“They were a tribulation,” Cole replied.
The Lord chuckled. “I’m sure they were, but you seem well.”
“I am.”
“Good, good. And have you heard anything about your brothers?”
“That was one of the reasons I was in the human realm,” Cole said. “I’m going to search for them myself.”
“And you planned to do this at your lover’s manor?”
His knowledge of Lexi and what she was to him didn’t come as a surprise. He’d hoped to keep her hidden from this monster longer, but the Lord had probably known about her since Malakai came to hide here.
“Everyone requires a break now and then,” Cole replied.
“Of course we do. And who is this woman you’re taking a break with?”
Cole glanced at Malakai again; how much had he revealed to the Lord about her? Cole suspected it was everything.
“She is the daughter of a friend who died fighting foryouduring the war, milord,” Cole replied.
The Lord’s red eyes gleamed with malice, and his lank brown hair fell forward when he leaned toward Cole. “But who is she toyou?”
When Cole’s jaw clenched, a blast of hot air warmed his neck. Glancing over his shoulder, he glowered at the dragon only a couple of feet behind him.
“Back the fuck off,” he growled.
The creature’s eyes narrowed, and its head lowered until only inches separated them. Its orange eyes glistened in the moonlight, and he sensed its barely controlled desire to destroy him. Cole smiled at it.
“That’s enough,” the Lord said. “I will not have any fighting in my hall. Go lie down.”
Another snort of hot air blew Cole’s hair back from his face before the dragon retreated a few feet and settled down. Resting its head on its front legs, the beast watched him with the intensity of a tiger about to pounce. Cole turned his back on it.
“So, Cole, who is this woman to you?” the Lord asked.
Cole shifted his attention back to the snake on the throne. He’d rather face the dragons than this twisted monster; at least he knew what to expect from the dragons.
Cole considered which answer would be best for Lexi. If he confirmed she was his mate, the Lord would use her against him. If he simply said she was his lover, and the Lord discovered she was his mate, it might infuriate him.
No matter what he said, he was trapped, and they all knew it.
“You know what, let me find out the answer for myself,” the Lord said.
The Lord lifted his hand and crooked his finger toward the door at the other end. With that finger, he beckoned to someone. Cole turned as the warlock who had escorted him into the room opened the door again.
Cole’s heart sank when two lycans entered the room. Each of them held one of Lexi’s arms. She struggled in their grasp as she tried to tear her arms free but stopped when she spotted the dragons.
Her face visibly paled as a couple of the dragons lifted their heads and turned toward her. She stumbled back but didn’t go far as the lycans kept a firm hold on her.
Then her eyes met his over the heads of the dozen or so dragons, and she lurched forward before the lycans pulled her back. Somehow, Cole managed to suppress the lycan seeking to break free and run to her.
He had no idea how the dragons would react if he set the lycan free in this hall, and he couldn’t risk them attacking her.
“Let her go,” he said in a low, gravelly voice distorted by the change trying to take him over.
“Why would I do that?” the Lord inquired.
“She has nothing to do with any of this.”
