Shadows of Fire (The Shadow Realms, Book 1) Brenda Davies (affordable ebook reader txt) 📖

And a solution to that would solve so many oftheir problems.

CHAPTER 57

They spent the next few hours catching up andplotting, but none of them had any new ideas. In the end, they wereno closer to a solution for the Lord, and if they didn’t find onesoon, he would destroy them all.

Every passing day was one more that the powerof the throne ate into the increasingly rancid brain of the mansitting on it. But they still had no idea how to stop him.

This fact was becoming increasingly annoying.Cole felt as if they’d done nothing but talk about it for years,and, in truth, they had.

There had to be some weakness they weremissing, but this Lord had learned from the mistakes of the othermad kings who came before him. He wouldn’t repeat the same mistakesthat allowed others to be destroyed.

Cole was preparing to rise and send a crow toLexi when a knock sounded on the door. They exchanged a look beforehis father set down his whiskey and rose. It was a clear rule thatthey were to be left alone when they were in the solar.

His father strode with elegant, fluid graceto the door and opened it to reveal Sindri on the other side. Thehelot’s black eyes glittered in the dim light.

A couple of hundred years ago, Sindri madethe mistake of gathering an army to try to dethrone Tove. That armywas ruthlessly slaughtered, but Tove kept Sindri alive. He had thedark fae’s powers bound by a coven of witches and forced Sindriinto servitude.

The coven was depleted for weeks afterward,but Tove gave them enough carisle to make it worth their while. Healso allowed them to stay in the palace until they were strongenough to travel again.

No one in the palace trusted Sindri, but hewas a neutered dog, and this punishment was far worse than death.Every day, Sindri repeatedly endured the humiliation of his defeatas he waited on the man he’d sought to depose.

“What is it, Sindri?” Tove demanded.

“There is a messenger here from the Lord,milord,” Sindri murmured as he bowed his head.

The irritation vanished from Tove’s face.“Then send him in.”

“As you wish, mi—”

Sindri didn’t get a chance to finish speakingbefore a warlock pushed past him and barged into the solar. Theabrupt action and the audacity of the warlock caused Cole to sethis glass down.

Rising, he braced his legs apart as hesurveyed the haughty-looking vamp who practically sneered at hisfather.

This fucker deserves a beating.

Cole flexed his hands. No one enteredhis father’s private room in such a way.

Beside him, Brokk also rose. The warlockseemed not to notice the increased hostility in the room as Tovekept his face expressionless, but Cole didn’t miss the fury in hisfather’s eyes.

“The Lord will speak with you,” the messengerstated.

“Of course,” Tove said. “Tell him that I willjoin him in the morning.”

“He will see you now. You”—thewarlock’s eyes flicked to Cole— “and your eldest son.”

Cole shoved aside the uneasy feeling thewords created in his stomach. They’d never been summoned to theLord in such a way, and Cole was never ordered to attendwith his father.

He’d traveled to the Dragonian realm with hisdad before, but he’d never been commanded there. After the eventsat the marketplace, this could not be good.

It took a few seconds for Tove to respond,and Cole heard the crackle of ire in his voice when he spoke. “Ofcourse.”

Beside Tove, Sindri smiled smugly, and hisshoulders went back a little. Cole contemplated punching that smileoff his face, but he couldn’t reveal his anger to this warlock.

Once this was over, he would discussdestroying Sindri with his father. The man had served hispunishment, and they were all better off without him in thepalace.

His dad turned toward him and plastered on asmile that many wouldn’t recognize as fake, but Cole saw throughit. “Let us go, Colburn. Brokk, stay here and see over therealm.”

“Of course, Father,” Brokk murmured.

Cole glanced at the crow sitting on thewindowsill. If he sent a message to Lexi now, the Lord’s minionwould report the crow's departure, and they might try to discoverwhere the bird went.

The Lord could not know Lexi existed.He glanced at his brother, but he couldn’t ask Brokk to look afterher without the others overhearing him. And not in the mood to dealwith Brokk’s questions and teasing, he hadn’t discussed what Lexiwas to him with Brokk, so his brother wouldn’t think to check onher.

She had to know he might be gone longer thanhe planned, but he didn’t know how to tell her without revealingtoo much, and in the end, her safety was the most important thingto him. As he followed his father out the door, he could only hopethey would return soon.

However, he had a bad feeling they wouldn’tbe returning soon… if they returned at all.

CHAPTER 58

When the third day passed without any word fromCole, Lexi’s shoulders slumped a little and she felt like a weightwas bearing down on her shoulders. By the time the fifth daypassed, she was kicking herself for believing he would return.

She’d known better than to trust a dark fae;she’d repeatedly told herself not to trust him, but somehow,he slipped inside her defenses. And he’d forgotten her already.

Lexi had believed she’d prepared for him toforget her, but she hadn’t. With every passing day, her sadnessgrew.

However, no matter how much it felt likesomeone was squeezing her heart in her chest, she didn’t cry.

She refused to shed a tear over himeven though some days she yearned to sit down and sob out herdisappointment. But once she started, she wouldn’t stop, and hewasn’t worth her tears.

That fifth night, as she lay alone in bed, ittook all she had not to roll over and cry into the pillows stillsmelling of him, but she didn’t.

Instead, when the sun rose, she ripped hersheets, pillows, and comforter off the bed, carried themdownstairs, and stuffed them in the washer. Thankfully, theelectricity was working well as she washed them three times toensure no hint of him remained on them.

The urge to cry was not so bad the followingnight.

On the seventh day, she learned she wasn’tpregnant. Relief flowed through her, as