Varo glanced at Orin, whose mouth remained clamped shut.
“Let’s go,” Cole snarled.
Brokk strode toward the library doors, but Sahira hesitated as she brushed Lexi’s hair back from her face. With tender care, she adjusted Lexi to lie on the ground with the stone near her side. Then she lifted Lexi’s hands and examined them before setting them on the floor.
“Don’t let anyone touch her,” she said to Del, who nodded.
“Is she going to be okay?” he asked anxiously.
Cole didn’t miss the doubt in Sahira’s eyes when she met her brother’s eyes. He also noted that she didn’t reply.
The rage building inside him was becoming a bomb waiting to blow, and if this Kaylia didn’t agree to save Lexi, she would get the brunt of it.
As Cole strode into the library, more shadows slid toward him, caressed his skin, and slipped inside him. He didn’t care who he had to kill or destroy; he would save Lexi.
Chapter Sixty-Nine
When they first entered thecrone realm, the sweet, lyrical notes of the pixies filled the air, but their song was fading away as more and more became aware of their presence. And it was obvious it was a hostile presence as Cole stalked relentlessly forward.
Brokk didn’t know what to say or do as he trailed Cole and Sahira toward Kaylia’s lodge. He remained behind in case someone decided to go after Cole; he would have his brother’s back. If someone tried to attack Cole, it would be the worst mistake they ever made.
He had no idea exactly what would happen then, but it would bebad. If Cole wasn’t his brother, he’d be terrified of the man and the blackness oozing from his pores to form a small cloud around him.
But itwashis brother. So then why was he growing increasingly scared of the man in front of him?
Cole had always been one of the most admirable and steadfast men Brokk knew. He wouldn’t do anything crazy; he wouldn’t harm an innocent to get what he wanted, but…
But staring at him, Brokk wasn’t so sure this was the Cole he’d always known. The trials had changed him, his bond to Lexi had made him stronger, and he was a lycan whose mate was in danger.
All those things made for averydangerous combination—one that might unleash on this realm if Kaylia wasn’t able to help them.
The crones stopped what they were doing to watch as they passed. They held their brooms closer, stopped stirring their cauldrons, edged closer to the phoenixes, and watched them with wary eyes. And then they started to follow.
Brokk kept an eye on the crones as they weaved their way through the lodges to the biggest one in the center. So far, none of the crones had been foolish enough to try to stop them or attack them, but that would change if Cole released whatever was going on inside him.
He did not want to be attacked by a bunch of crones. They’d probably turn him into a toad or crisp fry his ass.
He had no idea what was about to unfold, but these witches already despised him and Sahira because of their vampire blood. They’d come up with an extra cruel punishment for him, if they didn’t kill him outright.
With every step they took, more darkness seeped out of Cole. The witches might try to curse them or blow them up, but he had no idea what Cole on edge would produce. He’d never seen anything like what was unraveling before him, and itwasan unraveling.
It had started the second the stone blasted Lexi into the wall. The black emerged then as madness filled his brother’s eyes. And that unraveling had pushed aside the silver his eyes had turned before becoming black.
It had pushed aside thelycanwhosematewas threatened. He found that the most unsettling aspect of all this.
Everyone knew a lycan with a threatened mate was the deadliest creature in all the realms, but whatever was inside Cole was stronger. Brokk saw the second when the lycan gave way to the black taking over.
Brokk gulped and almost tugged at the collar of his shirt, but he wouldn’t let anyone else know how muchthisCole unsettled him. Instead, he wiped his sweaty palms on his pants as he studied the crones creeping closer to them as more emerged from their lodges.
The now silent pixies zipped away while the unicorns stopped munching grass to watch them. A couple of pegasus took flight and soared low over the land. Brokk didn’t see any sasquatches by the lake, but they weren’t always there.
The phoenixes by Kaylia’s lodge roused from their slumber and lifted their heads. The tufts of gold on their heads stood up in all different directions. They blinked their amber eyes and looked as if they were trying to process what was happening. One released a small squawk, but none took flight.
One of the older ones opened its wings and swept the babies close against it. When its wings settled around the chicks, they vanished. Brokk hoped they could keep the young protected as Sahira stopped before Kaylia’s lodge.
Sahira raised her arm to knock on the flap, but before she could hit it, the flap pulled back, and Kaylia emerged. Her undeniable beauty struck Brokk like a fist to the gut.
He hadn’t thought he could react to anything other than the growing tension settling over the land; he was wrong. He didn’t like the woman, but he hoped she didn’t do anything stupid enough to get herself killed.
