Page 65 of Shadows of Light
“Sorry, little witch,” he murmured as he purposely caressed her arm with his finger.
She glowered at him as she moved further away. Finally realizing they were there, Skog abruptly stopped, but the woman took a few more steps before halting too.
The dwarves’ arrival had drawn Lexi’s attention. Since Orin hadn’t talked to her yet, he knew he had to move. She should hear this from him and not the heavy-handed dwarves who had all the tact of a bomb.
“I’ll talk to you later, sexy,” he murmured in Sahira’s ear.
He chuckled when she planted her hands on his chest and pushed him away. He thoroughly enjoyed getting the little witch all riled up.
“Did you go into the hole?” Orin asked Skog.
“Yes,” the dwarf replied gruffly.
“What was down there?”
“The remains of a cage. They must have tried to trap Cole down there.”
“And failed.”
“They died, brutally, because of it.”
The look on the dwarves’ faces told Orin how brutal those deaths were.
“What is it?” Lexi inquired as she strolled toward them.
That small smile remained on her face, and joy sparkled in her green eyes as she approached. His brother wouldn’t physically hurt her, but he could shred her heart.
Orin didn’t have a choice. She had to know what they’d discovered.
When she stopped before him, he didn’t hesitate before telling her, “We know where Cole is.”
CHAPTERFIFTY-TWO
Madness churnedinside Cole as it bubbled to the surface. The shadows and insanity battered his brain, tore at his insides, and hammered him until he couldn’t breathe.
He sank to his knees by the pool of icy water and dunked his head to calm his turmoil. When that didn’t work, he crawled into the small pool that was only a couple of inches deep.
He’d been using the water that trickled from the cave’s wall to bathe in, but now he wanted to lose himself to it and let it drown out the incessant chatter. But before he knew it, he’d traveled deeper into the cave.
Cole didn’t recall leaving the water behind. He didn’t realize he had until he bounced off the cave wall and spiraled into darkness.
The shadows clamored for more blood while the lycan raged for its mate, and the ravenous, famished, dark fae sought the woman it loved. All of them screamed for something different as he went to his knees before somehow rising again.
As the different parts of him screamed to be heard, something inside him snapped as he pummeled the walls. His fists battered the rocks around him until debris rose to encase his ankles.
Blood spilled from his broken flesh, down his arms, and splattered on the floor. Everything inside him spiraled completely out of control as the three parts of himself clashed for dominance.
And then, as they had in that underground pit, where those assholes tried to traphim, the dark fae and lycan shifted and came together. They each sought the same thing…her… and would do whatever it took to have her.
They banded together as their powers combined and something inside him clicked into place. The two parts of himself had come together earlier; they’d worked together in a way they never had before, and now they were declaring war against the shadows.
For the first time in his existence, the dark fae and lycan were one. They were united and wouldn’t be defeated.
The shadows fought back as they refused to relinquish their hold over him. Their whispered words of death and vengeance churned throughout him.
It was too dark for the shadows to thrive down here, but the ones inside wouldn’t relinquish their hold. After all these centuries, he’d finally found peace amongst the two warring factions he’d dealt with since birth… and now a new part was ripping him in two.
Cole roared as the shadows sought to bury what remained of him while he pummeled the walls.
