I gulped. I knew Xavier wasn’t the best with panic attacks, as he had them so often himself during his childhood, and no one could help him.
“Malakai was also very stressed… I made him fall asleep.”
Xavier’s eyes drifted toward the Ancient Springs. “Who could have believed… that he was trapped inside a cave there for all of these years. And no one noticed.”
My gaze followed Xavier’s, wondering if it had been Malakai trapped there that made me feel so connected to the Ancient Springs. I’d always assumed it had been the sacred water making my inner dragon calm down, but maybe it had been the closeness to my brother all along. And I never realized.
“I’m afraid, Xavier,” I confessed, looking at Gwendolyn’s sleeping form on his lap, then back at him. “Whatever he had been forced to endure in that cave… what if it can’t be healed? Not even if he bonds with Gwendolyn.”
“I’m sure you’re underestimating the bond they share… after all, she sensed him, despite being a human.”
And I knew Xavier was right. Not even my dragon-powers were able to feel him. I had been there so often, alone. It was almost like the kiss, the physical contact with her skin caused my powers to fully awaken.
Xavier caressed the strands of her hair softly, pressing kisses against her skin.
“As soon as you left with him, her body froze, and she started feeling nauseous.”
My gaze wandered over to her, and the way her chest slowly rose and fell.
“To see her like that, it made me realize how much Leanan has really destroyed. It isn’t just Malakai, but her as well. And that’s why I can’t fathom how hard it will be for her to listen to what he must have gone through.”
He was right, and yet I wouldn’t let Malakai carry these dark thoughts in his head by himself. I’d force him to speak at some point.
“What will you do now? Now, you know your mother is the cause of this.”
“I’ll kill her.” The way Xavier said it was just so casual, like he had murdered before. But he hadn’t. The only one of us who had killed before was me. It was when I was a child, not knowing theextent of my own powers, that I had first shifted into a dragon and my claws dug into one of my father’s soldiers. He bled to death on the ground.
I knew that by that point, not only had my powers increased, but my father would have imprisoned me if he had found out about it.
It was my brother Malakai who took the punishment. He said that he had provoked me and that I had no other way to defend myself. So, Malakai said, to prevent himself from getting hurt through my powers, he put the soldier between us. My mother was there when Malakai lied. Anyone who knew my brother even remotely knew that he would never have been so selfish. But in all the years that Malakai had been living with us in Aetrum, they had perhaps exchanged only a few sentences. Dandelion always said he was my mother’s son, not his. As if he had ever acknowledged me as his son.
“But you shouldn’t distance yourself from her now, not after she finally understands the bond,” Xavier said. “Just because you are afraid of your powers.” It was as if he read my thoughts. There had been so much despair and turmoil inside me, all of it caused by the revelation of thenightmare bringer. Although I was sure it wasn’t me they were talking about, my dad still viewed me as a threat, fearing my powers would get too strong—strong enough to cause destruction in our world.
Now, after my kiss with Gwendolyn, I created a portal—an entrance into another dimension. And she changed this portal through her own imagination with a single kiss.
What would happen if we were to truly bond?
To what extent would my powers grow, and what if it hurt her?
Chapter 28
After sensing Malakai trapped beneath the ground of the Ancient Springs, hidden away like some animal, something unsettling came over me. It wasn’t the fear of Damien or Malakai refusing our bond… it was the magic that seemed to sweep through me now.
And although I was a human, since the portal and the little glittery tea-party inside which Damien said was created through my own illusions and dreams… I felt different. Now, this portal seemed to have its own opening in Xavier’s wardrobe.
Almost every night I’d sneak into my little Wonderland, just enjoying the moments by myself. But there were so many things going on inside me, some of them making me question way too many things at once.
Now, I stood in front of Damien’s room, debating whether I should knock at his door. But I wanted to talk with him about what had happened… about the portal… about the Ancient Springs, and how I found Malakai. I felt selfish, because as much as I had almost lost him and Xavier, he had lost a brother for so long.
And I wasn’t ready yet to ask Malakai about all of the things hewas going through. I knew his streaks and scars carried a story—a dark one and somehow, I was afraid that they were the reason he refused to be near me.
And that’s why I had loved our time in the portal… how we were all so rested and happy, not thinking about all of the things awaiting us.
But unfortunately, the experience caused Damien to distance himself from me… it almost seemed he was afraid of anything changing between us. Especially since it was now well-known that our bond was the reason his powers have shifted, and he found the strength to create a portal.
“Gwendolyn,” came his voice from behind me. I turned around to see him standing at the wall and swallowed hard, my heart hammering against my ribs like it wanted to burst from my chest. Even in the dim light, he looked almost unreal. Terrifying and magnetic. He must have noticed the flicker of uncertainty crossing my face, and he stepped toward me. The closer he came, the more I felt an almost aching tenderness inside me.
“I knew from Xavier that you think I have been avoiding you… it isn’t the truth,” he stated and stroked over my shoulders with cautious movements.
