it slammed into his nose. His head shot back, and his hands flew to his face.
“Fuck you!” she spat.
The fugitives all gasped and took a couple of steps away from her. She glared at Orin as he covered his nose and stared at her over the top of his fingers. She scented his blood on the air but couldn’t see it.
Though she’d begged him to teach her how to fight, her dad would only teach her how to punch. He said learning anything more was unladylike but did feel that she should know how to defend herself at least a little.
However, she’d never hit anyone out of anger before, and while she was still stunned by the action and her hand throbbed a little, she couldn’t deny it felt good. The bastard deserved it.
This time, she was the one who smiled smugly.
“Okay,” he muttered in a more nasally tone. “I’ll give you that one. But only that one. Don’t try it again.”
She almost asked him what would happen if she did try it again, but she decided not to test her luck by pushing him further. He may need her, but he was far more powerful, and he could hurt her.
“Do they know my name?” she asked in a low whisper that wouldn’t carry to the others.
“No.” Orin lowered his hands to reveal his swollen nose. He wiped away the trickle of blood seeping from one of his nostrils. “Your identity will remain hidden from them.”
“They’re on my land.”
“They don’t know that. We’ve been running so long that even the immortals have no idea where we are anymore. And the forgetting potion will erase any memories they might have of how they got here.”
She despised him, but she believed him when he promised her this. He needed her help, and he would keep her protected while that remained true. What would happen afterward, she didn’t know, but he could destroy her now, so it didn’t matter.
Lexi plastered on a smile and turned to the fugitives. She did not feel like smiling as her stomach churned and her mind spun with all the ramifications of her actions, but she couldn’t turn them away. She would never sleep again if she did.
“My name is Andi,” she said with false cheeriness.
When she was a young girl, her father would sometimes call her Andi in a cute little rh
yming game he made up. She recalled sitting on his lap and giggling while he tickled her and sang, “Andi Pandy smells like pickles and candy.”
She pushed aside the grief that came with the memory as she continued speaking. “I’m going to help you.”
It may be the worst decision she ever made, but the second the words left her mouth, the helplessness she’d experienced since the destruction of the marketplace vanished. She’d chosen a different side than her father, but he would have been so proud of her for doing it.
“Please, follow me. I’ll take you somewhere safe,” she promised as she led them into the shed.
CHAPTER 60
Cole took his father’s king as he declared, “Checkmate.”
And it was about time. They’d played hundreds of matches over the past week and a half, and this was the first he’d won. He’d never been one for chess, but after days of being stuck in these small rooms, with windows as their only access to the outside world, he was becoming better at the game.
He’d also become better at rummy and keeping his building rage restrained.
It took everything he had not to launch to his feet and pace the small room containing only the gaming table and two chairs. No decorations hung on the walls, no fire crackled in the hearth, and the only door out was locked.
The place looked exactly like what it was… a prison.
Cole resisted pummeling the gray stone walls of the palace as he demanded to be released. However, he would not give the Lord the satisfaction of seeing him break, so he followed his father’s lead of cool indifference while plotting the many ways he’d kill the Lord.
When the messenger showed them to this room, he told them they were the Lord’s guests before he closed and locked the door behind them. Neither he nor his father ever said anything out loud to acknowledge it, but they were inmates.
So, they passed the time by discussing the realms' mundane politics and the games they played. His father never brought up Lexi, and Cole knew it was because he also sought to keep her secret from the Lord.
This was the Lord’s palace, and even if they couldn’t see any hearing device, Cole was certain they were somehow being listened to. They maintained an air of nonchalance as the days slipped past. He hoped they were boring their eavesdroppers to death.
Outside their tower prison, the dragons roamed the skies while inside it, their bellows reverberated around the stone rooms. Their incessant noise was grating on Cole’s last nerve.
“Nice match,” his father murmured.
“You weren’t paying attention.”
His father smiled. “You caught me.”
Cole rose and stretched his back before walking over to the window. Cool air drifted through the opening in the stone wall as he stopped before it. The circular tower was at least a thousand feet in the air, which gave him a fantastic view of the Dragonian realm.
Despite the dragon’s penchant for destroying everything they came across in the other realms, the fields surrounding the palace were lush and green. Stretching toward the mountains were numerous hills and valleys that rolled across the landscape.
The brilliant yellow sun sparkled off the glistening lake nestled outside the palace's colossal stone walls while dozens of other lakes dotted the land. This beautiful realm belonged to the dragons who soared through the air and swooped toward the earth and mountains.
There were hundreds of them, and they filled the sky with more abundance than the birds on Earth. And they were far, far more lethal.
The distant mountains were a different story than the lushness of the land. Their rocky surfaces stretched so high that many of their peaks obscured the pink clouds floating across the purple sky.
For the first few days, he’d believed those mountains were snow-topped. On the fourth day, he’d studied the scenery far more intently. It was then he realized it wasn’t snow but thousands, if not millions, of bones littering those peaks.
The dragons were ravenous creatures.
One of them roared as it soared past the tower. It turned to the side, exposing its underbelly as it released a cry that some of its fellow destroyers echoed. The flap of its wings blew Cole’s hair back and ruffled his wrinkled and dirty clothes.
The dragon was making it clear they were not to attempt an escape. They couldn’t fly, but with the dark fae’s ability to control air currents, they might be able to navigate their way down.
However, their feet would never touch the ground before one of those dragons ate them. That knowledge was a bit of an escape deterrent.
If only there were some way we could harness the dragon’s power and use it for our side. We could defeat the Lord then.
He tried to figure out a way to do this while watching the magnificent, vicious beasts, but he kept running up against a wall. The dragons were bound to this land and the power of the throne. Since the destruction of all the arachs, the dragons only followed whoever sat on that corrupting throne.
There were no arach left in this land, but immortals from other realms had moved here. The houses of those immortals dotted the landscape, and many of them wandered the roads. They approached or left the massive golden gates set into the towering, gray stone wall surrounding the palace.
Two dragons sat atop the golden gate. They eyed every immortal who entered and exited the courtyard. Most immortals ignored them, but a few cast them anxious glances before walking a little faster.
Cole rested his hand against the cool wall and glanced at the doorway to the small bedroom he’d taken after arriving here. His father had settled into the room across from his. Both rooms were sparsely furnished with only a bed and a small sink and toilet.
There was no shower, and though they were provided food, they weren’t given clean clothes. They also weren’t offered the sexual sustenance dark fae required, but Cole was glad for that.
He wouldn’t partake even if partners arrived for them, and his celibacy would only pique the Lord’s curiosity. And no matter what happened, the Lord could not know about Lexi. He would use her against Cole if he did.
Neither of them complained about their confines or showed their mounting frustration as each day passed, but it was only a matter of time before one of them lost their patience.
The Lord of the Shadow Realms ruled over all immortals, but his father was king of the dark fae, and no one had ever treated him with such blatant disrespect before and survived. However, there was little either of them could do about it while they remained locked away.
If they banged on the door and demanded to be released, they would only give the Lord the satisfaction of seeing them break. But they’d still be trapped here.
No, there was nothing either of them could do except play their games and act as if none of this bothered them. Their nonchalant attitude was probably infuriating the crazy bastard, which was the only bonus to this whole thing.
As he stared across the verdant land, Cole pondered how to get word to Lexi somehow, but he saw no way to reach her. By now, she probably assumed the worst and believed he wasn’t returning. He couldn’t blame her if she did, but she’d filled his thoughts over the passing days.
Was she safe? The possibility the Lord had unleashed another attack on Earth, and maybe her manor, caused him to toss and turn all night, as did the memory of her in his arms.
His hunger was increasing daily, and those memories only enflamed it, but they also helped him get through the days. Once they were free, he would return to her, which was the only thing keeping him calm.
There was also Malakai. Had he returned for her?
Without him there to force Malakai away, she was far more vulnerable to that prick. A snarl curled his upper lip before he suppressed it. He couldn’t think about Malakai or the possibility Lexi was in trouble; he’d lose his shit if he did.
Boredom, frustration, and barely contained fury had been his constant companions since arriving here, but he’d somehow managed to keep the lycan part of himself under control. He coul
dn’t lose control of it now. That’s exactly what the Lord wanted.
“How about some poker?” his father suggested.
Cole turned toward him as a click sounded in the door. Both their heads shot toward it as a key turned. A second later, the door swung open to reveal the same messenger who had escorted them from the Gloaming.
CHAPTER 61
“The Lord will see you now,” the man said.
Cole exchanged a look with his father, and then Tove smiled as he rose from his chair. He smoothed out his shirt and pants before striding toward the messenger. The warlock’s eyes flickered nervously as Tove approached him, but he lifted his chin.
“Of course,” his father said with an airy tone that belied the rage simmering beneath his surface.
Cole matched his dad’s laid-back demeanor as he followed him from the room. They swept through the enclosed, gray stone hallway before arriving at a set of stairs. Those stairs spiraled down the middle of a circular opening that descended to the main entrance ten floors below.
Like the hallway, the walls here were all barren and lacked any color. He’d heard that when the arach who once ruled this land still lived here, the palace was alive with color, noise, parties, the arach, and other immortals, but none of that remained.
One of the mad Lords had stripped all the tapestries, rugs, and paintings from the palace and burned them in the courtyard. Now, not only was the place bleak, but it was also as hushed as a tomb.
There was no banister for the stairs, so they stayed close to the wall as they descended. Their footsteps echoing off the stone was the only sound until a dragon released a roar from somewhere within the palace. That roar reverberated off the walls and rebounded incessantly around them.
The hair on Cole’s nape rose, but he kept his face impassive as they arrived on the first floor. The messenger led them down a hallway filled with statues of golden dragons situated in various positions.
Some of the statues had the ill-fated arach posed beside them. He suspected the only reason these statues survived the purge of all the other decorations was because they looked like they weighed a ton.
Shadows of Fire (The Shadow Realms, Book 1) Page 25
