My voice cracks at the end, and I feel like my heart will beat its way out of my chest into the world.
I can’t break.
Not yet.
I close my eyes and steady my breathing. When I open them again, I’m a little more steady.
Vera stares at me silently. I’m surprised, because she doesn’t look angry. Her silver eyes are overflowing with sadness.
“Not only did he want to separate us, but he also has all the intentions of harming you now that he knows you’re the Savage King,” I say calmly and gesture at Jax. “I got lucky enough to free Jax and escape, but only after he endured a night of torture. Daegel warned that the Caligos are coming for you, too.”
Vera lifts her chin defiantly. “I’ll be just fine. It’s not my first year dealing with them.”
“You are in danger and it’s my fault! If he managed to assassinate the Ezkai General, what do you think he can do to you?”
“Vera, Ezkai Phoenix is right,” Noire says. “You’ve got a target on your back; you’re not safe.”
Vera glares at me, mute.
My shoulders slump. I have no clue what else to do. So, I sink onto my knees right where I stand.
“I’m sorry I lied and sneaked around behind your back. I’m sorry I abused your hospitality and honesty. I am beyond sorry that due to my stupid heart and head, your operation savings innocent lives is put in jeopardy. It will take me a lifetime to atone for that and make it right if you can find it in yourself to give me another chance. I promise, I’ll make it my life mission to make things right.”
Vera’s eyes widen. I don’t stop.
“You have every right to be mad at me and be mad for as long as you want. If you want to punish me for my arrogance, be my guest. But I’m going to finish these trials with you and Jax by my side and become the next Ezkai General. I don’t want to see the Talbots or the Caligos run Ekios to the ground. I won’t let another man use power for selfish gain and abuse people he should care about. I won’t stand for Ekios becoming the mirror of Wetra. Not again.”
Vera’s eyes swell with tears. But she blinks them away.
She clears her throat. “I can never forgive Jax for what he did. He committed the most horrible crime one could commit. The law states he must be executed.”
I sit back down on my knees and close my eyes. I shake my head. There is no right answer here. I know that Jax’s crime, even if he didn’t have a choice, has consequences.
“I’ll deal with it when I win,” I say. “I will deal with the punishment when I’m the Ezkai General, okay? You don’t need to forgive him, I won’t ask you that. But you know he was here in all honesty, and without him we wouldn’t be here.Iwouldn’t be here. So, please. Just let us survive the trials. Helphimsurvive the trials.”
Our gazes lock. Vera’s silent for a long while. I remain silent, too. The hope I foster within me can only live for as long as the silence lasts between us, I know that.
“Let’s get him to my bathroom,” Vera orders and rises to her feet. “I’ll get the girls.”
Vera disappears behind one of the doors while Noire helps me carry the unconscious Jax into Vera’s bathroom. We settle him into Vera’s bathtub right as she returns with Hojo and Tanaka in her wake. They carry an abundance of bandages, salves, and glass bottles filled with elixirs.
“I’ll send for one of the Ezkai menders,” Noire says.
I nod, grateful for that. I’d kill to have Roman here now, as a friend and a skilled mender. The memory of his large grin on his handsome face squeezes my chest.
I’ve lost too many friends. I can’t lose Jax, too.
In the proper light, the sight of Jax’s beaten body is terrifying. His face is swelling with bruises, blue and purple. Somehow earlier I missed the fact that one of his arm hangs weirdly. His shoulder must be dislocated. That must have been excruciatingly painful.
Vera lines up the tools and remedies on the vanity.
“Hojo, clean her wounds before she gets infected,” Vera orders, jerking her chin at me. “Tanaka, help me with cleaning up Jax.”
The girls obey immediately. Hojo guides me to sit on the vanity bench while she cleans up my face. I don’t realize how bad it is until she presses a warm cloth to clean the blood and it stings.
Vera rips Jax’s shirt in two and throws it on the floor. His abdomen and chest have large purple bruises forming that look much worse now than before.
I lean forward. “Does he have broken ribs? He didn’t cough any blood earlier, so I don’t think his lungs are punctured.”
