Page 47 of Queen of Wrath

Even as thoughts of revenge fluttered through my mind, I was getting to work on the illusory miracle potion that was supposed to practically bring someone back from the brink of death—which I had to mix on intuition alone.

After taking a few ingredients from the pouch and quickly blending them, I let my essence flow into the mixture to activate it. With my other hand, I popped the cork off the vial of the already finished healing potion I had on hand, and threw the new ingredients into it.

I lifted it to see how the color of the liquid changed from blue to deep magenta. This was what I had to come up with on the fly. I hoped it worked.

I’ll prove it to you—you didn't break me, Jax.

“Open your mouth.”

He was already too weak to respond, so I pinched his chin and forced him to drink every last drop.

“Ican't believe word traveled so fast! I thought surely it would take a few months, at the very least, to get noticed—but whatever you created was so diabolical it’s featuring nonstop on every freaking news channel as if nothing else is going on in the world right now!” Rowan cackled with excitement as she held out her drink. “I'm going to be honest, with how rocky our start was, I wasn't sure this was going to work. Boy, did you prove me wrong!”

I forced a smile and clutched the drink she’d poured me in both hands.

My eyes fell to the bottom of the glass, watching how the bubbles rose slowly and died out when they reached the surface.

“Hey, what's wrong with you? This is exactly what you wanted. We're taking down the bad guys one huge embarrassment at a time.” Rowan sat forward and frowned, placing her drink on the table in front of her.

“There’s something I haven't told you yet.” I couldn't even bring myself to look into Rowan's eyes. I knew she was going to be disappointed in me. “It appears Diesel went a little crazy after finding out what we did to his potions. He went to Jax's home and beat him within an inch of his life. Jax came to me looking for help…”

Rowan leaned closer, lending me her ear. She urged in a calm demeanor, “Go on.”

“I had the option of killing him. He was unconscious right in front of me. It wouldn’t have been hard… But I couldn't do it.” I looked up at her with an apology in my eyes. It was all I could offer. “Even after everything he did to me, I still chose to let him live.”

A tear escaped from my eye and I quickly wiped it away. I hated this feeling of weakness coiling inside of me.

Rowan threw her head back and sighed. “That's such a relief to hear.”

“What?” There was no way I’d just heard her say she was relieved! “Is it a good thing?”

She looked back down at me, revealing a dazzling smile. “Of course it is, you dummy,” she laughed. “It proves that, even after everything you’ve been through, you’re not an evil person. You proved that you’re much stronger than that.”

Rowan waited for her words to sink in for a few moments before she continued, “And whether you intended for it or not, you made a decision for the greater good. All of Anterra thanks you!”

I huffed a surprised laugh. “You're going to have to walk me through that one.” My mind was still reeling from her reaction.

“Think of it this way. If you killed him, then he would have died a martyr. No one would ever know what he truly did. And what's worse, those people he put in prison would remain there. If he stays alive long enough for us to at least expose him, then those people stand a fighting chance of being released. You may not fully understand why it was the right decision, but you followed your heart, and it certainly didn’t steer you wrong.”

I never thought of it like that before.

Another tear escaped my eye, but it was for a different reason this time.

“You have a point, I suppose,” I smiled, brushing my palm against my cheeks to dry it.

“It seems like we have even more to celebrate now than we thought,” she said brightly, picking up her drink again, and holding it to the sky. “So, here’s to you for being an indomitable badass, a true inspiration to all us other wannabe badasses!”

We emptied our glasses and laughed together.

18

JAX

She saved me.

Not only that, but she also tended to me so diligently…

Jax couldn’t help but wonder how differently his life would have turned out if he’d met Emma much sooner in his life.

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