“What is the meaning of this?” Cole demanded.
As he surveyed the lycan gathered around Malakai, he recognized all of them, but they weren’t part of his uncle’s pack, and he didn’t trust any of them. They all fought on the same side during the war, but for completely different reasons.
“We’re hunting a traitor,” Malakai replied.
Cole resisted smashing the arrogant grin off Malakai’s face as he glanced at Lexi again. The intensity of his reaction startled him.
Despite his lycan blood, Cole was colder and more calculating like the dark fae than impulsive and explosive like the lycan. However, the look in Malakai’s eyes as he stared at Lexi had him imagining tearing the vamp’s heart out and shoving it down his throat.
There was more than anger in the vamp’s stare; there was also a lust that made Cole feel more murderous than he had during the entire war. He’d never liked Malakai, but the wolf part of him marked the vamp for death.
“Perhaps you’ve seen the traitor,” Malakai said to Cole.
“Who is it?” Cole asked, and the question came out as more of a growl.
“Your brother. Orin. Some of the boys” —he waved a hand at the lycan surrounding him— “almost had him, but he managed to get away.”
“We fucked him up real bad,” one of the lycans bragged.
Cole managed to keep his face impassive as a knife of dread lodged in his heart and twisted deep. They were hunting Orin, and his brother was injured. Was it so bad he wouldn’t be able to hide?
“I haven’t seen Orin in a couple of years,” Cole replied with an indifference he didn’t feel.
He couldn’t lose another brother.
“Hmm.” Malakai rubbed his chin while he studied Cole. “That’s too bad. You could always help us look for him.”
“You can’t handle it yourself, Malakai?”
“Of course I can, but you know him better than any of us. You know how he thinks. Maybe it’s you who can’t handle watching your traitor of a brother die.”
A seething tempest boiled inside Cole until he felt like a volcano about to blow, but he smiled at Malakai. “My brother’s been dead to me for years.”
It wasn’t true. He would always love Orin. Out of all his brothers, the two of them butted heads the most, but Orin would forever be his brother. Orin was the second of his father’s children, and only thirty-five years separated them.
They hadn’t grown up together, but Cole had watched him grow from a babe to a child to a stubborn adult with a powerful will. And once Orin was old enough, they trained together, laughed and drank together, and developed a bond that came with blood and shared experiences.
And now Orin would be hunted as long as the Lord of the Shadow Realms remained on the throne.
• • •
Lexi was extremely glad Malakai and Cole were focused on each other as the blood drained from her face and her stomach plummeted into her toes.
Malakai, her freaking neighbor, was looking for a traitor. A traitor who was attacked by lycan and Cole’s brother. A dark fae who was sitting in her tunnels.
She had to get away from these two and Orin away from her home. What was she thinking by helping him?
It took everything she had not to slump against the stand behind her as the pouch slung over her shoulder suddenly felt as if it weighed a thousand pounds. She’d bought a healing potion. If any of them asked what was in the pouch or demanded to see it, she had no idea what she would say.
Sahira easily could have made what the pouch contained; why would she come to the market to purchase it? Her mind spun as she tried to come up with some plausible answer, but the only thing she could come up with was that Sahira was out of the ingredients and they had a sick animal at home.
It was flimsy at best and easy enough to disprove, but it might be enough to get her out of here and back to the manor. She’d have to tell Sahira about it then, but she’d worry about that if the time came.
Why had she decided this would be a good idea?
She almost clutched the pouch against her chest, but it would only draw attention, so she restrained herself from doing so.
She glanced around for an escape. However, there was nowhere for her to go. She couldn’t exactly run away without making them a little curious.
So, she had to stand here and try not to look like a cornered rabbit surrounded by powerful men who would turn against her if they learned what she’d done.
And if she managed to get out of this, she had to go home, give Orin the potion, and get him out of her tunnels before she put Sahira in jeopardy. No, she’d already done that with her reckless actions. Now, she had to fix it.
“Then, if you happen across Orin, you’ll let us know,” Malakai said.
“I’ll bring him in myself,” Cole replied.
Lexi tried not to wince at the harshness of those words. Cole was talking about his brother. They’d opposed each other, but how could he be so callous about his brother?
Because he’s a dark fae.
No, it was more than that. He was an immortal, and many of them weren’t known for their kindness; Malakai and his pack of lycan proved that. She didn’t belong here amid these ruthless, coldblooded men, but she’d inadvertently inserted herself in the middle of this awful mess.
“I’m sure you will,” Malakai said before turning to her. “I’ll see you soon, Elexiandra.”
The look in his eyes made her blood run cold. He would come to her manor soon. Lexi didn’t reply as Malakai walked away with the lycan following him.
Gradually, the marketplace came alive around them again. With the Lord’s men out of the way, people and immortals resumed their day while she and Cole remained standing by the woman’s food stand.
Then Cole turned toward her, and she saw the steely gleam in his eyes. She forced herself not to gulp as she considered what he would do if he learned she was harboring his fugitive brother, a man he would hand over for execution.
“How do you know Malakai?” Cole asked.
How did she answer that question?
He’s the bane of my existence. He thinks he’s going to marry me, and I’m terrified he’ll find a way to succeed.
For some reason, Malakai believed she was his consort, or maybe he didn’t. Maybe he saw her as something to own and not as his fated one. The more she considered it, the more she believed that was more likely. He saw her as an accessory and not his consort.
Besides, she’d heard that when any vampire found their consort in another vampire, it was a mutual realization. If she was Malakai’s consort, wouldn’t she feel it too? And she most certainly did not.
But then again, probably not. She couldn’t transport like vampires, she walked freely in the sun, and she wasn’t as strong as them. She was only half vampire, and that might make it impossible to feel the pull of the consort bond.
However, she didn’t tell Cole any of these things because this man did not care about her problems. Instead, she simply said, “He’s my neighbor.”
“I see,” he murmured, but his attention remained on the direction Malakai went.
“I have to go,” she said and gave a subtle tug on her arm.
Seeming to recall he was still holding her arm, his thumb stroked her skin. A fiery tendril of heat worked its way out from where he touched her. It spread through her belly and into her legs until her knees almost gave out.
This was a deadly game she played with him. However, she couldn’t bring herself to pull her arm away, and when he stepped closer, she didn’t move.
He could learn the truth of what she’d done with his brother and destroy her for being a traitor without breaking a sweat, but she didn’t care.
No one had ever made her feel this alive, and now that he was awakening her to the wonder of his touch, she craved more of it. She gulped and tipped her head back to meet his piercing blue eyes. He held her gaze while he caressed her skin in slow, tantalizing circles that made her mouth go dry and her heart race.
Her father had sheltered her for her whole life. She’d never understood his fierce need to keep her protected, but she also hadn’t rebelled against it. She had hundreds, if not thousands of years, to see the world, and she was in no rush to leave her safe, much-loved home.
But now, her father was gone, and for the first time, she yearned for something more than her home, her friends, and family; she wanted him.
And if the way his eyes darkened as they scanned her was any indication, he wanted her too.