Shadows of Discovery (The Shadow Realms Book 2) Read online

  It was such a familiar sight that most of the time, she never noticed it. She focused on those particles now as they drew her toward freedom.

  Her mind shouted at her to run, and her senses remained focused on the man behind her, but she kept her step steady as she approached the door. I will not run from this man. I will not run.

  She was almost to the door when Malakai transported directly into her path. She almost walked into him, and his six-two frame blocked out the welcoming rays of the sun as he towered seven inches over her.

  “Where’s your boyfriend?” he growled.

  His smile was gone, and the malevolence shining in his eyes caused ice crystals to form in her blood. Those crystals crept across her skin until they encased her in a frozen tomb.

  She would not back down from him, but she wasn’t sure she’d survive what he planned to do to her.

  CHAPTER 4

  “Please, get out of my way,” she replied in a steady voice that didn’t reveal her increasing alarm.

  Malakai tilted his head to the side as red gleamed in his eyes. “Did you fuck him, Elexiandra?”

  She barely stopped herself from gaping at the crude, unexpected question.

  “Did he part those pretty thighs?” He prowled closer as he asked the question. “Did you let that half-breed rut between your legs like the dog he is?”

  Despite her determination not to back down from him, she edged away from the hatred he emanated. As much as he wanted her, he also despised her and planned to make her pay for the years she spent refusing him. And he especially intended to make her suffer for choosing Cole over him.

  What he would do to her should be done to no living creature.

  “And like the dark fae he is, he grew tired of you and took his cock to his next whore,” Malakai continued.

  The truth of those words stung like a slap to the face, but she hoped she kept that hidden from him.

  “You’re disgusting,” Lexi said and planted her feet as she refused to take another step back. “Get off my property.”

  “And how do you plan to make me?” he asked.

  When he stopped before her, the toes of his boots touched the front of her sneakers. The five o’clock shadow lining his jaw matched the dark brown of his hair.

  She contemplated knocking that shadow right off his face, but the look in his eyes froze her. She’d punched Cole’s brother, Orin, and he was one of the deadliest creatures in all the realms, but Malakai wasn’t Orin.

  Orin was lethal, but he was also sane and had a bit of a moral compass, even if it was broken most of the time. Malakai was a monster who would tear her apart if she gave him a reason.

  He was a twisted freak who was a lot stronger than her, and if she punched him, he would attack. But then, he might attack without any provocation too.

  Lexi prepared herself for that possibility as he loomed over her. He could stomp her, but she wasn’t going down without a fight.

  “Did you like fucking him?” Malakai inquired.

  Tired of him, Cole, Orin, and every other “man” in her life since her dad died, Lexi had no idea what came over her, but she smiled as she replied. “I loved it.”

  She had only a second to gloat over the rage clouding his face before his hand clamped on her throat. He moved so fast she didn’t see him before his fingers bit into her flesh.

  As he choked her, he cut off her ability to breathe. Lifting her, he propelled her backward and into the wall. The air in her lungs managed to escape on a gurgled ah.

  “You whore!” he spat the words into her face with such vehemence that spittle sprayed her.

  Her disbelief over being attacked in such a way faded, and her survival instincts kicked in. Determined to get away from him, Lexi lashed out. When her fist connected with his cheek, the blow knocked his head to the side.

  Malakai’s grip relaxed, and fresh air briefly filled her lungs before his head swiveled back toward her. She didn’t see the punch coming at her until a crushing blow battered her temple.

  Her head shot to the side, and blood filled her mouth as dizziness assailed her. When her legs gave out, his grip on her throat kept her standing. She was still trying to recover her senses when he shoved his leg between her thighs.

  Realizing exactly what he would do to her, Lexi swung and kicked and squirmed as she battered him. The blows sent shock waves through her hands and arms. The adrenaline coursing through her gave her a strength she’d never shown before, but it still wasn’t enough to get him off her.

  She couldn’t breathe. She was going to pass out. And once she did, he would do whatever he wanted to her.

  That reality dragged her back from the brink of unconsciousness. She continued to punch at him, but he caught one of her wrists with his free hand and bashed it into the wall. Something cracked, and she was sure bones shattered in her hand, but she continued to swing at him.

  And then, blessedly, he released her throat. She greedily sucked in oxygen as she coughed and sputtered. She was just getting enough air in to scream when he seized her other wrist and pinned them together with one of his hands.

  Her scream choked off when he recaptured her throat and squeezed until her windpipe threatened to give way. Then the bastard kissed her.

  The force of his kiss was nearly as punishing as his grip on her throat. He split her lips until she tasted blood. Then the asshole licked her blood away before shoving his tongue into her mouth.

  • • •

  Cole knocked on the manor door one more time before stepping back to examine Lexi’s home. No lights were on within, but that could be because no one was home or the electricity was out again.

  It had taken him more time than he would have liked to wash all the blood off him and arrive here. By the time he finally finished scrubbing himself, his arm had nearly healed and now was nothing more than a dull throb.

  He ran a hand through his hair and tugged at it as he studied the ruined remains of the marketplace in the distance. No one resurrected it after the Lord unleashed his dragons on it.

  So, she hadn’t gone to the market. However, she could have traveled to another marketplace or anywhere else. He’d been gone for almost two weeks; any number of things could have happened since then.

  He tried not to think about that as he started around the manor. He stopped when the barn caught his attention. If she wasn’t in the library, then her second favorite place was the barn.

  And it was around the time when she usually went out to take care of the animals. He didn’t know where Sahira was or why she hadn’t answered the door, and he didn’t care.

  Eager to see Lexi again, he started toward the barn at a brisk stride. He stepped into the open doorway and peered into the shadows cloaking the barn.

  It took only a second for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, and when they did, his blood rushed into his ears until he was certain his eardrums would rupture. A thick, red haze descended over his eyes to block out the embracing couple.

  He was glad for that because he’d seen enough to make him spiral into a pit of madness as encompassing as what consumed him after his father’s murder.

  The urge to kill and shred overtook him as he imagined digging his hands into Malakai’s bowels and ripping them out. He would make all the vampire’s insides visible to the world as he spilled his blood across the ground.

  Cole’s fangs burst into his mouth; his claws sliced through his palms and scoured his bones. The blood dripping from his hands sounded like cannon fire to his lycan ears as it plopped onto the dirt floor.

  He was on the verge of shifting, changing, becoming a beast who would decapitate her new lover and eat his head.

  How could she?

  When he left her, he promised to return in a day or two, but those days had come and gone. He never would have remained faithful to someone who did the same to him, but he hadn’t expected the same from her. He’d believed her to be different than himself and the other women he’d been with; she was his, a
nd she’d already moved on to a man she despised.

  Wait. That made no sense. She hated Malakai. A lot could change in two weeks, but he didn’t see her going from hating to screwing this man in such a short period. Although, he’d fucked more than a few women he despised.

  Still, Lexi wasn’t like him, and he couldn’t shake the feeling something wasn’t right here. With a control he hadn’t believed he still retained, he pushed aside some of the red haze clouding his vision. He didn’t want to see them locked in their passionate embrace again, but he did.

  And as his breath thundered like a bull about to charge, he took in more details of their embrace. When he did, things beyond the knife twisting in his heart sank in.

  Lexi’s body bowed toward Malakai in a way that indicated she craved more. Cole’s teeth ground together as he recalled how wonderful it felt to have her lithe body melding against his, but…

  This wasn’t melding.

  She was as rigid as a board against Malakai. Her wrists, bound by Malakai’s hand, were pressed against the wall, and her fingers were hooked into claws.

  Blood spilled from the corners of Malakai’s mouth a second before he reeled back from her. Blood flowed from both their mouths, and Cole realized she’d bitten him when she spit a gob of blood into his face.

  “You bitch!” Malakai spat.

  Lexi jerked and somehow lifted a knee to slam it into the vamp’s stomach. Air exploded from Malakai as she tried to twist away.

  “Let go of me!” she screamed.

  Cole was shifting as he ran toward them, but he wasn’t fast enough to stop Malakai from pulling his head back and smashing his forehead off her face. Lexi cried out as blood poured from her nose.

  A roar built within Cole, but he didn’t release it. He couldn’t alert Malakai he was coming. That roar built to a crescendo as Malakai released her wrists and hit her. Lexi’s head bounced off the wall as more of her blood spilled free.

  CHAPTER 5

  It took everything Lexi had to keep herself from passing out. If she did… well, she couldn’t think about what would happen if she did.

  Still, she felt like she was trying to claw her way out of quicksand as her knees gave out. Malakai’s thigh between her legs was the only thing keeping her up. She blinked away the stars erupting before her eyes, and her head fell back.

  No!

  Her hands moved like someone had tied concrete blocks to them, but she somehow got her palms up between them. With a strength she hadn’t known she still possessed, she drove her palm up and under Malakai’s chin. His head snapped back as his fist flew.

  Lexi braced herself for another blow as the whistle of his hand cutting through the air came at her. She didn’t think she’d remain standing after this punch as her head still rang from the last blow and blood dripped off her chin.

  She clawed at his neck and twisted her head away as Malakai was ripped off her. Lexi staggered forward and nearly went down. She threw herself back against the wall as a flash of black soared past her.

  Without Malakai to keep her propped up, Lexi hit the ground. But she refused to stay down; it could mean death, or worse, if she did.

  She rested her hand against the wall and rose. Dizziness assailed her, and she almost fell again, but she refused to give in to the weakness consuming her.

  Instead, she slumped against the wall as a massive wolf landed a few feet away from her. With its jaws locked around Malakai’s abdomen, the vampire dangled from the wolf’s mouth. Its head and body were the size of a lion’s—an extremely large, extremely powerful lion. Its paws were the size of her head, and its claws could eviscerate a T. rex.

  Malakai beat against the wolf’s head as it opened its mouth and bit down again. Malakai’s shrieks were like toothpicks to her eardrums. Blood spurted from his mouth as the wolf shook its head back and forth, turning Malakai into nothing more than a rag doll.

  Normally, such a thing would have appalled her, but though she didn’t enjoy Malakai’s pain, it didn’t upset her either. He would have raped her and maybe killed her; he deserved to be eaten.

  When the wolf opened its mouth to chomp down again, Malakai vanished as he transported out of the wolf’s hold. Lexi’s eyes darted around the barn in search of him, but he didn’t materialize anywhere nearby.

  She squeezed her eyes shut when her vision blurred but almost immediately opened them again. Is he going to return?

  But as the seconds stretched on, and he still didn’t reemerge, she slid down the wall. Once on the ground, the thundering in her head became louder as her attention shifted to the wolf.

  Its head moved around as it searched the barn. The blood dripping from its muzzle reminded her that it hadn’t gotten the chance to eat, and she might be next.

  When she scrambled to rise again, the abrupt movement caused nausea to twist in her belly, but she got to her feet. She rested her hand against the wall as she panted for air.

  Turning its attention away from the barn, the wolf focused on her. When its silver eyes met hers, a certainty hit her as hard as Malakai’s fist.

  “Cole,” she whispered before her knees gave out.

  She didn’t know how he moved so fast, but he transformed and his arms enveloped her. Blood stained his face, and his black hair was disheveled as he cradled her against his bare chest.

  Joy soared at the sight of him, and though blood coated him, she relished being in his arms again. As she drank him in, she saw that he’d shaved his beard.

  That was her last coherent thought before blackness descended.

  • • •

  “Lexi?” Cole whispered and rested his hand against her cheek. “Lexi?”

  She didn’t respond as her head lolled against his chest. Blood still seeped from her nose and caked her split, swollen lips. Her nose was three times its normal size and already turning the color of an eggplant. More bruises seeped out from her nose to shadow her closed eyes.

  The imprint of fingers was evident in the black bruises marring her elegant throat. Her neck was swollen and red. More blood streaked her dark auburn hair with its various, brilliant strands of red.

  He cursed the fact Malakai had gotten away. When this was over, he would finish tearing that vamp in half, but he wasn’t going to part from her any time soon.

  He stalked past his shredded clothes, into the day, and toward the manor. He was almost to the house when Sahira emerged from behind the house. She had gloves in hand, dirt streaked her cheeks, and a basket of vegetables hung over her arm.

  She froze when she spotted him, and then her gaze landed on Lexi. When the basket fell from her grasp, tomatoes rolled across the ground, and she stomped them as she ran toward them. She was only a few feet away when she skidded to a stop.

  When her amber eyes flew from Lexi to him, they darkened, and a breeze stirred the air. Some of her mahogany hair had fallen free of her bun; the loose strands started to blow around her face as she drew on the air currents surrounding them.

  “Don’t,” he cautioned when the wind stirred around him.

  Despite only being half witch, she had control over the elements. The breeze intensified as her nostrils flared.

  “Put her down,” she hissed.

  “No. I didn’t do this.”

  Sahira’s eyes practically crackled with fire.

  “I would never do this to her,” he said.

  “Like you’ve never laid a hand on her before.”

  Then her gaze ran over his naked body, and like Medusa’s snakes, her hair whipped around her head. Her words were more of a blow to him than the increasing wind.

  He hadn’t injured Lexi on purpose, but she was right; he had left bruises on her throat when she tried to wake him from a nightmare. But this…

  “I would never do this to her,” he repeated as the wind buffeted him.

  It was a good thing Sahira wasn’t near any flames. Otherwise, she would have tried to torch his ass. If she wasn’t Lexi’s aunt, he would put a stop to her continue
d use of power against him, but she had Lexi’s best interests at heart, she was the only family Lexi had left, and Lexi loved her. Stopping her would turn physical, and he couldn’t let that happen.

  “Malakai did this,” he said and turned away from her.

  He started toward the manor again. No matter how pissed Sahira was at him, she wouldn’t do anything harmful while Lexi remained in his arms.

  CHAPTER 6

  Cole didn’t look back at Sahira as he climbed the steps to the manor. Shifting his hold on Lexi, he opened the door. Sahira arrived at his side as he stepped into the cool, dark interior of the home.

  “Malakai did this?” she demanded.

  “Yes.”

  “Are you telling me the truth?”

  He glanced at her before striding down the hall toward the stairs. “Yes.”

  “I swear if you’re lying to me, if you did this—”

  “I didn’t do this, and I’m not a liar,” he interrupted. “When I get my hands on Malakai, he will pay for it.”

  “I have to gather some of my supplies.”

  She didn’t leave his side as she hovered nearby and peered at Lexi’s face. When she tried to touch her, Cole moved Lexi away without realizing that’s what he intended to do.

  Sahira glared at him; he glared back.

  “What are you doing back here?” she asked.

  “I came back for her.”

  “Why would you do that? She’s not a play toy or a game. I will not let you hurt her.”

  “I’m not going to hurt her.”

  “You already have. Where have you been?” she demanded as they started to climb the stairs.

  He didn’t reply. He owed Lexi answers, not her.

  “Conveniently, you showed up again today, and this is what she looks like,” she said.

  “More like lucky. Where were you when Malakai was attacking her in the barn?”

  “Where was I? Where have you been?” she retorted as he opened the door to Lexi’s room.

  The familiarity of her scent and the memories of their time here almost mollified him. However, nothing was going to calm the lycan while Lexi remained like this. He hit the light switch to chase away the shadows and get a better look at her, but they remained off. The power was out again.