“Don’t talk to me like you know me,” I huffed. The draken snarled, the sound rumbling out of me as my voice deepened. “You haveno ideawho I am. What I’ve been through. None.”
Xander’s chest heaved, and he opened his mouth as though to speak. Before he could, however, the blasted Earth Elf put her hand on his arm.
“You’re right, Your Majesty.” The redhead’s eyes widened, and she took a step forward. This elf smelled… strange. I couldn’t quite pinpoint it, but something was different about her. “We don’t know what you’ve been through.”
“Aileana,” the dragon shifter hissed, even as the halfling on the ground shuddered, her limbs twitching before her movements stilled.
The Death Elf cried out, burying her face in her mate’s chest.
Aileana shook her head, opening her hands at her sides as she moved towards me. “I have what you seek.” She reached into her pocket, pulling out a shiny circular object. “Let them go, please.”
Please.
Such a ridiculous word. As if asking politely was really going to make a difference here. But I could at least pretend to listen before killing them all. Once I had the amulet, nothing else would matter.
“Fine.” I twisted my fingers in the air, calling my magic back to me. “You can live. For now.”
The moment the ribbons dissolved, the two elves gasped for air, struggling to draw breath. Whatever. They were no longer my concern. Not when my treasure was within my grasp.
After all these years, it’s finally here,the draken said.
“Thank you.” The Earth Elf held the Gilded Amulet between us.
I stared at it, reaching out a tentative finger and tracing the gold. I shivered as the object of my desires was closer than ever.
“Finally,” I breathed. “It’smine.”
The Earth Elf tightened her grip around the amulet, and I growled, “What are you doing?”
Her eyes widened, and she swallowed. “Before I give this to you, I would like to… talk.”
My brows furrowed. “Is that so?”
Aileana’s throat bobbed, and she glanced back at the others, her eyes wide and pleading. The dragon shifter growled, but I ignored him.
I asked, “What do you want to talk about?”
She bit her lip. “Can we do it in private?”
Canting my head, I studied her. This was… intriguing. “No games, Earth Elf. The Gilded Amulet is mine.”
“None,” she promised.
I did not hear a trace of malevolence in her words.
Still, I wrapped a red shield around us both before tilting my head. “Lead the way.”
A Thrice-Broken Heart
XANDER
Icouldn’t believe what was happening. Snarling, I grabbed for Aileana as she tried to walk off with Saena, but she batted me away.
Do you trust me?Aileana asked through connection as she stepped towards the queen.
My answer was instantaneous.Of course.
Then let me do this.