Rah! He is infuriating!

“Whatever,” I mutter and then, without a goodbye, I Astral myself back to the Underworld and right next to Xanthe, making her jump.

“Xerxei,” she says with her hand on her chest.

“Xanthe,” I say coldly. “I was sorry to hear about Xander,” I add politely.

She turns from me and looks out over the ruins of her home. “Thank you,” she whispers.

“Now that is out of the way, we need to talk,” I say. “I know you lied about the baby.” Might as well get it out there.

“Excuse me?” she asks, turning back to me with an innocent look.

“The baby I lost wasn’t Xane’s. I know who the father is, and it wasn’t your son,” I say.

“Yes, he was,” Xanthe says forcefully. “The child was his.”

“No, it wasn’t,” I say, getting even angrier that she is still lying to me. “You are going to tell Xane right now that you lied. He is grieving for something that wasn’t even his.”

“I can’t,” Xanthe says, suddenly looking fearful. She glances back at the burnt down house. “Xerxei, please.”

“No, Xanthe. This has to end. You started this lie and now you will finish it with the truth,” I state.

“But–”

“Right. Now.” I point over her shoulder, where Xane is approaching us looking lost and angry. I really feel for him. He has gone through all of this for nothing and he needs to know the truth.

“Xerxei?” Xane asks as he gets closer. “What is this about?”

“Your mother needs to tell you something,” I say and then I Astral away. I don’t want to be around when he learns the truth. Besides, I have spotted Lincoln still skulking around in Wolf form and I need to get him to Shift back so I can yell at him for keeping me in the dark about Sebastian’s activities.

The Underworld, October 2014 - Xane

“What is this about?” Xane demands, glaring at where Xerxei was standing only a moment ago. Everything has changed between them now. He can feel it. She is distant with him, pulling away. There is nothing holding them together, he feels the loss completely. She has barely even looked at him, never mind touched him or tried to be with him.

And he has let her. He won’t chase her like some asshole teenager with a crush. Although, how long that will last, he can’t say. He needs to talk to her some more about their child and his grief. She seems to have gotten over it already while his heart is still so broken.

“Uhm,” his mother stammers.

He fixes his hard gaze on her as she doesn’t say anything else. “What?” he barks at her.

“I, err, I have made a terrible mistake,” she eventually says.

“With what?” he asks. “The spell for the house?” He looks at his handy work and feels only slightly guilty about razing it to the ground.

“No, that is going well,” she says weakly.

“What then?” he asks, getting impatient. “What is this thing you have to tell me?”

“Please know that I was trying to do the right thing, Xane. I was trying to help,” Xanthe says desperately, wringing her hands.

“What have you done?” he asks darkly, his tone low and menacing.

“The child that Xerxei lost wasn’t yours, Xane. I’m sorry. I made a mistake,” she whispers, her eyes on her feet.

The stabbing in his heart is monumental. “Say that again,” he whispers back, unable to believe what she is saying.

“I was trying to make things right between you and Xerxei. Please, Xane, you must believe me. No one was ever supposed to know,” she pleads. The pain explodes in his head as the words sink in. His mother lied to him. He has grieved over a child that was not even his.

Tags: Eve Newton Fantasy
Source: readsnovelonline.net