He had no idea how much time the trials would take, and he would never get through them if he were concerned about her. There was also no way he would let her keep thinking he’d used and abandoned her.
“Why didn’t you tell me she was your mate?” Brokk demanded.
“I wasn’t ready.”
Brokk didn’t speak again as Cole continued toward his rooms. He hated the silence that descended because it allowed the memories to bubble forth. His father had taken great pride in walking these halls and ruling over this land.
With every corner Cole turned, he expected to find his father gliding toward him. A smile would brighten his face the second he saw Cole; then his arms would open for a quick embrace.
Tove, king of the dark fae, was a ruler who did not tolerate disobedience. To his sons, he was a man who loved them deeply, and they loved him in return.
Cole fingered the wedding rings his father gave him before everything went to shit. The rings once belonged to his father and mother, and he hoped one day, Lexi would wear his mother’s.
But that was an obstacle for a later time. Now, Cole had to make sure she was safe before returning here to endure the trials and take control of the Gloaming.
He sneered at the reminder.
He’d never believed anything could happen to his father. His dad ruled these lands for over seven hundred years. He was the longest-reigning dark fae king, and in a moment… one lightning-fast moment, he was dead.
Cole shuddered as some of his grief crept back in, but he shoved it aside. He had no time to mourn.
He had trials to survive, a throne to ascend, and hell to unleash.
Chapter Three
Lexi finished hanging the last feed tub over the horse’s door and turned. When she saw the man standing behind her, she gasped and stumbled back until she crashed into the stall door. She never heard him enter the barn or realized he was standing a foot away from her.
How long had he been watching her?
She opened her mouth to demand answers, but he wouldn’t give them. Instead, she clamped it shut and lifted her chin. Her eyes narrowed when he leaned against the wall far too close to her.
Anger and revulsion warred inside her as she glowered at him. There were few people in this world she disliked, and this arrogant prick was one of them.
When he smiled at her, his smug attitude set her teeth on edge. How dare he waltz in here as if he belonged in her life and on her property?
Normally the familiar, much-loved scents of hay and horse made her worst days better. The soothing sounds of the horses eating their breakfast was typically a balm to her soul, but nothing could calm her now.
To make matters worse, with as quiet as he’d been, he could have caught her entering or leaving the tunnels below. And if he learned of the refugees, they would all die.
Then she realized she’d never heard him enter the barn because he’d teleported in. She could never enter the tunnels from the barn again.
Entering them through the house meant Sahira had a better chance of catching her, but she’d take her chances with her aunt over Malakai. She would not risk the lives of the refugees.
“Hello, Elexiandra,” he practically purred.
Though outwardly she remained unmoving, everything inside her recoiled when his brown eyes leisurely perused her. He’d never seen her naked, and he never would, but she felt like those eyes stripped her bare.
She resisted the impulse to cover herself with her hands, but she would not give him the satisfaction of knowing he unnerved her. Instead, she stared disdainfully back at him as his eyes met hers again.
“Malakai,” she said.
Her crisp tone didn’t faze him as his smile revealed his straight, white teeth and fangs. As a half vampire, she had a set of fangs too. However, his were elongated like he was about to feed.
And she would never be the thing he fed on.
“How are you doing?” he asked. “I feel like we haven’t seen each other in a while.”
Not long enough.
It had been almost two weeks since they last saw each other. At the time, Cole chased him off, but Cole was gone, and she was all alone with him.
But she didn’t need anyone to chase him off again. Her father was gone, Cole was gone, and she would somehow get him to leave her alone.
How? She didn’t know, but she would find a way to get him out of her life.
Her shoulders went back. “I’ve been good, and you?”
“Unfortunately, I haven’t been so good. Would you like to know why?”
“No.”
Her surprise over the unexpected, blunt response was only exceeded by his. The smile slid from his face as his eyes glinted with malice.
“I’m sorry, Malakai, but I don’t have the time for this. If you’ll excuse me.”
She’d prefer not to go anywhere near him, but the way she always exited the barn was behind him. She could walk out through the paddock and climb the fence to get out, but she refused to back down from this man, or anyone else, anymore.
Keeping her shoulders back, she started toward the open door behind him. The sunlight streaming through it caught the specks of dust dancing through the air.
It was such a familiar sight that most of the time, she never noticed it. She focused on those particles now as they drew her toward freedom.
Her mind shouted at her to run, and her senses remained focused on the man behind her, but she kept her step steady as she approached the door. I will not run from this man. I will not run.
She was almost to the door when Malakai transported directly into her path. She almost walked into him, and his six-two frame blocked out the welcoming rays of the sun as he towered seven inches over her.
“Where’s your boyfriend?” he growled.
His smile was gone, and the malevolence shining in his eyes caused ice crystals to form in her blood. Those crystals crept across her skin until they encased her in a frozen tomb.
She would not back down from him, but she wasn’t sure she’d survive what he planned to do to her.
Chapter Four
“Please, get out of my way,” she replied in a steady voice that didn’t reveal her increasing alarm.
Malakai tilted his head to the side as red gleamed in his eyes. “Did you fuck him, Elexiandra?”
She barely stopped herself from gaping at the crude, unexpected question.
“Did he part those pretty thighs?” He prowled closer as he asked the question. “Did you let that half-breed rut between your legs like the dog he is?”
Despite her determination not to back down from him, she edged away from the hatred he emanated. As much as he wanted her, he also despised her and planned to make her pay for the years she spent refusing him. And he especially intended to make her suffer for choosing Cole over him.
What he would do to her should be done to no living creature.
“And like the dark fae he is, he grew tired of you and took his cock to his next whore,” Malakai continued.
The truth of those words stung like a slap to the face, but she hoped she kept that hidden from him.
“You’re disgusting,” Lexi said and planted her feet as she refused to take another step back. “Get off my property.”
“And how do you plan to make me?” he asked.