Taraeth stopped in front of him. “You using logic? You’re my right hand because of your vicious skills. If I wanted logic, I’d ask myself a question.”
Balladyn lowered his eyes, lest the king see the hatred and anger he couldn’t hide.
“Kill the cowards,” Taraeth said as he turned and started walking away. “I don’t want weaklings in my army. Come along, Balladyn. If you want to keep your place as my right hand, then I suggest you get there.”
Balladyn looked over his shoulder to the doorway. Rhi would have to wait.
* * *
It was the screams that startled Lexi. She jerked awake, thinking it was just a nightmare after the battle she had witnessed in Edinburgh. Then another scream sounded.
Lexi jumped up, holding onto the blanket tightly, and rushed to the door of the office. She peered through the window. No one could be seen. She didn’t know how long she had been sitting there since the old man left her, but she was sure he hadn’t returned.
She grasped the handle and slowly turned it until it opened. Lexi stepped out of the office, leaving the door ajar just enough in case she had to rush back inside.
Huge copper vessels filled the building. The heat was oppressive as steam rose from the stills. The concrete was cool beneath her bare feet, but the machines made it difficult to hear anything.
Lexi walked the length of the building, looking behind her often. There wasn’t a soul in the place. The screams had stopped as well, making everything eerily quiet.
She spotted a door and rushed to it while holding the blanket in place. A glance through the glass showed that the rain was still coming down. By pressing her face against the glass, she could see there was a structure across from her and one on either side.
Lexi walked out of the building but stayed beneath the overhang of the door. In the States there would be concrete everywhere, but not here. In order for her to go anywhere, she was going to have to walk on rocks.
An inner clock pressed her, urged her to hurry. There was no time to go back and get her shoes or put on her wet clothes.
Lexi looked at the buildings around her. She would need to choose one. Hopefully she would find someone who could help her.
She decided to go right and was halfway to the building when there was a scream cut short. Lexi whirled around, cutting her foot on a rock. It wasn’t like she went looking for danger. Well, that wasn’t exactly true. She did when she followed the Dark.
There was a part of her that told her to run and hide. But another part of her, the part that had seen Thorn risk his life for her and others, insisted she help whoever was in need.
Lexi adjusted the blanket so that it covered both of her shoulders. The water beaded on the wool and rolled off. She stayed close to the building and retraced her steps before continuing on.
The more she walked, the more she could hear moans and crying. She reached the last building and looked around the corner to see yet another structure. It was much smaller with lots of windows.
There was a sign that labeled it a shop. As Lexi looked at it, a window suddenly exploded. She instinctively turned her head away. When she chanced another peek, she saw a body lying on its side away from her, unmoving.
The laughter that came from inside the shop chilled her. She knew that sound. It was Dark Fae.
A hand grasped her above her elbow, squeezing hard. She whipped her head around and found herself staring into Dark Fae eyes.
“Come join the party,” he said in his thick Irish accent and yanked her after him.
Pain lanced through Lexi as she had to run to keep up with him. The rocks jabbed her tender feet, and his hold pinched her arm.
He opened the glass door to the shop and threw her inside. Lexi lost her balance while trying to keep the blanket around her and fell to the floor, sliding on something slick.
She sat up and saw the dark stain on the floor. Lexi turned her hand over and saw it was covered in blood.
“I found another, Gorul,” the Dark said.
Lexi wiped her hand on the blanket and got to her feet to get away from the blood. It was everywhere. She saw the two dead people and tried to get away, only to find another.
She glanced around and saw a group huddled in the back crying in fear and moaning from desire while looking at the Dark as if they hoped they were chosen next. Whisky bottles were smashed everywhere, with the golden liquid dripping to the floor from the shelves.
Lexi spotted three women who weren’t acting like the others. They watched the Dark as if they knew exactly what they were. One of the women met her gaze. Lexi looked into her coffee brown eyes. Her auburn hair was straight and cut to her chin.
“I recognize you.”
The Irish accent brought her attention back to the Dark. As soon as Lexi looked at him, rage bubbled inside her. She knew his face. She had seen it over and over again whenever she thought of Christina.
The one who had brought her in chuckled. “She looks right angry.”
Gorul smiled. “So she does. How do I know your face?”
Lexi wished she had the knife Thorn had given her. How she longed to plunge it in his heart. But it was with her clothes.
“There’s death in her eyes,” said a third Dark, who kicked one of the dead on the floor as he passed.
Gorul walked to her. He tapped a finger on his chin as he stopped directly in front of her before walking around her. His shoulder touched hers, and she quickly jerked away.
“You should be on your knees by now,” he said, his red eyes narrowing.
Lexi rolled her eyes and looked away. His fingers gripped her chin and jerked her head back to him. He snarled as he leaned his head close.
“Sucks when things don’t go your way, doesn’t it?” she asked sarcastically.
He blinked and suddenly released her, smiling as he took a step back. “I knew it would come to me. You were one of the American girls in the pub. I chose the other one.”
“Chose?” Lexi asked, her voice rising. “You didn’t choose her, you insane freak. You killed her!”
Gorul’s smile grew. “She begged me for it. She couldn’t get her clothes off fast enough. After I had her a few times, I turned her over to my friends,” he said and motioned to the two men on either side of him.
It was bad enough to think one Dark had killed Christina, but to know that multiple Fae had taken her made Lexi want to be sick.
“I’m going to kill you,” she promised Gorul. She looked at the other two. “All of you.”
“A human?” the third Dark asked with a snort. “Not likely.”
Gorul looked her up and down. “She’s immune to us.”
“Impossible,” said the Dark who brought her in.
“Look at her,” Gorul ordered.
Lexi gave them her most disgusted look. “You dare to come to this planet and think you can take it over. You dare to make us crave you, using us for food. You lost a war here once. You’re going to lose again.”
Gorul didn’t frown as she had hoped. Instead, he looked like he had just won the lottery. He clapped his hands. “Do you know what we have in front of us, lads? We have a prize of the first order.”
“Because she knows what we are?” asked the third one.
Gorul grabbed the back of her hair and yanked down until Lexi had no choice but to go to her knees. She refused to cry out. She poured as much hate into her gaze as she could and stared at the bastard.
“We have a mate of a Dragon King,” Gorul said.
CHAPTER
THIRTY-FOUR
Thorn carried the last of the dead Dark off the street just as the emergency officials arrived. He went to the warehouse and dumped the body where Darius was already in dragon form burning the remains. Thorn then walked outside to join the others.
“What a day,” Phelan said.
Aisley leaned back against the warehouse and nodded. “I thought we’d have made some sort of dent.”
“Rest while you can, because it’ll get worse tonight,” Con said.
Larena sat on a crate. “I didn’t realize there were so many Dark.”