Page 6 of Shadows of Light
The woman’s eyes widened before she scampered inside. Red light, cast by the crimson candles on the tables and enhanced by the sheer burgundy gauze covering the windows, bathed the bottom floor.
No one here noticed him. Many didn’t care who their partner was—male, female, dwarf, or a couple of shifted lycans. But then, more than half of them were openly having some form of sex with one, two, or more partners.
Swings drooped from the ceiling, toys dangled from the walls, and ropes hung from the rafters. There were private rooms in the back, and more immortals probably filled them, but many never bothered with those private rooms.
When he visited here, Cole had never cared where he was either. Now, the dark fae was ravenous, but he wanted nothing to do with this place or what happened here… other than finding the traitors.
There was a time when entering this place would have caused excitement to race through him, but now, his only reaction was his increasing need to find those who were a menace to Lexi. The shadows coiled around him before spreading out in search of those they sought to destroy.
Most didn’t notice when he cloaked himself in shadows and vanished.
CHAPTERFIVE
As Lexi had expected,Gibborim was the giant who entered Dragonia. The massive man easily stood a hundred feet tall, and the sun behind him illuminated his mop of brown and orange hair.
She and Cole encountered him when they visited Colossal, where the giants resided. A black patch covered one of his brown eyes, and he’d donned clean, brown clothes since they last saw him while fighting for the Lord during the war.
The giants had chosen the other side; Niall died because of a giant, but she understood why they fought for the Lord. Their loyalty and love for their queen propelled them to become the enemy.
And now Gibborim was here to ask for his queen locked somewhere in Dragonia. Lexi could turn him away; she had every right to after what the giants decided. Or she could forgive them, find their queen, and work to repair the relationship between the realms.
She recalled Niall’s easy smile and fierce loyalty to Cole. He’d been a trusted friend and a good man who might still be here if not for a giant.
But how many more will die if I continue a feud that could end today?
As much as she’d prefer to make everyone who turned against them pay, the giants had their reasons. And if anyone could understand loyalty, it was Niall… and her.
Besides, she didn’t have it in her to continue that kind of grudge. She was supposed to be repairing the Shadow Realms, not dividing them further, and she would do it.
Lexi still had no idea where the Lord had put the giant queen; Alina had flown out of the throne room before revealing this vital information. The speaker now circled overhead with dozens of other dragons.
They all swooped down to soar in front of the giant. The show of strength would show the giant they’d kill him if he tried anything.
Orin had joined her and Brokk as soon as they exited the palace; they flanked her now. Behind them stood what little of her army remained.
Gibborim studied the dragons before shifting his attention to her. “I am not here to fight, little one.”
When she first encountered him, she let hislittle onename for her slide. Mainly because she was a flea compared to this man, but she couldn’t let it slide anymore. She’dneverwanted to be a queen, but she was, and it was time to start acting like one.
This washerrealm, and she had claimedherancestors’ throne. She couldn’t allow anyone to treat her as anything other than the queen ofallthe realms.
“I know why you’re here,” Lexi replied, “and I am Queen Elexiandra of Dragonia and ruler of all the Shadow Realms; you willnotcall me ‘little one’ again.”
Beside her, Brokk shifted uneasily, and Orin chuckled, but he was crazy enough, or asshole enough, not to realize Gibborim could squash them with one step. Lexi clasped her hands before her and lifted her chin; her heart raced, and shereallydidn’t feel like being smushed, but she refused to let Gibborim see her apprehension.
CHAPTERSIX
Gibborim gavea laugh that giants probably considered a chuckle, but it was more like a huge guffaw here. The breeze it created stirred her hair.
Alina swooped down to settle behind Lexi with a rustle of wings. She lifted her head high as the rest of the dragons bellowed.
“Your dragons have nothing to fear from me, Queen Elexiandra,” Gibborim said.
He knelt before her and rested his hand on the ground. Only fifty feet separated them, and he could swat them aside as easily as she batted flies from the air, but Lexi didn’t give any ground.
This close, she could see the concern and hope in his brown eye as he studied her. “I came here hoping we could heal our realms by agreeing to work together.”
“Now he’d prefer to work together,” Orin retorted.
