Chapter 19
CHAPTER 19
I sat in a world of black silence. It felt like time took on no meaning in this bottomless void I’d been plunged into. As promised, as soon as the sounds of the city grew near, Jax had muttered another apology, and then he’d robbed me of hearing too.
With only my sense of touch, scent, and taste left, I clung to them, desperately soaking up every detail that I could decipher.
Phillen, in his stag form, continued to shift beneath me. Each time he moved, my legs tightened in worry that I’d fall off despite Jax’s steady grip.
Scents of a crowded city eventually came. I could tell when we passed a salopas—the aroma of wheat brewed in the air. And I knew when we passed a shop that sold leather products due to the rich fragrance of tanned hide swirling around us .
Other sensory clues came as well. The feel of Jax’s breathing. The pounding of his heart. The steady way he held me, or how his body turned tenser and more rigid with every step we took.
I had no idea where Jax was taking me or why it was clouded in mystery, but I clung to his promise that this was temporary and that he wouldn’t leave me in this state, even if I was a fool to believe that too.
I had no idea how long it’d been since he deprived me of sight and sound, but it felt like hours even though I guessed it wasn’t.
Still, I wasn’t ready for the feel of my hearing to return. Out of nowhere, sound came flooding back.
I gasped, and Jax’s arm held me steady, then the press of his lips came to my ear. “We’re here.”
I trembled in his arms. My sight was still gone, and I struggled to understand this clandestine arrival or why he would allow me hearing but not eyesight.
“Now what’s happening?” I hated that my voice shook. You’re weak, Elowen, so weak.
“We’re going inside.”
“Inside where , Jax?”
“Shh, please keep your voice down.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to do the exact opposite, but his arm tightened around my stomach. “Elowen, I can only allow your voice if you stay quiet.”
My lip curled in a sneer. “You’re going to take that too? ”
“Please don’t make me.”
His low warning had me snapping my mouth closed. It was quickly becoming apparent to me that here in Stonewild’s capital, Jax feared something or someone—so much so that he didn’t want me to potentially alert his presence to any fae passing by. And maybe it was in my best interest to also heed that plea. For all I knew, if the kingsfae found us, they would shoot their deadly arrows first and ask questions second. I could be dead before I knew it.
“Do I have your word you’ll stay quiet?”
My nostrils flared, but I gave a sharp nod.
He swung off Phillen, then helped me dismount. From the sounds of it, someone was helping Guardian Alleron down too.
Distant sounds of a street made my head cock. We weren’t far from the city’s bustle, and a soft breeze flew across my cheeks. I knew we were still in the capital. The city’s scents hadn’t abated even once .
“You need to follow me, but stay quiet. If you don’t, I’ll be forced to?—”
“I know.” I bristled at his promised threat, yet a part of me ached at what his warning implied. Gone was the Jax I’d been traveling with during the past few days. The one who protected me, spoken with me, slept beside me .
This Jax was entirely guarded and cold, but perhaps this was the real Jax, and the one I’d been journeying with had been a figment of my imagination.
The Dark Raider clasped my hand, his large palm closing over mine. The sound of a door opening came next, and then he led me down a dank stone walkway.
I knew it was stone from the instant humidity and coolness that pressed around me. Sure enough, several times I reached out, and my fingers met cold rock.
The sounds of the city fell away. Footsteps, from who I assumed were his friends and Guardian Alleron, came from behind us. We were in a tunnel, moving underground. Dank air swirled around us. Musty scents of water and mold flooded my senses. Without my sight, I tried as hard as I could to decipher where we were and what Jax had planned, but I couldn’t.
His hand squeezed mine. “Not much farther.”
My feet shuffled along the rough path, then we were moving upward, my breaths becoming winded as the climb grew steeper.
“There are steps here.”
My shin knocked into the first one, and I cursed.
A hiss came from Jax. “On second thought, I’ll carry you.”
Before I could respond, Jax swung me up in his arms. His spicy scent flooded my senses more potently than it ever had before.
And then we were flying.
His shifter magic gave him superior strength and speed, making us move faster than a normal fairy. Wind flowed over my cheeks, and I clung to him, desperately clinging to his solid form as the dark world turned around me .
“Jax?” That stupid fear was still in my voice, but I desperately needed answers.
“Almost there.”
We reached the top of the stairwell, the only clue to it being his abrupt stop. He shifted, his arm moving from beneath me. Another door creaked open, and a strong wash of magic prickled my skin when we stepped over a warded barrier, but after we passed through it, the dank humidity fell behind us. Rustling sounds came again, and then we were walking.
Jax turned and turned again. He did it all so fast that I couldn’t tell if we were in another tunnel or hall or if he was purposefully moving in a way as to disorient me.
Another door opened and closed, and with a start, I realized that Lander, Bowan, and the other males’ footsteps had disappeared.
“Are we alone?” I whispered.
“We are.” Finally, Jax set me on my feet. “You’re going to stay here for now.”
“Where’s here?”
“You’ll see in a minute.”
Uneasiness crept through me, and I wrapped my arms around myself. “What is this place, Jax? What’s going on?”
Sorrow filled his tone when he replied, “It’s a bedroom chambers. It’s safe for you. You’ll stay here until I can meet with you and Guardian Alleron again. Once you locate who I’m seeking, I’ll let you go and command your former guardian to permanently relieve you of that collar to the best of his ability. I promise.”
But for the first time, his words didn’t ring true. I wrapped my arms even tighter around myself. “What aren’t you telling me, Jax? Why are you hiding everything from me? Why are you doing this to me?”
His voice turned grim. “I’ll be back soon.”
The sound of a door came, and I swirled around. In a whisper of magic, my sight returned.
I started. Everything was suddenly as clear as day. Jax had lifted his magic in a heartbeat, and he’d done it after he left because I was alone.
I swung in a circle, taking in the bedroom chambers. Large windows soared to the ceiling on one side of the room, allowing sunlight to stream in, but the glass was foggy and distorted. Even though light bled through it, I couldn’t see out.
And nobody could see in.
A large bed stood to the side of me, its frame ornate, the bedding plush and soft. It reeked of wealth. Across the room, through a large arched doorway, was a sitting area filled with couches and chairs. Other doors were also in the room that led to who knew where.
I nearly stumbled as I searched for where Jax had gone.
I raced to the door nearest me and yanked on the handle.
Locked.
I whispered an unlocking spell and then another and another. The lock didn’t budge .
Pulse quickening, I raced to the next door and yanked on that one too. It opened, and I nearly stumbled since I’d pulled so hard. But it was only a massive wardrobe, empty of clothes or shoes. I flew to the next one. An elegant bathing chamber in pristine whites and soft blues stood before me. A clawed foot bathtub sat in front of another foggy window.
Shaking, I went back into the bed chamber, then the sitting area. I explored every area, learned every turn, studied every detail, and it soon became apparent I was in a suite. A large, grand suite, but no matter how hard I tried to find a way out, I couldn’t. The two doors that I suspected would lead me to another part of this house were both locked, and no locking spell I tried undid them, not even the more complex ones I’d been taught.
It seemed Jax had learned a thing or two about my magic since my escape in Lemos.
Staggering, I turned away from the door in the sitting area, finally giving up on my unlocking spells. I pitched forward and nearly vomited at the panic that was consuming me.
The Dark Raider took one’s senses so easily, as easy as a thought on the breeze. His magic was that strong. That powerful. And he’d just locked me in this chamber as though I was his captured lorafin after all.
Worst of all, he’d made no mention of when he was coming back.