Page 35 of Shadows of Light
She didn’t want that either, but she didn’t say it. If she gave Orin a fraction of an inch, he would try to turn it into a mile, and she refused to let him run all over her.
“Now, what did you mean when you said, ‘is that why my brother was so pissed’? How do you know he was pissed about anything? And when did you see him?” she asked.
When Maverick, Brokk, and Orin exchanged a look, Lexi inwardly groaned when she realized they’d been keeping something from her. And whatever it was, she wasn’t going to like it.
CHAPTERTHIRTY
Lexi kepther hood up and the cloak covering as much of her hair as possible while she stood in what would have been a cheerful room. It was now the scene of a massacre.
Her dad’s breath sucked in before he composed himself enough to keep his reactions hidden. However, his body remained rigid against hers.
Lexi clasped her hands together to hide the tremble in them before she turned away from the house. Orin, Maverick, and Brokk stood a few feet away, gazing toward the city as the stars shone down and the moon rose higher.
If it wasn’t for the occasional song of the peeper, the night would be completely hushed. Then, somewhere in the distance, a coyote howled; dozens of others picked up the eerie sound until it came from all around them.
And inwardly, Lexi screamed.
Cole left her last night and came here to dothis. She hadn’t seen Cole’s other kills, but Orin’s reaction to her earlier, his words, and the apprehension oozing from Maverick, her dad, and Brokk now told her this was different.
This was something far worse than she ever could have imagined. Cole crawled out of her bed and came here to dothis.
While he was with her, the lycan and dark fae part of him were more in control. She’d seen and experienced it, but the shadows made him pay for suppressing them. And they made the immortals in that house pay more.
She didn’t doubt those immortals had been plotting something awful, but no one deserved to die like that. The shadows ruthlessly slaughtered them because part ofherCole had returned for a little bit. It was gone again.
Before he drew the shadows into him, he’d told her:“There is one who will always have the power to destroy me. Shadows can’t thrive in the light.”
At the time, she’d refused to believe it would ever come to that or that she’d ever be capable of doing such a thing. He was far too powerful, and she loved him too much to destroy him.
But what if that’s what has to happen? What if this is only the beginning? What if he loses complete control and starts slaughtering immortals who don’t deserve it?
Eventually, he would run out of traitorous immortals to kill. They would either stop plotting publicly, figure out spells to keep themselves hidden, or, as improbable as it sounded, he’d eradicate them all.
Then what?
What if he turned on the realms? The realmsshewas meant to protect.
She loved Cole with every fiber of her being. Her need for him had become a physical ache in her chest. She couldn’t picture her life without him, but she couldn’t let him become a monster worse than the Lord.
The Cole who existed before he fully embraced the Shadow Reaver would never want such a thing. He would have rather died than become a monster.
And she couldn’t let countless immortals and mortals suffer because of her love for a man who was gradually ceasing to exist.
Standing there, listening to the coyotes howl as the wind blew the cloak around her ankles, it hit her that she might have to kill him. Or maybe, they would kill each other.
Tears didn’t come with the realization; she was beyond tears now. There was only a vast, hollow emptiness inside her and the awful knowledge the future might be bleaker than she’d ever suspected.
With a rustle of wings, the three dragons who accompanied her here settled on the ground. They became as still as stone while they studied the night.
“Were you going to tell me about this?” she asked.
“Yes,” Brokk said.
“When?”
“After dinner. You were already eating when we arrived, and we decided not to interrupt.”
If Orin had revealed this, she would have believed he was lying and never planned to tell her, but Brokk wouldn’t lie to her. Lexi rubbed her arms against the chill in the air and her body.
