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My brother frowned. “What?”
“I’ve got dark magic coursing through my veins. I have more power than any other fae I know, and once this gets out…”
“Stop it!” Saint growled. “You’re overthinking. As usual. And you’re letting a moment of surprise dictate your entire future.Why don’t you let Jace at least speak before you make the decision for him?”
“I—”
“Never mind you. Let’s see what Jace has to say about it.”
I sat firmly on the sofa and folded my legs underneath me. “No, Saint. I’m not going back to the palace. I’m sorry.”
“Elix, nothing has changed. It’s still not safe here for you. In fact, as you just stated, it’s probably less safe now. If anyone learns about the dark magic in your DNA, you are a sitting duck for every crazy fae in Geldon.”
“Well, we’ll need to figure something else out because I can’t go to Goldhaven Palace.”
“Elix—”
“I’m sorry.” We glowered at one another, but my brother seemed to realize that the battle was lost on his end. Short of throwing me over his shoulder and carrying me kicking and screaming out of the apartment, I wasn’t returning to the palace, not that night at least.
Sighing heavily, he dropped his keys back on the table. “Fine. Why don’t we sleep on it tonight and decide on a new course of action tomorrow, okay?”
I shrugged, knowing that I wouldn’t change my mind about it, but inside, my heart cracked into a million pieces.
“Elix, I’m not kidding. You can’t stay here. Nothing has changed on that front.”
Sadness blanketed me as I realized that there was no place for me in this world. No one wanted me, and now with this dark magic running through me, I would never belong anywhere, ever. My real father had seen to that, whoever he was.
Chapter 21
Jace
Cirilla’s purple gaze grew irritating after a long moment, and avoiding her stare as I pretended to occupy my racing mind in the office was proving ineffective. Finally, I looked at her.
“Is there anything else?” I snapped dismissively. “I don’t require your services any longer.”
“Really?” she demanded. “You’re just going to let her go?”
I returned her gaze evenly. “What would you have me do?” I replied, trying to maintain my tone, even though my innards were cracking with all I’d learned. “What am I supposed to do with this information?”
“Go after her! Talk to her!”
I scoffed openly, refusing to let her see just how deeply hurt I was by everything I’d learned in the past few hours. “Talk to her! She and her brother have been lying to me their entire lives! And her mother, too! They all lived here, under our noses!” My eyes narrowed. “Which brings me to you. You should be dealt with for your lack of due diligence for this.”
“Before you start assigning blame, maybe you should get the full story,” Cirilla cautioned, folding her arms over her fullbosom. “It doesn’t make sense to me that Elix would allow me to run a DNA test if she knew what the outcome would be.”
I hesitated, the point settling as I pondered it.
“Saint didn’t want you to run his blood,” I reminded her firmly. “He knew something.”
“Then be mad at your best buddy,” Cirilla barked. “Don’t take it out on his sister when she’s innocent.”
I gritted my teeth, conflicted and upset, as I willed my emotions to settle. A plague of feelings weathered through me like a tempest. I didn’t want to believe that Saint had misled me for years when I had trusted him like a brother. Glynda had never struck me as the kind who would stray from her husband, but if there was one thing I had learned as king, it was that anyone was capable of any kind of betrayal.
But Elix hurt the most. What if she had known? I had bared my soul to her, letting her see a vulnerable side of me that no one had ever known, and she had rewarded it by bringing a black mark into the kingdom.
What will this mean for the kingdom?
“Bring her to me,” I ordered Cirilla. The enchantress nodded and disappeared in a puff of red as I rose from behind the desk and wandered toward the window, peering out into the gardens beyond, my pulse roaring in my ears.
