Chapter 27
Zara
My eyes shot open, the thumping of my heart pounding against my ribs at a frantic rhythm. The pumping, thudding of it resounding in my ears, filling the empty silence of the cell.
Lana… It wasn’t right. It wasn’t fair. Her entire life she had been tortured, beaten. She never truly lived. She was fighting for a life with her mate that she wouldn’t be able to see.
Her fate and mine were the same… Morgana would either control us or her death would kill us. There was no escape from it.
The fear and sorrow I'd witnessed in Lana's eyes as she fled now haunted me. At least I'd always known my fate, come to terms with it. But Lana… she had hope. Hope for a better life with her mate.
A tear traced a path down my cheek, and I let it fall, followed by another and another, until the overwhelming emotions breached the dam I'd built my entire life.
Fear, hopelessness, guilt, rage racing to the surface.
It crashed over me like an icy wave, and I pulled my knees into my chest, my body convulsing as tremors raked through me.
The Fates had already shown me how this would end, and I was foolish to think it could be any different.
In every vision they showed me, Morgana won, and everyone I knew or dared to care about had been dead.
And this memory Xavier had shown me was only confirmation of that.
There was no life after this, for any of us.
Knowing now the truth of who Morgana truly was. What she was capable of. This world, and all others, were doomed, and nothing and no one would be able to stop her.
*
Something silky caressed across my cheek, and my eyes fluttered open. I must have fallen asleep, and I yawned, my eyes breaking open, still swollen from crying. I blinked through my haze and realized I was standing.
Curved black marble surrounded me, a domed glass ceiling stretching high above. The moon shone through the glass, casting the ballroom in a dim light. The dark, empty room was silent except for the soft clinking of something near the dais.
I blinked again, my confusion washing away as my gaze settled on the reason I was here.
A wide, brooding figure slumped on one of the thrones and my gaze landed on Xavier.
He sat with his legs spread wide, a crystal glass of amber liquid perched on his knee.
He clutched it tightly as he swirled the glass, the soft chiming of the ice echoing in the room.
His gaze was fixed on it, and his forehead was creased as if he were deep in thought.
Reaching through our bond, I slammed against that damn barrier again, but I could feel his grief, his anger flowing past it.
Dark, inky hair shadowed his face, which rested on a clenched fist. The silken shirt he wore was open, revealing the sculpted lines of his chest and the rippling edges of his abs.
My gaze lingered there, and I frowned as I noticed the usual golden hue of his skin held no color, as if it had been sucked from him.
The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up as usual, and in the dim light, his tattoo looked nearly black, winding around his arm like a snake.
The air was thick with his magic, and my mouth parted as I noticed his shadows seeping from him, falling onto the floor.
They merged with the already twisting shadows the thrones cast, and they came alive as they slithered across the floor like vines.
It gave the illusion the floor was cracking, splintering, and I swallowed thickly as I continued to stare at him, my gaze roaming over his taut muscles, his shadowed face.
He wore no shoes, and his disheveled hair stuck out at odd angles, as if he had been pulling at it.
“This is your grand plan to defeat Morgana, then. Pouting in the dark?”
Xavier startled, his glass crashing to the floor as he stood from the throne, a dagger already in his palm. His emerald eyes locked onto mine, and the wild, gleaming violence that shone in them faded.
My body had been nothing but a silhouette of shadow, much like how he had appeared to me at Atticus’s mansion. I watched with a smirk as my body began to solidify, and I cut my gaze back to his. Xavier narrowed his eyes on me, and I had a sneaking suspicion he didn’t know he had summoned me.
“Thinking of me?” I purred, taking a cautious step forward.
Xavier let out a low growl from deep in his throat as he spat. “Go back to the dungeons.”
I shrugged. “I would, but unfortunately my hands are tied, or rather my ankle.”
Xavier's brows pinched, and I lifted my ankle that held that damn charm, its metal catching the light. I watched as Xavier’s eyes dipped toward it, and I took a few more cautious steps toward him, giving him a taunting smile.
The look of disgust twisting across his features, however, soured my stomach and the smile fell away from my face as I stopped walking.
His gaze slowly lifted back to my face, and we stared at each other unmoving for what felt like a lifetime.
Whispering softly, I asked, “ Are you okay?”
His scowl deepened. “What do you think?” He gestured to the shattered glass at his feet and the glass reformed, shooting into his outstretched hand. Amber liquid rose within its contents, conjured by the castle's magic, no doubt.
“I didn't know you cared about my sister this much,” I said through gritted teeth, my anger returning as quickly as it had vanished. The words felt like ash in my mouth, the truth of what he had to do slicing through me in a sharp stab of grief.
“This isn't about her,” he growled, sinking back onto his throne.
I stalked to the bottom of the dais, only the few steps up separating us now as I looked up at him. “Your mother, then?” His emerald eyes pierced mine as he took a long sip of his drink, glaring over the rim. He was silent, his glass settling back on his knee. “Only she isn't your mother is she?”
“Go away, Zara,” Xavier snarled, his grip tightening around his glass.
“No, that’s not it either. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here,” I growled, glaring up at him through my lashes. Xavier stood abruptly, but I only raised my chin. “Why did you bring me here Xavier?”
Xavier didn't respond and I scoffed. “I’m as good as dead. There’s no saving me, Xavier. After everything that’s happened, I don’t deserve to be in your thoughts. You shouldn’t care, shouldn’t even think of me at all.”
Xavier materialized before me with such suddenness that I gasped.
I tried to step back, but his palm met my lower spine, keeping me in place. His lips were a breath away, and my lungs filled with the scent of whiskey, and citrus.
“I can no more stop thinking of you than I can stop breathing.” Xavier whispered the words, but he spoke them harshly, his eyes boring into mine with an intensity that bordered on manic. “You are mine. I will always think of you, crave your nearness, even when I do not want it.”
His hand released my back, and he moved away from me, but not far. My flesh burned where he had touched me, and I tried to ignore the color rising in my cheeks. I breathed in deeply, but that was a fucking mistake. His scent filled my lungs, his anger, his grief, but most potent of all—his desire.
“And that’s what you don’t understand, Zara.
Haven't gotten through that thick, stubborn, fucking skull of yours.” Xavier growled, raising the glass to his lips again and draining its contents.
It disappeared a moment later, and he moved an inch closer.
He didn’t reach for me, though, and his broad chest filled most of my vision.
Shadows danced across his face, and a shiver ran through me.
“I wouldn’t stop wanting you even if you killed everyone I ever loved, my entire fucking kingdom.
” His palms snapped out, wrapping around my upper arms, but I didn’t move.
I couldn’t. I was trapped in some kind of trance, unable to breathe.
“I wouldn’t stop fighting for you, for us, if it meant damning everyone else in the process.
” He laughed cruelly. “And that. That Zara is the fucking problem.”
I flinched, yet I couldn't bring myself to look away. He pulled me closer until my chest met his, his face hovering mere inches from mine. A part of me wanted to run, to shove him away and never look back, but I remained frozen, captivated by him and his words.
“You're selfish,” Xavier snapped, and my palm shot out towards his face before I could stop myself. It landed with a smack on his cheek, and Xavier's eyes only burned brighter as they slowly met mine again.
My heart hammered, my breath coming in ragged gasps.
“But the thing is, love, so am I.”
My breath hitched as his hand tangled in my hair, dragging me until my lips met his.
Our teeth clashed as he pulled me closer, our mouths bruising under the forceful pressure.
His other hand found my thigh, lifting me until my legs instinctively wrapped around his waist. He let go of my hair, his hand sliding to my waist, while his other gripped my chin, tilting my head back.
His tongue plunged into my mouth, our tongues meeting in a heated exploration as we kissed with a fevered passion that ignited me from the inside out.
Xavier was moving, but I really wasn’t paying attention to anything but his mouth, his hands as they gripped me harder, holding me to him in a bruising vise.
I thought we were falling, and my mouth flew open in a gasp as my knees hit something hard.
I pulled back for a moment and saw that I was now straddling him on the throne.
Our eyes met, and he had a wild look in his eyes as they fixed on my lips.
He still had a brutal grip on my chin, and he wasted no time in pulling me back toward his mouth.
His cock was hard and pressing into me through his pants at my core. I rocked my hips as our mouths met again, and he let out a low purr that vibrated through my bones.
What was happening? My body ignited with his kiss, his touch, but fear quickly flooded me as I waited for him to realize this was a mistake.