Cole studied the smoldering remains of the marketplace as he leaned his hand against the windowsill. The full moon was the only illumination over the ruined land.
In the dark of night, the glowing coals of the torched buildings looked like the eyes of some beast lying in wait to spring its trap. But then, that trap had already sprung.
He’d mistakenly believed that once the Lord won the war, he would stop unleashing his dragons. Cole hadn’t expected the insane man’s ruthless determination to wipe out anyone he perceived as an enemy.
The breeze drifting across the land carried with it the stench of fire and the faint aroma of burnt flesh. He started to close the window against the stench when a crow flitted down to perch on the sill.
He wasn’t surprised to see the bird; he’d sent a message to his father after they returned to the manor.
After the attack, Lexi insisted on going to the marketplace to see if they could help the survivors. By the time they reached the fires, any survivors had fled, and those who weren’t fortunate enough to be able to run were dead.
The unexpected attack hadn’t left much of a chance for survivors. Though he felt the distress emanating from her, Lexi kept her chin high and her shoulders back as they returned to the manor.
Once there, he led her to her room, and while she showered, he sent a letter to his father.
Now, that response had arrived.
He glanced back to where Lexi lay ensconced in her blanket. It had taken her a while to fall asleep, and she hadn’t spoken while she lay nestled in his arms.
He didn’t talk either. After what he witnessed today, the memories of the war were closer to the surface and raw. The only thing that helped ease the screams and the cloying scent of blood haunting his memories was holding her in his arms.
And so he’d kissed and held her, but he didn’t try to do anything more. Finally, she fell asleep in his arms, and when she did, he rose from the bed and walked over to stare out the window. After the events of today, he didn’t dare fall asleep with her in the room.
The crow dropped the letter on the windowsill. Cole lifted it and slid the window closed. He walked over to the chair in the corner of Lexi’s room and sat. He sank onto the cushion of the plush, baby blue chair and opened the note.
He recognized his father’s elegant scroll immediately. The Lord received word traitors were in the marketplace. He took the necessary quick and effective action.
Cole knew his father had a lot more to say about what happened today, but he couldn’t put them in a letter that might be intercepted. Cole crumpled the letter and threw it in the trash can only a few feet away from him.
He leaned back in the chair and clasped the arms of it as he contemplated his father’s response. Who told the Lord there were traitors in the marketplace?
Cole hadn’t seen any sign of such activity taking place there. Most mortals and immortals were too scared to do anything more than sell their wares and go home. But someone had put it in the Lord’s head that something more was going on there.
And there was also the chance the Lord never received any such word. It was just as likely he’d made it up so he could use it as an excuse for slaughtering a bunch of innocents. Though, he didn’t need any reasons; no one could stop him while he controlled the dragons, and there were far too many of those beasts to slaughter.
However, even knowing all this, he kept picturing Malakai walking through the marketplace with that smug look on his face. Cole wouldn’t put it past the vampire to report traitors in the market just to watch it burn.
Cole had no way of knowing who was whispering about treachery in the Lord’s ears, but he suspected that the vampire had a hand in what happened today.
Malakai had done something to earn that amulet.
Cole drummed his fingers on the ends of the chair as he gazed around the room. Much like the woman who slept in the bed, there was something delicate and feminine about it. The curtains surrounding the windows were a pale blue that matched the covers pulled around her.
Pictures of her father and Sahira decorated the walls, and he found himself staring into Del’s grinning face. A small pang tugged at his heart; he missed that smile and the man who bore it.
He didn’t know how Del would react to his relationship with Lexi, but he doubted his friend would be thrilled. Del had gone out of his way to protect Lexi; he would not want her entwined with a man who was front and center in the war.
As much as he missed his friend, he also didn’t give a fuck what Del wanted for her. Cole was not giving her up.
When Lexi whimpered in her sleep, he padded across the cool, hardwood floor until he stood beside the bed. He pulled back the comforters and slid into bed beside her.
Tonight, she was the one having nightmares, and he despised it. What happened today never should have occurred. If there were traitors in the marketplace, then there were other ways to handle the situation, but the Lord was too far gone in his madness to see that.
Drawing Lexi into his arms, he kissed her temple. She murmured something before settling down and relaxing against him.
He was exhausted, but he wouldn’t sleep tonight. As long as he held her, he didn’t trust himself to sleep, but he wasn’t going to let her go.
• • •
A tapping at the window drew Cole’s attention the next morning. Shifting his hold on Lexi, he slipped out of bed and walked over to the crow perched on the other side of the glass. The crow’s black eyes watched him as he opened the window, and then it set a note in front of him.
Cole ran his fingers over the bird’s soft feathers before it flew away. He closed the window against the stench of the fire and lifted the note. He opened it to read his father’s words.
If Brokk is capable of the journey, it is time to come home.
Cole crumpled the note and tossed it in the trash before lifting his gaze to the glass. A heavy fog had settled over the land; its silvery tendrils hugged the window and obscured the destruction of the marketplace.
“What did it say?” Lexi asked.
He turned to find her sitting up on the bed; her honey hair tumbled around her shoulders in tousled waves. Her green eyes were troubled, but she looked achingly lovely as she gazed at him.
“My father wants us to return,” he said.
The slight clench of her jaw was the only indication she didn’t like this news before she gave a small nod.
“Come with me,” he said.
Her eyebrows rose as her mouth parted. “I can’t.”
“It will only be for a couple of days.”
“I can’t leave Sahira here to deal with everything on her own. She hates the stables; she claims they smell. And now that the market is gone, it will be harder to find food, and our gardens aren’t ready to be harvested yet. I have too many responsibilities here to go, even if it’s only for a couple of days.”
And no matter how much he didn’t want to leave her, especially after yesterday's events, he had too many responsibilities to stay. There were far too many lives depending on him to return.
But staring at her, he didn’t care about those lives, the war, or how insane the Lord was; he preferred to stay with his mate. But he did care about his brothers and father, and if they didn’t stop the Lord, her life was in jeopardy too.
Nowhere was safe from the Lord and his horde of dragons.
Cole stepped away from the window and crossed the room to her. She’d fallen asleep in a baggy T-shirt that somehow managed to hide her lush curves but still made her look sexy as hell.
He could drag her into the Gloaming; she’d fight him every step of the way and probably end up hating him, but it was better than leaving her here where he couldn’t protect her.
“What about Malakai?” he asked.
“What about him?”
“What if he comes back while I’m gone.”
She gave him a sad smile as he stopped beside the bed. “It won’t be the first time I’ve had to deal with him, and it won’t be the last.”
That may be true, but he hated the idea of leaving her here. “Come with me.”
“I can’t.”
Cole wasn’t used to anyone telling him no, but he especially wasn’t used to the women he was sleeping with saying it. She had no reason to fear becoming shadow kissed.
“What if I insist that you come with me?” he asked.
“Don’t,” she said simply.
“Don’t?”
“Yes, don’t. Because I won’t go, and you won’t become a tyrant like the Lord or Malakai.”
He almost recoiled at her words but managed to stop himself. No, he wouldn’t be like either of them, but the idea of leaving her here….
He looked to the trash can and the note again. He couldn’t stay, and she wouldn’t leave. He could make her go, but that would destroy the trust between them. A large part of him did not care, but the smaller part wanted to keep his mate happy.
And if he forced her into the Gloaming, she would not be happy. But what does her happiness matter if she isn’t safe?
Cole rubbed at his temple. He hadn’t expected to find his mate, but once he did, he’d assumed it would be easy. He hadn’t expected her to be stubborn and set in her ways.
But he wouldn’t have Lexi any other way. Lowering his hands, he met her quizzical look. “I’ll return as soon as I can,” he said.
He could return to the Gloaming and be back in a day. She would be okay for a day, and after what happened last time, he doubted Malakai would return any time soon.
Bending, he rested his hands on her hips and plucked her from the bed. She gasped but didn’t protest when he slid onto the bed beneath her and settled her so she straddled his lap. She draped her arms over his shoulders.