In Cole’s IAD world, when a vampire encounters its mate, their cold, dead heart literally begins to beat. There are so many metaphors there, but the sentiment is stunning in its simplicity. It’s like how I described love to then teenaged son several years ago, when you really find it, it just feels different in your heart, it warms your soul and lights up parts you didn’t know were dark.
Of course, Lothaire’s original intentions with Elizabeth are not honorable one single bit. He fully intended to trade her life for power and the possession of the Horde’s crown. He was as blindsided and unprepared as the reader was when Elizabeth triggered something, anything in a heart he thought would never beat. Luckily Cole has the unique ability to pepper in some incredibly humorous moments in with serious times. Some of her best humorous moments come from Nix, she has a funny, somewhat disturbing but hilarious way about her that is anything but subtle. When Nix and Lothaire, two characters that are each equally powerful and possibly older than actual dirt interact, it’s goodness bursting at the seams.
However, while re-reading the book I stumbled upon a perfect example of Cole’s subtle humor and how she uses it to endear our villainous Enemy of Old, Lothaire, to our sensibilities. The power of love from a good woman can cure a lot of what ails you when you open yourself up to the possibilities. It is a love story after all.
“When she absently worried her bottom lip with one of her adorable little fangs, he sighed.
The Enemy of Old fucking sighed.
Dear gods, it’d finally happened to him.
Happiness.
Then his own fangs sharpened I will kill anyone who tries to take this feeling away from me.”