His father plastered on a smile beforedescending the five steps to the great hall. Cole swiftlyfollowed.
CHAPTER 62
Their boots thudded against the stone as they strodetoward the throne at the end of the hall. Overhead, a domed ceilingarched a thousand feet above them. Black scorch marks surroundedthe opening in the middle of it.
That opening revealed the clear blue skybeyond. Then the sun shining through vanished as a dragon soaredoverhead.
They were halfway to the throne when thedragon in front of them unfurled from its sleeping position androse onto its hind legs. His father’s footsteps didn’t falter asthe dragon bellowed, spread its wings, and launched off theground.
Its wings made a loud, thumping sound, andthe wind it created blew back their hair and plastered theirclothes to them. It was nearly free of the hall when it released ablast of fire that charred the stones before it disappeared intothe day.
Cole hid his apprehension, but he lookedforward to getting out of this room and away from these nearlyunstoppable killing machines.
“Tove!” the Lord exclaimed when they weretwenty feet away. “How good to see you! I hope you didn’t mindwaiting, but I’ve been so busy that it took me far longer to get toyou than I anticipated.”
“Of course not, my Lord,” his fatherreplied.
They stopped only five feet away from thedais the throne sat on. The Lord sat fifteen feet above them.
“The wait allowed my son and I to work on hischess game. Besides, I needed a little vacation from the Gloaming,”his father continued.
“That’s why I like you, Tove. You’re alwaysso easygoing.” The Lord steepled his fingers before him as hestudied Tove. “The pressures of leadership are such a bore.”
“They can be rather tedious.”
The Lord’s hazel eyes gleamed with malice ashis mouth twisted in amusement. His brown hair hung to his broadshoulders in limp strands. The sharp angles of his face made thecontours of his skull evident.
They were so close Cole could almost smellthe Lord’s blood on his hands. If he could get his hands on him,Cole could slaughter him. It was the getting his hands on him partthat was tricky.
As he contemplated how he could kill the Lordbefore being eaten by a dragon, the gold-colored beast behind thethrone lifted its head. Dragons couldn’t read minds, but when thecreature’s green eyes locked on him, it slipped its tail around thethrone like it was embracing the Lord.
The Lord leaned forward, and when he did, heprovided a better view of the throne. The gold back of it wascomposed of two dragons with their wings spread wide. Behind theLord’s shoulders, those dragon heads nearly touched, and theirtails created the seat holding a red cushion.
“I suppose you’re curious as to why I wish tospeak with you,” the Lord said.
“I admit that I am,” Tove replied.
Cole stiffened when a shuffling sound alertedhim that a dragon was moving behind him. Though he wanted to knowwhat was happening, he didn’t look. He refused to let the Lordthink these creatures unnerved him, even if they could swallow himlike a frog with a fly.
“I’m hearing rumors about a growingrebellion,” the Lord said.
“I’m sure they’re just rumors, my Lord. Therebellion is broken, and the traitors are running,” Tove replied.“As we speak, they are relentlessly hunted across the realms. I’msure it’s only a matter of time before they’re all found anddestroyed.”
“Now you see,that’swhere I have aproblem. I don’t want it to be a matter of time. They shouldallbe dead by now, including your sons.”
The Lord’s tone dripped venom, and his eyesshone with a malevolence the likes of which Cole had never seen.Cole glanced at his father as he sensed an unraveling in themonster sitting across from them.
“Varo and Orin are also being hunted as wespeak,” Tove replied. “I’m sure someone will find them soon.”
“And if they’re not?”
“Then I will personally help to hunt themdown. I want all traitors persecuted as badly as you. I have twoloyal sons who fought by my side and for you. That is enough forme.”
The lie rolled so easily off his father’slips that Cole almost believed it. The Lord’s gaze shifted toCole.
“Yes, and here is one of those loyal sons,”the Lord purred.
“Loyal to my father, to you, and the cause,”Cole replied. “I had just returned from the human realm, where Iwas tracking Orin when you summoned us here.”
