Page 29 of Shadows of Light
“What happened here?” Maverick muttered.
Orin glanced at the six-foot-nine lycan with broad shoulders and hands that could crush a skull. Cole’s uncle had healed well since his close encounter with fire and was back on his feet.
It was too bad this was his first experience out of Dragonia and back into the realms. But it was best if the man saw how much Cole had unraveled, especially ifhehad to see it too.
Things didn’t often rattle Maverick, but his chestnut brown eyes were full of revulsion. It was an odd look considering his eyelashes and eyebrows hadn’t grown back from the fire yet.
Also burned off by the fire, faint stubble had replaced his dark, wavy brown hair. He’d mostly healed, but his skin still held a pinkish tint.
Orin shifted his attention back to the room as Brokk started to step forward but halted before his foot came down again. His mouth hung half open as he stared in disbelief at the room.
They all knew what happened here; they preferred not to believe it.
Orin was incredibly glad Varo hadn’t been around when he learned of this newest sighting of Cole. He’d returned to Dragonia to tell Brokk about it; his brother was with Maverick then.
He shouldn’t have gone back for his younger brother. He should have come here on his own.
Orin had known this was going to be bad, as the voice of the pixie who whispered about it trembled when he spoke of Cole. Orin understood why now, but at the time, he’d blown it off because the man was a pixie, and he considered them weaklings.
Brokk would want to know about this, and while Orin preferred to work alone, he wouldn’t keep this from him, so he’d returned for his brother. Now he regretted it, and he rarely regretted anything.
When he put out word through the realms that he was searching for his brother and would reward anyone who reported sighting Cole, he’d expected many to come to him and a lot of false leads. But if this kept up, they’d all be too petrified to say anything.
He didn’t care how much carisle he offered them to talk; they’d all run at any sign of Cole. And they wouldn’t report seeing him if they were afraid of becoming the next victim.
Though to be fair, Cole only slaughtered those who were a danger to Lexi, but that could change. And looking at this mess, it might change soon; his brother was becoming more barbaric.
There was a time when Orin would have sworn Cole could never do anything like this. That time had come and gone.
“Why did he do this?” Brokk muttered.
“They must have presented a risk to Lexi,” Orin answered.
“But did he have to dothis?”
Orin was wondering the same thing. His brother had left a lot of destruction behind since embracing the shadows; this was beyond anything he’d unleashed before.
He couldn’t look too closely at the wreckage, but he was pretty sure a spine and rib cage still sat in what was once a light gray chair. But that could be more brain matter sticking to the upholstery.
Orin retreated out the door. There was nothing more to learn here; Cole was gone, and whoever had been foolish enough to plot against Lexi was gone too.
CHAPTERTWENTY-SIX
Maverick and Brokkfollowed him outside. They inhaled the crisp air, but the stench of blood lingered in Orin’s nostrils.
Fall had arrived, as was evidenced by the maple leaves already turning orange and yellow. The sun streaming through the branches illuminated the fallen leaves littering the ground and swirling in the breeze.
Down the hill and dozens of miles away, the city’s ruins lay in a tumbled heap. He couldn’t make out many details, other than the smoke spiraling lazily into the air.
For a while, that smoke came from the still smoldering remains of the humans’ lives. Now, it was from something else. Most likely, the fires of the humans trying to stay warm.
He didn’t know why anyone stayed in that forsaken place, but some humans were determined to forge new lives there.Idiots.
But someone else could also be hiding there. “Do you think Cole would hide in one of the decimated human cities?”
No one would expect to find him there. It’s the last placehewould ever think to see Cole, and therefore a good hiding spot.
Brokk’s brow furrowed as he studied the distant metropolitan. “No. I think he’s still in Dragonia. He can’t be around Lexi or any of us right now, but he won’t go far from her.”
