“So I’ve been told,” Cole replied dryly.
“And now that I’ve seen your shadows and her fire, I believe the two of you can bring the Lord down.”
“You’re the Lord’s mistress. Why would you want to bring him down?”
“I wasneverhis mistress,” Yamala spat. “Everyone here knows what happened to me, and though I tried to hide it from her, even my daughter learned the truth of her heritage. But only one other outside of Aerie knows what happened, and that is the Lord. I plan to keep it that way.”
CHAPTERNINETEEN
The panicon Yamala’s face melted some of Lexi’s anger toward these vicious women. Taking a deep breath, Lexi smothered the fire engulfing her hands.
Without the flames to warm her, the cold crept in to caress the naked flesh of her torso. Suddenly aware she was nearly as on display as these women, Lexi almost shielded her breasts from view.
But it was too late for such modesty and would probably only earn her snickers from these women. She refused to appear weak in front of them, but she was freezing.
Cole grasped the bottom of his tunic, pulled it off, and slid it over her head. The material, still warm from his body, heated her.
The bottom of it nearly touched her knees; she pondered rolling the sleeves up to her wrists but was afraid she’d look too childish in front of these women. They wouldnotrespect that, and though most immortals derided them, the sirens were a proud group.
“What did the Lord do to you?” Cole asked Yamala.
The beautiful woman’s eyes flashed as she lifted her chin. “He imprisoned me, raped me, and when I became pregnant, set me free.”
Lexi showed no response to this revelation while she inwardly flinched and wept for the woman. It didn’t shock her the Lord did it; he was a monster, and nothing he did astounded her.
“Why did he release you?” Cole asked.
“I assume it was because he was done with me, but I’ve never seen him again to ask; if I did, I’d kill him. He has called for his daughter to attend him over the years. During that time, I came to believe he set me free because he could still torture me through her.
“To him, taking my daughter from me, keeping her away, and leaving me with the worry he could kill her at any time, is more fun than the years of abuse he heaped on me. He’s never finished fucking me.”
“Why do you go when he calls?” Cole demanded of Cela.
“Do you think I can say no? He would set his dragons loose on us and destroy Aerie if I disobeyed him. He plays his games, and we jump through his hoops, like all the other realms. And those who don’t play, pay the consequences… like the human realm and the Gloaming,” Cela replied.
“I do what I must to keep those in Aerie safe, but it kills me every time my daughter walks out of here. I’m certain that one day she won’t return. He’ll grow tired of playing with us and deal the final, crushing blow by killing her. But if I refuse to let her go, I put so many other lives at risk.”
“You know the sirens would stand by your refusal,” Cela said.
“They would, but some, if not many, would die, and I cannot live with their blood on my hands. We would also lose our home…”
Yamala’s voice trailed off as her head tipped back and she took in the nest surrounding them. Lexi’s hand tightened on Cole’s arm. It was the same reasoning that kept him and the Gloaming under the thumb of the Lord for years, but Cole always knew it would only be a matter of time before the Lord unleashed his wrath on them.
And when the lunatic finally went after the Gloaming, he destroyed much of the realm and took far too many innocent lives. But the dark fae were free of his oppressive tyranny, even if they were on the run.
The sirens knew he’d come for them too. Lexi ran the tunic sleeves between her fingers as she studied Yamala. She couldn’t imagine anything more torturous than having the man who raped her take her child away whenever he found it amusing.
And Yamala and Cela couldn’t say no, or the bastard would destroy Aerie. Lexi hadn’t considered it possible for her to hate the Lord any more than she already did; she’d been wrong.
“The Lord will take our home from us, but we can andwillrebuild,” Yamala whispered.
“We can,” Cela replied as she rested her hand on her mother’s arm.
“I know the man’s a complete lunatic, but why did he target you for such torment?” Lexi inquired.
“When we were young, years before he sat on that throne, Andreas pursued me, but I wasn’t interested.”
“He harbored a grudge against you forthat?” Lexi asked incredulously.
