Page 129 of Her Ivory Flame

“That’s not what the letter from Elnora said when they told me you were being sent here.”

“We never sent you a letter.”

“It had the king’s seal.”

“You really think I would agree to be your bed warmer just to stay here? I have many other places I would rather be,” she mumbled, her eyes staring at Kaden.

He heard every word, she could tell by the rage in his eyes and she noticed Xander had disappeared.

“Do you?” Oak scoffed. “Your home is gone and from the sounds of it, Emris doesn’t want you to return to Elnora since you are powerless and of no use.”

“She might not have a home, but she has us.” Xander’s dark, deadly voice sounded behind her and with one swift movement, Oak’s hand was gone from her throat.

She launched herself forward, Kaden grabbing onto her and twisted her behind him. Half of her leaning around him, she watched Xander grip Oak’s arm so hard she thought it was going to snap.

None of the guards dared move, the look on Kaden and Xander’s face scaring them into stillness.

“Let me go,” Oak snarled.

“Show me the letter,” Xander demanded.

“It’s a private letter, official business that you and your cronies don’t have clearance for,” Oak growled.

The rest of the crowd continued on, only a few watching the chaos unfold but with her quick observation, it seemed everyone was too scared to react.

“Get the letter now or I will make sure you will require a female to please you as you won’t have any functioning hands.” Xander’s voice was cold as death and she realized why he was the backup Kaden always asked for.

Xander’s grip tightened and she could see the realization in Oak’s eyes that he wasn’t bluffing.

“Fine.” Oak mumbled and nodded to the closest guard, whispering to him before the man rushed away.

With Xander still holding Oak, Kaden turned to her with fury in his eyes.

“You ok?” he whispered.

“Perfectly fine.” she smiled, “Though now I understand why I was sent here.”

He nodded, both putting all the pieces together at the same time.

Emris essentially sold her to Oak to get rid of her and it only worked if he was confident she wouldn’t get her power back.

The guard rushed back and handed the letter to Kaden, who opened it with such force she thought he was going to tear it.

Peaking around him, she could see the handwriting and her stomach instantly sank. Kaden flinched too and she knew he had come to the same conclusion.

“We are leaving.” Kaden barked, Xanderreleasing Oak’s arm.

Oak stood, anger visibly coursing through him and she wanted nothing more to throw all her power at him with how pissed off she was.

“You and your men can leave, but she stays here.” Oak roared.

The rest of the room went silent and she knew they had a limited amount of time before things got really bad.

A bright reflection caught her eye and she saw a man in a silver mask appear on the dais from the crowd, a red hooded cloak covering the rest of his body and Kaden shifted in front of her to block her.

This must have been the man hunting her this entire time.

Raine appeared next to her, the rest of the group circling around as the tension flared.