Shadows of Discovery by Brenda K. Davies
Chapter Sixty-Two
Once back in Dragonia,a warlock led Cole to a room outside the great hall of the Lord. The warlock who led him into the room didn’t say a word as he closed and locked the door behind him.
Cole studied the small room with its gray, unadorned stone walls, single bench, and window slit high up in the wall. The fading sun cast shadows across the concrete floor. The room was the definition of sparse, but at least he wasn’t locked up in a tower again.
He didn’t know if this was better or worse, and he suspected he’d have some time to ponder it. Would he be stuck here as long this time as he was the last time?
As day gave way to night and the moon’s rays filled the room, the door opened. The warlock there gestured for him to exit.
“The Lord will see you now,” the man said.
Cole didn’t reply as he left the room and followed the man down the hall to the double doors there. Each door had a carving of a dragon in mid-flight on it. The warlock opened one of the doors and stepped back to let Cole enter the main hall.
Overhead, the opening in the dome ceiling a thousand feet above him revealed the clear night sky and the thousands of stars piercing the darkness. Dragons lounged sleepily in the room, but when he descended the five steps to the great hall, many of them lifted their heads and turned in his direction.
Their reptilian eyes followed his every step, and he sensed their barely leashed rage. They hadn’t forgiven him for killing one of them, and he certainly hadn’t forgotten that one of them ate his father.
He ignored them as he walked down the center of the room toward where the Lord sat on his golden throne. The throne sat on top of a dais and was situated fifteen feet above the rest of the room.
Hatred burned like fire in his throat as he kept his attention riveted on the man he’d see dead soon. He was almost to the Lord when one of the dragons shifted to reveal a man standing at the bottom of the dais’s steps.
Cole’s step slowed, and his claws lengthened as bloodlust burst hotly through him. Behind him, the dragons’ tails rasped against the ground, and their claws clicked against the stones.
If he looked back, he was sure he’d see them closing in on him. Still, he didn’t take his gaze off Malakai as the vampire smiled at him. It was the smugness of his smile that set off warning bells in Cole’s head.
Still, he managed to keep himself under control as he smiled back, baring his fangs. The sight of those fangs caused Malakai to shift uneasily, and Cole knew he recalled what it was like for those fangs to impale him.
Had he run straight to the Lord’s hall after their last encounter? That would explain why he wasn’t at home, but how close were these two if Malakai felt safe enough to hide from him here?
His gaze fell to the sun medallion hanging from Malakai’s neck. He’d done something to earn that amulet from the Lord, and it hadn’t been anything good.
Malakai being this close to the Lord did not bode well for him.
“Ah, Colburn, how good of you to join us,” the Lord greeted. “Though my men tell me you were in no rush to do so.”
It took everything Cole had to tear his gaze away from Malakai and focus on the madman sitting over them. “I was busy, milord. But I came as soon as I could.”
“Yes, yes, I heard you were in the human realm. What a strange place to be for a man crowned king of the Gloaming yesterday.”
“I had some things to take care of, milord.”
The Lord steepled his fingers together and rested them against his chin as he peered down at Cole. “So I’ve heard.”
Cole’s eyes flicked to Malakai. What had that prick told the Lord about him and Lexi?
“How does it feel to be king?” the Lord asked.
“It is a great honor.”
It was many things, but he wouldn’t explain any of them to this man. Cole shifted his attention back to Malakai. The vampire remained standing there, with his hands clasped behind his back. If he started whistling, Cole wouldn’t be surprised.
Cole would give anything to finish what he’d started in the barn, and this coward couldn’t transport out of this palace. However, he doubted the Lord would let him attack a man he’d brought here without severe repercussion. He’d killed one dragon, but he couldn’t fend them all off.
“How were the trials?” the Lord asked.
“They were a tribulation,” Cole replied.
The Lord chuckled. “I’m sure they were, but you seem well.”
“I am.”
“Good, good. And have you heard anything about your brothers?”
“That was one of the reasons I was in the human realm,” Cole said. “I’m going to search for them myself.”
“And you planned to do this at your lover’s manor?”
His knowledge of Lexi and what she was to him didn’t come as a surprise. He’d hoped to keep her hidden from this monster longer, but the Lord had probably known about her since Malakai came to hide here.
“Everyone requires a break now and then,” Cole replied.
“Of course we do. And who is this woman you’re taking a break with?”
Cole glanced at Malakai again; how much had he revealed to the Lord about her? Cole suspected it was everything.
“She is the daughter of a friend who died fighting for you during the war, milord,” Cole replied.
The Lord’s red eyes gleamed with malice, and his lank brown hair fell forward when he leaned toward Cole. “But who is she to you?”
When Cole’s jaw clenched, a blast of hot air warmed his neck. Glancing over his shoulder, he glowered at the dragon only a couple of feet behind him.
“Back the fuck off,” he growled.
The creature’s eyes narrowed, and its head lowered until only inches separated them. Its orange eyes glistened in the moonlight, and he sensed its barely controlled desire to destroy him. Cole smiled at it.
“That’s enough,” the Lord said. “I will not have any fighting in my hall. Go lie down.”
Another snort of hot air blew Cole’s hair back from his face before the dragon retreated a few feet and settled down. Resting its head on its front legs, the beast watched him with the intensity of a tiger about to pounce. Cole turned his back on it.
“So, Cole, who is this woman to you?” the Lord asked.
Cole shifted his attention back to the snake on the throne. He’d rather face the dragons than this twisted monster; at least he knew what to expect from the dragons.
Cole considered which answer would be best for Lexi. If he confirmed she was his mate, the Lord would use her against him. If he simply said she was his lover, and the Lord discovered she was his mate, it might infuriate him.
No matter what he said, he was trapped, and they all knew it.
“You know what, let me find out the answer for myself,” the Lord said.
The Lord lifted his hand and crooked his finger toward the door at the other end. With that finger, he beckoned to someone. Cole turned as the warlock who had escorted him into the room opened the door again.
Cole’s heart sank when two lycans entered the room. Each of them held one of Lexi’s arms. She struggled in their grasp as she tried to tear her arms free but stopped when she spotted the dragons.
Her face visibly paled as a couple of the dragons lifted their heads and turned toward her. She stumbled back but didn’t go far as the lycans kept a firm hold on her.
Then her eyes met his over the heads of the dozen or so dragons, and she lurched forward before the lycans pulled her back. Somehow, Cole managed to suppress the lycan seeking to break free and run to her.
He had no idea how the dragons would react if he set the lycan free in this hall, and he couldn’t risk them attacking her.
“Let her go,” he said in a low, gravelly voice distorted by the change trying to take him over.
“Why would I do that?” the Lord inquired.
“She has nothing to do with any of this.”
“Now that’s where you’re wrong. She’s the daughter of a man who fought for me, the lover of the king of the dark fae, and my very loyal vampire friend here has asked for her hand in marriage.”
Cole’s pulse thundered in his ears at this announcement. When his gaze swung toward Malakai, the vampire took a step back. His eyes darted around like he was about to run again, but there was nowhere for him to go.
“Not in my hall,” the Lord hissed. “If you fight in here, I’ll kill you.”
Cole’s breathing came faster as his attention returned to the Lord. The man’s eyes were shrewd as he assessed Cole. Then the lunatic shifted his attention to Lexi.
Lifting his hand again, he waved at her. “Come here, dear,” he called out.
When Lexi jerked on her arms again, the lycans released her. She lifted her chin, but he sensed her fear as she descended the stairs. With cautious steps, she made her way down the hall toward them.
She had to weave her way through the dragons as they remained closed in behind Cole. And the monsters were not going to get out of her way. Half of them remained asleep, a few of them kept their attention on Cole, but a couple lifted their heads to watch her through slitted eyes.
When Cole started toward her, the Lord’s words froze him. “Stay where you are.”
Cole’s shoulders heaved as the lycan tried to take control. His body started to contort, but somehow, he subdued his compulsion to change.
“Do not move, Colburn,” the Lord commanded.
When Cole’s head swiveled toward him, alarm flashed through the man’s eyes. Their gazes held until a dragon shifted behind him and Cole’s attention returned to Lexi.