Shadows of Fire (The Shadow Realms, Book 1) by Brenda Davies (free e books to read .TXT) 📕

was reaching for the sword when the faegrinned and ripped the blade free. The rays of the moon shone offthe silver blade with its intricate markings. Dismay filled Colewhen he realized what the sword was made of…

Fae metal!

The only metal that could kill a fae, and thecoward had rammed the blade through Brokk’s heart. It was a lethalwound for a fae.

I’ll rip off his head and shove it down histhroat!

But as the thought ran through his mind,Brokk went to his knees.

No! No! No!

He’d lost too many brothers to this war; hewould not lose another. He caught Brokk before he fellface-first onto the ground. When the fae lifted the blade to bringit down against Brokk’s back, Cole grasped the sword and held itwhile supporting his brother.

Brokk’s hot blood soaked his shirt as thesword bit into his flesh and sliced through his muscle until theblade scoured his bone. The fae tried to rip it away, but Colerefused to relinquish the sword as he yanked it forward.

Not expecting the motion, the fae staggeredforward with the sword. Cole grabbed the fae by his throat. Hisclaws dug into the creature’s flesh as he tore out his throat andthrew it aside.

The fae’s hands flew to what little remainedof his throat as his blood drenched Cole and Brokk. Cole lifted hishand and delivered a staggering backhand that knocked the fae’shead to the side and broke his neck.

Paralyzed by the blow, the fae hit the groundas Cole rose with Brokk in his arms. Cole shifted his hold on hisbrother to pull the sword free of his palm, and twisting the blade,he grasped the hilt and plunged it through the fae’s back and intohis heart. Pinned to the ground, the fae’s fingers clawed at thedirt for a few seconds before he went limp.

Cole turned his attention to where he’d lastseen the remaining lycan, but the beast was gone. He didn’t havethe time to hunt it as Brokk’s body became completely limp againsthim.

Lifting Brokk into his arms, Cole fled intothe night.

• • •

The incessant pounding on the door rebounded throughthe hallway until it became a never-ending crescendo that causedLexi to bolt awake and propelled her out of bed before she realizedshe was moving. Flustered, she spun as she tried to get herbearings.

What was going on? Had the war startedagain?

No, that made no sense. Why would the war bebanging on her door? It never had before.

Realizing she wasn’t making any sense toherself, she struggled to rid herself of her sleep and confusion asthe banging continued.

Who was trying to bang down her door andwhy?

She started to run from her room but skiddedto a halt when an image of Malakai entered her mind. The idea ofhim seeing her in her old T-shirt and nothing else propelled hertoward her closet. Their door was about to come off its hinges, butif it was him, then he couldn’t see her like this.

She yanked open her closet doors and pulledout her robe. She tugged it on and cinched the belt around herwaist before running from her room. From a few doors down anddiagonally across the hall, Sahira was exiting her room.

Their eyes met before Lexi ran for thestairs.

“Elexiandra!” Sahira called sharply afterher.

When she arrived at the bottom of the stairs,Lexi glanced at her aunt over her shoulder.

“You don’t know who’s on the other side!”Sahira called as she descended the stairs after Lexi.

No, she didn’t, but they were banging sorelentlessly that the thick wood door rattled in its frame. Therewas something desperate in that knock, something that propelled herforward even as dread slid down her spine.

The banging reverberated in her head as herhand fell on the knob and her throat went dry.

“Lexi!” Sahira hissed.

She had no idea who was on the other side,but she had to answer it. Something about the frantic pounding madeit impossible to ignore.

After the last time she tried to helpsomeone, she should know better than to do it again. That assholewas still living in her tunnels, but she couldn’t stop herself fromopening the door.

She gasped, and her hand flew to her throatwhen she spotted Cole on the other side. His eyes burned thebrilliant silver of a lycan on the verge of transforming. Bloodslicked his hair, slid down his face, and coated his hands as helifted Brokk toward her.

Lexi’s stomach plunged into her toes as shetook in Brokk’s bloodstained clothes and the gaping wound in hischest.

CHAPTER 28

“I need help,” Cole said in a gravelly voicedistorted by the elongated fangs in his mouth. “I need a witch.He needs a witch.”

Lexi blinked as his words sank in. She turnedtoward Sahira as her aunt rushed forward and stopped when she sawBrokk’s damaged body.

“Please help him,” Cole said.

The pleading and torment in his voice tuggedat Lexi’s heartstrings. She understood his suffering and panic, andshe would do whatever she could to help… even if it bit her in theass again.

“This way,” Lexi said. “Hurry.” She pushedpast her aunt. “Sahira, get whatever you’ll need to help him.”

Her aunt closed her mouth, but her eyesremained wide as she glanced from Lexi to Cole and finally toBrokk.

“Lexi—”

“Close the door and gather your supplies,”Lexi said more sharply than she intended, but she could feel timerunning out, and she couldn’t deal with her aunt’s overprotectivenature now.

Sahira took a deep breath before hershoulders went back, and she shut the door. Lexi was aware shemight be getting herself into more trouble —she had no idea whathappened to them or if their enemies might come knocking on herdoor—but she couldn’t turn them away.

She couldn’t turn Cole away even ifshe harbored his other brother beneath her home.

Cole’s feet thudded on the steps as hefollowed her upstairs. At the top of the steps, she threw open thefirst guest room door she came to and rushed inside. She flipped onthe light switch, and a dim glow filled the room. The electricitywas powered down again, but at least it was working.

When they lost most of their workers, she andSahira closed off all the unused rooms.

Now, she yanked the dust cover from the bedand the table beside it. She balled the covers up and shoved