“Yes. She’s Cole’s mate.”
Varo’s black eyebrows rose into his hairline. “Cole has a mate?”
At the same time, Del asked from behind him. “What did you say?”
Orin ignored the vampire as Varo glided closer.
“Cole has a mate?” Varo asked again.
“Yes. Apparently, that lycan part of him is stronger than we believed.”
“How is he?”
“He’s Cole. Stubborn, single-minded, and judgmental. He’s also king of the dark fae.”
Varo stopped walking. During one of his visits back to this realm, he’d told Varo about their father’s death and that Cole would face the trials, but the revelation Cole had survived them was new to Varo.
“He survived,” Varo whispered and closed his eyes. “That is good.”
“Yes, it’s all freaking fantastic, but we’ve moved on from that. We have more important things to discuss now.”
Varo opened his eyes. “What have you done, Orin?”
“Me?” Orin feigned offense as he rested his hand over his heart. “I haven’t done anything.”
Varo wasn’t at all swayed by his protest of innocence. Orin rolled his eyes and turned back to the door. Del’s eyes remained a vivid shade of red as he glowered at him.
“It’shisdaughter who’s done something.” Orin pointed a finger at Del. “So, we’re going to have a little discussion, aren’t we, Del?”
The vampire’s face remained stony. This wasn’t going to be easy.
Orin flashed his best smile at the vamp, who didn’t react at all, which wasn’t surprising as it usually worked best on women. However, he was a charmer, and he didn’t like it when those charms didn’t melt others as they should.
Orin continued to smile as he approached the door. “Your daughter is a very interesting young woman, Del. It’s been a pleasure getting to know her better.”
And pulling on her heart strings to manipulate her into doing what I wanted, but he kept that to himself.
Del didn’t reply.
“She has my brother twisted around her lovely, little finger. It’s quite an interesting thing to see. I never expected anything like it from Cole. But then, I’m sure you always thought the same about him as you know him well. Did you ever think he’d fall for an immortal who is half human and half vampire or foranywoman?”
Nothing.
Orin decided to give him a little nudge, even if it was just to piss Del off and more for his amusement. “Did you ever think the man who led you through the war would fuck your daughter?”
The tiniest tic of a muscle in his cheek was the only reaction Del had to those words.
“I mean, you fought with him in the war,” Orin continued. “You were one of his most trusted generals. From all accounts, the two of you were close, and he pays you back by crawling into bed with yourdaughter.”
“What are you trying to do?” Varo inquired.
“Nothing. I like pushing his buttons.”
Del’s eyes narrowed. “You’re nowhere near the man your brother is.”
“Ouch!” Orin cried as he slapped his hands over his heart. “That stings. Oh, wait, no, it doesn’t.”
He was well aware that when it came to Cole and him, most found him lacking. His older brother was bigger, stronger, more powerful, and far more reliable. He was alsofarmore boring, so Orin was happy with being considered “inferior.”
