Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
Auraelia
The hall outside of Xander’s suite was bright and warm, but the dark wood of his door seemed larger than usual. It felt ominous, and she couldn’t bring herself to open it. Not as her anxiety took hold, and thoughts like ‘ what if he’s not actually okay?’ took root.
She stared at the handle as the sound of her pulse thrummed in her ears, her breath turning into quick and shallow pants.
Daemon’s hand was warm as it slid around her waist, pulling her back against him. “Deep breaths, Auraelia. He’s awake. You only need to open the door to see for yourself.”
Auraelia shook her head, her vision blurring as tears lined her eyes. “I—I can’t. I can’t lose him, Daemon.”
“You haven’t lost him, my star. You saved him.”
When she still didn’t move, Daemon pressed a kiss to her temple and tightened his hold. “Do you want me to open it?”
Nodding faintly, Daemon reached out and turned the knob, pushing the door open slowly.
The sound of Xander’s voice filtered out into the hallway, and Auraelia’s heart leaped into her throat. Then she heard him laugh, and tears began to stream down her face.
He’s okay.
“You ready?” Daemon asked softly.
Wiping her tears, she nodded, hating the way her hands trembled as he slipped his arms from around her. Daemon laced his fingers with hers and brought her hand to his lips, a deep-seated understanding in his eyes as he looked at her.
Taking a deep breath, she hesitantly stepped through the doorway.
Xander’s suite was a similar size and layout to her old bedroom. Same floor-to-ceiling windows and bookshelves. Only instead of varying shades of blue, there were browns and ambers. And where she had plush, velvet seating, he had worn, buttery soft leather.
Gently, she pushed the door to his bedchamber open, and what she saw made her heart want to burst out of her chest.
Piper was leaning on the bed, her hands wrapped around one of Xander’s, and the look in her brother’s eyes was one she knew all too well.
It was one she saw in Daemon’s every time he looked at her.
Even when they argued, behind the annoyance or the anger was a longing that even the blind could see—and she had tried to be blind to it for too long.
Deciding that seeing her brother alive and well was enough, Auraelia attempted to back out the door. But when the floor creaked beneath her foot, Xander’s attention turned her way.
“It must be bad if the Queen is coming to my sick bed,” he joked. His voice was low and scratchy, but it was strong and calmed the tumult of her mind.
“Yes, well, I have to ensure everyone in my court is cared for. And it seems like you’re getting the best of the best.” Auraelia jested in return.
Piper flushed at her comment, and when she slowly withdrew her hands from Xander’s, Auraelia watched his smile falter.
“I’ll uh…leave you two to talk,” Piper said to Auraelia before turning back to Xander and whispering something too low for her to hear.
When her friend crossed the room, Auraelia gently grabbed her hand. “You don’t need to leave. Please stay.”
“No, it’s fine. You and Xander need to talk, and I need to eat anyway. You think Liza has anything leftover from dinner?”
“Trust me, there’s plenty. She outdid herself,” Daemon said as he stepped in behind Auraelia.
Piper’s stomach rumbled as if on cue, and she excused herself. But Auraelia didn’t miss the sorrow in Xander’s eyes as he watched her best friend walk away.
Once the door to the suite was closed, Auraelia stalked across the room to her brother. The closer she got, the less she could hold back the tears threatening to spill over since she stepped foot in his room. “Don’t you ever do that to me again!”
“Rae—”
“No. You don’t get to do that. You don’t get to lay there and tell me you’re fine.”
“I am fine, though.”
“You had blood pouring out of your face, Xander! She nearly killed you!” The wall holding back her tears shattered and freely streamed down her face.
“I could have lost you,” her voice cracked under the weight of every emotion that she’d been trying to keep at bay so that she could appear strong to those around her.
The grief she felt for her people. The overwhelming fear that she was going to lose her brother.
The bone-crippling anxiety over what was to come next.
It all bled into every word as she stared down at him.
“I can’t lose you, Xander. I just—I can’t. ”
“Auraelia, I’m right here. I’m okay.”
“But you weren’t. I thought I lost you, just like—” She let her words trail off. No one in that room needed her to finish that sentence, and neither she nor Xander needed to relive that trauma.
Crumpling into the chair at his bedside, Auraelia grabbed his hand and, through her tears, fixed him with a hard stare. “Promise you won’t ever do that again.”
Xander gave her a small scoff. “You know I can’t do that.
” When her eyes narrowed on him, he shook his head and continued.
“I can promise that I won’t go alone and will be better prepared in the future.
But, Auraelia, these are my people, too.
I couldn’t just sit by and do nothing. Not while she laid waste to the city and murdered innocent people. ”
Auraelia nodded. Of course, she understood. Knew she couldn’t blame him when she knew full well that she would have done the same—hell, she did do the same after Daemon got him to safety. And moreover, she was about to do it again.
She needed to talk to Caius.
Wanted to beat him senseless and demand answers. And she knew Xander wouldn’t be happy with what she had in mind.
After a few seconds of silence, Xander cleared his throat. “So you’d bring me back from the dead and kill me all over again?”
Auraelia’s brow quirked in confusion. “What?”
“What you said earlier…about Piper? I heard you.”
“You did?”
Xander nodded, and a rosy hue colored his cheeks. “I wouldn’t do that, you know…hurt Piper. Even without the looming death threat.”
She couldn’t help but laugh. The fact that he was okay and felt well enough to crack jokes was a balm to her nerves. “I know. Just don’t make this a habit, okay? That’s a direct order from your Queen.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” Sarcasm dripped from every word, and he punctuated it with as much of a mock bow as he could from a prone position and a flourish of his hand.
As their laughter died off and silence filled the room once more, Auraelia tried to solidify her plan to meet with Caius. She just needed somewhere that was safe and discreet. It couldn’t be the throne room, and she didn’t feel comfortable having him in the council chambers either.
Just as the solution manifested, Xander’s voice cracked through the quiet. “What are you thinking so hard about over there?”
“What?”
“You’ve got that little wrinkle between your brows that you get when you’re thinking too hard. What is it?”
Shit.
“Nothing you need to worry about, I’ve got it handled.”
“Auraelia.” He ground out her name in the way only an older brother could when they were calling out a sibling on their bullshit.
“I’m really getting tired of hearing my name said like that tonight.”
“Maybe you should stop doing things that get you in trouble.”
Auraelia narrowed her eyes at Daemon before returning her gaze to her brother. “Xander, really. You couldn’t come anyway. You’re in no condition to leave this room.”
“Why would he need to leave the room, Princess?” Daemon asked, pushing away from where he had been leaning against the wall.
Expelling a sharp breath through her nose, Auraelia tried to explain her plan in a manner that wouldn’t upset her brother…and failed miserably.
“You want to do what?” he yelled as he attempted to sit up.
“Xander, please. Lay back down.”
“Like hell am I going to just lay here while you go off and summon that snake.”
“What are you going to do? You can barely sit up. Dammit, Xander.” Standing, Auraelia gently pushed him back against his pillows. “Lay back down!”
“Daemon, please talk some sense into her.”
Daemon scoffed and shook his head. “If you think I’m going to have better luck than you on that front, then you really should stay in bed.”
Groaning, Xander let his head fall back against the pillows. “Why, Rae? Why do you want to meet with him?”
“Because I want to know who Davina’s source is. And I need to know how to take her down.”
“You really think he’s just going to hand that information over?” Xander riposted, raising a skeptical brow.
A cocky grin spread across her face. “I’m not going to give him a choice. I just need you to tell me how to set a trap.”
“What are you talking about?” Daemon asked warily.
Pinching his eyes closed, Xander sighed and explained. “There’s a way to trap someone with runes. The problem is, you have to ward the entire room, so it traps everyone except for the one who wrote them. And I assume you’re not going to let her do this by herself…right?”
Before Daemon could answer, Auraelia cut in. “But you know how to avoid that.”
“Been reading my books, Your Majesty?”
“We had the same tutors, Xander. You just happened to pay more attention to runes than I did.”
Xander scrubbed his hands down his face. He looked more tired than she’d ever seen him, and she hated that she was pushing him on this, but she needed to know in order for her plan to work.
And it had to work.
“Yes, there is a way to avoid it. You’ll need to mark anyone who you want to give the capability of leaving with a rune—”
“Easy enough. Just—”
“Hold on, Rae. It’s not that simple. You have to draw it in your blood, infuse it with your magic, and they have to be willing to accept it. And I’ve heard it’s not a pleasant experience for the receiver.”
“You mean I have to—”
“Yes, Rae. You will have to funnel some of your magic into another person.”
Dread dripped down her spine.
As quickly as her plan had come together, it slowly began to fall apart around her.