As it was, he was barely restraining himself from wrapping his hand around her throat and tearing off her head. However, she was a council member, and he couldn’t go around destroying his council members.
He had to earn the trust of the dark fae here, and he couldn’t do that by killing another member of the realm’s most powerful families. That wouldn’t earn him the loyalty of the fae who worked on the lands and in the homes and businesses run by those families.
Aelfdane was an understandable kill; he’d agreed to it when he volunteered for the trials. Becca was something else. He’d warned her, and if she tried to harm Lexi again, he would destroy her.
“Go,” he ordered.
Becca turned and hurried down the hall. Though she kept her shoulders back and her step dignified, he sensed she was struggling not to run.
Cole’s gaze shifted to Lexi as Becca disappeared down another hall. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
She wasn’t fine; he could see that in her eyes.
“Did she hurt you?” he asked.
“No, but she hates me. And she’s ahideouswoman. The things she said….”
Lexi broke off and focused on the door to his right. He glanced at the blood-covered knob before returning his attention to his mate.
“You have some reallybadtaste in women,” she muttered.
He chuckled. “You do realizeyou’reone of those women.”
The glare she sent him ended his amusement. Apparently, she was not in the mood to be teased.
“You won’t have to see her again,” Cole said.
“But I will if I stay here. She’s a powerful dark fae, a member of your council, and has free reign of the palace.”
“She does not,” Cole said. “She was allowed in today because of all the preparations. The rest of the council is here too. She willnotbe allowed in again unless I say so, and she will only be around if I am there too.”
“Great, so I’ll stay here and not go into the realm at all then.”
The irritation in her voice made Cole realize he was picking his way around the edges of a ticking time bomb and had to proceed carefully. He would not lose Lexi because ofBecca.He refused to let it happen.
“And after what happened today, she’s going to hate me even more, which I wouldn’t have believed possible before,” she continued.
His claws extended and dug into his palms when he clenched and unclenched his hands. “Do you wish to leave?”
“No. I want to stay with you, but….” She shrugged. “But it will take me some time to get used to this place and all the politics that go with it. I also don’t want to be locked up in the palace when I’m here. I know it can’t happen this time, but if you expect me to be the queen of this realm, then I have to go out and into it.”
She would be queen, but he didn’t like the idea of her out in the Gloaming. Maybe when things were more settled, but that could be years. He kept his concerns to himself; it was an issue they could deal with later, and she was already annoyed enough without him aggravating her more.
“Becca won’t harm you,” he said.
“I’m not so sure of that.”
“I am. She won’t be allowed in this palace again without supervision, and once you’re my queen, if she does anything to you, it is an act of treason, and she will pay dearly for it.”
“I don’t think she cares about that. She loves you, Cole.”
“No, she doesn’t. She loves the power I represent, and she craves it. Power and a better position in this realm are all she’s ever wanted from me.”
“You’re wrong. No one is that angry and spiteful about something because of power. She loves you.”
“Lexi, I know the dark fae well, and what Becca loves is power and that I could offer her so much of it. She doesnotlove me.”
