Page 49 of Kingdom of Faewood

“Elowen...are you okay?” Jax’s deep tone cut through the quiet. He stood there, waiting for me to reply, but I remained silent. Harshly, he ran a hand over his bandana before saying gruffly, “No, of course you’re not okay. What a stupid question.”

He toed closer to me, as though afraid he would spook me if he got too close. Sapphire eyes glittered in the firelight as he watched me. “I’m sorry,” he finally said, and strangely, he seemed to mean that.

For the briefest moment, my attention drifted to the Dark Raider. He stood hunched over, since the tent was too low for his full height. Inching away from the middle, I gave him room and then turned on my side and stared at the tent’s wall.

The tent’s canvas billowed in front of me, the material flapping lightly in the wind. Sounds from the other tents drifted to my ears. Quiet conversations. A few grunts as the other males settled onto their sleeping furs. But then all fell silent. I didn’t even hear Guardian Alleron. I’d tuned him out completely.

Jax finally settled behind me, his large body making thefurs and blankets dip in his direction. “Stars, Elowen, I’m so sorry. Truly, I am. I know your entire realm was just shattered.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat. “It’s okay. That’s not your fault. I stupidly believed—” I shook my head.

The rustle of shifting furs came again, and then Jax’s energy pushed more into my back. He leaned over me, and a cloud of his fragrance enveloped me—spice and pine. “You believed what?”

I closed my eyes. “Nothing. It doesn’t matter anymore.”

Silence followed, but Jax’s energy strumming into my back kicked up a notch. “What if it matters to me?”

Matters to him?

Those three tiny words stirred something inside me, worming through my broken heart until I turned to face him, slightly surprised to find him so close.

He still wore his black clothes, mask, and bandana. All of him was concealed from me. All except for his eyes. Dazzling cerulean irises gazed at me in the dying firelight. He had beautiful eyes, a myriad of varying blue shades.

I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Even if it did matter to you, Jax, nothing changes.”

Energy pulsed from him. His hand lifted, and he trailed a finger along my collar.

The intimate gesture stole my breath.

“I know there’s nothing I can do to bring back your mother, and I know you think you’ll never be rid of this.” His wordsturned rough. Sharp. Magic pulsed from his hands, even stronger than before, and a part of me wondered if he’d tempered his power when we first met, as if he’d deliberately kept himself at bay so as not to frighten me when I’d awoken in his tent yesterday morning. “And perhaps that’s true, but that doesn’t mean you can never be free ofhim.” He growled the last word, and the pulsing energy from him kicked up even more.

Jax pulled the adaptor from his pocket and ran his finger along the purple gem. He had long fingers, strong hands, yet he held the adaptor gently. But unlike when Guardian Alleron touched it, the purple stone in its center didn’t begin to glow. “Without your guardian’s fingerprint, this doesn’t control you anymore.”

“It still contains me.”

“True, it does.”

“I tried to tell you that, and that without my guardian wielding it, I’m of no use to you, but you didn’t listen.”

“You’re right. I didn’t.” He shook his head and sighed roughly. “I hate to ask you this, Elowen, especially after what you learned tonight, but will you still help me? Will you still travel to the Veiled Between if I ask you to, even learning what you did tonight? Your guardian will have to wield this for me, but I can assure you he’ll never hurt you again.”

An ache shook his voice, and I wondered who he wanted to find so fiercely that his goal had neverwavered. No matter all that had happened in the past two days, Jax’s sole purpose for taking me was still his guiding light.

“You could just command it of me, Jax. Your Mistvale magic would ensure I stay obedient.” It would be so easy for this male to control me. He could make me his puppet, his forever dutiful servant.

Yet even that thought didn’t instill any emotion in me. Not even a flicker of terror. It was as though nothing mattered anymore.

“I don’t want to do that,” he said gruffly. “Not just do I not want to, but Iwon’tdo that to you. My psychic magic is...evil. Only those who are just as vile will ever feel its wrath. And you, you’re an innocent in all of this, Elowen. You don’t deserve that.”

“Even though I struck you?”

He chuffed softly. “I deserved that for all I’ve done to you.”

A flicker of relief coursed through me, just the barest glimmer since the numbness had spread.

Jax’s brow furrowed, and his voice dipped. “I’ve been telling you all along, Elowen. I’m not going to hurt you.”

My gaze shot to his. Startling blue eyes met mine, and for the first time since he’d taken me...I believed him, trulybelievedhim.

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