Page 68 of Shadows of Light
Burying the panic trying to rise, Lexi waved her hand over the rocks as she searched for some sign the cave-in buried Cole. She saw no sign of him but found an opening to her right. She could barely walk through it if she hunched down.
Carefully picking her way over the rocks, Lexi climbed up to the opening. Debris kicked out from under her feet; stones clattered and rattled as they hit the ground.
She winced at the noise; there was no way to hide her presence from Cole now. But he probably already knew she was coming; her fire created shadows, after all.
When she climbed down the other side, she stopped again to search for him. She didn’t see anything obvious but couldn’t be sure.
Her fingers traced over the rocks as she looked between them and the rest of the cave. She couldn’t leave him here if hewastrapped beneath the rocks, but if he wasn’t under there, then he was still in this cave, and she had to get to him.
Torn between tearing through this pile and exploring further, Lexi remained where she was as she debated what to do. Finally, she decided to explore a little further before trying to dig under the rocks.
If he was trapped under the rocks, he’d be trying to dig his way out by now. The cave-in could have knocked him out and broken his back, but he was a fighter; it wouldn’t keep him pinned for long.
Reluctantly, she rose and turned toward the cave; she only made it a few more feet before her fire reflected off Cole’s pale face as it loomed out of the shadows. Her fire danced over his high cheekbones and blazing silver eyes with tendrils of black surrounding them.
Thrown off by his unexpected arrival and the ferocity of his expression, Lexi staggered back a couple of steps. Before she could right herself, her heel connected with loose rock, and she nearly went down.
Lexi managed to stop herself from falling on her ass by throwing her hand out and bracing it against the wall. Her heart raced, and her breath came in pants as she tried to regain control over herself and the adrenaline flooding her body.
When Cole prowled closer, her eyes widened as she took him in. Only his face was visible as the shadows encompassed the rest of him. He was paler and gaunter than the last time she saw him.
Oh shit.
CHAPTERFIFTY-FOUR
She never expectedto see Cole looking like this. She certainly never expected the animosity emanating from him.
“What are you doing here?” he snarled in an unrecognizable voice contorted by the shadows.
Lexi lifted her chin as she planted her feet and stared defiantly back at him. “I came to see you.”
“We don’t wish to see you,” the shadows hissed in return.
Lexi gulped; she didn’t know how to proceed. She hadn’t expected a welcoming party, but she also hadn’t expected him to be so angry about her arrival—or not him, the shadows who seemed more in control than ever before.
“The shadows don’t scare me,” she told him.
“Yes, they do.”
When fire licked up Lexi’s fingers and toward her wrists, it pushed the shadows back, but they laughed as they danced around her.
“We weren’t here until you arrived,” the shadows said. “You brought the shadows to the cave.”
Lexi glowered at the shadows as they slithered through Cole’s skin and across his face. Sheloathedthese things, but her heart yearned for the man she loved with all her soul.
She knew he was in there somewhere, but she couldn’t see him now, and she had no idea how to break through these shadows to reach him.
“Cole—”
“The shadows can’t exist without light, Arach.”
“And light can’t exist without dark!” she snapped. “What’s yourfuckingpoint?”
“Arach magic gave us light and allows us to thrive. Arachs brought us forth, and now you intend to destroy us.”
“I don’t—”
“Don’t lie!”
