“Someone’s here?” I croaked. I’d lost count of how many days I’d been imprisoned, but I thought it was close to a week.
“You have an hour. I suggest you get moving.”
Somehow, I staggered to my feet and went through the motions required of me to leave my cell. The prison shuddered around me, and I knew the time limit had almost been reached for when the walls would shift again.
Once I was cuffed and had my shoes on, the guard led me down a hall to another secure portion of the wing. He guided me into a small room. It was empty save for a chair.
“Sit there.” He pointed at it.
Once I was seated, he chained me to the chair using glowing strands of magic that lassoed around me. I stared at the opaque wall in front of me. “Where am I?”
“Visiting room. Keep your eyes on the wall.” The guard shuffled to the corner and stood stoically.
I peered ahead, searching for my visitor, but no one was visible on the other side. “Where?—”
The milky wall abruptly shimmered, and my eyes widened when Jax and a female appeared on the other side. Both sat on chairs facing me.
My heart soared.Jax. Even sitting, he looked tall and broad. A crisp white button-up shirt covered his top. It looked clean and freshly laundered. Yet his eyes were bloodshot, his midnight hair tousled, and several days’ worth of beard grew on his cheeks.
His gaze traveled over my appearance, and his lips parted. Anguish and a flash of rage twisted his features. His hands fisted, his attention whipping to the side, and he said something rapid-fire to the female beside him.
I felt frantically for our bond. Jax was so close to me.Soclose. Yet, like my magic, our mate bond was too suppressed for me to feel him.
The female sitting beside Jax pursed her lips, and she indicated something to the guard behind them.
Another shimmer of magic, and Jax’s voice abruptly filled my cell.
“Elowen? Can you hear me?” His raspy words filled the air around me.
I closed my eyes, and love thrummed steadily in my chest. My mate. My love. Just hearing him was like a soothing balm smeared over a scorched wound. My lips curved as tears threatened to moisten my eyes. “Yes, I hear you.”
I opened my eyes just in time to see his jaw lock and a flare of light shining in his irises.
Gods, how I wished I could feel him, touch him. But just looking at him helped calm some of the panic that was perpetually coating my soul in this horrid place.
But my mate looked anything but relieved at seeing me. Veins swelled in his neck, and his fisted hands were shaking.
He inched forward, his gaze skating over me. “Goddess, what have they done to you?” He whipped his attention to the female at his side. “This cannot be allowed. She’snota danger to anyone.”
The female nodded and leveled her focus on me. “Elowen, my name is Magistrate Fortifine. I’ve been hired by the prince to represent you during your trial.”
My heart throbbed, its beat picking up. “You’re my magistrate?”
“Indeed. I’ve looked over your case, and I agree with the prince. The court’s decision to imprison you immediately while awaiting your trial, and at the maximum-security prison across the sea nonetheless, was done hastily without full evidence of all that has occurred. They acted only upon one bit of evidence from the ancient wards, not fully understanding the complexity of your actions. This is an egregious error, which the prince has hired me to correct. And I’m confident once your trial ends, you’ll be walking free.”
I canted my head. “But the ancient magic alerted them to what I’d done. They know that I?—”
“Yes, they know you’ve twisted fate, correct. That fact cannot be denied.” She huffed, and I would have guessed that if I’d been in the same room as her, I would have felt her indignation rising. “But what they don’t know iswhyyou twisted fate. The prince told me that you tried to explain that to the King Justice, but he wouldn’t listen, so I’ve petitioned the courts to expedite your trial. The prince has brought forth evidence that the appointed Justice who will oversee your trial needs to consider. We’ll be returning to the Jaggedston courts by the end of the week.” Her sharp eyes coasted over me, taking in every detail of my pathetic state. “You will need to stay as you are until then, but have faith that this will all come right in the end.”
My lips parted, and despite feeling like everything was moving in slow motion, I gazed imploringly at Jax. While I wanted to believe that the courts would only find out about King Paevin’s plans, I didn’t know how much their investigations would uncover if he truly tried to free me. It was possible they would also find out that I’d twisted fate to save the Dark Raider, in which case, we would both be damned.
Jax leaned forward, his eyes locking with mine, and I could have sworn that the intensity of his devotion slid through the wall. “My love, trust me on this. I will not allow you to stay in this prison. Do you hear me? I won’t rest until you’re free.”
I could only nod because I knew when that look entered Jax’s eyes, there was no stopping him. No matter what I would say, his mind had been made up.But at what cost?
The worried question swirled through my foggy mind because I also knew that Jax would give up everything to save me, just like I would do for him, in which case he’d surrender himself as the Dark Raider if it meant that there was any chance of me walking free.
A week later,the magic-killing potion hummed through my system as the guards brought me into the courts for my trial. I’d been transported back to Jaggedston, to the same courts where the ancient wards had alerted the kingsfae to the illegal use of my lorafin power.
