Her gaze shot to Malakai; her lip curled. She hadn’t seen him since he attacked her. She’d hoped never to see him again but known it was inevitable.
She hadn’t expected it to be like this. And she hadn’t expected to learn he was trying toclaimher.
“One of them says you’re his mate, and the other wants you as his wife,” the Lord continued.
Wife!Lexi’s mouth went dry as bile rose in her throat. Malakai had come to this man to tell him he wanted her as hiswife!
She’d rather be burnt to death by a dragon whilealsobeing chomped on by it.
“I also want her as my wife,” Cole said.
“Is that so?” the Lord murmured while he ran his teepeed fingers back and forth under his chin. “I’m not sure how the dark fae will take to their king marrying a… whatareyou, honey?”
“I’m half human and half vampire,” she managed to say around the lump in her throat.
The Lord released a humorless laugh. “Oh my. It must be your beauty they’re fighting over then because it’s certainlynotyour breeding.”
Lexi bit her tongue. Telling this psycho off was probably not the best way to ensure a good end to this rather crappy day.
“Yes, I do not see that going over well with the dark fae, especially since they already have a half-breed as their king,” the Lord continued. “We know how little they like outsiders, and their opinions onhumans… well, let’s just say, I have more tolerance for them, and I enjoy watching them burn.”
If Hannibal Lecter had a baby with Annie Wilkes, it would be saner than this freak.
“It doesn’t matter what the dark fae say or want,” Cole said. “Iam their king, and they will obey me. They sent three others into the trials against me, andnoneof them survived. They can send more dark fae into the trials, and I’ll destroy every single one of them, just as I destroyed Aelfdane. That throne ismine.”
Cole’s voice remained guttural and distorted as he spoke, and his revelation about Aelfdane caused even the dragons to stop moving. She hadn’t known this detail about the trials, but he’d only revealed this about Aelfdane to prove his strength and determination to the Lord.
She didn’t know how the monster was going to take it.
“One must kill to rule, but one does not have to marry,” the Lord replied. “And marrying a half-breed human is bound to irritate the already cantankerous dark fae.”
Taking a deep breath, Lexi gathered her courage and asked, “Do I have a say in this?”
The Lord’s eyes came back to her, and he smiled. It was the cruelest smile she’d ever seen. “You can say whatever you want, but it means nothing to me.”
Lexi’s fingers bit into her palms as the futility of her situation sank in. They were all rats to him, and he was the cat batting them around. Then the Lord’s gaze went to her shoulder.
Lexi hadn’t realized her shirt had fallen to reveal Cole’s bite on her.
Chapter Sixty-Five
In the moonlightspilling through the opening above, his bite on Lexi shone a brilliant silver against her creamy flesh. Too late, Cole realized the Lord had purposely waited until nightfall to bring them in here.
It was a good thing he’d admitted she was his mate becausethiswas exactly what the Lord intended to learn about her when he brought them here.
And he’d done so because someone in the Gloaming had told him about Lexi being by his side. Malakai had a hand in these events, but one ofhissubjects came here to reveal a weakness to this man.
An image of Becca formed in his mind. It could have been anyone or more than one, but he couldn’t shake the conviction it washer. He would find out who had betrayed him and make them pay.
The Lord turned to Malakai. “Do you still want a woman that another man has claimed?”
“I don’t want him,” Lexi stated.
The Lord waved a hand dismissively at her. “I don’t care.”
“He should have no right to her. She is the daughter of one of your most loyal soldiers, andheattacked her,” Cole stated.
“Is this true? Did you attack the woman?” he asked Malakai.
