Saroly glanced at the door again, but before she could bolt, Jax’s command cut like a whip. “Sit.”
Potent magic speared the Solis fairy, and on stiff limbs, she moved to the chair beside me and sat.
Up close, I was better able to see her. She appeared middle-aged, not as advanced in seasons as Angim, and fear wafted from her. Pure, genuine fear.
My heart began to race.
“We have a few questions for you.” Norivun leaned back and folded his arms over his chest. “We have reason to believe that someone in this facility has been stealing gems from Hartivul Mine and selling them to fae on the Silten continent who are using them for nefarious purposes.” He nodded to me. “This female has also suffered her entire life because of that collar upon her neck, and there’s a male in the entryway whose mind is currently being controlled by another due to a piece of jewelry around his ankle.”
Saroly’s nostrils flared, and since I was sitting so close to her, I was able to see her chest rise in short, shallow breaths. “I assure you,” she said quickly. “I know nothing about this.”
Norivun arched an eyebrow, then glanced at Jax. “Prince Adarian, question her at will.”
An angry clash of energy rose in Jax’s aura, and I couldn’t help but wonder if he’d also reached the same conclusion that I had, that Saroly’s fear and rapidly rising chest when she saw my collar meant it was possible she was not only the anklet’s creator but my collar’s as well.
“Have you ever seen her collar before?” Jax pointed at me, his potent Mistvale magic lacing his question.
Saroly’s jaw worked, her teeth clenching together, but one word hissed through her lips. “Yes.”
It felt as though my heart stopped.
I fell back in my seat, my mouth going slack. She’d said yes.Yes!
Jax’s jaw muscle pumped, and his eyes blazed. “Are you that collar’s creator?”
Saroly’s nostrils flared sharply, and her thigh muscles clenched as though she was trying to rise so she could run from her chair, but Jax’s earlier command tositheld firm. “Yes,” she replied, her answer no more than a whisper.
The entire room fell silent.
Hope surged in me, so strongly that I had to squeeze my hands into fists, using my sharp nails digging into my skin to keep myself grounded. I wanted to rise and shout in elation, then dance around the room.We found her. After so many seasons of torture and abuse because of my collar, its creator sat before me, and she might have the power to remove it.
“And what about anklets that are currently being used on the Silten continent to control fae? Did you create those too?” Jax’s expression turned lethal.
Saroly hissed, her lip curling, but Jax’s magic forced her response. “Possibly.”
“Explain.”
Fury flooded Saroly’s expression, and her jaw worked, but Jax’s command held firm. “I recently created many anklets with rhifilyte gems, but I don’t know who they were put on.”
The air around Norivun dropped to freezing temperatures, and frost licked the table in front of him. “Youstolegems from our floating meadows and sold them to other continents? Even crafting rhifilyte gems into jewelry knowing how dangerous that is?”
Saroly flashed him a look of contempt.
“Answer his questions,” Jax commanded in a deadly low voice. Malicious energy rose in his aura, clouding around him until it filled the room.
“I did exactly that.” Saroly lifted her chin.
Norivun’s breath sucked in, and his aura rose even higher, pounding through the room until the magic from the two royal males was so strong that my head began to spin.
Sharp zings of magic abruptly emitted from my collar. Gasping, I reached over and grabbed Saroly’s hand. “Take this off me. Now.”
Saroly whipped her hand out from under mine, her gaze darting around the room. Heightened energy strummed from her sovereign, Jax, and all of his friends. But at the moment, I didn’t feel rage toward this female. I only felt a desperate need to have her undo all of the hurt that her magic had caused me.
Jax rose from his chair, his tall and imposing form filling the room. A wave of potent magic radiated from him, directed entirely at Saroly. “Can you remove her collar?”
Saroly bared her teeth but hissed, “Yes.”
My breaths turned so rapid that I grew lightheaded, yet I didn’t want to hope too desperately that my collar could be removed. If something went wrong, and Saroly couldn’t...
