Shadows of Discovery by Brenda K. Davies

Chapter Sixty-Six

Cole staredthe creature down as he pulled Lexi into his arms. He locked her against his chest as the dragon’s head swung back and forth while it studied them.

“How sweet,” the Lord murmured. “And disgusting. Get out of my hall, but remember, I know where she is, and I’ll find her if you don’t bring me your brothers.”

Cole glanced over at where Malakai remained sulking by the stairs. The Lord must have seen something on his face as he sat a little straighter on his throne.

“The two of you are to stay away from each other,” the Lord said. “If something happens to one of you, I will not be pleased, and I do not like being displeased. Do you understand me, Colburn?”

“Yes.”

But, to him, Malakai was a dead man walking.

He cradled Lexi’s head against his chest and led her beneath one of the dragon’s wings as they made their way toward the doors at the end of the hall. All the dragons were awake now, and their heads turned to watch them.

The last, and the biggest dragon he’d ever seen, rose onto its hind feet as they neared. It unfurled its wings, and its bellow shook the walls before it launched itself off the ground and soared toward the open ceiling.

The flap of its wings blew their hair back and plastered their clothes to them. Lexi trembled as she pressed closer to him.

Cole opened one of the doors and led her into the hallway beyond. They passed statues of golden dragons and the ill-fated arach who stood beside some of them.

He guided her out of the palace and down the front steps. As they strode down the walkway, he let out a loud whistle. A minute later, Torigon trotted into view. The magnificent animal’s black coat shone in the moonlight as it trotted forward and fell in behind them.

As they left the palace gates behind, the monstrous dragon flew over the top of them. It glided so low that the fine lines etching its belly were visible.

His bones and joints cracked and popped as the lycan strained to break free in response to the dragon’s clear threat to his mate.

* * *

When Cole usedhis powers to open a portal, Lexi wasn’t concerned about it weakening him. Instead, she considered it better that he released some of his power.

However, the opening of the portal didn’t ease the thrum of his power beating against her. The thump of it sounded like a helicopter’s rotors churning through the air.

His body swelled, changed, and contorted before returning to normal. She winced at the noises his joints and bones made. Snap. Pop. Snap.Crack.

She couldn’t imagine the kind of pain this continuous changing caused him, but he showed no signs of it affecting him as his step didn’t slow. His ciphers swelled with his muscles before constricting again.

He led her into the portal and through the darkness until they emerged at the edge of the lake. They were only fifty feet away from the manor; it was exactly as she left it, yet it all seemed so different now. Everything had changed in such a short amount of time.

Torigon followed them as they crossed to the manor before ambling away to graze. Cole’s claws lengthened and retracted. Crack. Snap. Crack. Pop. Snap. Snap. Snap.

The song of the tree frogs and crickets wasn’t nearly loud enough to drown out the continued contortion of Cole’s body as he hurried her up the steps of the manor and opened the door.

He guided her inside and kicked the door shut with his heel. She didn’t have time to speak before he pinned her to the wall and kissed her.

His fangs pressed against her lips, and his leg parted her thighs as he pushed it between them. Something cracked again, but the continuous noises ebbed as his tongue swept into her mouth.

When he seized her wrists and lifted them above her head to pin them against the wall, his claws grazed her skin but didn’t draw blood. Despite the awfulness of everything they’d gone through today, his kiss made her forget about the Lord.

She had no doubt Cole meant to take her right there, and she longed for it to happen. She hadn’t known how to help him regain control before, but she did now as her body arched into his.

He relaxed against her, and his claws retracted. Unable to stop herself, she bit his lower lip and swallowed his blood as he released a sexy growl.

She needed this as badly as him, but a clattering bang from the kitchen caught her attention. She tried to ignore it, but when something else banged, she tore her mouth away from his and turned her head toward the kitchen.

The realization someone was in her home doused her lust. Sahira was gone, and George would never let himself in; no one else should be in here. Cole’s ragged breath warmed her ear as a cabinet door opened and closed.

“No one should be here,” she whispered.

Cole stiffened before releasing her and stepping away. She had no idea who was in the kitchen, but as Cole stalked down the hall, she felt sorry for them.

She’d been his outlet for the pent-up violence, but that outlet was interrupted. Now, he would unleash it in another way. When his bones started contorting and cracking again, Lexi ran to catch up with him as he entered the kitchen.

She had no idea what she expected to find, but her jaw dropped when she spotted Orin on the other side of the island, stirring a pot on the stove. He was wearing one of Sahira’s aprons that read Bitch, I am the secret ingredient.

If Cole didn’t kill him, Sahira might. She loved her aprons.

From the corner of the room, Shade’s tail twitched as the cat’s golden eyes followed Orin. Sahira’s familiar might claw Orin’s eyes out if he got one drop on that apron.

When Orin looked up, he started to smile, but it froze when Cole stopped to glower at him. Lexi’s eyes flew to the kitchen window; the curtains had been drawn shut. The lock on the back door was engaged, and the curtain over the window there was also closed.

That didn’t stop her from scurrying over to the windows to make sure they were completely covered. When she finished, she noticed the bottle of birth control Sahira had left on the counter.

With her face burning, she grabbed the bottle and shoved it in her pocket. Orin had no way of knowing what was inside, but she still didn’t like having it out in the open.

“I made sure nobody could see inside,” Orin said.

“What are you doing here?” Lexi demanded.

Orin didn’t take his eyes off Cole as he stirred whatever was in the large pot. Judging by the smell wafting from it, the arrogant ass was cooking spaghettisauce. Incredulity warred with irritation as she scowled at him. If the remains on the cutting board near the pot were any indication, he’d used their stash of tomatoes to make it.

“I figured since the cat was out of the bag, no offense,” he said to Shade, who twitched his tail in response, “I might as well make dinner for everyone.”

“You shouldn’t be here,” Cole said.

Orin continued to stir, but he couldn’t hide the small tremor in his hand. Cole was pissed in the tunnels, but this was a whole new level of angry as his bones continued to snap and pop.

Finally, he tore his eyes away from his brother to look at her. She saw the questions in his gaze, but she didn’t have answers for him. Her loyalty lay with Cole, and she had no idea how much he wished to reveal to Orin.

“I shouldn’t be many places, but here I am,” Orin said.

Lexi rolled her eyes. The man was horrible at keeping his wise-ass comments to himself.

Cole slammed his hand onto the black marble countertop. “You put us all at risk by being here. You put her”— he pointed at Lexi— “at risk by being here. And she’s already in far too much danger; I won’t have her placed in anymore because you think you can do whatever you want.”

Orin stirred as he studied Cole. “Where have the two of you been?”

“The Lord wanted to meet with me,” Cole said. “And he brought her along for the ride.”

Orin paled a little; he stopped stirring and stepped away from the stove. “What happened?”

Cole gave him a brief rundown on what occurred while Lexi chewed her bottom lip and paced from the back door to the kitchen window and back again. Stopping at the back door, she pulled aside a corner of the curtain and peered out.

The night remained hushed, but a malevolent air had settled over the place. Things would never be the same. As long as the Lord lived, she would always be a pawn for him to use against Cole.

And she had a bad feeling that no matter what Cole did, no matter how well he played the game and obeyed the Lord, the insane man would never be satisfied. He would find a reason to punish Cole by handing her over to Malakai. Cole knew it too. That was why he was so volatile right now.

When Cole finished speaking, Orin was speechless for the first time since she met him. She turned away from the window to look at the brothers.

Orin remained in complete control while Cole was unraveling again. His joints cracked and popped, his face elongated and retracted as she returned to stand near the basin sink.

“I don’t see anyone out there,” she said.

“I made sure no one was around when I came out of the tunnel,” Orin said. “I remained cloaked in shadows until I pulled the curtains over the windows.”

“You shouldn’t have risked it,” Cole said.

“I didn’t know the Lord had decided to have you over as his guests when I did,” Orin replied.

When Cole leaned toward him, Orin gulped. Lexi had never seen him look anything less than perfectly composed, but it was clear Cole’s instability unnerved him. No one spoke as the sauce on the stove bubbled.

Snap. Crack. Snap. Crack. Crack. Pop.

When sauce splattered the stainless-steel surface of the stove, Lexi reached to turn off the flame. Before her hand settled on the knob, Orin snatched it and drew it toward him.

“What is that?” he demanded.

Lexi had no idea what he was talking about until he lifted her hand to examine it. On the back of it, a swirl of silver ran across her flesh. She frowned at the marking, uncertain where it came from, but then she recalled the dragon’s nose brushing against her.

“I’m not sure what it is,” she said. “But one of the dragons touched me.”

Orin’s face was unreadable as he stared at her hand. Then, before she could stop him, he stuck her hand in the fire beneath the pot.