Shadows of Discovery by Brenda K. Davies

Chapter Four

“Please, get out of my way,”she replied in a steady voice that didn’t reveal her increasing alarm.

Malakai tilted his head to the side as red gleamed in his eyes. “Did you fuck him, Elexiandra?”

She barely stopped herself from gaping at the crude, unexpected question.

“Did he part those pretty thighs?” He prowled closer as he asked the question. “Did you let that half-breed rut between your legs like the dog he is?”

Despite her determination not to back down from him, she edged away from the hatred he emanated. As much as he wanted her, he also despised her and planned to make her pay for the years she spent refusing him. And he especially intended to make her suffer for choosing Cole over him.

What he would do to her should be done to no living creature.

“And like the dark fae he is, he grew tired of you and took his cock to his next whore,” Malakai continued.

The truth of those words stung like a slap to the face, but she hoped she kept that hidden from him.

“You’re disgusting,” Lexi said and planted her feet as she refused to take another step back. “Get off my property.”

“And how do you plan to make me?” he asked.

When he stopped before her, the toes of his boots touched the front of her sneakers. The five o’clock shadow lining his jaw matched the dark brown of his hair.

She contemplated knocking that shadow right off his face, but the look in his eyes froze her. She’d punched Cole’s brother, Orin, and he was one of the deadliest creatures in all the realms, but Malakai wasn’t Orin.

Orin was lethal, but he was also sane and had a bit of a moral compass, even if it was broken most of the time. Malakai was a monster who would tear her apart if she gave him a reason.

He was a twisted freak who was a lot stronger than her, and if she punched him, he would attack. But then, he might attack without any provocation too.

Lexi prepared herself for that possibility as he loomed over her. He could stomp her, but she wasn’t going down without a fight.

“Did you like fucking him?” Malakai inquired.

Tired of him, Cole, Orin, and every other “man” in her life since her dad died, Lexi had no idea what came over her, but she smiled as she replied. “I loved it.”

She had only a second to gloat over the rage clouding his face before his hand clamped on her throat. He moved so fast she didn’t see him before his fingers bit into her flesh.

As he choked her, he cut off her ability to breathe. Lifting her, he propelled her backward and into the wall. The air in her lungs managed to escape on a gurgled ah.

“You whore!” he spat the words into her face with such vehemence that spittle sprayed her.

Her disbelief over being attacked in such a way faded, and her survival instincts kicked in. Determined to get away from him, Lexi lashed out. When her fist connected with his cheek, the blow knocked his head to the side.

Malakai’s grip relaxed, and fresh air briefly filled her lungs before his head swiveled back toward her. She didn’t see the punch coming at her until a crushing blow battered her temple.

Her head shot to the side, and blood filled her mouth as dizziness assailed her. When her legs gave out, his grip on her throat kept her standing. She was still trying to recover her senses when he shoved his leg between her thighs.

Realizing exactly what he would do to her, Lexi swung and kicked and squirmed as she battered him. The blows sent shock waves through her hands and arms. The adrenaline coursing through her gave her a strength she’d never shown before, but it still wasn’t enough to get him off her.

She couldn’t breathe. She was going to pass out. And once she did, he would do whatever he wanted to her.

That reality dragged her back from the brink of unconsciousness. She continued to punch at him, but he caught one of her wrists with his free hand and bashed it into the wall. Something cracked, and she was sure bones shattered in her hand, but she continued to swing at him.

And then, blessedly, he released her throat. She greedily sucked in oxygen as she coughed and sputtered. She was just getting enough air in to scream when he seized her other wrist and pinned them together with one of his hands.

Her scream choked off when he recaptured her throat and squeezed until her windpipe threatened to give way. Then the bastard kissed her.

The force of his kiss was nearly as punishing as his grip on her throat. He split her lips until she tasted blood. Then the asshole licked her blood away before shoving his tongue into her mouth.

* * *

Cole knockedon the manor door one more time before stepping back to examine Lexi’s home. No lights were on within, but that could be because no one was home or the electricity was out again.

It had taken him more time than he would have liked to wash all the blood off him and arrive here. By the time he finally finished scrubbing himself, his arm had nearly healed and now was nothing more than a dull throb.

He ran a hand through his hair and tugged at it as he studied the ruined remains of the marketplace in the distance. No one resurrected it after the Lord unleashed his dragons on it.

So, she hadn’t gone to the market. However, she could have traveled to another marketplace or anywhere else. He’d been gone for almost two weeks; any number of things could have happened since then.

He tried not to think about that as he started around the manor. He stopped when the barn caught his attention. If she wasn’t in the library, then her second favorite place was the barn.

And it was around the time when she usually went out to take care of the animals. He didn’t know where Sahira was or why she hadn’t answered the door, and he didn’t care.

Eager to see Lexi again, he started toward the barn at a brisk stride. He stepped into the open doorway and peered into the shadows cloaking the barn.

It took only a second for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, and when they did, his blood rushed into his ears until he was certain his eardrums would rupture. A thick, red haze descended over his eyes to block out the embracing couple.

He was glad for that because he’d seen enough to make him spiral into a pit of madness as encompassing as what consumed him after his father’s murder.

The urge to kill and shred overtook him as he imagined digging his hands into Malakai’s bowels and ripping them out. He would make all the vampire’s insides visible to the world as he spilled his blood across the ground.

Cole’s fangs burst into his mouth; his claws sliced through his palms and scoured his bones. The blood dripping from his hands sounded like cannon fire to his lycan ears as it plopped onto the dirt floor.

He was on the verge of shifting, changing, becoming a beast who would decapitate her new lover and eat his head.

How could she?

When he left her, he promised to return in a day or two, but those days had come and gone. He never would have remained faithful to someone who did the same to him, but he hadn’t expected the same from her. He’d believed her to be different than himself and the other women he’d been with; she was his, and she’d already moved on to a man she despised.

Wait. That made no sense. She hated Malakai. A lot could change in two weeks, but he didn’t see her going from hating to screwing this man in such a short period. Although, he’d fucked more than a few women he despised.

Still, Lexi wasn’t like him, and he couldn’t shake the feeling something wasn’t right here. With a control he hadn’t believed he still retained, he pushed aside some of the red haze clouding his vision. He didn’t want to see them locked in their passionate embrace again, but he did.

And as his breath thundered like a bull about to charge, he took in more details of their embrace. When he did, things beyond the knife twisting in his heart sank in.

Lexi’s body bowed toward Malakai in a way that indicated she craved more. Cole’s teeth ground together as he recalled how wonderful it felt to have her lithe body melding against his, but…

This wasn’t melding.

She was as rigid as a board against Malakai. Her wrists, bound by Malakai’s hand, were pressed against the wall, and her fingers were hooked into claws.

Blood spilled from the corners of Malakai’s mouth a second before he reeled back from her. Blood flowed from both their mouths, and Cole realized she’d bitten him when she spit a gob of blood into his face.

“You bitch!” Malakai spat.

Lexi jerked and somehow lifted a knee to slam it into the vamp’s stomach. Air exploded from Malakai as she tried to twist away.

“Let go of me!” she screamed.

Cole was shifting as he ran toward them, but he wasn’t fast enough to stop Malakai from pulling his head back and smashing his forehead off her face. Lexi cried out as blood poured from her nose.

A roar built within Cole, but he didn’t release it. He couldn’t alert Malakai he was coming. That roar built to a crescendo as Malakai released her wrists and hit her. Lexi’s head bounced off the wall as more of her blood spilled free.