When the third day passed without any word from Cole, Lexi’s shoulders slumped a little and she felt like a weight was bearing down on her shoulders. By the time the fifth day passed, she was kicking herself for believing he would return.
She’d known better than to trust a dark fae; she’d repeatedly told herself not to trust him, but somehow, he slipped inside her defenses. And he’d forgotten her already.
Lexi had believed she’d prepared for him to forget her, but she hadn’t. With every passing day, her sadness grew.
However, no matter how much it felt like someone was squeezing her heart in her chest, she didn’t cry.
She refused to shed a tear over him even though some days she yearned to sit down and sob out her disappointment. But once she started, she wouldn’t stop, and he wasn’t worth her tears.
That fifth night, as she lay alone in bed, it took all she had not to roll over and cry into the pillows still smelling of him, but she didn’t.
Instead, when the sun rose, she ripped her sheets, pillows, and comforter off the bed, carried them downstairs, and stuffed them in the washer. Thankfully, the electricity was working well as she washed them three times to ensure no hint of him remained on them.
The urge to cry was not so bad the following night.
On the seventh day, she learned she wasn’t pregnant. Relief flowed through her, as did a little sadness. The last thing she needed was a baby in this crazy world, and one whose father would never know about its existence, but she couldn’t shake her lingering disappointment.
She tucked Sahira’s bottle of birth control into a cabinet where she wouldn’t see it and closed the door. She wouldn’t have any use for it again for a while. Asshole or not, it would be some time before she moved on from Cole.
Through it all, she realized that either Cole was not her consort, or she lacked another vampire trait. From what she’d heard, a vampire who lost their consort was inconsolable and often went to the grave soon after.
While she was grieving and lost, she didn’t plan to die any time soon, and she wasn’t inconsolable. Life went on, she would get over this, and one day, she would forget him just as he’d forgotten her.
Or at least she hoped she would.
At least she hadn’t been foolish enough to love him. But as she told herself this, she recognized it as another lie.
On the morning of the eighth day, she went out to dispense as much food as they could spare to the dejected people rambling past the manor. Most were looking for work or food, but some seemed so broken that she wasn’t sure they knew where they were anymore.
They couldn’t spare much food, but their crops would soon be ready to harvest, and they were already gathering peas and tomatoes from the garden.
On the tenth day, she fed the people before heading into the woods. She had to gather some supplies from the shed before heading for the garden.
She emerged from the shed with a shovel and gloves when something zipped through the tree’s shadows. It moved so fast she couldn’t tell what it was, but it was something more than human, and that meant it was a threat.
Lexi dropped her gloves and shifted her hold on the shovel as she prepared to bash in the brains of whatever was moving through those trees. She caught another blur of movement to her right and turned to face it.
Whatever was out there was screwing with the wrong immortal. She’d never sought a fight before, but she’d gladly take her anger at Cole out on this asshole.
And then the blur vanished. She stared at the pine tree it stopped behind as she willed it to emerge. Was it Malakai?
Her heart raced at the possibility. She hadn’t seen him since that day with Cole, but she didn’t kid herself into thinking he wasn’t coming back.
Lexi held her breath as she waited to see if Malakai had finally returned. After a few seconds, Orin stepped out.
For a second, she was relieved to see him instead of Malakai, and then she recalled how much trouble he could cause her, and she scowled at him.
He grinned at her as he eyed the shovel and lifted his hands. “Easy there, killer.”
She shifted her hold on the shovel. She’d told him never to come back here, and she’d meant it.
“What are you doing here?” she snapped.
His eyebrows rose, and even she was surprised by the vehemence of her tone. But she’d had enough of him and all dark fae. As far as she was concerned, they could all return to the Gloaming and rot there.
“What has your panties in a bunch?” he asked with wry humor.
“You’re disgusting.”
He grinned as he leaned against a tree. He crossed his legs and folded his arms over his lean chest. The striking similarities between him and Cole only made her want to hit him more.
“So I’ve been told,” he murmured. “But I think I’m pretty amazing.”
“You’re the only one.” She bent and lifted her gloves from the ground, hefted the shovel over her shoulder, and started through the woods. She’d prefer to smack him with the shovel, but she didn’t want to be anywhere near him. “Get out of here.”
“Would you like all of us to leave?”
His words froze her, and for a minute, she stared straight ahead as she watched the sun’s rays playing through the trees and listened to the bird’s song. It was such a peaceful, beautiful morning, and she’d been looking forward to losing herself in the garden. She wanted her hands in the dirt and the rich aroma of the earth filling her nostrils as it eased her heartache.
Instead, she was dealing with asshole number two of the dark fae realm. His older brother had taken over the title of asshole number one.
With a sigh, she turned back to him. She opened her mouth to ask what he was talking about, but before she could, more shadows moved through the trees and drew closer.
The first one to emerge was a young woman holding a small boy in her arms. The woman was human, but the tiny fangs on the boy indicated he was part vampire. Soot streaked their noses, cheeks, and torn clothes as they stared at her from haunted eyes. No child should have eyes that wise and sad, but suffering etched his face.
From behind them, more people and immortals emerged from the woods. In the end, three men, two women, a little girl, and the boy stood before her.
She stared at their battered countenances before shifting her attention to Orin. She’d prefer never to speak to him again, but she couldn’t walk away from these people.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
He stepped away from the tree and approached her. “They’re being hunted.”
“Why? And by who?”
“Because they survived the marketplace and by the Lord’s followers. No one was supposed to survive the attack, but they did.”
“I….” Her gaze flicked to them as Orin stopped before her. “I don’t understand.”
He clasped her elbow and led her a few feet away. She glowered at him as they walked, but she followed him. There was no point fighting when she wanted answers.
“Yes, you do,” Orin said as he stopped and turned to face her. “They’re on the run.”
Lexi jerked her arm free of his grasp and gave him a seething look. “And you’re helping to keep them alive?”
“Yes.”
She studied him, but she didn’t see anything smug in his gaze this time. No, all she saw was an earnestness that tempted her to punch him. He was an asshole, and she much preferred him that way.
She was sick of being used and manipulated by the dark fae, and even if Orin meant well, she’d told him never to return. He was using these people to manipulate her into doing what he wanted her to do.
And she was scared she knew what it was.
“I suppose you’re helping them out of the kindness of your blackened heart?” she muttered sarcastically.
“You’re a lot more bitter than the last time I saw you.”
“I’m sick of your shit.”
“Just mine or someone else’s too?”
She swore the top of her head was going to blow off as her blood pressure skyrocketed. It took everything she had not to bash his brains in with the shovel. However, she was not in the mood to pick brains from her clothes.
“Leave, Orin, and don’t come back,” she said.
“They need a place to stay, or they’re going to die. I’m running out of places to hide them, and the humans are slowing us down. Plus, I can’t take the mortals into any of the Shadow Realms.”
“I can’t help you.”
“There were more of them yesterday. We lost two; one was a child.”
“Leave, Orin.”
She hissed the words, but her gaze returned to where the others huddled together while they warily eyed the trees. The boy was gazing at her with his big blue eyes. When his mother wrapped her hand around his head and pressed it to her chest, he stuck his thumb in his mouth.
They were so broken and so helpless. Getting involved with this was a very bad idea, but how could she say no to the children? How could she turn any of them away?
Because it could lead to your death, the destruction of the manor, and possibly get Sahira killed.
Still, her heart ached for them, and her conviction to get rid of Orin wavered.