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“What other reason could he have? He's one of them!”
“Tie him up or lock him away!”
“It has to be him! Why else would he steal an artifact in a Sector Library?!”
Their voices become angrier as they stare at Jace, his shoulders slightly slumped forward, as their voices become louder.
“I swear, I didn’t know it was a protection artifact.” His voice is almost like a whisper beside me.
I know something happened in the Sector he visited, and he clearly made some sort of mistake, but it wasn’t this. He wasn’t involved in these attacks, I could feel it deep inside, and from the bond we now shared. He had nothing to do with this.
I stand closer to him, taking his hand in my own, hoping through our bond that, he can feel the belief and faith I have in him. I turn my glare to the group spewing hatred toward my bright and loving shifter, ready to rebuke them, when all of a sudden, I see Cole marching forward, Ilyric joining him by his side.
They stand in front of Jace and me, blocking the view of the group in front of us.
“Enough!” One word from Cole's thunderous voice has the entire group falling silent.
Ilyric glances at Jace before talking to the group. His eyes tighten at their corners while staring into the crowd, his demeanor rigid and imperious as he pulls their attention to him.
“Until we hearallthe information from the parties involved. We will not hastily jump to conclusions.” He scans the crowd, daring anyone to challenge his authority.
I guess the arrogant Fae attitude comes in handy sometimes.
“We’ll be checkingeveryone'sstory,” he declares, examining the crowd for any signs of objection. He nods before continuing.
“We’ll start with yours.”He turns to Jace, giving Cole a nod as he makes his way over to a table on the other side of the Library.
Jace looks at Cole and then me. “One minute.”
Cole nods, glancing toward me.
Jace makes his way over to me and drags a hand down his face.
“I know that this doesn’t look good right now.” His eyes flicker from the floor to mine.
“It’s hard to explain, but I have my reasons for what I’ve done. I'm not saying they're right either, but this…” He gestures to the Library and groups around us. “I’dneverdo anything like this. I swear.” His words rush out quickly, the worry etched over his beautiful features with all these accusations being thrown at him, but even more than that, I can tell how much he wantsmeto believe him.
“I’ll explain everything to you after all this, Rhys. I promise.” His eyes never leave my face as his hand stretches toward me.
I reach for his hands, gripping them in my own. My eyes are firm as I gaze into his, channeling as much of what I feel right now into them, “I know, Jace. I know you weren’t apart of this.”
He exhales, almost as if he was holding his breath, giving me a small smile and nod. The relief is visible on his face.
Cole clears his throat, pulling our attention toward him. With a brow raised, he looks to Jace and then over to Ilyric.
Jace turns to leave, slowly brushing his hand off mine in passing.
The small prickle in my chest spreads with the gentle touch, a warm smile stretching at Jace’s face. He stills, and for just one brief moment, everything stops, only him and me existing. He pulls me from all the noises around us, my attentionsolelyon him as we just take a second to ourselves.
I give him a small smile and watch him make his way over to Ilyric, where they sit down and begin their questions.
Cole and Ilyric would be fair and not jump to assumptions and accusations like the others. They didn’t have the positions of Librarian and Guard for nothing.
I’m dragged from my thoughts by the rising voices near me once again.
Enough. I’m getting a headache from all this. Their petulant arguing and whining is driving me crazy.
“Enough!” I shout, silencing the entire room. “You think this is helping?” I gesture to them all.
