Shadows of Discovery by Brenda K. Davies

Chapter Five

It tookeverything Lexi had to keep herself from passing out. If she did… well, she couldn’t think about what would happen if she did.

Still, she felt like she was trying to claw her way out of quicksand as her knees gave out. Malakai’s thigh between her legs was the only thing keeping her up. She blinked away the stars erupting before her eyes, and her head fell back.

No!

Her hands moved like someone had tied concrete blocks to them, but she somehow got her palms up between them. With a strength she hadn’t known she still possessed, she drove her palm up and under Malakai’s chin. His head snapped back as his fist flew.

Lexi braced herself for another blow as the whistle of his hand cutting through the air came at her. She didn’t think she’d remain standing after this punch as her head still rang from the last blow and blood dripped off her chin.

She clawed at his neck and twisted her head away as Malakai was ripped off her. Lexi staggered forward and nearly went down. She threw herself back against the wall as a flash of black soared past her.

Without Malakai to keep her propped up, Lexi hit the ground. But she refused to stay down; it could mean death, or worse, if she did.

She rested her hand against the wall and rose. Dizziness assailed her, and she almost fell again, but she refused to give in to the weakness consuming her.

Instead, she slumped against the wall as a massive wolf landed a few feet away from her. With its jaws locked around Malakai’s abdomen, the vampire dangled from the wolf’s mouth. Its head and body were the size of a lion’s—an extremely large, extremely powerful lion. Its paws were the size of her head, and its claws could eviscerate a T. rex.

Malakai beat against the wolf’s head as it opened its mouth and bit down again. Malakai’s shrieks were like toothpicks to her eardrums. Blood spurted from his mouth as the wolf shook its head back and forth, turning Malakai into nothing more than a rag doll.

Normally, such a thing would have appalled her, but though she didn’t enjoy Malakai’s pain, it didn’t upset her either. He would have raped her and maybe killed her; he deserved to be eaten.

When the wolf opened its mouth to chomp down again, Malakai vanished as he transported out of the wolf’s hold. Lexi’s eyes darted around the barn in search of him, but he didn’t materialize anywhere nearby.

She squeezed her eyes shut when her vision blurred but almost immediately opened them again. Is he going to return?

But as the seconds stretched on, and he still didn’t reemerge, she slid down the wall. Once on the ground, the thundering in her head became louder as her attention shifted to the wolf.

Its head moved around as it searched the barn. The blood dripping from its muzzle reminded her that it hadn’t gotten the chance to eat, and she might be next.

When she scrambled to rise again, the abrupt movement caused nausea to twist in her belly, but she got to her feet. She rested her hand against the wall as she panted for air.

Turning its attention away from the barn, the wolf focused on her. When its silver eyes met hers, a certainty hit her as hard as Malakai’s fist.

“Cole,” she whispered before her knees gave out.

She didn’t know how he moved so fast, but he transformed and his arms enveloped her. Blood stained his face, and his black hair was disheveled as he cradled her against his bare chest.

Joy soared at the sight of him, and though blood coated him, she relished being in his arms again. As she drank him in, she saw that he’d shaved his beard.

That was her last coherent thought before blackness descended.

* * *

“Lexi?”Cole whispered and rested his hand against her cheek. “Lexi?”

She didn’t respond as her head lolled against his chest. Blood still seeped from her nose and caked her split, swollen lips. Her nose was three times its normal size and already turning the color of an eggplant. More bruises seeped out from her nose to shadow her closed eyes.

The imprint of fingers was evident in the black bruises marring her elegant throat. Her neck was swollen and red. More blood streaked her dark auburn hair with its various, brilliant strands of red.

He cursed the fact Malakai had gotten away. When this was over, he would finish tearing that vamp in half, but he wasn’t going to part from her any time soon.

He stalked past his shredded clothes, into the day, and toward the manor. He was almost to the house when Sahira emerged from behind the house. She had gloves in hand, dirt streaked her cheeks, and a basket of vegetables hung over her arm.

She froze when she spotted him, and then her gaze landed on Lexi. When the basket fell from her grasp, tomatoes rolled across the ground, and she stomped them as she ran toward them. She was only a few feet away when she skidded to a stop.

When her amber eyes flew from Lexi to him, they darkened, and a breeze stirred the air. Some of her mahogany hair had fallen free of her bun; the loose strands started to blow around her face as she drew on the air currents surrounding them.

“Don’t,” he cautioned when the wind stirred around him.

Despite only being half witch, she had control over the elements. The breeze intensified as her nostrils flared.

“Put her down,” she hissed.

“No. I didn’t do this.”

Sahira’s eyes practically crackled with fire.

“I would never do this to her,” he said.

“Like you’ve never laid a hand on her before.”

Then her gaze ran over his naked body, and like Medusa’s snakes, her hair whipped around her head. Her words were more of a blow to him than the increasing wind.

He hadn’t injured Lexi on purpose, but she was right; he had left bruises on her throat when she tried to wake him from a nightmare. But this…

“I would never do this to her,” he repeated as the wind buffeted him.

It was a good thing Sahira wasn’t near any flames. Otherwise, she would have tried to torch his ass. If she wasn’t Lexi’s aunt, he would put a stop to her continued use of power against him, but she had Lexi’s best interests at heart, she was the only family Lexi had left, and Lexi loved her. Stopping her would turn physical, and he couldn’t let that happen.

“Malakai did this,” he said and turned away from her.

He started toward the manor again. No matter how pissed Sahira was at him, she wouldn’t do anything harmful while Lexi remained in his arms.