She gaped at him like he’d sprouted feathers and started quacking like a duck. “You wouldn’t dare. I am a member of the council.”
“Tell me again that I wouldn’t dare.”
A vein throbbed in Becca’s temple, but she didn’t speak.
“Do not return to the palace until I permit you to do so. If I catch you in here again, I’ll put you in the dungeon. And if I catch you threatening her again, I’ll kill you,” Cole stated.
As it was, he was barely restraining himself from wrapping his hand around her throat and tearing off her head. However, she was a council member, and he couldn’t go around destroying his council members.
He had to earn the trust of the dark fae here, and he couldn’t do that by killing another member of the realm’s most powerful families. That wouldn’t earn him the loyalty of the fae who worked on the lands and in the homes and businesses run by those families.
Aelfdane was an understandable kill; he’d agreed to it when he volunteered for the trials. Becca was something else. He’d warned her, and if she tried to harm Lexi again, he would destroy her.
“Go,” he ordered.
Becca turned and hurried down the hall. Though she kept her shoulders back and her step dignified, he sensed she was struggling not to run.
Cole’s gaze shifted to Lexi as Becca disappeared down another hall. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
She wasn’t fine; he could see that in her eyes.
“Did she hurt you?” he asked.
“No, but she hates me. And she’s a hideous woman. The things she said….”
Lexi broke off and focused on the door to his right. He glanced at the blood-covered knob before returning his attention to his mate.
“You have some really bad taste in women,” she muttered.
He chuckled. “You do realize you’re one of those women.”
The glare she sent him ended his amusement. Apparently, she was not in the mood to be teased.
“You won’t have to see her again,” Cole said.
“But I will if I stay here. She’s a powerful dark fae, a member of your council, and has free reign of the palace.”
“She does not,” Cole said. “She was allowed in today because of all the preparations. The rest of the council is here too. She will not be allowed in again unless I say so, and she will only be around if I am there too.”
“Great, so I’ll stay here and not go into the realm at all then.”
The irritation in her voice made Cole realize he was picking his way around the edges of a ticking time bomb and had to proceed carefully. He would not lose Lexi because of Becca. He refused to let it happen.
“And after what happened today, she’s going to hate me even more, which I wouldn’t have believed possible before,” she continued.
His claws extended and dug into his palms when he clenched and unclenched his hands. “Do you wish to leave?”
“No. I want to stay with you, but….” She shrugged. “But it will take me some time to get used to this place and all the politics that go with it. I also don’t want to be locked up in the palace when I’m here. I know it can’t happen this time, but if you expect me to be the queen of this realm, then I have to go out and into it.”
She would be queen, but he didn’t like the idea of her out in the Gloaming. Maybe when things were more settled, but that could be years. He kept his concerns to himself; it was an issue they could deal with later, and she was already annoyed enough without him aggravating her more.
“Becca won’t harm you,” he said.
“I’m not so sure of that.”
“I am. She won’t be allowed in this palace again without supervision, and once you’re my queen, if she does anything to you, it is an act of treason, and she will pay dearly for it.”
“I don’t think she cares about that. She loves you, Cole.”
“No, she doesn’t. She loves the power I represent, and she craves it. Power and a better position in this realm are all she’s ever wanted from me.”
“You’re wrong. No one is that angry and spiteful about something because of power. She loves you.”
“Lexi, I know the dark fae well, and what Becca loves is power and that I could offer her so much of it. She does not love me.”
Lexi bit her lip as she studied the blood-splattered, gray stone floor. She looked so defeated he couldn’t resist pulling her into his arms. He nestled her against his chest as he rested his chin on her head.
“I’m sorry you had to deal with her today,” Cole said.
“I guess that’s life when you’re dating a guy who has a lot of exes. How did you know we were here?”
“I followed your scent, but I sensed something was wrong because of the palace.”
She leaned back to look up at him. “Huh?”
Cole grinned at her. “Ever since the trials, I’ve had a strange connection to this place. It’s almost as if it’s alive.”
Lexi blinked at him before laughing. “I had that same thought when it bashed Becca’s face with a door.”
“It did?”
“It was awesome.”
Keeping his arms around her, he started leading her down the hall. “You’re going to have to tell me all about it.”
Chapter Fifty-Two
Lexi stood at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the large, wooden stage the dark fae erected for the coronation ceremony. Cole had said he wanted her by his side, but the ceremony centered on him and the man crowning him, Elvin.
She and Brokk remained at the bottom of the stairs Cole had ascended to stand twenty feet above the crowd. And what a crowd it was. Thousands of dark fae gathered in the large, rolling green fields outside the palace. There were so many they vanished into the hollows of the hills before reappearing again on the next rise.
They crammed every inch of the lawn and watched with rapt attention as Elvin lifted the crown high. Sunlight flashed off the three black oplyx stones set into the large crown. It was larger than the crown she first saw Cole wearing in the Gloaming, and she recognized it as the one his father wore.
Though he showed no reaction, Lexi winced for him when the crown settled on his head. She couldn’t imagine what the weight of it must feel like to him.
Lexi glanced at Brokk as he watched his brother. His face revealed no emotion, but she saw the sorrow in his eyes. Neither of them wanted this, and they would have to fight to keep it as, despite the air of excitement from the crowd, she also sensed their turmoil and unease. They whispered and shifted behind her and the guards who surrounded her.
She hated having those guards there, but Cole insisted. Their faces were stony, and they looked as approachable as an irate porcupine. However, they were armed and loyal to their king. If something went wrong today, they would defend him.
The whispers continued as Cole lifted his head to take in the crowd. Despite her pride over everything he’d been through to claim that crown, she was also scared.
What if the dark fae never accepted him as their king? She could live with it if they never accepted her, but would Cole have to spend the rest of his life fighting to control them?