When she scrambled to rise again, the abrupt movement caused nausea to twist in her belly, but she got to her feet. She rested her hand against the wall as she panted for air.
Turning its attention away from the barn, the wolf focused on her. When its silver eyes met hers, a certainty hit her as hard as Malakai’s fist.
“Cole,” she whispered before her knees gave out.
She didn’t know how he moved so fast, but he transformed and his arms enveloped her. Blood stained his face, and his black hair was disheveled as he cradled her against his bare chest.
Joy soared at the sight of him, and though blood coated him, she relished being in his arms again. As she drank him in, she saw that he’d shaved his beard.
That was her last coherent thought before blackness descended.
* * *
“Lexi?”Cole whispered and rested his hand against her cheek. “Lexi?”
She didn’t respond as her head lolled against his chest. Blood still seeped from her nose and caked her split, swollen lips. Her nose was three times its normal size and already turning the color of an eggplant. More bruises seeped out from her nose to shadow her closed eyes.
The imprint of fingers was evident in the black bruises marring her elegant throat. Her neck was swollen and red. More blood streaked her dark auburn hair with its various, brilliant strands of red.
He cursed the fact Malakai had gotten away. When this was over, he would finish tearing that vamp in half, but he wasn’t going to part from her any time soon.
He stalked past his shredded clothes, into the day, and toward the manor. He was almost to the house when Sahira emerged from behind the house. She had gloves in hand, dirt streaked her cheeks, and a basket of vegetables hung over her arm.
She froze when she spotted him, and then her gaze landed on Lexi. When the basket fell from her grasp, tomatoes rolled across the ground, and she stomped them as she ran toward them. She was only a few feet away when she skidded to a stop.
When her amber eyes flew from Lexi to him, they darkened, and a breeze stirred the air. Some of her mahogany hair had fallen free of her bun; the loose strands started to blow around her face as she drew on the air currents surrounding them.
“Don’t,” he cautioned when the wind stirred around him.
Despite only being half witch, she had control over the elements. The breeze intensified as her nostrils flared.
“Put her down,” she hissed.
“No. I didn’t do this.”
Sahira’s eyes practically crackled with fire.
“I wouldneverdo this to her,” he said.
“Like you’ve never laid a hand on her before.”
Then her gaze ran over his naked body, and like Medusa’s snakes, her hair whipped around her head. Her words were more of a blow to him than the increasing wind.
He hadn’t injured Lexi on purpose, but she was right; he had left bruises on her throat when she tried to wake him from a nightmare. But this…
“I wouldneverdo this to her,” he repeated as the wind buffeted him.
It was a good thing Sahira wasn’t near any flames. Otherwise, she would have tried to torch his ass. If she wasn’t Lexi’s aunt, he would put a stop to her continued use of power against him, but she had Lexi’s best interests at heart, she was the only family Lexi had left, and Lexi loved her. Stopping her would turn physical, and he couldn’t let that happen.
“Malakai did this,” he said and turned away from her.
He started toward the manor again. No matter how pissed Sahira was at him, she wouldn’t do anything harmful while Lexi remained in his arms.
Chapter Six
Cole didn’t look backat Sahira as he climbed the steps to the manor. Shifting his hold on Lexi, he opened the door. Sahira arrived at his side as he stepped into the cool, dark interior of the home.
“Malakai did this?” she demanded.
