The dark fae could not turn on the Lord when they were too busy turning on each other. Cole would do his best to avoid such a fate, but it was going to take him time to learn who he could and could not trust in this realm to help him form a rebellion against the Lord.
“We will not be seeking vengeance this time, but you are free to start your own rebellion. I’ll let the Lord deal with you. And I’m sure he’ll be glad to feed more of us to his dragons.”
Alston paled visibly and pulled his hands off the table to rest them in his lap.
“We will hunt down the traitors, and we will destroy them,” Cole continued. “That is why the Lord killed my father, so we will get our revenge for his death by destroying those who deserve it.”
“You plan to destroy your brothers?” Becca inquired.
“Yes,” Cole said.
The hideousness of that word burnt his throat as the lust in Becca’s eyes deepened. He hadn’t believed it was possible, but she repulsed him more every time they encountered each other.
He opened his mouth to speak again, but a current running through the palace walls stopped him. Cole leaned heavily on his fingers and frowned at the strange sensation. He’d spent his entire life inside these walls and never experienced anything like it.
It was as if the palace was… happy?
But how was that possible? And how could he feel it?
And then the faint scent of strawberries drifted to him, and his heart lurched.Lexiwas here, and the palace was happy about her presence, or Brokk’s return, or maybe both.
This strange connection he felt to these walls was a little disturbing but also exciting. It must be some new ability from the trials. Had his father experienced this?
If he had, he’d never mentioned it, but then, he wouldn’t. Like all dark fae, he’d kept many of his abilities hidden. It was the best way to stay alive in this world where friends and sons could become enemies, and one small misstep might destroy you.
It was possible his father never felt this connection to the palace after the trials. Unlike Cole, Tove didn’t grow up in the palace. Cole was born here; it had always been his home, and he’d always felt bonded to it.
Tove moved in after surviving the trials. He’d claimed the throne, but had the palace claimed him too?
Like many of the other secrets the palace held, Cole doubted he’d ever get the answer to his questions. He felt the connection now, and that was what mattered.
Despite this new, deeper connection, there were still rooms here that wouldn’t open to him. Curious to see if the locked rooms would grant access to the new king, he’d tried a couple of them when he returned. The doors refused to yield their secrets.
Maybe some of those locked rooms would open to him now, but he could spend a lifetime trying all the doors here and still never know. When a new ripple went through the walls, Cole stepped away from the table and strode toward the hall.
Chapter Forty
“Are we done here?”Durin inquired.
“No,” Cole said. “Stay where you are.”
Upon returning to the Gloaming, he’d dressed in the normal attire of the dark fae. The soft leather of his boots was silent against the floor as his pace increased.
Lexi is here!
When he entered the hall, he spotted her and Brokk by the double doors at the end. In the flicker of the torches lining the walls, her hair shone and shimmered with color. The torch flames emphasized the smattering of freckles on her sun-kissed skin and her striking beauty.
They also emphasized the dark circles under her eyes. She hadn’t been sleeping well.
Because of me.
He wanted to tell her she would never have to worry again, but he couldn’t lie to her. Things werenotgoing to get easier now that he was king.
Seeing her was like a punch to the gut, and for a second, he couldn’t breathe as he simply stood and drank her in. He would gladly endure a hundred more trials to have her by his side.
When Lexi spotted him, her mouth parted, and she took a few stumbling steps forward before catching herself and stopping. As if afraid someone had seen her, she glanced nervously around.
He didn’t care who saw them or what they thought about his relationship with her. Striding toward her, Cole opened his arms wide. She released a small cry before bolting past Brokk and closing the distance between them.
