And then, the curtains swayed and anotherdragon head emerged. A harsh intake of breaths filled the air, andthe Lord chuckled. The beast yawned as it brought its front legsforward and settled its blue head onto them.
It was smaller than the other one, and itsscales shimmered with dozens of different hues of blue. It revealedall its massive, razor-sharp teeth when it yawned, but Colesuspected it was nowhere near as relaxed as it acted.
For one thing, all of its three-foot-longtalons hadn’t retracted and remained on full display.
The red dragon continued to watch them asthey stopped before the steps leading up to the Lord. So far,neither dragon had shown any special interest in Lexi.
A fact that both calmed and troubled him.
If the dragons didn’t pay her any specialattention, they could get through this without the Lord learningwhat she was. But if the dragonsdidn’treact or acknowledgeher, then they could be wrong about her having some sway overthem.
CHAPTER 49
“You’ve arrived, finally!” the Lord declaredas he slapped his hands off the ends of the throne and grinned atthem. “We’ve been waiting for you!”
“Our invite said to arrive at four,” Colereplied.
“Of course it did! This is a party foryouafter all. I planned to surprise you with all the guestsexcited to celebrate your upcoming nuptials. If you had arrivedfirst, it would be a lot less fun.”
The Lord had certainly succeeded insurprising him with the amount of immortals in attendance. Andafter seeing that most of them were the elite of their realms, hedidn’t doubt the Lord was making a point.
He’d made some of the most powerful immortalsin many of the realms drop everything to be here. Cole suspectedthat not a single immortal had turned down their invite.
“And don’t you look beautiful,” the Lord saidto Lexi.
“Thank you,” she murmured.
“How did you both enjoy my presents?” heasked. “I was so eager for Cole to receive them once I saw how muchhe liked pixies.”
A murmur of curiosity ran through the crowd,but Cole would never satisfy it.
“It was quite a surprise,” Cole saiddiplomatically.
“It was beautiful,” Lexi murmured.
“Not so beautiful as you. Malakai was veryupset when he learned of your engagement. Isn’t that true,Malakai?” the Lord said and shifted his attention to the crowd.
Cole’s upper and lower fangs lengthened atthe mention of that bastard and the realization he was here. Heshould have expected the Lord to invite Malakai too. That madethings more fun for him.
It took a great deal of effort, but Colemanaged to retract his fangs again as Lexi’s nails dug into hisarm. Cole rested his other hand over hers as he turned to discoverMalakai standing at the front of the crowd.
Malakai’s face was as cold as stone, andhatred shone in his eyes when they met Cole’s. Despite wantingnothing more than to tear out Malakai’s throat, Cole smiled at thepiece of shit.
It only made things more fun forhimwhen red sparked through Malakai’s eyes before fading away.
“But, as I told him,” the Lord continued,“sometimes these things don’t work out, and you did ask her first.However, who knows what the future holds; he could always have achance later.”
Cole’s shoulders went back as a whisper ranthrough the crowd, and some of them shifted uneasily. No immortalstreated marriage so flippantly. Cole didn’t know of anyone whoremarried after losing a spouse. They went on, they had otherlovers, but they never said those vows again.
A small tremor ran through Lexi before shesteadied herself, and her chin rose a little. Then the Lord laughedbefore slapping his knee.
“Of course, that would never happen to thetwo of you,” he said. “You’re so happy andsoin love.”
He said love like it was the most disgustingword he’d ever uttered. And to this monster, who could neverunderstand the concept of love, it probably was.
If Cole harbored any hope they might make itthrough this event unscathed, it vanished with that word.
The Lord sat back on his throne as he spoke.“And all of these fine nobles are here to celebrate your love.”
