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Chapter Twenty-Seven
Skylar
“Xander, what’s going on?” I asked. The relief at seeing him was eclipsed by the expression on his face. Something was very, very wrong.
“Xander, why don’t you help me escort our mates to the throne room.” Marcella ordered.
A trio of guards stepped back from her, as if making way for us to part through. To my surprise, Clara walked forward, through the guards. She stopped next to Marcella and seemed to be waiting for me. She’d already surrendered.
I looked at Xander, my brow furrowed, pleading silently with him.What should I do?
He didn’t even seem to register that I was there.
This wasn’t normal. Xander would never let the queen push him around.That fucking stone.I glared at the queen. She’d used the stone on my Xander. Anger flared so quickly, I had to fight to keep my wolf from ripping through my clothes right there.
I wanted to tear her to shreds. I wanted to destroy her. How dare she take my mate from me?
Xander grabbed my upper arm. “C’mon, Skylar. You heard her.”
I stumbled forward, trying to make sense of it all. What was the best plan of action here? Do I try to attack? Do I fight? I knew the answer to that.
I couldn’t.
There was no way I’d risk having to hurt Xander. Or having him hurt me. It seemed like something Marcella would enjoy. Making Xander kill me then removing the magic so he could see what he did.
I wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction. I’d figure out another way. Xander slid his hand across my lower back and I gasped. When I looked up at him, I half expected to catch a wink or any sign that he was still in control. That this was all an act.
It wasn’t there. There was nothing in his gaze. He was hollow and unfocused. He wasn’t my Xander.
I had no choice but to walk in line with him. Until I figured out a better plan, I had to go along with this. Where were the mages with that spell? Breaking it right now would be excellent timing.
I felt the knife pulled from its spot in my waistband before I registered that that’s what he was after. “Nice try,” he whispered as he pushed me forward.
“Marcella, she was armed.” He passed it to the queen.
Marcella took the small knife in her hand and inspected it. She was putting far too much time into staring at it. Her lips pressed into a thin line and her chin lifted. “Find me Madison. Now.”
One of the guards walking with us sped off and I winced at the thought of what he was doing. Madison had given me that knife at great risk to herself.
Come on, mages.If they’re going to get that spell dropped, they better do it. How long had I been here? An hour? Or was it longer? Should they have gotten that spell done already?
What if they’d failed?
I looked over at Xander. He was squeezing my arm hard enough to leave a bruise but the pain didn’t matter. Knowing he wasn’t himself hurt far worse than anything physical they could do to me.
“Xander?”
He looked at me and I nearly crumbled to the ground from the contempt in his eyes. Where was my mate? How did I break him of this? I wasn’t a mage. I didn’t have that kind of power.
“Xander, this isn’t you,” I said. “Please, snap out of it.”
“That’s not good, darling,” Marcella said. “You’re not going to get through to him. This isn’t an animated movie where true love wins. It’s the real world and love is cruel and callous. It’s punishment. Not reward.”
“You did this to yourself, Marcella,” Clara said.
“You know nothing of my pain. Don’t mock me,” Marcella said. “Demons aren’t capable of true partnership.”
She spun around to face me. “You’ll learn that soon enough. Now, in. I want to watch that mate of yours bring you to your knees.”
