“Of course,” Tove said. “Tell him that I willjoin him in the morning.”
“He will see younow. 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 wasneverordered 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 couldnotknow 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 herselfnotto 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.
Sherefusedto 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 did a little sadness. Thelast thing she needed was a baby in this crazy world, and one whosefather would never know about its existence, but she couldn’t shakeher lingering disappointment.
She tucked Sahira’s bottle of birth controlinto a cabinet where she wouldn’t see it and closed the door. Shewouldn’t have any use for it again for a while. Asshole or not, itwould be some time before she moved on from Cole.
Through it all, she realized that either Colewas not her consort, or she lacked another vampire trait. From whatshe’d heard, a vampire who lost their consort was inconsolable andoften went to the grave soon after.
While she was grieving and lost, she didn’tplan to die any time soon, and she wasn’t inconsolable. Life wenton, she would get over this, and one day, she would forget him justas he’d forgotten her.
Or at least she hoped she would.
At least she hadn’t been foolish enough tolove him. But as she told herself this, she recognized it asanother lie.
On the morning of the eighth day, she wentout to dispense as much food as they could spare to the dejectedpeople rambling past the manor. Most were looking for work or food,but some seemed so broken that she wasn’t sure they knew where theywere anymore.
They couldn’t spare much food, but theircrops would soon be ready to harvest, and they were alreadygathering peas and tomatoes from the garden.
