Chapter 136
Xander POV
I’m grateful that urge has gone, it was becoming almost impossible to ignore. Sure, having Eryx to focus on helped, but I still felt it, and every time she moved, I caught her scent. The moment she spoke, her voice resonated with me so deeply that I craved her even more.
It’s crazy to think of how obsessed I had become with her, like my wolf and I couldn’t handle being separated for even a moment.
She walks beside me, silent as ever. I know she’s considering things, and considering what she’s to do. This is all unknown; she wants us, no, needs us to go to this place, and we have no idea what to expect when we get there.
We could be walking into a place loaded with guards and people wanting to cause a war, or it could be something darker, something that we can’t beat.
I admire her confidence in herself, but I’m also fearful that she’s pushing forward and rushing in without really thinking this through. If there’s dark magic involved, then what? We’re possibly going in there and going to be attacked.
I know she thinks she can face whatever this is with her magic, but what if it’s not guaranteed? What if whatever this is is stronger than her? She mentions magic, but that doesn’t give us any indication of what we’re about to battle.
Sighing, I adjust my hold on Eryx.
“You’re worried, but you don’t need to be,” she says.
I look at her. “There’s every reason to be worried, Serafine, this is unknown, and I know you think you’re strong enough, but you haven’t even learnt to control your magic, let alone use it.”
Smiling, she stops, and 1 stand with her. “I would have said the same, but now, I feel it, Xander. I feel it, all of it.”
Sighing, I nod. “Feeling it, isn’t controlling it, or knowing what to do,” I explain.
“You’re right, but my being unable to control it wasn’t the issue, Xander. The issue was that I hadn’t unlocked it all.”
What? I stare at her. “What does that mean?”
“It means, while I was there, I felt it. My magic seemed to click into place. Like it had figured out where to live, how to breathe. Look,” she says as she steps back. Her hand reaches out, her palm up, and she focuses.
I feel the magic build, and a second later, a small swirl builds in her palm. The faster it swirls, the more colours weave into it. Then just as quickly, she closes her hand, and the magic is gone.
“How?” I ask.
“When I connected to the Hollow, to the Soulroot, my magic built. It was like the gaps in it that made it unstable, at the Hollow it filled, and th
feel how it works.”
uld
1 just look at her, shocked. I didn’t expect that, not even slightly. It changed too quickly, then again, so has everything else, so why wouldn’t her magic as well?
“Let’s go, we need to travel, from the map I saw it’s two days away.”
Two days? “You said west, right?” I ask.
She nods and smiles softly. “Yes, why?”
“Well, two days west is getting far too close to the Fae border, and there’s only one person I know who would travel that far.”
“Who?” She tooks at me and waits.
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10:31 Sun, 22 Jun G
Chapter 136
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“Gideon, Serafine, no one else would get that close to the Fae territory, and if it’s that close and magic, you need to be careful as the Fae magic spills over there.”
She stares at me in shock and nods. “Okay, well, I’ll keep that in mind. Is there a place we can rest along the way, or will we be travelling for two full days?”
Stopping would be helpful, but I can’t afford to. She needs to use her magic, and the only way, and safest way is to be on the road, not bound behind some pack’s walls. “We’re staying travelling, we have enough packed, so we won’t return to the other pack, we’re going straight there.”
Nodding, she watches me. “Is that wise? No breaks and such could make it harder.”
“We need to plan on the way, somewhere without others,” I explain, trying to make her understand how important this is.
“We have Eryx, Xander, what about what he needs?” She looks at him in my arms, and I get her fear and worry over that.
“Eryx is fine, we have maids with us, we have everything that he will need. I wouldn’t say we don’t stop at a pack if I thought it wasn’t the best option,
Serafine,” I say.
Sighing, she nods and reaches for Eryx. I hand him over to her and watch as her arms wrap around him. “He’s too young to carry this burden,” she says softly. I can hear the way her voice breaks and wavers.
“He doesn’t need to, he’s not alone, Serafine, he has me and you.” Sighing, I wrap my arms around them both. “He also has Helena, the guardians, an entire pack; he won’t face anything alone, he won’t carry anything at all until he is old enough to understand the weight it comes with.”
I won’t expect Eryx to do anything, and I won’t let others expect him to either. He’s a baby, and until he’s grown and old enough to understand the weight that comes with things, he doesn’t need to do anything but grow up.
Sighing, she leans into me. “Is it wrong that I wish I weren’t picked for this, that I was just a normal person?” She worries her lip and looks at me.
“You don’t, deep down, you’re grateful, and you know that you’re blessed to have this. You’re unique and far different from anyone else in this life.” I capture her lips in a soft kiss. “You might wish you didn’t get it, but only because it’s an unknown, you know that you’re the right person for this. You’re courageous, kind, and understanding. You never lose faith, Serafine, and that… that makes for a powerful woman,” I explain.
She sighs and nods, smiling up at me. Leaning forward again, I capture her lips in mine. It’s a small kiss, more to reassure her and ensure she knows she’s not alone in this. We’re both tied in this together, and whatever people will expect her to carry, I will be there, right behind her. I’ll carry half of the burden, if not more, for her.
Keeping one arm wrapped around her body, I guide her back toward the way we came in. Soon she will realise how much of a blessing this is, and how powerful she is.
She’s unlike anyone else, and from the stories she told me, the other Veyrathi before her failed to even have a child, so she’s already overcome far more than everyone else.
“You realise, you came to me because you’re Veyrathi, right?” I look at her.
“Did I?”
Nodding, I smile. “Fate had the plan set, Serafine, if you weren’t Veyrathi, then I don’t think you would have been at my pack, because the guardians were there, which means the Veyrathi had to come.”
Sighing, she nods. “I guess certain things can’t be changed, even if we wish they were.”
“Do you wish things were changed?” I ask.
Smiling, she shakes her head. “No, because now I realise, if things changed, I wouldn’t have been bought by you, I wouldn’t have had Eryx, and my future could be entirely different to what I’m expecting it to be now.”
