“We should go soon,” Sahira said as Lexi stepped into the doorway.
“Good morning, everyone,” Lexi greeted with a smile that warmed Cole’s heart.
“We were getting ready… OW!” Sahira cried.
Cole turned toward her as smoke coiled from Sahira’s hand, and she released the stone. It glowed like it was on fire as it plummeted toward the ground. Just before it would have crashed into the floor, it stopped. For a few seconds, it hovered above the ground.
“What the…?”
Whatever Brokk was about to say died away as the stone shot like a bullet across the room toward Lexi. Her hand flew to her chest, and she staggered away as the stone stopped to hover a couple of inches away from her face.
Her eyes widened as the stone’s radiance grew. Cole was too stunned to move at first, but then panic slammed his heart against his ribs, and he lurched forward. He had no idea what was happening with the stone, but he didn’t want it near Lexi.
Then the stone began to shine brighter. It bathed the room in a brilliant red glow that illuminated her sun-kissed skin and reflected in her now golden eyes.
Awe parted her mouth and caused her eyebrows to rise. Cole was sure his astonishment mirrored hers, but he didn’t know what was happening. He was only a few feet away when the stone swung forward and hit the hand Lexi had lifted to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
“No!” Sahira shouted.
Cole was reaching for Lexi when a loud pop reverberated through the air, and she flew backward out of the library.
Chapter Sixty-Eight
“No!”Cole bellowed as he sprinted out the door.
Lexi had hit the wall opposite the library so hard she dented it. After the impact, her body hung in the air for a second before sliding to the ground.
Her head fell forward, and her chin rested against her chest. Her hands fell open at her sides, and the stone landed in one of her open palms. And then, she didn’t move at all.
She was so still.
Too still!
He was almost to her side when something slammed into him, knocking him off course. Arms encircled his waist as he toppled to the ground. Turning into the embrace, Cole prepared to kill whoever was keeping him from Lexi.
Fury rocked him when he spotted Brokk. His brother rolled with him, but before Cole could tear his head off, Brokk leapt to his feet and danced away.
“Don’t touch her!” Brokk shouted at him. “She’s holding the stone! If you touch her, it will kill you.”
He didn’t say kill youtoo, probably because he knew Cole would lose his mind if she died. And how could she be anything other than dead? The stone was cursed; theyallknew that.
No oneother than the immortal granted access to it was allowed to touch it. It killed anyone else who dared to try. How could she possibly be alive?
Terror buried his rage as his gaze swung to Lexi. She hadn’t purposely touched it; the thing had soughtherout. And then it had fallen intoherhand.
How could she be made to bear the brunt of this curse when it hadn’t been her choice to touch the stone?
He couldn’t lose her; he’d tear every one of the realms apart if he did. He would shred everyone and everything in his way. As the murderous impulses churned in his mind, the shadows lurking in the hallway crept closer.
Through his strengthening bond with them, he sensed their excitement. They would help him to destroy everyone in his way. They would welcome the blood, just as they had in his nightmare.
Cole almost pulled them closer to him, but he realized that though Lexi should be dead, he didn’t feel the loss of his mate through his mark on her.
If he did, he wouldn’t be able to keep control of what was building inside him. And the first place he would unleash it was on the crone realm. If she died, he would make the crones pay for her death.
Cole shoved himself to his feet as something vile and volatile clawed at his insides. He’d never experienced anything like it before, but it felt as if someone had turned a hundred rats loose inside him, and every one of them was trying to dig their way out.
The shadows of the hall shifted and slid toward him while the shadows residing inside him woke. They screamed for vengeance and roared to be set free, but he kept them restrained.
