“Now that’s where you’re wrong. She’s the daughter of a man who fought for me, the lover of the king of the dark fae, and my very loyal vampire friend here has asked for her hand in marriage.”
Cole’s pulse thundered in his ears at this announcement. When his gaze swung toward Malakai, the vampire took a step back. His eyes darted around like he was about to run again, but there was nowhere for him to go.
“Not in my hall,” the Lord hissed. “If you fight in here, I’ll kill you.”
Cole’s breathing came faster as his attention returned to the Lord. The man’s eyes were shrewd as he assessed Cole. Then the lunatic shifted his attention to Lexi.
Lifting his hand again, he waved at her. “Come here, dear,” he called out.
When Lexi jerked on her arms again, the lycans released her. She lifted her chin, but he sensed her fear as she descended the stairs. With cautious steps, she made her way down the hall toward them.
She had to weave her way through the dragons as they remained closed in behind Cole. And the monsters were not going to get out of her way. Half of them remained asleep, a few of them kept their attention on Cole, but a couple lifted their heads to watch her through slitted eyes.
When Cole started toward her, the Lord’s words froze him. “Stay where you are.”
Cole’s shoulders heaved as the lycan tried to take control. His body started to contort, but somehow, he subdued his compulsion to change.
“Do not move, Colburn,” the Lord commanded.
When Cole’s head swiveled toward him, alarm flashed through the man’s eyes. Their gazes held until a dragon shifted behind him and Cole’s attention returned to Lexi.
Chapter Sixty-Three
Lexi could barely breathe asshe picked her way carefully through the sea of huge, man-eating creatures lounging on the floor of the massive hall. She didn’t have the time to take in the beauty of the place as her attention remained focused on the dragons.
Don’t step on their tails. DO NOT step on one of them.
But that was all she could picture herself doing. And the second she did, it would swallow her like a bird with a worm. She’d probably wiggle a lot less on the way down its gullet.
Lexi tugged on the collar of her shirt as a cold sweat coated her body. When one of the sleeping dragons opened one eye to peer at her, she nearly yelped as her bladder threatened to let loose.
The damn thing yawned as she passed before closing its eye and going back to sleep. She was going to die, its friends were going to eat her, and it was taking anap.
Apparently, it had filled up on something else today, and she was not on the menu. She should be grateful; instead, she was even tenser. If this one didn’t eat her, the next one might.
The worst was she couldn’t see Cole anymore. Once she descended those steps and became surrounded by the dragons, she lost sight of him. She’d give anything to see him one more time, especially if she was going to die in this place.
One of the dragons shifted, and its tail fell in her way. Lexi froze as it twitched on the ground before settling into place.
Then one of them released a snore. They weresnoring!
It took her a couple of seconds to start moving again, and once she did, she felt twitchier than a rabbit on cocaine as she crept around that tail.
From a distance, the dragons awed and frightened her, but up close…
Up close, they wereterrifying. They smelled of fire and the musk of a wild animal. And these things were about as untamed as it got.
In the moonlight, their scales shone as the beasts’ large breaths expanded their enormous rib cages. They were a variety of colors from red to green, brown, black, blue, and some were a mix of multiple colors.
When another one of their tails fell into her path, she lurched to the side to avoid it. She wasn’t fast enough.
Her foot caught the end of it, and her knee twisted before giving out. She nearly fell but somehow managed to catch her balance before she toppled onto the beast.
As its head swung toward her, she realized it didn’t matter that she hadn’t fallen on it. Lexi stopped breathing when the tip of its nose collided with her hand.
She didn’t dare move, but she wasn’t sure if standing here or running was the better option. It couldn’t be running. Hunters loved it when their prey ran, but standing here and doing nothing about her imminent gobbling seemed wrong.
Its hot breath heated the back of her hand, and eyes, the pure blue of the center of a flame, met hers. Would it roast her like a marshmallow before eating her?
