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

When the messenger showed them to this room,he told them they were the Lord’s guests before he closed andlocked the door behind them. Neither he nor his father ever saidanything out loud to acknowledge it, but they were inmates.

So, they passed the time by discussing therealms' mundane politics and the games they played. His fathernever brought up Lexi, and Cole knew it was because he also soughtto keep her secret from the Lord.

This was the Lord’s palace, and even if theycouldn’t see any hearing device, Cole was certain they were somehowbeing listened to. They maintained an air of nonchalance as thedays slipped past. He hoped they were boring their eavesdroppers todeath.

Outside their tower prison, the dragonsroamed the skies while inside it, their bellows reverberated aroundthe stone rooms. Their incessant noise was grating on Cole’s lastnerve.

“Nice match,” his father murmured.

“You weren’t paying attention.”

His father smiled. “You caught me.”

Cole rose and stretched his back beforewalking over to the window. Cool air drifted through the opening inthe stone wall as he stopped before it. The circular tower was atleast a thousand feet in the air, which gave him a fantastic viewof the Dragonian realm.

Despite the dragon’s penchant for destroyingeverything they came across in the other realms, the fieldssurrounding the palace were lush and green. Stretching toward themountains were numerous hills and valleys that rolled across thelandscape.

The brilliant yellow sun sparkled off theglistening lake nestled outside the palace's colossal stone wallswhile dozens of other lakes dotted the land. This beautiful realmbelonged to the dragons who soared through the air and swoopedtoward the earth and mountains.

There were hundreds of them, and they filledthe sky with more abundance than the birds on Earth. And they werefar, far more lethal.

The distant mountains were a different storythan the lushness of the land. Their rocky surfaces stretched sohigh that many of their peaks obscured the pink clouds floatingacross the purple sky.

For the first few days, he’d believed thosemountains were snow-topped. On the fourth day, he’d studied thescenery far more intently. It was then he realized it wasn’t snowbut thousands, if not millions, of bones littering thosepeaks.

The dragons were ravenous creatures.

One of them roared as it soared past thetower. It turned to the side, exposing its underbelly as itreleased a cry that some of its fellow destroyers echoed. The flapof its wings blew Cole’s hair back and ruffled his wrinkled anddirty clothes.

The dragon was making it clear they were notto attempt an escape. They couldn’t fly, but with the dark fae’sability to control air currents, they might be able to navigatetheir way down.

However, their feet would never touch theground before one of those dragons ate them. That knowledge was abit of an escape deterrent.

If only there were some way we could harnessthe dragon’s power and use it for our side. We could defeat theLord then.

He tried to figure out a way to do this whilewatching the magnificent, vicious beasts, but he kept running upagainst a wall. The dragons were bound to this land and the powerof the throne. Since the destruction of all the arachs, the dragonsonly followed whoever sat on that corrupting throne.

There were no arach left in this land, butimmortals from other realms had moved here. The houses of thoseimmortals dotted the landscape, and many of them wandered theroads. They approached or left the massive golden gates set intothe towering, gray stone wall surrounding the palace.

Two dragons sat atop the golden gate. Theyeyed every immortal who entered and exited the courtyard. Mostimmortals ignored them, but a few cast them anxious glances beforewalking a little faster.

Cole rested his hand against the cool walland glanced at the doorway to the small bedroom he’d taken afterarriving here. His father had settled into the room across fromhis. Both rooms were sparsely furnished with only a bed and a smallsink and toilet.

There was no shower, and though they wereprovided food, they weren’t given clean clothes. They also weren’toffered the sexual sustenance dark fae required, but Cole was gladfor that.

He wouldn’t partake even if partners arrivedfor them, and his celibacy would only pique the Lord’s curiosity.And no matter what happened, the Lord could not know aboutLexi. He would use her against Cole if he did.

Neither of them complained about theirconfines or showed their mounting frustration as each day passed,but it was only a matter of time before one of them lost theirpatience.

The Lord of the Shadow Realms ruled over allimmortals, but his father was king of the dark fae, and noone had ever treated him with such blatant disrespect beforeand survived. However, there was little either of them could doabout it while they remained locked away.

If they banged on the door and demanded to bereleased, they would only give the Lord the satisfaction of seeingthem break. But they’d still be trapped here.

No, there was nothing either of them could doexcept play their games and act as if none of this bothered them.Their nonchalant attitude was probably infuriating the crazybastard, which was the only bonus to this whole thing.

As he stared across the verdant land, Colepondered how to get word to Lexi somehow, but he saw no way toreach her. By now, she probably assumed the worst and believed hewasn’t returning. He couldn’t blame her if she did, but she’dfilled his thoughts over the passing days.

Was she safe? The possibility the Lord hadunleashed another attack on Earth, and maybe her manor, caused himto toss and turn all night, as did the memory of her in hisarms.

His hunger was increasing daily, and thosememories only enflamed it, but they also helped him get through thedays. Once they were free, he would return to her, which was theonly thing keeping him calm.

There was also Malakai. Had he returned forher?

Without him there to force Malakai away, shewas far more vulnerable to that prick. A snarl curled his upper lipbefore he suppressed it. He couldn’t think about Malakai or thepossibility Lexi was in trouble; he’d lose his shit if he did.

Boredom, frustration, and barely containedfury had been his constant companions since arriving here, but he’dsomehow managed to keep the