Page 54 of Shadows of Light
“They’re looking for you, Cole,” Becca said. “Orin’s put out a reward for any knowledge of you; your family and your fiancée are hunting you.”
He growled, but it didn’t dissuade her from speaking; she just did it faster.
“Your fiancée is leading the charge,” Becca continued. “What do you think they’ll do when they find you? Everyone has heard the legend of the Reaver; do you think they’ll let you live? She cares more about power thanyounow.”
The shadows shifted as her words caught their attention. Becca was trying to turn him against Lexi. He understood this; the shadows didn’t.
“I can help keep you hidden from them,” Becca continued.
When Cole shifted back into his normal form, he knelt with his fist on the floor while staring at her. Chairs scraped as immortals rose, and a few edged toward the door.
They stopped moving when the shadows swarmed over the door. The tension in the room ratcheted up as the occupants shifted uneasily, and the vamp behind the bar glowered at Becca.
“What are you doing?” the vamp demanded.
“I’m offering him help,” Becca replied.
When Cole rose before her, Becca’s eyes ran hungrily over his naked form. Everyone else in this room realized their peril, but Becca licked her lips, stuck out a hip, and smiled.
He didn’t return her smile. “Do you really think Lexi would try to kill me?”
“I think she’ll do whatever’s necessary to keep the throne, and you’re the biggest threat to her.”
“But I’m not. The shadows won’t harm her, and neither will I; she knows that.”
“Maybeshe knows that, but it doesn’t mean she’ll take the risk; they might try to eradicate you. If the shadows do turn on her—”
“That will never happen.”
“How does she know that? How doyouknow that?”
Becca glanced around as the shadows made a strange, almost tittering noise as they laughed.
“The shadows seek blood; they love to kill, but they can’t hurt her.” Cole leaned closer as if he were going to tell her a secret, and Becca swayed forward too. “The arach created them; they created whatIhave become. Because of that, they can’t turn on her. They’ll always protect her, and she knows it.”
Becca’s eyebrows rose as she swayed back on her heels. He could see the wheels in her mind spinning as she tried to devise a new way to turn him against Lexi.
As he studied her, he realized maybe Lexi was right about her. Perhaps Becca hadn’t simply sought power when she pursued him; maybe shewasin love with him.
If true, that made her more perilous.
“How often did you go back to the Lord to report on Lexi and me?” he asked.
Becca did a double take before she started sputtering. “What? I wouldneverdo such a thing!”
“You didn’t tell him about Lexi? You didn’t tell him she was my mate and my fiancée?”
“Of course not! I can’t stand that bitch—”
“Watch it!”
The sharp bark of his words caused most of the room to jump. A nymph in the corner whimpered, and a lycan hunched as if about to transform.
When a shadow rose before her, the lycan relaxed a little, but her eyes remained riveted on the shadows.
“What are you doing?” one of the dwarves hissed at Becca. “Shut up.”
Becca lifted her chin in a haughty gesture and threw back her shoulders to better show off her breasts. While the others feared him, she remained undeterred as the look she gave Cole made it clear what she sought from him.
