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Xander kissed her head, and the gesture reassured her before he said anything at all.
“I promise I will bring Harper back. She’s going to be okay.”
Lexi gazed at him, and it was like no one else was in the room. The storm hammered on the glass ceiling, blackening all lines of sight. It reminded her of the storm raging in her heart.
“I trust you,” she murmured.
There was an intimacy in their exchanged looks that Lexi had never experienced. Xander kissed her again on the forehead, then stood, motioning at Declan.
“Let’s get going. Get your enforcers. I know where this cave is. It’s not far from here.”
The other kings stayed behind, comforting and watching over the women and Lexi while Stephen and other members of the staff brought them tea and cookies. Lexi was surrounded by love. She could feel it. It was as palpable as the spell that had surged through her minutes ago.
Xander left, heading into the storm with Declan and his enforcers. Lexi wasn’t worried about his well-being, but she felt a longing for him anyway. Taryn caught her staring at the sunroom entrance while a saucer and steaming cup of tea sat disregarded in her lap.
“So, you’re quite fond of each other, aren’t you?”
Lexi blinked, turning only slightly toward her sister.
“I don’t know what’s going on. I’ve never … trusted like this before.”
Taryn brought the saucer and tea up to Lexi’s lips. Lexi smiled and took the saucer from her sibling.
“That’s how it’s supposed to be. Now drink and eat. You need it. Then we will figure out the Harper situation.”
They all spoke about other kingdom matters, the storm and its fury seeming to fade. But Lexi only stared at the door, longing and daring to hope.
EIGHTEEN
XANDER
Xander knew something was off the moment Lexi spoke of the cave. He knew exactly where the cave was that she described since there weren’t many places within the kingdom where such a place could exist. He also had many interactions with rogue wolves, who had often used the cave as a temporary place to hide out.
He spoke to Declan in one of the large, armored vehicles he owned as they pulled out of the kingdom’s underground lot. Declan’s enforcers left their clothing in the vehicle and ran along the side of the car in wolf form as lookouts, so he knew they were alone.
“I don’t feel great about this,” Xander said, hands squeezing the wheel.
Declan looked at him, his face serious and intense.
“Are you thinking it’s some kind of ambush?”
Xander nodded.
“It’s barely a twenty-minute drive, just beyond the outskirts of the kingdom. Why would someone take her there where the pack could easily sniff her out? Even if we didn’t have witches on hand.”
Declan nodded solemnly. Xander was closer to him than he was to the other kings, but there still remained an air of mystery about him that made Xander cautious. His expression remained still, though, gazing out the window as the stormy gray landscape rolled by.
“We will move in carefully. The main mission is to get Harper out as unscathed as possible,” Declan said.
The rain had subsided for the time being, the parting clouds going from the tar-black shade to a lighter bruise-colored dark blue. Some light from the crescent moon peeked out from between the clouds, lighting the emerald pathway across the kingdom’s grounds.
The pristine grass faded into gravel as they drove just outside Odstindale into no-man’s-land. The signs of life vanished as spits of rain scattered over the bleak wilderness, a sad space in between kingdoms where transients, rogues, and traitors roamed.
The cave was just around the bend of a deep slope, so Xander took the vehicle in carefully but firmly as they bumped downward. He parked a few yards from the cave opening, which sat in the darkness like a gaping, hungry mouth.
Xander had been here before, it was the perfect place for bandits to hide out, but he also decided that it wasn’t subtle enough for a long stay. If someone wanted to kidnap an enforcer of the queen, why would they put her in a place that was barely twenty minutes from the palace?
They climbed out of the vehicle, and Xander instructed the enforcers to keep their eyes peeled. Xander and Declan would go inside the cave while they waited outside, watching for the distinct possibility of an ambush.
