“You doubt me?” Xane asks, his hurt piercing my heart.
“No,” I say to him with a soft smile. “I don’t doubt you.” The emphasis does not go unnoticed by Xanthe.
“You doubt me?” she barks at me.
I give her a cool gaze. “I have been approached by someone else claiming the child was theirs, with quite a believable story attached to it. I am just trying to figure out who is lying to me,” I say.
“Who?” Xane yells at me. “Who has claimed my child?”
“That is not the issue here,” I say, taking his hand to placate him. “I just need to know the truth.”
“The truth is, the child belonged to you and my son,” Xanthe says stiffly.
“If you are so sure of that, why can you not tell me who cursed me?” I ask.
“It takes more than a little bit of black magick and a lot of power to break through the shield. I am trying,” she says.
“Try harder,” I order her, and she bobs her head, which raises my suspicions slightly.
I still haven’t managed to figure out who is telling the truth between Xanthe and Tiamat, but at least Xanthe knows now she has to deliver the goods, or she will face my wrath. I turn to Xane to offer him some reassurance, as he is looking very forlorn, when a loud shrieking occurs. I clap my hands to my ears, only to discover that the shrieking is me.
It is the same pain that happened when Tiamat tried to force Her way into my thoughts, only worse this time. It feels like She is worming Her way through my brain. I can only imagine it is because She can reach me properly here in the Underworld.
“Fuck,” I scream as I lurch forward, and grab hold of the balcony rail. I stare blindly down into the foyer from the first floor as I take a deep breath. I close my eyes and try to get Her out of my head.
“Get out!” I scream at Her. “Get out!”
I hear Xane and Xanthe fussing behind me, the concern in their voices evident.
Suddenly I can see again, only this time it isn’t my surroundings. I see flashes of fire and houses burnt to the ground. Empty, black shells scattered amidst the scorched earth of the Underworld. I hear the shrieking of the Dragons overhead and see the creatures beneath them scattering in fear for their lives. I see Tiamat laying waste to the land in Her rage and it makes me sick. I choke on the acrid smell of the smoke, which is so real to me, and again I scream, “Get out!” to Her. “Get out of my head, you bitch!”
I use every ounce of power that I can muster to push Her out of my head, but She isn’t going anywhere. I can feel all of Her essence taking over mine, and suddenly it becomes so clear to me what She is trying to do. She is trying to take over my body so that She can use my Faerie power to get to the D.F.K. and kidnap Delinda. I can’t let Her get away with this. I grit my teeth and I clench my jaw and I call on Aeval to do her damndest to get rid of the violating presence. But it isn’t enough. I am too weak to fight Her. I need a boost. Desperately or I am done for.
“Get out!” I scream over and over and then I feel a hand go around mine. I unclench my fist and we link fingers and he gives me the power boost that I need. Our bond is enough for me to gather my remaining strength and to push back.
“Get out of my head!”
It isn’t me that said it this time. In fact, it wasn’t me at all.
It was Tiamat.
I have violated Her mind as She has done to me and She doesn’t have the Power to both kick me out and take over my body. I hear chanting coming from behind me and I feel the power wash over me. It is a protection spell, but I don’t know who is casting it.
With one final push, I tear Her essence from my body, and I collapse against the railing, still clutching the hand of my savior.
“Get away from her,” Xane growls as I yank my hand out of Xander’s so forcibly, I stumble backwards and nearly tumble down the stairs arse over tit, but Xane is there to catch me. He grabs me around the waist, and I flop into his arms, a frizzy-haired, sweaty, clumsy, rattled mess. He smoothes my hair down and I wrap my arms even more tightly around him. I am shaking and he whispers to me that he has me now and nothing will harm me.
“I think that should be you, who gets away from her,” Xander says. “I saved her. Our bond saved her.”
“It is not your bond!” Xane roars at him. “You stole it, you bastard, and I am going to fucking kill you once this gets fixed.”
“Wait,” I whisper. “Stole it?”
“Xander was coerced by Remiel to corrupt your bond with Xane,” Xanthe explains. “Somehow it was twisted, and the marking was transferred.”
“It wasn’t an accident,” Xane retorts, seething. “He wanted this. This was his plan, to take my wife away from me.”
“I swear this is not what was supposed to happen,” Xander says, holding his hands up. “It was only supposed to be broken.”