Cole watched Elexiandra as she stood beside Malakai. Her delicate chin jutted out, and fire shown in her eyes as she kept her hands clasped firmly before her. He couldn’t hear what Malakai said to her, but he could tell she didn’t like it.
Malakai held his hand out to her, and she stared at it before glancing around the dance floor. Cole sensed her panic as she stared at the couples with desperation in her eyes.
He stepped forward to intervene, but Brokk blocked his way. Cole shot his brother a withering look that caused Brokk’s eyebrows to rise. “What’s gotten into you, killer?”
Cole watched as Elexiandra’s shoulders slumped, and she slid her hand into Malakai’s. The vamp grinned as he led her onto the floor. When he went to grasp her other hand, she jerked it back, but Malakai grabbed it and placed it against his chest.
Cole’s teeth ground together; Malakai fought in Cole’s army, but he’d never liked the arrogant vamp who took far too much joy in tormenting and killing others. It was what they all had to do to survive the war, but Malakai was one of those immortals who smiled the entire time they slaughtered others.
Malakai was dark and twisted, and Cole disliked him anywhere near Elexiandra. Resisting the inexplicable urge to go out there and beat Malakai into a bloody pulp, Cole focused on Brokk.
“What is it?” Cole asked.
Brokk continued to stare questionably at him as he took a step back. “How are you enjoying the party?”
“As much as you.”
Brokk smiled grimly. “Then you’re having the time of your life.”
Cole chuckled. “Absolutely.”
Brokk clasped his shoulder and squeezed it. Neither of them wanted this, their father knew that, and if it had been up to Cole, this party never would have happened, but it wasn’t up to him.
If they were going to keep up the pretense of being on the Lord’s side and being thrilled about their victory in the war, then a celebratory ball was a necessity. And they were all going to have to grin and bear it.
“Enjoy, brother,” Brokk murmured before slipping into the crowd.
As he walked, some of the women reached out for him, and Brokk stopped to speak with them before moving on. Cole turned his attention back to the dance floor as the musicians continued to weave their magic upon the crowd.
He spotted Elexiandra amid the crush of bodies. Whereas everyone else was smiling while they danced with their partners, she remained rigid, and the look on her face said she’d rather be anywhere but here.
He was shocked to find himself wanting to intervene, but he had no idea why. What did he care if she was uncomfortable? He’d never considered the feelings of anyone outside of his family before. And as a dark fae, he’d only ever had two uses for women… fucking and feeding.
Yet when Elexiandra’s gaze darted to the doorway, something inside him stirred at her unease, and he realized it was the lycan making its presence known again. He contemplated this strange development as Malakai grasped the hand Elexiandra had rested on his shoulder and spun her around.
Whereas most women laughed when their partners did such a thing, Elexiandra glanced anxiously around when he pulled her close again. Malakai said something to her, and when she shook her head, he gripped her chin and lifted her head, so she had to look at him.
She tried to jerk her chin free, but Malakai refused to release her. And then she winced.
Before Cole had considered intervening, he found himself striding through the dancers toward them. The action surprised him, but not enough to make him stop shoving his way through the crowd.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw immortals turning toward him and the smiles on some of the women’s faces, but he didn’t acknowledge them. He didn’t give a shit if they considered him rude; he couldn’t stop. He had to get to her.
In the corner, the bow fell away from the cello, and the flute fell silent. Elexiandra said something and tried to turn her face away, but Malakai kept hold of her chin. They were still fifty feet away from him, and he was about to start ruthlessly shoving his guests out of the way when the woman who walked onto the dais with her appeared at her side.
Sahira, he recalled Sindri announcing the woman’s name, and then another memory tugged at the edges of his mind. He recalled Del talking about someone named Sahira. It took him a couple of seconds before he remembered the woman was his half sister.
She was half witch and half vampire, which had to be the rarest combination of immortals in all the realms. He wasn’t sure how such a thing happened, given how much the witches despised the vampires.
Cole couldn’t hear the words they exchanged before Malakai released Elexiandra. She took a few steps back before turning and vanishing into the crowd with Sahira.
• • •
A gasp caught in Lexi’s throat when she stepped out of the hallway and into a room made of glass on all four sides. For a minute, she couldn’t breathe as her head fell back to take in the glass ceiling almost fifty feet over her head.
The gold beams running across the ceiling held the glass in place. In each corner of the room was a gold tree trunk and, carved to look like tree branches, the beams stretched overhead.
Hundreds of brown vines with hand-sized, green leaves covered at least half of the glass walls, but none of the vines touched the ceiling. They left it open to the two moons beyond the glass.
Flowers the size of her head clung to those vines. Their multicolored blooms lifted their petals to the moonlight spilling through the glass ceiling. They basked in the rays shining down on them.
She’d never seen flowers with colors like the ones in here. There were reds in shades she couldn’t begin to describe, pinks that weren’t quite pink and might be some color she’d never heard of, and yellows and oranges so vibrant they rivaled the sun. With their large petals and stigma in the middle, they reminded her of hibiscus, except they were larger and more luminous.
She doubted she was supposed to be here, but she couldn’t get her feet to turn away. This was the best thing she’d seen all night, and she wasn’t ready to leave it.
She had no idea where she was in the castle or what this room was. She’d told Sahira she was returning to the room assigned to them, but she must have gotten turned around somewhere.
Her aunt wanted to come with her, but Lexi insisted she stay and have a good time. It was so rare Sahira ever got to do anything like this, and unlike Lexi, she was enjoying herself.
Lexi glanced behind her; she could still hear the music, but she didn’t see anyone. She should go, but she didn’t move. Drawn to the flowers and excited to get a closer look at them, she descended the two steps into the room and strolled across the white, marble floor.
This was so wrong and might get her into a ton of trouble, but she felt like Sleeping Beauty being lured to the spindle as she crept further into the room.
It did not go well for Sleeping Beauty, she reminded herself. However, she didn’t stop.
She couldn’t decide what to look at first, the spectacular flowers or the bright, full moons. Stopping in the middle of the room, she tipped her head back as she stood beneath one of the moons. Her skin prickled from the energy they exuded.
She closed her eyes and breathed in the sweet aroma filling the room.