The man didn’t move again.
“Miss?”
Lexi jumped when someone spoke from behind her. She spun away from the window to discover Amaris standing in the doorway of the empty room Lexi occupied. She’d searched the palace until she found a room she could enter that would give her a good view of the battle.
“Ye-yes?” Lexi whispered tremulously.
“Miss, why don’t you come away from the window?”
“Call me Lexi.”
“Lexi then, please come away from the window. You shouldn’t watch this.”
“No, I shouldn’t, but I’m going to.”
Lexi turned back to the window and rested her hands on the stone sill as she leaned out to watch. The growing flames and moonlight illuminated the bodies littering the field. Horses ran through and over those bodies while the injured tried to crawl away.
The blood soaking the ground had turned it from a vibrant green to a gruesome maroon. Horses were down amongst the fallen fae; their screams mingled with the cries of the wounded and dying.
She’d never heard such sounds before and hoped never to hear them again.
Her nails dug into the stone as one of the fae nearest Cole unleashed a dagger. It spun through the air before embedding in the wolf’s shoulder. It had to hurt, but it didn’t stop him from tearing the head off the fae he’d smashed into the ground.
Cole spit out Fiadh’s head and spun on Durin and Nissa. One down. Two more to go.
“No!” Nissa screamed.
She lunged forward, but her fighters fell between them to keep her separated from Cole. He’d lost his clothes when he transformed, but he didn’t care. All he cared about was destroying these fuckers.
“I’ll kill you!” she shrieked.
Cole transformed, and as he rose, he ripped the dagger from his shoulder. A hot rush of blood poured down his back, soaking his flesh. As he turned the blade before him, he wasn’t surprised to discover it was fae metal.
Hefting the weapon in his hand, he lifted his head and smiled at Nissa as the rebels charged at him. He didn’t throw the blade at them; it would find its home in Nissa. He’d entered this battle without fae metal, but if one of his enemies were stupid enough to use a fae metal weapon against him and lose it to him, then it was only fair they got it back through their heart.
The charging rebels were almost to him when he sank Nissa’s blade into the ground and knelt to rest his fingers on the earth. He drew forth the shadows surrounding him and smiled when they slid over his flesh; his attackers were nearly to him when he vanished, reclaimed the blade, cloaked it, and danced away before they arrived at where he’d been.
They gazed around in confusion as they skidded to a halt in the spot where he once stood. He didn’t set the shadows within himself free; there were too many here who would report what they saw to the Lord if he did.
He’d done what any other dark fae could, but he’d cloaked himself in shadows far faster and more thoroughly than any of them. Not only that, with the amount of power he possessed, none of these assholes could see him. A dark fae stronger than another could see through their cloaking, but he was more powerful than anyone else in this realm.
Moving faster than a shadow fleeing the light, he reclaimed his father’s sword and its sheath. Their eyes swung toward him as he lifted the sword, but it was only a couple of inches off the ground before it vanished too. He slid the sword into the sheath and swung it onto his back.
With the stealth of a spirit slipping through the night, he came up behind one of the rebels and plunged the blade straight through his heart. As the man went down, Cole caught the sword he’d been holding and turned it over.
The flames caught and reflected off the pristine metal forged by the hands of a dark fae. And the dark fae were the best weapons makers in all the realms. They were also the only ones who melded dark fae metal, which was exactly what this man held.
All of the rebels were wielding fae metal.
The betrayal of that was a worse sting than the rebellion. Even if it infuriated him, he could understand this uprising. Powerful men and women, who sought revenge for the death of their brother and who believed they should be the ones to lead, engineered it.
But using the only weapon that could kill a dark fae against their kind—this breaking of the unwritten rule—was something far worse.
And he would make them pay for it.
They couldn’t see him, but the rebels saw the fae going down as blood spread across his chest. They spun and started coming toward him, but he darted to the side and away from them before they could arrive.
The rebels stopped moving and exchanged uneasy looks. Even if he weren’t completely silent in his movements, the screams of the dying and the crackle of the flames would hide them. He sliced the head from one of the fae before driving the dagger through the heart of another.
“Unleash the arrows!” Durin commanded and pointed at the fae he’d just slain.
He didn’t have enough time to get out of the way of a volley of arrows as many of the rebels pulled crossbows free from their sides and lifted them. Wrapping his arm around the throat of a rebel, Cole jerked his body around to use as a shield.
The twang of the arrows releasing was barely audible over the sounds of the battle, but they rang in Cole’s ears. The fae struggled in his hold, but as the arrows pummeled his body, his resistance faded until he went limp in Cole’s arms.
Continuing to hold the limp body, Cole ran at the men with the crossbows. From behind them, Niall and a group of the king’s army came into view. Bloody and battered, they still released a bellow as they charged toward the rebels, Durin, and Nissa.
“The arrows are fae metal!” Cole shouted.
He threw down the dead dark fae and spun to wave his hand at the circle of fire that originally imprisoned him. Now that his enemies had become distracted and given up their control of the fire, he could seize it.
When the flames jumped out of the way, they created an opening that allowed more of his men to spill free. As soon as they emerged, Cole released the shadows to reveal himself.
It was him these traitorous bastards wanted most, and he would not let his men suffer and die while he remained hidden.
Chapter Five
“No,” Lexi whispered when the shadows peeled away to reveal Cole.
She couldn’t take much more of this uncertainty. She couldn’t stand to see him out there, surrounded by so many enemies and exposed to them again. Her fingers dug into the stone of the windowsill as she chewed on her bottom lip.
She’d hated not being able to see Cole, but she hated seeing him more.
“Miss,” Amaris said. “I mean, Lexi. Please, come away from the window. It will be better for you.”
When Amaris grasped her arm, Lexi pulled it away. “I have to go down there.”
Lexi spun away from the window and ran from the room. Her booted feet barely hit the floor as she raced down the hallway. She had no idea what to do; she couldn’t go onto the battlefield. She’d never survive and would probably get Cole killed if she did something foolish, but she couldn’t stand there and watch anymore either.
Once on the stairs, she moved so fast she tripped over her feet and only managed to keep herself from plummeting to the bottom by throwing herself against the wall. Catching her balance, she paused for only a second before continuing down the stairs.