“Breakfast is finished.” Elion barked. “Everyone out.”
I immediately went to stand, but Elion stopped me. “No. Not you two.”
Hael looked at me, his blank mask unraveling, and I had no idea what to expect. It wasn’t until everyone left the dining room and we were alone with just the servants hurriedly cleaning up the table that the king turned to him. “Did you sleep with her?”
“No.”
Elion exhaled. “Once Lira comes back to the castle, I’ll know if you’re lying, and things will be a lot worse if I find out you actually did. So I’ll ask you one more time, did you sleep with her?”
Hael shook his head. “No.”
“Then you touched her in some way.”
“Nothing happened,” Hael said, completely avoiding my gaze now. My own heart was skyrocketing next to him, and Elion’s gaze flicked over me before he turned back to Hael.
“Do you care for her?” Elion asked, and I couldn’t breathe.
Hael didn’t answer right away, but then he finally shook his head. “No.”
Elion smiled. “So you wouldn’t mind if I?—”
I stumbled backward out of shock. Everything happened so fast that I couldn’t process it. My Token didn’t have time to register the threat before Elion’s hands were stretched out in front of him, his fingers sprawled as lightning ricocheted off an invisible wall in front of me.
“That’s what I thought,” Elion sneered as he pulled the lightning back. “Drop your shield around her.”
Hael didn’t move.
“I said drop it,” Elion ground out.
The air shimmered around me, making it seem like I was staring through a glossy bubble.
I barely blinked before the king’s hands moved from me to Hael and his lightning sprung to life again. Only this time there wasn’t a shield blocking it. It went right through Hael’s chest.
He screamed, his entire body revolting as he fought to keep standing.
One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six seconds…
More and more lightning poured out of his hands, the electric jolts shearing his clothes, fraying the shirt off his chest.
It was burning him, creating welts across his skin in zig-zag patterns.
I lunged for the king, but hands pulled my shoulders back before I reached him. It wasn’t until I heard Bran’s voice that I realized he was the one dragging me out of the room and back into my own. I thrashed against his hold, trying to break free, fighting to get back to Hael.
Bran said something to me before shutting the door and leaving me alone, but I didn’t hear it. My ears were ringing, and my mind kept replaying Hael’s scream over and over and over again.
Chapter Thirty
Jaxs
MAGNOLIA
Aknock sounded on my door, and I stole a breath for myself. A couple of hours had passed since breakfast ended, and I couldn’t stop thinking about Hael. I’d been pacing back and forth in front of my window, watching the suns peek out through the clouds, debating on if I should go look for him.
“You?” I gasped once I saw who was on the other side.
The male smirked, and as soon as I saw his smile, I knew where I recognized him from. He was friends with Hael, or at least, I thought he was. He was the one who dragged me out of the brothel. The same person who showed up in MonClem to warn Hael not to fly with me.
“Name’s Jaxs,” he smiled, holding out his hand for me to shake. I eyed it before crossing my arms over my chest. “Right. Sorry. I forgot about the wholeno-touching-youthing.”
