Shadows of Fire (The Shadow Realms, Book 1) by Brenda Davies (chrome ebook reader .txt) 📗

and pulled a couple back to peer out. Birds flittedthrough the limbs of a nearby maple, and a dog lounged in the sunby the barn, but she didn’t see anyone else.

If she could get him into the storm cellarand the tunnels running beneath the property, he could hide thereuntil he healed.

It might be the worst decision she ever made,she already had enough to deal with, but she lowered the branchesback into place and returned to the man’s side. He didn’t move.

He was completely helpless, and if she didn’tact soon, he would also be completely dead.

Grasping his arm, she draped it around hershoulder and slid her arm around his back. Planting her feet, shelifted him from the ground. He moaned, and his head fell back, butwhen she jostled him, it fell forward until his chin rested againsthis chest.

She may be half human, but at least she hadsome immortal strength, and she dragged him toward the edge of thetree with relative ease. With a shaking hand, she pushed aside theleaves to peer out again.

Across the field of green grass, the manorstood a couple of hundred yards away. Modeled after her dad’schildhood home, the estate looked as if it could have stepped outof eighteenth-century England with its gray stone façade, roundedwindows, and five chimneys.

It was far too large for her and Sahira nowthat most of the workers who once lived there had fled, but shewould never give it up. This was her childhood home, her father hadloved the place, and she adored its many rooms, sweepingstaircases, and fairy-tale appearance.

When she was young, Lexi would imagine shewas a queen ruling her subjects or a ghost roaming the halls as sheslipped from one room to the next. Now, she didn’t pretend anymore,but she hoped that if she ever found someone to love, she would oneday raise her children here too.

That was if she didn’t get caught and killedfor harboring a dark fae who was most likely a fugitive.

“I hope you’re not a complete asshole,” shemuttered before hauling him out from under the leaves and dragginghim across the yard.

The storm cellar was only a hundred yardsaway, but it seemed like a mile as she hurried across the openspace while his feet dragged across the ground. To make mattersworse, it felt like it got farther away with every step she took.When she finally made it to the cellar, she dug into her pocket andpulled out the key.

Her eyes darted around, but she still didn’tsee anyone as she shifted his weight before bending to stick thekey in the lock. Her fingers were surprisingly steady as she turnedthe key.

She slid the key back into her pocket andglanced around again. Only the lazy dog remained in view as shepulled open the doors and dragged him into the shadows. His bootedfeet thudded against the steps as she hauled him into thedarkness.

Three feet into the room, she found thestring for the single bulb hanging from the ceiling. Holding herbreath, she pulled it and breathed a sigh when the bulb illuminatedthe damp space.

When she left the manor, the electricity wason, but that hadn’t meant it still was. Since the war, it oftencame and went. It had been more reliable lately as the humansstarted patching pieces of their world back together.

The bulb illuminated the shelves lining thewalls. At one time, supplies packed those shelves, but barelyanything remained.

This wasn’t the best place to leave him, butshe had to. If he was a rebel and lycans were hunting him, theywould track the scent of his blood here. She slid his arm from hershoulders and let him slump against the wall.

She was halfway up the stairs before sherealized that not only was she most likely harboring a rebel, buthe could also be a murderer, a criminal, or something farworse.

Why was she doing this? What was shethinking?

Her heart hammered as she spun back towardhim. She had to get him out of here!

She couldn’t do this. She hated seeingsomeone else die, but she couldn’t put Sahira’s life in jeopardy byallowing this man to stay.

If he were a rebel, he’d stood against herfather. Then, a disturbing possibility occurred to her; hecould have been the one who killed her father.

Running back to his side, Lexi knelt besidehim. She was reaching for him, determined to drag him out of hereand into the woods to let him fend for himself, when his eyescracked open.

“Thank you,” he croaked before passing outagain.

Her hands froze before falling to her side.Her father may have opposed him, but he would never turn away aninjured man, and he would never toss a defenseless man tothe wolves, literally.

He could be the one who killed your dad.

The possibility hit her hard; it was true,but unlikely. And she still couldn’t be responsible for his almostcertain death by turning him away.

She pushed herself away from him and fled upthe stairs before the hunters showed up while she was still sittingin the dark, debating what to do. She locked the doors and left himbehind.

CHAPTER 15

Underneath the willow tree again, Lexi kicked thebloody leaves into the lake to bury the scent of blood on the air.Lifting her knife, she sliced open her palm and let her blood driponto the earth.

Lycans, or any immortal, could detect thescent of blood on the air, but she hoped with his bloody leavesgone, her aroma would mask the dark fae’s. Pushing aside thebranches, she slipped out from beneath the limbs and scented theair as she searched for more of his blood.

She discovered more drops of it, and as shewalked, she used her foot to smear his blood into the dirt whileletting her blood fall onto his. The blood ended at the edge of thelake. Kneeling beside the water, she bent to wash her hands.

Studying the water’s pristine surface, shesearched for anyone else on the shoreline, but she didn’t seeanyone in the shadows of the trees. At least half a mile wide andjust as long, the dark fae could have entered the water anywherealong the shoreline, but she hoped it was from across the lake.

She had no idea how he could