Jax hauls me over his shoulder. “I’m sorry, don’t hate me,” Jaxson says as he carries me away from the lake.
I stop fighting because he’ll listen to me and see reason once he has space from the others. I need to hear from him that he wasn’t going to give up on Wilder and Leigh, along with that defenseless child in Mictlan. He has a plan.
Still, I flip off the two Blades with both hands. Soter does a poor job of hiding his smile before smacking them both upside the head. He scolds them a second later, but I can’t hear him over the pounding in my temples.
“Desiree?”
A moment later, Vane and my mom appear from the trees. Mom’s green eyes bulge.
“It’s not what it looks like,” Jax mutters to Vane, who folds his arms. “She and I need to talk.”
Vane steps aside and allows Jaxson to whisk me away, a brittle smile on his face.
When Jaxfinally sets me on my feet, I whirl on him, pushing both hands into his solid chest. “What the hell, Jaxson?”
“Have you lost your damn mind, Desi?” Jax fires back. “You were beating up two armed men.”
I release a long breath through my nose. “They want to trap Wilder and Leigh in Mictlan,” I screech, desperately searching his face. “We can’t let them.”
Jax frowns as I put distance between us. “It’s what Wilder wants.”
“How could you say that?”
“I didn’t say I was going to let it happen?—”
“Then why did you take me away?”
“We need a plan. Soter and Wendy won’t?—”
“You’re a Blade. Fight them off!”
“Wendy is my boss. I need to handle this rationally. I think I can convince some of the other Blades to join our side. Wendy and Soter will have to listen if the majority of us want to carry out a rescue mission.”
I scoff. “By the time you get enough people on your side, it’ll be too late.”
“We can’t just jump through the portal with guns blazing,” Jax says. “If we do, we could put Wilder, Leigh, and Fynn’s lives in more jeopardy. My plan is solid.”
“Who the hell are you? You aren’t you right now. My Jax wouldn’t stand around and play by the rules if a child got taken. He wouldn’t let them trap my brother and his fiancée in a realm of sorrow. MyJax would lose his shit and fight back if he saw two men attacking me?—”
“I’m notyourJaxson anymore.” He exhales loudly.
I wince. “I just meant, you are mybest friend.”
Jax wipes his hand down his face. “Desi…”
“You’ve been on edge all night, not acting like yourself. I thought it was because of me, but maybe I was wrong.”
He groans. “I failed, Desi. I failed to tell you and everyone the truth, and now everything is ruined.”
Truth about what? “What’s ruined?”
He laughs, but it lacks his usual warmth. “My future.”
I blink, still confused.
“I should have been honest with you and everyone else, but I was afraid you all would tell me I was making a big mistake—that I wasn’t mature or responsible enough. Now, Fynn is missing, and it’s my fault.” He closes his eyes and takes a trembling breath.
“Jax, what the hell are you talking about?”
