Page 70 of Protected By the Fae King

Saint flopped onto the sofa and shook his head. “I don’t know,” he replied flatly. “And even if I did, I’m not sure I trust you enough to tell you.”

I scoffed, offended. “Youdon’t trustme?” I echoed. “That’s rich!” Without an invitation, I sat down across from him, leaningforward intently. “You knew all this time and didn’t breathe a word. Your mother cheated on your father?—”

“THAT’S NOT TRUE!”

Elix appeared, and I whipped my head around to look at her, regret panging through me as she stared at me beseechingly. “My mom loved my dad. She would never betray him like that. I don’t care what my DNA says.”

“Then how did this happen?”

“It happened on your watch—in your palace,” Saint told me angrily. “How dare you blame my mother!”

I shot the siblings a look, my eyes trailing back and forth between them, but it was hard to know where to settle my gaze when both of them looked so differently at me. Saint was incensed with me, while Elix seemed ready to burst into tears. And, like them, I was torn about how to respond. A part of me wanted to wrap her in my arms and beg her for forgiveness while the king in me reminded me that I had to do what was best for the kingdom. I’d sworn an oath to Goldhaven, not Elix.

But if there was a way to fix this…

I rose from the chair and faced her. “There’s no way that happened on my watch,” I insisted. “The Order of Souls tried to hit Goldhaven, but they never had the same success that they did in Silverhold.”

“Well, not on your watch, but your father’s,” Saint agreed, and I tensed at the mention of my deceased sire. “The Order of Souls ran freely through the palace back then.”

“Impossible,” I tried to scoff, but how could I really know? I had been too young to be sure about the way things had been run back then, and the Order of Souls had always been an issue, not just in Goldhaven, but in all four kingdoms. Maybe I should have spent more time in the cabinet with the Council of Ministers and kept on top of matters more, but it was too late for retrospect now.

“Elix, you really didn’t know?” I asked her softly, but it was Saint who answered.

“Of course she didn’t know,” he growled as Elix hung her head. “Why would she consent to a DNA test if she did? She’s not stupid.”

No, she was far from that. She was beautiful, kind, and loyal. I thought of how infuriated she had been with the maids and their idle gossip, and my heart sank more.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I never meant to cause you any problems, Jace. Obviously, if I’d known…”

I wanted to tell her that it would be all right, that I forgave her, but I couldn’t formulate the words. It wouldn’t be all right, and I didn’t want to lie to her.

“Excuse me…” Elix turned and rushed out of the living room. My feet moved to chase after her, but I stopped myself as she ducked around the hall, and there was the click of a bedroom door. For a long moment, I merely stared at the entranceway where she had disappeared to the right, debating what to do next, but Saint brought me back to the present moment, his scathing words slapping me into reality.

“What are you even doing here, Jace?” he growled. “You’re only making things worse. You could have called and left a voicemail if you wanted to be an asshole.”

Slowly, I turned back and looked at him, realizing that he was absolutely right. I shouldn’t have come.

Chapter 22

Elix

Storm clouds formed under the stained ceiling boards in the bedroom, but I stopped them from creating drops of rain, just as Arya had taught me. I merely relished in the blackness that overcame the room, encircling me as if to absorb my mounting pain with each passing breath. I willed the darkness to take away the emotional turmoil inside me, too, but it wouldn’t dull, not even a little bit.

The muffled voices outside drew me to the door every few minutes, Saint’s tone growing louder and more accusing every few minutes as Jace spoke in lower, more even tones. Every time my brother raised his voice, I was tempted to show myself again, but I stopped myself from venturing out there.

The fact that Jace had shown up made my heart quiver at first. I thought he’d come to show me that he wanted to be with me after all, despite what he’d learned about my bloodline.

But it wasn’t me he wanted at all. He wanted to confront my brother and show us both that he was finished with our family. This was his closure, his way of showing that he was done, and my chest was splitting open with the realization.

I couldn’t blame him. If the roles were reversed, wouldn’t I probably do the same thing? He was caught between a rock anda hard place with the decision he had to make. If I had known, I would never have stepped foot in the palace to begin with.

I was tainted—just like he’d said. Maybe there was no fault to be assigned, that the sins of our parents were forever ingrained upon us. His father had not done enough to protect the kingdom, and my mother…

Well, I was still unsure what role my mother played in this whole fuck-up.

Now I would pay the price. What else could I do but accept my fate?

Outside the bedroom door, the voices subsided, and I pressed my ear to the door again to listen. Despite the moderate thinness of the walls, I couldn’t hear very well. I sat back and stared up at the storm clouds I’d created, using my hands to float them around the room.

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