Xander POV
Everything is in motion, I believe that we’ve got things set up so everyone should be safe. Leaving Eryx in the car with the maid and some guards around
it is the best option.
We can’t risk taking him with us into something unknown. So it’s arranged for him to be protected, then, should anything happen to myself, and Serafine, Garrick has promised to get Eryx back to the pack and keep him safe.
I can’t stop the uneasy feeling though, sure she says she’s able to control it and understands it but how? It’s not like she’s had a chance to try use it. She’s not practiced, or figured out how far her magic goes.
She could easily kill someone by trying one simple thing and getting it wrong, or she could try to attack someone and hit the wrong person.
Maybe I need to have more faith in her? She has faith in everyone else, and here I am doubting her and worrying about if she’s able to handle this.
Hearing movement, I look up and see them walking through the trees. The come closer, and Killian strides with his usual loosness, though I do catch the faint hitch in the way that he is walking, as if he’s recovering from something.
Serafine is beside him, her steps are calm, steady and controlled, she’s smiling softly. There’s no straining, or frustration on her face, if anything she looks more calm and grounded than she did before.
Her eyes find mine instantly, and there’s a flicker of confidence in them, something I’ve not seen in a while. It had to have gone well then, right? I mean she wouldn’t be smiling, or looking so confident if things went bad, right?
Surely Killian wouldn’t be standing so well if she had caused an incident she couldn’t control.
Forcing myself to calm, because I know she will sense it, I rise from where I’ve been crouched and walk toward her.
“How did it go?” I ask. My voice is low so I can be sure only she hears. It’s an innocent question, but me asking it, might make the others think that I’m doubting her. Which I’m not.
Her mouth turns up at the corner and she gives me a small shrug. “It was… good. Actually, it was better than I had expected. T just listens… it responds. I don’t have to force it, now it just moves when I ask.”
gic listens now, not
She looks so proud, and so she should be, she’s done amazing. I look past her to Killian who drops heavily onto a log near the fire. He rubs at his shoulders like he’s been thrown into something. I know that’s highly possible, he told her to use his body and I know she won’t have held back.
Killian is strong enough to take a lot of force, so he was the best person for it. I hadn’t even suggested it, he just offered, which I found amazing. Most wouldn’t do that. Nominate themselves to be a test subject.
“Killian,” I call.
He lifts a hand without looking up. “I’m alive. Barely.”
“Was that in question?” I look at him confused.
“You weren’t there, Xander,” he mutters. Finally he looks up at me. “She threw me against a tree, froze me… with ice, literal ice! Then she silenced me before making me think she was in five places at once.”
I bite my lip to stop the laugh.
“I’m not complaining, I would help again, but I’m definitely beginning to rethink my life choices.”
Turning, I look at Serafine, she lifts her brows at me like she’s done nothing weird, and everything she did was normal. I can feel the air around her, it’s still warm with leftover magic, it’s like it’s clinging to her, she doesn’t seem to mind it though.
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09:10 Tue, 24 Jun
Chapter 142
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I watch as Killian exhales and leans back. “She’s strong, that’s for sure, Xander. I don’t mean raw power, though that’s there as well.” He looks from me to her. “I mean she knows how to use it, and that’s the part that’s scary. She wasn’t panicking, she was focused. It was like she knew everything, without training ever before.”
Looking at her again, I take in the quiet control in her posture and the lack of tension in her hands. I watch the way she breathes calmly, even after that session that left Killian rattled slightly. I’m proud of her, she’s showing everyone that there’s nothing to fear.
I stay looking at her, seeing the strength in her, she’s truly amazing.
“She’s always been strong,” I say. I mean that, for what she went through with Gideon, with me, everything, all of it combined, she did amazing.
“Yeah,” Killian nods. “But now? Now she knows it. That’s a dangerous game,” he jokes with a wink.
I watch as he picks up a waterskin and takes a long drink, then mutters, “Thank the gods she’s on our side, because I swear, I would submit instantly if knew someone else had her and was bringing a war to us.”
I turn back to Serafine and reach out, brushing my knuckles gently along her arm. “Are you okay?”
She nods, her eyes still steady on mine. “Better than okay.”
It’s strange but for the first time, in a long time I believe it, and believe her. Maybe we’ve got more than a fighting chance to solve this issue and move forward?
Resting my hand on her lower back, I gently steer her away from the firelight. I walk us past the guards that are circling the edge of the camp and walk us to the tents.
She doesn’t resist, she just walks with me, her head turned slightly like she’s listening to something close by. I walk past Garrick and one of the younger trackers, talking near the water barrels.
They give a single nod in greeting but don’t interrupt us or stop me. No one does, there’s a quiet covering the camp now. It’s not fearful or tense, more respectful. The fact she came back with Killian and he was respectful shows that things went well and that is a reassurance to everyone else.
I pull back the flap of the tent and gesture for her to step inside. She does, I watch her slip into the low space without a word, and I follow close behind. I let the canvas fall shut behind me. There’s little light in here; the lantern at the far side is dim but casts some li ross the tent.
She turns to me almost immediately. “Where’s Eryx?”
Smiling faintly, I stroke her face gently. “He’s with Helena and the maid. He’s asleep, Helena said he drifted off as soon as she wrapped him in that blanket with the moon–stitched edge.”
“The one from-”
“The healer,” I finish. “Yeah,” I remember it. The blanket was a gift from the healer, and Eryx was taken in it. I remember Helena explaining that the healer had done something with it that helps him settle. Some sort of scent, I can’t remember.
Her shoulders ease slightly, and she exhales a long breath. She’s looking exhausted, and she shouldn’t be focused on Eryx tonight; she needs to relax and give herself time to overcome the stress from what she’s done.
Kneeling in front of her, I rest one hand lightly on her knee.
“How are you feeling?” I ask.
She looks at me and waits, like she’s trying to find the right words. Her lip is pulled into her mouth as her teeth graze it. “Strange. It’s like I’ve been carrying something around with me for so long and I didn’t realize how heavy it was. Not until it was finally gone.”
“You mean the control?” I ask.
She meets my gaze. “It’s not exactly perfect, but it’s not clawing at me anymore. I also don’t feel like I’m on the edge of breaking every time I reach for it.”
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09:10 Tue, 24 Jun
Chapter 142
Raising my hand, I brush her hair gently behind her ear. “That’s good.”
Sighing deeply, she nods. “Yeah, I think it is.” She leans into my hand, the warmth of her spreading through my hand. “I don’t know what happens next, though. After this, after we solve the crops issue, then what?”
“Don’t worry about that, it’s something that we can figure out together,” I say softly. “But, right now, I’m asking you, not as your mate or your Alpha, just me… do you need anything?” I don’t want her holding back and not saying what she wants.
Tilting her head, she looks at me, and her eyes flicker down to where my other hand rests on her leg.
“I think… I just needed this. A moment without all of them watching. Without the next step pressing down on me. And everyone asking me what I am capable of, I just need time to be me.”
I get that, I nod slowly, and reach behind me. I grab the waterskin free from the pack and hand her it. “Drink something, then lie down. Even if you don’t sleep, just lie down, so your body can recover from everything.”
Her hand reaches out, fingers brushing mine as she takes it. “You’re sure he’s okay and safe?”
Nodding at her, I smile. “I promise, he’s safe,” I say firmly. “Helena’s not going to let anything happen to him. She’s watching his magic, too. If anything shifts, we’ll know. The guardians are also surrounding the tent he’s in, no one is getting to him.”
Her mouth curves in the faintest smile. “You’ve thought of everything.”
“I always do.” I have, I knew she would need time to relax, and recover, so I had to think about it all. I knew she would be focused on Eryx far too much to recover so I had to plan it. If I was with Eryx she would come to me, constantly.
