by Belle Malory
Once I got to Weaponry, I was determined to speak to Xander. Leaving a few minutes early, I spotted him along the path to the Ares training field. “Hey.” I fell into step beside him. “Funny how we keep running into each other.”
He didn’t even crack a smile. Instead, he ran a hand through his hair, looking very distracted.
“What happened last night?” I cut straight to the chase.
He shook his head. “Now isn’t a good time.”
I clenched my hands into fists, boiling beneath the surface. He couldn’t keep doing this. Leaving me in the dark—it wasn’t fair.
“What’s going on, Xander? Stop avoiding me.”
“You asked for space, remember?” A twinge of resentment filled his tone.
Clearly, he was still upset about the mermaids. I’d done the same thing by shutting him out. But that was a totally different situation, one that affected me more than it did him. Even so, being on the other side of it wasn’t fun.
I let out a breath, instinctively knowing I needed to make this right. “Not this much space.” I reached out and touched his arm. “Xander, is everything okay?”
He nodded, still staring off into the distance. “Yeah, fine. Everything is fine.” Even his voice was far away.
“Then tell me who those men were, and don’t you dare try and ignore me again or avoid my questions.”
He stopped walking to look around, as if he were afraid of someone following him.
“Fine, but not here.” He grabbed my hand, guiding me off the sidewalk and well out of earshot of passersby.
The way he was acting, the edginess and distraction, wasn’t like him and it made me nervous. Once we found some privacy, Xander stopped, keeping his voice low. “The swordsmen were members of the Hollowed Guard.”
I nodded, having already put that much together. “I noticed their emblems. Why were they at Arcadia?”
His blue eyes, clouded with worry, struggled to focus. “I don’t know for sure…but I can guess.”
I wondered at his evasiveness. “Care to share it aloud for the class?”
He frowned; he obviously didn’t want to tell me, and that stung more than I cared to admit. I tilted my head to the side, softening my voice. “Xander, you can trust me.”
“This has nothing to do that. I already trust you.”
He said it so quickly, I believed him. “Then why won’t you tell me?”
“Because you have enough to worry about. I don’t want to put more on your plate.”
The curse, dealing with Riley—he was trying to spare me. I should’ve guessed. “Let me decide what I can handle.”
He looked at the sky, and then back at me, as if he were gathering strength. “Can’t you accept you’re better off not knowing?”
I snorted. He knew me better than that.
“Figures,” he sighed. “Okay, just remember you asked for this.”
“Go on—out with it.”
“I believe my father sent them.”
I took a step back. “Your father…why?”
“The man has attacked every person I’ve ever cared about. Ione, my mother, and even Chloe. I was an idiot to think he’d finally given up.”
Chloe.
Ione mentioned her before, back on Twilight Island. Aside from me, Chloe was the only girl Xander had ever dated. Ione told me about her, and how their relationship ended abruptly.
I was so happy to see him find some happiness, some normalcy again, but it was ruined. The hollows made one threat against her life, and he broke up with her on the spot.
A gnawing fear furrowed in the pit of my stomach, and I wondered if history would repeat itself. God, I didn’t want to consider the possibility.
I shook myself. “Xander, why did they listen to you? When you told them to leave, they didn’t even put up a fight.”
“I’m immune to their power. Always have been. That’s why they used Petra, because they couldn’t torture me themselves.”
Knowing my own mother wielded her magic to hurt Xander still gutted me. The mind tricks she’d played. The things she made him see. I hated that it happened to him, that she was part of the darkest time in his life. Most of all, I hated that I still kind of liked her in spite of it. I should despise her with every fiber of my being, but I didn’t.
“We should get going.” Xander looked back toward the sidewalk. “Will you meet me tonight? Down by the lake where I first told you about your parents?”
The request came out of nowhere, and it made me semi-nervous. As serene as that lake was, I associated it with bad news and shocking revelations. I looked at him pointedly. “Are you breaking up with me?”
“What?” My conclusion caught him off guard. He blinked several times, then laughed. “You can’t get rid of me that easily.”
Hearing his laughter, as if that was the last thing he expected, put me at ease.
He leaned down to kiss my forehead. “We can talk more there.”
I wondered what more he had to tell me. “Okay.”
“So you’ll come?”
I nodded.
He ran his fingers through my hair, now fully regrown and back to its former glory. I was grateful to have the soft, shiny strands again, and even more grateful for moments like this one.
“See you tonight, damsel.”
There was something different about Xander, something that didn’t quite feel right, but I couldn’t put my finger on what it was. I tried to push the feeling aside, but it bothered me.
12
On the way to my next class, a Zeus student named Jonas gave me his seal of support. He handed it to me on the sidewalk as if it were no big deal, as if we weren’t making magical warfare transactions out in the open.
Dumbfounded, I just stared and blinked. “Why?”
“I need a love potion,” he said simply. “A good one. If you ever use it, that would be my request.”
I twisted the gold coin in my fingers, considering that. Potions were simple enough. We didn’t use them in Mirror Realm because they created fake emotions that eventually wore off, but Jonas would be aware of how they worked. His direct tone was eager, making me curious why he wanted it, or rather, who he wanted it for.
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Looking around to make sure no one was eavesdropping, I cleared my throat. “What can you, ahem, offer in return?”
“Invisibility.” He said the word so softly I strained to hear him. “Very rare magic. Only a few accomplished Zeus students are successful at invisibility spells. I’m one of them.”
“Like Vanisher’s reflector invisibility?” Vanisher transported students to Twilight Island, using his magic to reflect against the water. In most scenarios, reflection wouldn’t be very useful.
“No, actual invisibility.”
Hm, that was pretty spectacular. I wasn’t sure when or if I would ever need invisibility, but I supposed it didn’t hurt having that particular trick up my sleeve.
I nodded in agreement. “Okay, then. Thank you, Jonas.”
As he went on about his way, I shook my head at the strangeness of my situation. I stood there for several long seconds, frozen on the sidewalk, still staring at the golden coin in my palm. I wondered if I would have to use it or Storm’s or someone else’s, all to survive.
I couldn’t imagine my curse leading to an eventual death, but I had to consider the possibility. One of us, either myself or Riley, may end up dying. I hated thinking about it, hated thinking one of us could kill the other, but that’s where all of this was headed.
Throughout the rest of the day, I struggled to focus. Thoughts about death consumed me, and I wondered what it was like on the other side. If Jett and I were still friends, I would ask her. She once told me Hades descendants couldn’t see the full reality of the deceased, only a small portion. I wanted to know what that portion was like.
When classes were over and dinnertime had come, I ventured down the path that led to the lake where Xander first told me about the cu
rse. For all its beauty, going there to meet him again made my legs tremble.
As I was walking, Xander grabbed my hand, appearing out of nowhere. My heart tripped beneath my chest. “Gah!—you’re always doing that,” I complained, trying to calm my racing heart.
He grinned. “Just keeping you on your toes.”
“Trust me, I’m always on my toes in this world…” A yellow blanket several feet behind him caught my attention, distracting me. “What’s that?”
“Food.”
“Like a picnic?”
He nodded, watching my reaction.
He had spread out a blanket topped with baskets, a bottle of wine, cups and plates. I opened my mouth to say something, but no words came out. I wasn’t sure what I’d been expecting, but it wasn’t this.
“This is amazing.” My stomach growled. It just occurred to me I hadn’t eaten all day in anticipation for this.
Xander led me to the blanket, and we kneeled down on it together. “That’s not even the best part—watch this.”
Several tealight candles lit up all at once, slowly rising into the air, floating around us.
“How are you doing that?”
Xander’s fire magic awed me. He was far more advanced than me.
He shrugged. “Over time, it comes naturally, like the flames exist within you.” He watched me closely, just as entranced by my reaction as I was of the candles. “I have another surprise.”
I met his gaze, widening my eyes. “It gets better?”
He handed me a small velvet box. I took it from him and carefully opened it. Inside was a charm bracelet, almost identical to the one Riley had poisoned. This new one was white gold with only one charm, a light blue stone that sparkled in the candlelight.
“For protection,” Xander said, his voice low. “Do you like it?”
I smiled. “Xander, I love it.”
He beamed, pleased with himself.
I glanced around, at the picnic, and back to the bracelet again. “Is there…any reason for this?”
He raised one thick, dark brow. “What do you mean?”
I wished I could accept it for the romantic gesture it was, but I needed an explanation. “Don’t get me wrong, I love that you planned all of this. But you’re acting like everything is fine, like you haven’t been ignoring me the last two days. You were angry—I know you were.”
Xander gently touched the side of my face, his fingertips lightly tracing down my cheek and neck, tingling my skin as if they were electric. “I was angry, but not at you. Maybe at first, but I was angrier with myself.”
“Explain.”
He let out a lengthy sigh, and I could sense he was finally about to let it all out. “You took that bet, and I couldn’t stop you. You jumped off that ledge, and I couldn’t protect you. Then, when you were bloody and bruised, I couldn’t even comfort you. It was the most helpless feeling in the world, damsel. It made me wonder if I was any good to you at all.”
I straightened my spine, the night’s events coming back to me through Xander’s eyes. Even if he had tried, I doubt the outcome would have changed. But his last point, about comforting me…I winced, realizing how he must’ve felt. “I’m sorry,” I said, meaning it. “I was just so ashamed, and I didn’t want you seeing me like that.”
“Listen to me, Sheridan.” His jaw tightened, his blue eyes holding me with their intensity. “I want your best and your worst, your strength and your weakness, your light and your darkness. They’re all pieces of you, and only half is a lie.”
The weight of his words stole my breath. I nodded, wanting the same from him too.
“As far as all of this,” he nodded to our surroundings, “it’s an escape. A chance for us to be us. Xander and Sher.”
Our own private bubble.
He unclasped the bracelet, then reached for my wrist. The moment it snapped together, an aura of calm washed over me. “Whoa,” I breathed, picking up on its energy. What a powerful little stone.
“If it makes any difference, you do comfort me.” I swallowed, a little uneasy with my own vulnerability, but I knew these were words he needed to hear. “Do you remember what you said that day we went to the bubbles, after I told you I was afraid of my magic?”
He nodded. “I asked you to let me be your anchor.”
“Exactly,” I breathed. “You comfort me every day, Xander, by keeping me grounded, by staying constant in a world of chaos. You’re the one person I can trust, even when I can’t trust myself.”
He interlocked his fingers with mine, squeezing my hand. “And I always will be, as long as you let me.”
In some ways, getting this close to him to terrified me.
Falling this fast.
I couldn’t help but think of Connor. With him, I felt too much and all at once. Then Riley stole that from me, and my world came crashing down. She had control over Xander too, even if she hadn’t yet realized it. If she ever found out …I shook myself. I couldn’t bring myself to go there.
Xander noticed the change in my expression and tilted his head. “What’s wrong?”
I decided to be as straightforward as he had with me. “I’m worried about the oath you made to Selena. If Riley finds out—”
“She won’t,” he promised, cutting me off. “Just keep your distance, and I’ll do the same.”
“That’s kind of hard, considering she’s waging war against me.”
He offered a sympathetic smile. “We’ll figure this out, Sheridan. I swear it to you.”
I chewed on the side of my cheek, wanting to believe him. But the longer time went on, the harder it was. I already had to remind myself daily that I didn’t truly want my sister dead. I only felt that way because the curse was strengthening.
Xander opened a basket and pulled out two sandwiches wrapped in napkins, handing me one. “We’re supposed to be forgetting the rest of the world, remember?”
“Oh, right.” Our bubble. I peeled the napkin away and held up my sandwich in toast. “To a worry-free night.”
He bumped his sandwich against mine, grinning. “Cheers to that.”
We spent the next few hours eating, drinking, and talking about magic. The sun fell on the horizon, time quickly slipping away. Xander and I laid side by side on top of the blanket and stared up at the night sky, our bellies full of food and enchanted wine. We passed what was left of the bottle back and forth, and I began to feel lighter. I didn’t realize how anxious I’d been until the heaviness left. For the first time in a long time, my world was peaceful.
I held my hand up to gaze at my new bracelet. “You would have done well in Aphrodite.”
Xander chuckled, not even bothering to deny it. “I know.”
I handed him the bottle and he tucked it into the crook of his arm. “Do you ever think about what it would be like?”
He turned to look at me. “If I never switched houses?”
I nodded. “Do you have moments you regret it?”
“Never.”
“Really? Never?” It was difficult for me to adapt to a life where I could only be one thing, where I could only practice one magic. I found it hard to believe Xander never questioned his own choices.
He shook his head. “I respect love magic, but I don’t have a passion for it. My time in the Underworld changed me. It transformed everything I thought I knew about myself.”
“What were you like before?” He didn’t talk about himself often, much less about the Underworld—and I was intensely curious. It felt as if I were always holding my breath around Xander, waiting for him to reveal a little more.
“Naïve, I guess.” He shrugged. “I believed the world was made of sunshine and daisies.”
I chuckled, unable to picture him like that. “Yeah, right.”
“It’s true.” He leaned up, set the bottle aside, his face serious. “But that kid is long gone. My father made sure of it.”
I pressed my lips together, thinking of everything he’d been through. First, discovering his da
d was a hollow. Then, kidnapped and held prisoner in the Underworld for three years where he was repeatedly tortured. After he escaped, his father cursed Ione to force their pledges. A curse she eventually broke, but it cost her the ability to have children. As far as dark mages went, their dad was pretty much the worst one in existence, and that included my own murder happy relatives.
Xander should be damaged beyond repair, but somehow, he rose above his upbringing. He stayed level-headed at all times, and he kept his past hidden from everyone. The guy kind of inspired me. He made my curse look like child’s play by comparison.
“It must’ve come as a shock,” I said carefully, aware I was treading over our usual boundaries. “About your dad, I mean.”
“An understatement.”
He stood and walked to the edge of the lake. I followed along, helping him search for stones. I should probably let the subject drop, but I didn’t know when I’d have another chance to talk to him about this stuff.
“You could tell me, if you want.” I leaned into his side, nudging his arm. “I’m pretty sure I can relate better than anyone else you know.” After all, I knew a thing or two about crappy parents.
Xander gazed at me, guarded at first, but the walls were coming down, little by little. Several long moments passed in silence.
Then he told me everything.
“He was charming, a classic Aphrodite descendant. The guy loved love. None of us ever thought he could be who he was; none of us believed him when he came clean. In fact, my mother assumed he’d been spelled or hexed. It wasn’t until we learned he’d been lying to us all along that we realized he was revealing his true self.”
“His true self?”
“My father comes from a long line of hollows.” He threw a stone across the surface of the lake, watching it skip several times. “He grew up in the Underworld, only leaving with the intention to marry into a powerful family. My mother was his perfect victim; her family was the wealthiest on Summer Island. So, he gave himself a new identity, deceived my mother and everyone else he knew for over a decade. I think he believed he was creating an alliance, but after my mother and her family found out who and what he was, they rejected him. We all did.”
