Lexi made a choking sound, and when he looked over at her, she covered her mouth as she tried to suppress her laughter. “It’s all been so awful, and it just sounded… funny,” she said.
Cole couldn’t help but chuckle too as he leaned over to kiss her forehead.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” the dwarf muttered. “I was told you were vicious and can make the shadows destroy your enemies. Yet, here you are kissing a woman like some lovesick sop. The tales better not be lies, King Colburn. We’re not going to war for a pussy-whipped fool.”
Cole didn’t have time to think as the dwarf’s words unleashed his fury. The shadows leapt up and enclosed on his throat, lifting him until his toes barely touched the ground. The dwarf’s eyes bugged from his head, and he choked as his fingers tightened on the ax, but the weapon couldn’t do anything for him.
“Now who’s the fool?” Cole growled.
The dwarf grunted in response, and his face turned red, but Cole didn’t recall the shadows.
Instead, he briefly constricted them around the dwarf’s neck before releasing the man. The dwarf staggered forward as he choked and coughed in air. Until he regained control, he remained bent over before rising.
Though resentment shone in his hazel eyes, they were also full of grudging respect. “That’s more like it.” With a deft motion, the dwarf made a circle with his ax, and a small portal materialized before him. “Go ahead.”
Cole kept his attention on the dwarf. If the man tried anything, he would rip him to pieces. While his attention remained riveted on the dwarf, he sent a couple of shadows skittering across the ground and into the portal. The dwarf tapped his foot while he stared impatiently at him
“Aren’t you going to check it out?” the smaller man demanded.
When the shadows retracted toward Cole, they danced beneath the dwarf’s feet. He jumped, and his hand flew to his throat as he glowered at the shadows.
“Shite!” the man exclaimed and pranced back a couple of steps.
The dwarf frowned as the shadows encircled Cole’s arms and slid into his ears. Once there, the shadows revealed what they’d seen.
“It’s safe for us to continue,” Cole told Lexi.
“Is it?” she whispered.
Their gazes clashed before the dwarf broke the tension simmering between them.
“Then let’s go. We are wasting time here. We have a Lord to kill.”
With that, he turned and vanished into the portal.
“Cole—”
“I’m fine, Lexi,” he assured her. “I’m in control, and we have dwarves to meet.”
She didn’t say anything more, but he felt her doubt as they strode through the portal together.
CHAPTERFIFTY-FIVE
They steppedout into a barren realm of craggy mountains piercing the red sky. Black rocks about as inviting as a pit full of glass decorated the realm. The landscape was bleak and barren, but dwarves hustled about, calling to each other, starting fires, and roasting meat.
Most of the dwarves were around four-and-a-half-foot tall, and their children were small bundles toddling around on thick, sturdy legs. The youngest ones waved their tiny weapons in the air and battered them against the rocks.
Though the dwarves were busy settling in a new establishment, they all had their weapons in hand or strapped to their backs where they could easily pull them free.
“King Colburn and his fiancée have finally blessed us with their presence!” the dwarf shouted as soon as they were free of the portal.
“We all need each other’s help, but I won’t tolerate any disrespect toward me, and I especially won’t tolerate it towardher,” Cole said. “Next time, the shadows won’t just choke you, do you understand?”
The dwarf rolled his eyes. “I’d forgotten how touchy dark fae and lycans can be. Come along, King Colburn, our council has been waiting for you.”
Keeping Lexi close by, Cole gathered the shadows around them. They didn’t slither up to make their presence known, but they circled their feet while searching for any hint of a threat. The shadows guarded their backs as they made their way through the dwarves, who’d all stopped what they were doing to watch them pass.
Dwarves were known for their brutality in battle and their penchant for a good time. It was a sign of how unhappy they were here that beer wasn’t flowing and they weren’t laughing and dancing around a bonfire. Not even the children, whose laughter often filled the air, made a sound.
