“My prince! Everyone has been looking for you.”
Jax stopped in his tracks, keeping me locked in close to his side. “What now?”
The servant bowed respectfully. “We’ve all been instructed to alert you immediately that your presence has been requested at the supernatural courts as well as your guest’s.” His attention drifted my way momentarily before snapping back to Jax’s.
Jax growled. “Elowen is mymate. You may call her as such, or you may call her by her name. I no longer want her referred to as my guest.”
The servant bowed. “I had no idea, of course, my prince. I apologize.”
“As for whatever it is the courts want, it can wait until tomorrow.”
“Actually, it can’t.” The king’s authoritative tone drifted to my ears.
I spun around to see the king of Stonewild striding into the dining hall behind us. His air was regal, yet his focus had zeroed in on me.
The king stopped before his son, his aura like prickling thorns poking out around him. “Where have you been? You’ve been gone for over a week. Nobody could find you.”
Jax met his father’s gaze, unflinching. “I was out.”
“Where?”
“Not here.”
The king seethed. “I’ve had enough of your insolence.” His gaze slid my way, then returned to Jax. “Your guest has been summoned by the supernatural courts. She’s to be taken down there immediately.”
Jax stepped in front of me, blocking his father from my view. “Why?”
I peered around Jax’s side.
The king narrowed his gaze on his son. “I’m sure they’ll tell you when you arrive. And you must go down there. She’s been summoned. You can’t ignore that, especially since, for over a week, the kingsfae have been prowling around this palace and Jaggedston looking for her. It’s becoming an embarrassment to the royal family that we’re even associated with this female.”
My entire stomach dropped.Kingsfae are looking for me?
Jax’s nostrils flared, and his jaw muscle ticked. “Elowen ismy mate. I expect her to be treated with respect.”
The king’s head whipped back. “Mate?”
“Yes, we’re mated.”
Color burst across the king’s cheeks, and it took me a second to recall in this reality that Jax had never told him that before. “You can’t be serious.”
“I’m deadly serious, Father.”
“That’s another matter entirely that will be dealt with.” The king’s nostrils flared. “But mate or not, she’s been summoned. She needs to leave here. Now.”
My heart picked up a wild beat. “And you don’t know why the courts have summoned me, Your Majesty?”
For the first time, the king looked me directly in the eye, but instead of replying, he sneered. He whirled away, his footsteps tapping on the stone floor. “On your way, Adarian.”
The aura around Jax soared. He took a menacing step closer to his father, starting to follow him. “Answer her! Why do they want her?”
The king paused and glanced over his shoulder. Disgust was evident in his tone when he replied, “I don’t know, but you best take her down there. Your mother and I are growing weary of your disobedience, and this female’s presence has caused nothing but problems. Now,go. That’s a direct order from your king.”
I was tremblinglike a leaf when Jax and I climbed the steps to the supernatural courts. It was late, the air cool, and the streets were mostly empty, yet I’d never felt the feel of the city closing in on me as much as it was. It felt as if heavy sand pressed into me from all sides. I was drowning. Suffocating. I could barely breathe. It felt so thick.
We went to the same court building I’d been to previously. According to Jax, it was the main court in the city. There were several other smaller courts located within Jaggedston, but this one was the largest of them all.
At the top of the steps, the same assessing wards that had prickled my skin in my initial reality washed over my senses. But their assessment didn’t take as long as it had the first time. A stirring in my conscience alerted me to the fact that the wards should have taken longer. In this reality, I’d never been here. They should have held me for as long as they had following my arrest, but they hadn’t, and that only happened if...
