Page 70 of Shadows of Light
Madness batteredCole’s mind until he couldn’t figure out who was talking to him anymore… the shadows, himself, or Lexi.
The agony of his blistering skin helped him break through the madness and gave him something else to focus on. Even after her flames went out, he cleaved to her as he held onto this moment of sanity.
And as he did so, a sudden understanding dawned on him.
“This is what the Lord felt like on the throne,” he whispered. “He couldn’t handle the arach magic, and it ruined him.”
“But youcanhandle it,” Lexi said. “The shadows and the magic that created them were set up as part of the trials. Only the strongest dark fae could activate the power. The arach designed the trials foryou, Cole, and you can fight it; I know you can.”
Her hands clamped onto his arms; when they did so, warmth spread through him. The discomfort in his hands eased as she healed him.
“No,” he whispered. “Don’t take the pain from me; it helps me think.”
The warmth eased before fading as Lexi’s hands tightened on his arms. “Come with me, and we can figure this out together, because we can’t do it separately.”
Cole closed his eyes as the shadows whispered through his mind. “She seeks to destroy us. She seeks to destroyyou.”
Cole shook his head as he tried to clear it of the shadows’ words. Lexi would never destroy him, but she was the only one who could.
“The power,” the shadows whispered from him. “The power isours. The host isours.”
* * *
Lexi’s heartsank when those monstrous things whispered from him again. She’d been getting through to him; she could feel it. She was making headway, but every time she did, thosethingsreemerged to steal him from her again.
“I love you,” she breathed as tears choked her throat. “I refuse to lose you.”
“You already have. He’s ours,” the shadows replied.
Closing her eyes, Lexi dug her fingers into the thick muscle of his biceps. Her nails bit into his flesh as she gritted her teeth and blinked against the tears in her eyes.
She hated doing this to him; nausea twisted her stomach at the idea of it, but it was necessary. Pain had broken through the shadows before and brought Cole back to her. He said it helped him think, and she needed that.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered before the fire erupted from her hands.
Tears spilled down Lexi’s cheeks when Cole’s skin sizzled and the stench of burnt flesh permeated the cave. She extinguished her flames almost immediately, but Cole’s skin continued to crackle after the fire was out.
“Youbitch,” the shadows snarled.
“No,” Cole said in a barely recognizable voice.
The change in his voice alerted Lexi that he was shifting again before soft fur sprouted beneath her hands.
“No,” he said again.
Lexi realized he was battling the shadows inside him. They were trying to batter him down as his arms trembled beneath her hands, and the fur receded. She had to do something to keepColewith her.
“I love you; I’ll always love you,” she vowed.
“You seek to destroy us.”
She winced at the shadows’ words.
“I seek to lovehim. My people created you; they gave him this power, and I can’t take it away. I… I…” Her voice broke as she stifled a sob. “I don’t know how.”
She didn’t hear him move, but suddenly his lips were against her ear. “It doesn’t matter; you have the ability.Thatis what matters.”
The shadows couldn’t attack her, but terror crept down Lexi’s spine. These things were monstrous, insane, and Cole was right… thiswaswhat happened to the Lord.
