She wasn’t sure if it would make its way to the refugees, but she glanced nervously toward the tunnel they resided in.
“Are you still taking care of the refugees?” she asked Orin.
“Of course I am,” he retorted. “They are safe and well-fed. We are going to have to move them soon, though; they can’t keep living in the darkness like this.”
Lexi really disliked him right now, but she believed he was taking care of them and was right about not keeping them in the dark anymore. He wouldn’t leave them down here to suffer or starve.
Then she looked to Cole and discovered the shadows around him were darker than they were around the others.
But that couldn’t be right, could it? She’d seen what the shadows could do to Orin in the kitchen, and she doubted that was the worst of it, but to be darker?
She gulped and tried to convince herself she was seeing things as Orin and Cole glowered at each other. Lexi tensed as she waited for them to start fighting. Cole’s wounds still weren’t completely healed, and she couldn’t handle him getting hurt again on top of everything else.
“Cole, please don’t,” she whispered as his silver eyes burned.
Her dad and aunt edged away from Orin as Cole’s mounting fury vibrated the walls. She swore the shadows shifted even though her light was focused away from them and no one else moved.
“Unlock. Him,” Cole ordered.
Orin’s eyes didn’t leave Cole’s as he stepped closer to her dad. He dipped a hand into his pocket and removed a key. A second later, the shackles clinked as they landed on the floor.
Cole relaxed only a little and, torn between her heart and head, Lexi stared at her dad and aunt before crossing over to hug them. Despite her resentment, she still loved them, but the hugs she gave them were brisk.
“Where are my parents buried?” she asked as she stepped away.
“On the other side of the lake, beneath two maples. I can take you there,” her dad offered.
“No, I want to go alone.”
“Okay.”
After he told her how to find the graves, she turned and left the tunnel without saying another word.
Behind her, she heard Cole command, “Tell Brokk what happened here,” before his footsteps followed her.
Cole walked beside Lexi and around the lake. When they arrived at the other side, he remained in the shadows as Lexi strolled around two large maples located about twenty feet from the water. Del had told her they would be recognizable because they were the only two red maples in a sea of green ones.
Lexi walked closer to the shore. She was all fluid grace and beauty as she moved, but the sad slope of her shoulders and the circles shadowing her eyes revealed the ordeal she’d been through over the past few days.
When she was about ten feet away from the tree trunks, she turned to stare at them. She clasped her hands before her as she bowed her head.
After a few minutes, she lifted her hand and walked forward to kneel between the two trees. Reaching each hand out at her sides, she rested her palms against the ground.
Minutes passed, and she whispered something before rising and strolling toward the lake. When she stopped at the shore, with the water barely touching the toes of her boots, he slipped from the shadows to join her.
The sun shining off the pristine surface of the lake turned the water a brighter blue. Around them, the birds sang as a single fish jumped from the water. It ate a bug before plunging beneath the surface again. The ripples it created were the only imperfections on the lake.
“I spent my entire life playing along this lakeshore and running through these woods. I’ve climbed those maples before, swung from their branches, and stomped across the ground all while never knowing my parents were beneath me,” she said.
“Del and Sahira were trying to protect you.”
“I know, and I understand that, but how do I get past all the lies?”
Enveloping her in his arms, he pulled her against his chest and cradled her there. Her fingers dug into his back as she rested her head over his heart.
He held her as they stared at the glimmering water. He believed they both knew this would be the last moment of peace they’d have for a while.
He waited for her to speak again, and after a while, she did.
“What will happen to me if I don’t return to taking Sahira’s potion?”
“There’s no way to know. Your abilities were suppressed for years, and they’ll most likely be volatile and difficult to contain until you learn to control them. It will be overwhelming and hard, but we’ll get through it together.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Lexi’s heart warmed at Cole’s words. They would get through this together. It would be frightening, it would be difficult, but he would be by her side.
“Do you want to stop taking it?” Cole asked.
“I think it’s been two days since I took it. I’m pretty sure I took it the morning we returned to the Gloaming. I didn’t mean to forget it; I got so sidetracked with the battle, your wounds, and making sure you survived that—”
“Stop,” he said as he brushed the hair back from her forehead. “It’s okay.”
“We can’t have a baby, Cole, especially not with everything we just learned.”
“And we won’t,” he assured her. “Don’t forget, I am also taking something.”
“I know, I just… I should have been more responsible.”
“Even if we did have a baby now, we would figure it out, we would protect it, and we would get through all this, but it’s not something you have to worry about, okay?”
“Yes,” she murmured.
“Do you want to stop taking the potion or go back to doing so? This is your choice, Lexi. No one will force you into anything.”
“It won’t matter after a while. According to my dad, my powers will eventually break through, and you believe they already are.”
“I do.”
“Why?”
“Because the last time we had sex, what you fed me was a lot stronger. Our connection has always been deeper and more powerful; this was more so.”
She considered this before replying. “I never wanted to be the queen of the dark fae, but I would be for you.”
“I know.”
“Orin thinks I can help take the throne from the Lord.”
“You’re only going to do what you want to do.”
“The Lord is a monster.”
“He is.”
“He won’t be happy until he destroys everything, including us,” she said.
“Especially you, if he ever learns the truth.”
“And right now, you’re one of his favorite targets.”
Cole’s arms squeezed briefly around her before relaxing a little.
“We have to fight him,” she murmured. “I can’t return to taking the potion.”
A part of him had hoped she would refuse to do this. That she would keep her powers trapped until they figured out a way to destroy the Lord, but he’d always known this was the choice she’d make.
She’d never expected this, but she never backed down.
“If that’s what you feel is best,” he said.