Page 32 of King Elijah (The Zemiran Chronicles 2)

Elijah watched her struggle and claw to free herself from Liam. Her eyes glistened with heavy tears, and her pale skin was flushed with emotion. Once again, it was all his fault. He should have been more careful. If anything happened to Aiden, he would never forgive himself.

“Liam, put her in her room,” he said calmly, his voice deliberately cold. The last thing he needed was for Janelle to see his own weakness in the face of her fear.

“Elijah, please! He will die the moment any of those sorcerers spot him in Newick! Stop being a fucking coward and do something about it!” Janelle screamed as Liam pulled her away.

The only thing they could do now was set out to help Aiden, but venturing past Whitestone Mountain without a solid plan was just as reckless as what Aiden was doing.

When he turned, Nola stood behind him with her arms folded across her chest.

“Yes, Nola,” he said, watching her face scrunch up.

“Is she a prisoner here?” she asked.

He sighed heavily and walked past her, not answering her question. Elijah had dealt with enough sass from Janelle; he didn’t need it from her too.

His eyes turned to Lincoln standing behind her. “Lincoln, good to see you, brother,” Elijah said. They didn’t hug; he wasn’t sure they would ever have that kind of relationship, but Lincoln tipped his tricorn hat and Elijah turned to Mazie.

“No hug from me either, Your Highness,” Mazie said. “That’s alright. You might have to with Bay, though. She weirdly likes you.”

“You named her Bay?” he asked, remembering the stories of her sister who died years ago.

Mazie shrugged. “It seemed fitting, given how Bay always wanted wings. Now she can live through a pixie.” She looked up at her little friend. “Queen Cassia never gave her a name. I think it suits her.”

Bay zipped over and perched on Elijah’s shoulder, tapping his ear.

“Yes, Bay?” Elijah said.

He felt a soft touch on his earlobe when she leaned onto it, giving him a tiny kiss.

Her delicate wings buzzed, and she flew back up, heading over to Mazie again.

“I’ll bring out the wine and rum—”

Lincoln held out his hand. “No rum, please. I think we tapped out on rum when we had our last night with our mates. Wine is perfect.”

“I thought your crew looked a little small,” Elijah said. “What happened to the others?”

“Long story, brother. We will share it over dinner, and I can share with you what we know about those creatures from the Shadow Land.”

Elijah glanced over his shoulder again where Nola stood, her face still firm, judging him.

“But I will let the two of you catch up first,” Lincoln said, gesturing to Mazie to move forward to the kitchen table.

Elijah gestured for Nola to follow, heading into his study while Lincoln and Mazie made themselves at home in the dining room.

“Care to explain, Elijah?” Nola asked as they sank into the couch by the bookshelves.

Elijah let out a weary sigh. “It’s a long story, so I’ll tell you the short version. That wildcat you saw with Liam is Aiden’s sister, Janelle. She was hired to kill me by the Newick coven leader in Myloria. She’s my little guest, nice and cozy until we get Aiden back and get to the bottom of this assassination plot.”

“Get him back?” Nola frowned.

“He went to kill the man that sent her,” Elijah said in a casual tone, “Kieran, a powerful sorcerer who wants me dead and plans to breed a race of dangerous, hybrid warriors.”

Elijah glanced around to avoid her eyes, one leg propped over his knee, absently picking at his fingernails to clean them. “I was planning on telling you all this at dinner.”

Nola’s face wore various expressions of shock and annoyance.

“Elijah,” Nola started to scold, “you can keep your arrogant, nothing-bothers-me bullshit for your subjects. You’re skimming over the important parts, like why are you keeping Aiden’s own sister prisoner?”

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