When Lexi held out her hand for theinvitation, Cole gave it to her. She stared at the neat handwritingfor a minute before she started processing the words.
King Colburn,
I wish to congratulate you on yourengagement. She is a fine young woman. To celebrate, you will bothattend the ball I am throwing in your honor next Friday. Be therewhen the clock strikes 4 PM. I will take care of the guest list andall preparations.
Best wishes,
Lord Andreas of the Shadow Realms
Lexi gulped as she read it three more times.It seemed so innocent and like an honor for them, but she knew theLord. This wouldnotbe an honor.
This was going to be bad. Very,verybad.
When she lifted her eyes to Cole’s, she sawthe stark reality of that knowledge staring back at her. Theycouldn’t refuse to go; it would automatically make them enemies tothe throne. He would label them as traitors and have them huntedfor it.
But if they went…
If they went, the Lord would make themsuffer. He might even try to kill one of them.
But they had no other choice. Far too manylives rested on their shoulders and especially Cole’s. If theydidn’t attend this ball, the Gloaming would suffer.
“I’m going to need a dress,” she said.
Cole’s explosive curse made her wince.
CHAPTER 36
Cole was in such a foul mood by the time theyreturned to his room, he forgot he’d told her that he would teachher how to open a portal. When he started to open one himself, Lexigrasped his arm.
“You were going to show me,” she remindedhim.
He started to say something but barely gotout one word before closing his mouth and waving his hand at theportal. It vanished before it fully formed. Brokk crossed his armsover his chest and leaned against the door to watch them.
Her words were the first any of them hadspoken since Cole told Niall to make sure the Lord’s men left theGloaming. He’d gone out the front door while Cole had stalked backto his rooms. She and Brokk had followed.
If the two of them were anything like her, amillion different things had gone through their minds by the timethey returned to Cole’s rooms and the thought at the forefront oftheir minds was torun, run, RUN!
But they couldn’t run. And the Lord knewit.
Not only would he destroy the Gloaming ifthey ran, but he would also destroy her home and unleash hisvengeance on other unsuspecting immortals and humans. He would makethem all pay.
But if she went, there was a chance he wouldkill them. There was also the horrifying possibility Dragonia wouldtrigger something in her and make it impossible to control herabilities. Or it would activate something she hadnoideahow to handle.
Lexi’s fingers twisted in her dirty shirt asshe resisted the impulse to chomp her nails like they were apepperoni pizza and she was starving.
“I have to know how to open a portal for whenwe go to Dragonia,” she said. “Arach can open portals in and out ofDragonia. He’llneverexpect me to do it. It might be ouronly chance of escaping him.”
“We’re not going,” Cole stated.
Lexi kept her alarm over this assertionhidden as the shadows behind him crept down the walls. “You can’trefuse him.”
“I am the king of the dark fae; I can dowhatever thefuckI want.”
They both knew that wasn’t true, but shedidn’t think this was the time to point out they wereallatthe mercy of the Lord and his dragons.
“You’re not returning to that realm,” Colesaid. “We have no idea how your abilities will react to it. Youcould step out of a portal and turn into a beacon for all tosee.”
“Then we’ll go right back into the portal, orI’ll open my own, and we’ll get out of there. They won’t beexpecting that from us. Besides, I don’t think that will happen. Ifthe arach reacted to Dragonia, all immortals would have known aboutthe glowing thing. Other immortals used to go in and out ofDragonia when the arach ruled there.”
