Page 44 of Kingdom of Faewood

My guardian kicked, his hands continually trying to claw Jax off his throat, but Jax’s grip only tightened.

“Where?” A pulse of magic shot into Jax’s word, and the urge to please Jax and do whatever he requested fired through me.

“It’s in his pocket!” I called just as my guardian shouted, “In my pocket.”

My heart thundered, and my jaw dropped.What in the realm was that?

But whatever magic Jax had just used in that command disappeared on the wind. He loosened his hold on my guardian, and Guardian Alleron sank to his feet. The Dark Raider kept his grip on Guardian Alleron’s throat, however, and used his free hand to fish the device from my guardian’s pocket.

A flare of triumph surrounded Jax when he pulled the adaptor free. The device was a slim wand constructed of smooth metal. At its center, a purple gem glittered—a stone identical to the one in my collar.

“How does this work?”

Guardian Alleron’s nostrils flared so dramatically that his skin looked sharp enough to cut glass.

“How does this work?” That same strange magic channeled into Jax’s words again, but this time it was more streamed, directed entirely at my guardian, so I didn’t feel the overwhelming urge to respond.

Goosebumps rose along my arms despite that, and I shot a wild look at the other five males. Strange sorcery seemed to be at work here, but all of them continued cleaning up the remains of supper and unpacking sleeping rolls from their sacks, as though completely unimpressed at what Jax was doing.

Breaths coming faster, my eyes bulged when Guardian Alleron replied through gritted teeth, “The stone on the adaptor connects with the stone in her collar. It responds to my fingerprint only”—he gritted his teeth more, as though fightingwhatever magic had gripped him, but then his mouth opened again, and more words poured out even though rage twisted his features—“so when I activate it, the power containing her lessens, and she’s able to call upon her lorafin magic and wield it. If I don’t minimize the collar’s power, her lorafin magic stays suppressed, and if she tries to use her magic without permission from me, the collar punishes her.”

I’d heard this explanation so many times I’d lost count. Every lordling who desired my services had been curious how Guardian Alleron’s device controlled me. My guardian had always been more than happy to boast of its superior magical ability, touting that it was a one-of-a-kind creation and not to be found anywhere else in the realm.

Jax cocked his head. “How do I remove her collar?”

Veins strained in Guardian Alleron’s neck, and his entire face turned red. His jaw worked, and his hands fisted, but that strange magic clouded around him even more. Teeth clenching, almost as if the words were physically pulled from him, he growled, “You...can’t.” His teeth gritted more, but it was no use. The words still came. “It can...never be removed.”

My head snapped back.It can never be removed? What?No. Surely, I’d misheard him... Or he’d misspoken. Guardian Alleron had probably meant it could never be removed unless he commanded it, which he’d never done before.

Jax glanced my way, his jaw working beneath his mask, before he addressed my guardian again. “Can her collar be removed if you remove it?”

Guardian Alleron side-eyed me. His jaw pumped, his teeth grinding, but then his mouth opened, as though physically forced by a phantom. Hissing, he said, “No, it can never be removed. Not even I can remove it.”

I stumbled back. “You’re lying. He’s lying!” I proclaimed to Jax. “He’s going to remove my collar when I turn thirty. That was always our plan.”

Jax glanced at me again, concern evident in his gaze.

“Don’t move.” The Dark Raider released my guardian and took a step back, then he began to prowl back and forth. It reminded me of the pacing he’d done when I’d been unconscious, following the collar’s full dousing effects in my kingdom’s Wood.

But that thought flitted through my head like a shooting star, there and then gone. I was still reeling at what my guardian had claimed. Surely, he was lying. Somehow, he’dlieddespite whatever truth magic Jax was using on him.

Gasps soon emitted from Alleron’s mouth, and Jax said dismissively, “You may breathe.”

A suck of air lifted Guardian Alleron’s chest, and his lips, which had started turning blue, bloomed with color.

The complexities of Jax’s magic hit me like a clap of thunder. With stunning clarity, I realized who in the group commanded Mistvale magic. “You can not only wield the elements, control one’s senses, shift into an animal, but also command one psychically too?” I whispered more to myself than anyone in particular.

“He sure can, lovely,” Phillen said from behind me. He stood near his tent, arms folded over his massive chest. But his brow was furrowed, and it struck me that he’d also been watching me as I denied what my guardian was claiming.

Blood thundered through my ears. To command one psychically, that was Mistvale magic. Goddess.Jaxwas the one who commanded magic from that kingdom, which meant he had magic from allfourkingdoms.

But nobody had that kind of power.

I swallowed the thickness in my throat, not wanting to believe what was staring at me right in the face.

It was as though someone else was speaking when I said, “So what Guardian Alleron just said...It’s true? Jax’s magic is like a truth serum? It forces responses from fae, which means there’s no way my guardian can be lying?”

Phillen’s eyes dimmed. “Correct, Elowen. Nobody can lie when Jax commands them like that.”

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