Chapter 24
CHAPTER 24
Jax returned an hour later, all of his friends in tow. Their masks were in place, their bandanas secured. They all wore the same clothes and uniforms as before, but now that I wasn’t so distracted, I had a moment to study them.
Again, it struck me that Phillen’s and Lars’s uniforms appeared to be what guards would wear.
But guards for what? Perhaps hired hands? Regardless of their status, that had to mean Jax was somebody important if he had official guards under his command. He had to be as rich as Guardian Alleron. Or perhaps he was even a ruler of one of the ten Stonewild Houses. It would certainly explain this chamber’s wealth.
But I didn’t have time to contemplate that further before Jax joined me in the sitting area. The other five spanned out around us.
The Dark Raider’s piercing blue eyes once again were reminiscent of the dazzling Adriastic Sea. An intensity illuminated them that reminded me of lightning striking water, and I knew immediately why he was here.
The time had come for him to demand answers and for me to reveal what I’d seen in the Veiled Between. The entire reason he’d taken me had been leading up to this one moment.
Dipping my chin, I looked away, but it didn’t stop a flush from working up my neck. He might be here to demand answers, yet all of my attention still focused on memories of what it felt like to have his hands on me. Images assaulted my mind of his strong fingers trailing up my legs and along my back. They wouldn’t stop.
But they had to.
This was why I was here, and this one act would finally set me free.
I took a deep breath. “You’re probably wanting to know about the male you seek?”
He gave a curt nod. Every part of Jax exuded nervous energy, but despite that, he fell into a relaxed posture on the couch, much like he had this morning when I’d been bedridden. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, and then clasped his hands.
“Very much.” His voice was hoarse, and the aura around him pounded through the room even though he tried to appear nonchalant.
My throat bobbed in a swallow when his anxiety hit me. He’d been waiting for hours to learn the fate of whomever the male was he’d lost, and it was someone he obviously cared for deeply. Yet he’d allowed me time to eat, sleep, bathe, and dress. Nobody had ever awarded me that courtesy before following a calling.
My stomach twisted at the news I had to deliver. “He’s alive.”
A collective intake of breaths went around the room, then a few cheers and pats on one another’s backs came from Jax’s friends.
“I knew it.” Trivan placed his hands on his hips. “I just knew he was still alive.”
“Where is he?” Jax demanded.
I clenched my hands and looked down. “Faewood Kingdom. The Centennial Matches.”
“ What ?”
I shrugged at his soft growl. “I can’t tell you why. I wasn’t able to get those answers, but he’s there, and he’s alive.” I curled my fingers into my palm. “But, the semelees said something isn’t right with him. He doesn’t feel as what you showed me.”
“What does that mean?” Phillen pushed away from the wall, his brow furrowing.
“Your guess is as good as mine. I’ve never had a response from them like that before, and I’m sorry, but I didn’t push them for an answer.” Memories of them pulling me deeper into their realm surfaced, and I shuddered. I hadn’t been strong enough to demand more .
“But he’s alive?” Jax pushed to standing and began to pace.
“Yes.”
“Is he imprisoned?”
I frowned, shaking my head. “No. He’s free.”
Jax shared a look with his friends. It was obvious, even with the masks hiding their features, that this news perplexed them.
“Why hasn’t he contacted you then?” Lars said under his breath, but I still heard it.
Eyebrows slashing together, Jax shook his head, then returned his attention to me. “What else can you tell me about what the semelees revealed?”
“Not much, unfortunately. They showed me where he is.” I went on to describe the arena and construction and the identifying details I’d seen. “I saw those images myself, in real life, just last week. It’s the construction around Faewood’s palace for the Centennial Matches.”
“And he was there, with other half-breeds?”
“He was, and they all looked as despondent as him.”
Jax’s breath hitched, and he shared another conspiratorial look with his friends before asking me, “Can you tell me anything else?”
I described the other structures I’d seen, giving him as much detail as I was able, but even I knew the information I’d garnered wasn’t much to go on. But I’d done as he’d asked. I’d traveled to the Veiled Between and located who he sought.
When finished, I fingered my collar. It’d been calm most of the morning, on account of my sleeping and relaxed state. But now, a shiver ran through it when my nerves pulsed with worry. “As for our deal now being complete...” I said tentatively.
The intensity of his eyes burned. “You’re ready to be free.”
I took a deep breath. I still didn’t know if I was ready, if I would ever be considering what could happen with my collar becoming loosened, but it was now or never. And I chose now. I chose freedom.
“Yes.”
A heartbeat of silence passed. Jax continued to watch me. Silent. Intent. An emotion blazed in his eyes. It was raw. Wild. And it swirled with so much regret that I sucked in a breath.
But in a blink, it was gone.
“Of course. You deserve nothing less than complete freedom and happiness, Elowen.” Absolute sincerity rang in his tone. “You deserve the realm. And I’ll do everything I can to ensure you get that.”
My lips parted. His heartfelt words pierced my soul, but before I could even contemplate a response, he signaled Lars over.
The guard hefted a huge sack of coin that I hadn’t realized he’d been holding and gave it to Jax.
The Dark Raider deposited it at the end of my bed. His throat rolled in a swallow. He wouldn’t look at me, but I could have sworn that something hovered over him. Something that was on the tip of his tongue, that he wanted to say, but.. .
He released the sack and stepped back. “Rulibs, as promised, to begin your new life.”
The full sack dipped the mattress toward it. Heavy coins within it clinked together.
For a moment, I was speechless, then I managed to sputter, “That’s all... mine ?”
Jax nodded. “It’s enough to buy a nice property and whatever else you’ll need to get started. As for leaving this chamber and relaxing the hold your collar has on you, I’ll return with your guardian shortly.” His throat rolled again in another swallow. “And I wish I could help you more, that I could help ensure your freedom is guaranteed”—a swell of power pulsed in his aura—“but it’ll be up to you to venture to the supernatural courts and plead your case for true freedom.” He didn’t elaborate further and instead turned stiffly, then signaled his friends with a nod.
But even though he hadn’t spelled it out for me, I knew what he meant. It was up to me to convince the courts, because we wouldn’t be staying in touch. He wouldn’t help me with the authorities, because Jax and I weren’t actually friends. We wouldn’t stay in one another’s lives. After today, I would never see him again.
I was on my own. And he would be someone I’d known briefly in my life, someone who had come into it as violent as a thunderbolt yet had left me as silently as soft rain.
And realizing that, knowing that he would now only be a memory...Something inside me threatened to shatter .
At the door, Jax glanced at me one last time. I could have sworn that he was trying to control his aura, but pulses from it pounded through the room.
A flash of wildness shone in his eyes anew when our gazes locked, but as before, he snapped his attention away the second we made eye contact.
With stiff movements, he left the room, and all of his friends departed behind him just as quickly.
Alone, the quiet of the extravagant chambers threatened to suffocate me. I sat there, stunned and confused. My heart cracked, and I had no idea why I felt like crying.
A huge bag of rulibs was now mine. Jax would be returning soon with my guardian to release my collar to the extent of his ability. And then he would let me go.
Almost everything I’d ever hoped for was coming true.
So why do I feel so empty?
Hours passed. Hours and hours of pacing and waiting, and pacing some more. The sunlight through the foggy windows grew less intense. Evening had come, yet Jax hadn’t returned, and neither had any of his friends. My soon -to-be release had come and gone.
I paced faster in my gilded cage. The earlier raw emotions that had nearly cleaved me in two had morphed into feelings of impatience and uneasiness .
I thought surely Jax would have returned by now. That, by this time, I would be walking the streets of Jaggedston on my way to the courts, with my loosened collar hopefully under my control.
But he hadn’t come back.
Evening eventually bled into night and then night into morning. I slept fitfully, waking at every little sound, hoping against hope that the ring of the key in the lock would jar me awake. Nothing greeted me but the sound of my breathing, the bells in the capital beginning to toll, and the pounding of my heart that wouldn’t stop its erratic beat.
Yet Jax still didn’t come.
When the sun was fully risen, my pacing continued. Up and down. Up and down. I walked across the chambers back and forth in hurried strides, eating up the carpet like a ravenous beast.
But no matter how fast I walked, no matter how hard I wished for Jax to come back—he didn’t.
And then one day turned into two. And two days turned into three.
Yet Jax still didn’t come.
On the afternoon of the third day, I thought for certain I was going to jump out of my skin. The waiting was suffocating. Debilitating. And the terror in me grew that I’d been tricked and left to rot, or simply made to wait until the Dark Raider needed another calling.
Because, as the days passed, my belief that I was Jax’s prisoner grew. Jax had lied to me and deceived me completely, even though I thought we’d made a truce and had agreed upon a deal.
But I knew now he was never going to let me go.
The enchanted room seemed to sense my soul-lashing anxiety. Each morning, soft music would abruptly start playing. Flickering candles would appear hovering in mid-air. Fragrant scents of new bouquets of flowers would tickle my nose.
But no matter what calming and soothing ideas the enchantment thought up next, it did nothing to relieve my anxiety.
Three days had passed with nothing but the enchantment to keep me company with its trays of food and vases of perfumed flowers. Yet I couldn’t eat. Could barely sleep. Could hardly function.
Yet Jax still didn’t come.
By the time evening rolled around, the bells chiming five rings strong, I’d bitten my nails to the quick, a habit I’d had as a child when Guardian Alleron had pushed me too vigorously to learn my lorafin magic. There’d been so many times when I’d never been able to please him, and I’d taken out that anxiety on myself. I thought I’d beaten that habit, but with the promise of a fourth day coming, I’d bitten my nails down to nothing.
Yet Jax still didn’t come.
Nostrils flaring, I went to the door for what felt like the hundredth time. Of course, it didn’t budge when I tried to unlock it. I tried again, using one unlocking spell after another, calling upon the most intricate spells I’d ever learned, but as before, the lock stayed engaged.
“Stars and galaxy!” I howled and kicked the door. “Let me out of here!”
I spun and pressed my back to the solid frame, then lowered myself to the floor. A sob shook my chest. A giant fist squeezed my heart.
There was no way for me to escape. Not until Jax chose to free me, which he apparently was never going to do.
Shivers raced down my spine, dancing across my skin like icy fingers.
I need to get out of here .
And when the bells in the capital chimed six, an idea came to me like a flash of lightning. I bolted upright, my heart leaping into my throat.
There potentially was a way for me to unlock this door.
If I was willing to pay the price.