“That’s me,” Cole said as his attention shifted back to the head lycan. “What’s the meaning of this?”
“The Lord wants to see you immediately,” the lycan replied.
“Tell him that I’ll join him soon,” Cole replied.
No!
The word screamed through Lexi’s head, but she bit her tongue to suppress it. Cole wasn’t one to be summoned anywhere, and the Lord was not someone to be disobeyed. He’d killed the last dark fae king, and he would kill Cole.
“My orders are to take you now,” the lycan said.
“I don’t care what your orders are,” Cole replied.
“Cole, don’t,” Lexi whispered.
When he smiled at her, the head lycan turned in his saddle to look at her. Some of his men followed suit; Lexi didn’t move as they all stared at her.
Ignoring the horses prancing around him, Cole strode toward her. He didn’t have to push his way through the beasts as the horses fell back to get out of his way.
His eyes were a brilliant silver, and the power he emanated crackled the air around him. The horses all knew a predator when they sensed one, and he was most certainly a predator. He stopped before her and clasped her hands.
“Go,” she whispered. “And do whatever the Lord wants. I need you to come back to me.”
“Nothing can keep me from you.”
She strained to keep her terror repressed. “Do whatever he says, please.”
A flash of black crossed his eyes. The effect was so startling and fast she assumed she’d imagined it, but it was almost as if a shadow passed across his eyes.
“I’ll be back as soon as possible,” he said. “I’m going to call forth a crow so you can send a letter to the Gloaming.”
“I’ll be fine; just take care of yourself.”
Cole kissed her forehead before claiming her mouth. When he released her, he stepped back and raised a hand. A crow flew down from one of the branches and landed on his shoulder.
Cole whispered something in its ear, and when he finished, it hopped over to her shoulder. It ruffled its feathers before settling its wings into place.
“Send the letter to Niall. Tell him that I have requested he come to the human realm to stay with you until I return,” Cole said.
“Who is Niall?” she asked.
“A friend. I trust him. Send the letter immediately.”
“I will,” she vowed.
He kissed her again before turning to face the Lord’s men. “Let’s go then,” he commanded as if this was his idea.
Some of the men exchanged agitated looks, but none of them dared to say anything. Cole agreed to go with them, but if he chose to make their lives difficult, he would succeed.
When Cole let out a low whistle, his horse lifted its head and its ears flicked toward him. It hesitated only a second before trotting over to him.
Cole grasped its mane and swung himself onto the animal’s back. When he looked back at Lexi, he smiled before turning his horse away and nudging him in the sides.
When the riders fell in around him, the certainty she’d never see him again hit her.
Chapter Sixty-Two
Once back in Dragonia, a warlock led Cole to a room outside the great hall of the Lord. The warlock who led him into the room didn’t say a word as he closed and locked the door behind him.
Cole studied the small room with its gray, unadorned stone walls, single bench, and window slit high up in the wall. The fading sun cast shadows across the concrete floor. The room was the definition of sparse, but at least he wasn’t locked up in a tower again.
He didn’t know if this was better or worse, and he suspected he’d have some time to ponder it. Would he be stuck here as long this time as he was the last time?
As day gave way to night and the moon’s rays filled the room, the door opened. The warlock there gestured for him to exit.
“The Lord will see you now,” the man said.
Cole didn’t reply as he left the room and followed the man down the hall to the double doors there. Each door had a carving of a dragon in mid-flight on it. The warlock opened one of the doors and stepped back to let Cole enter the main hall.
Overhead, the opening in the dome ceiling a thousand feet above him revealed the clear night sky and the thousands of stars piercing the darkness. Dragons lounged sleepily in the room, but when he descended the five steps to the great hall, many of them lifted their heads and turned in his direction.
Their reptilian eyes followed his every step, and he sensed their barely leashed rage. They hadn’t forgiven him for killing one of them, and he certainly hadn’t forgotten that one of them ate his father.
He ignored them as he walked down the center of the room toward where the Lord sat on his golden throne. The throne sat on top of a dais and was situated fifteen feet above the rest of the room.
Hatred burned like fire in his throat as he kept his attention riveted on the man he’d see dead soon. He was almost to the Lord when one of the dragons shifted to reveal a man standing at the bottom of the dais’s steps.
Cole’s step slowed, and his claws lengthened as bloodlust burst hotly through him. Behind him, the dragons’ tails rasped against the ground, and their claws clicked against the stones.
If he looked back, he was sure he’d see them closing in on him. Still, he didn’t take his gaze off Malakai as the vampire smiled at him. It was the smugness of his smile that set off warning bells in Cole’s head.
Still, he managed to keep himself under control as he smiled back, baring his fangs. The sight of those fangs caused Malakai to shift uneasily, and Cole knew he recalled what it was like for those fangs to impale him.
Had he run straight to the Lord’s hall after their last encounter? That would explain why he wasn’t at home, but how close were these two if Malakai felt safe enough to hide from him here?
His gaze fell to the sun medallion hanging from Malakai’s neck. He’d done something to earn that amulet from the Lord, and it hadn’t been anything good.
Malakai being this close to the Lord did not bode well for him.
“Ah, Colburn, how good of you to join us,” the Lord greeted. “Though my men tell me you were in no rush to do so.”
It took everything Cole had to tear his gaze away from Malakai and focus on the madman sitting over them. “I was busy, milord. But I came as soon as I could.”
“Yes, yes, I heard you were in the human realm. What a strange place to be for a man crowned king of the Gloaming yesterday.”
“I had some things to take care of, milord.”
The Lord steepled his fingers together and rested them against his chin as he peered down at Cole. “So I’ve heard.”
Cole’s eyes flicked to Malakai. What had that prick told the Lord about him and Lexi?
“How does it feel to be king?” the Lord asked.
“It is a great honor.”
It was many things, but he wouldn’t explain any of them to this man. Cole shifted his attention back to Malakai. The vampire remained standing there, with his hands clasped behind his back. If he started whistling, Cole wouldn’t be surprised.
Cole would give anything to finish what he’d started in the barn, and this coward couldn’t transport out of this palace. However, he doubted the Lord would let him attack a man he’d brought here without severe repercussion. He’d killed one dragon, but he couldn’t fend them all off.