chapter 5

Chapter 5

Lyra’s POV

Even after he'd disappeared out of the hall, I still couldn't bring myself to move. His footsteps echoed all around me, as they bounced off the walls and wherever they could find. My skin buzzed and tingled from his touch, but the worst part, a tiny part of me couldn't help but like it. In fact, it yearned for it a little bit more than I was going to accept.

Shit.

Pain shot up my knees, but I didn't flinch. I'd been kneeling for goddess knows when, and anyone in my situation would complain of the same pain. As funny as it might sound, that wasn't the pain I was worried about. It was the kind that twisted in my chest, with the sole aim of crippling every vital organ it could find, that really shook me to the core. My body and fingers were trembling, but there was little to nothing that he could say about it.

I slowly rose to my feet, while my eyes scurried around the place. It was worse than I would have thought. Dead guards were scattered around the floors, and the ones that were still alive didn't look like they were going to last too long. I wasn't a doctor, but even I could tell that they were using the very last of their life lines, and would give up the ghost any minute.

Xavier hadn't just come to play, he'd come for revenge, and it wasn't pretty.

Xavier.

The mere thought of him sent ripples down my spine. Who would have thought that the same man who had me squirming under him and in his bed last night, just to be the same man that has stood in front of me a while ago. To make it all worse, he was the king of the rogue crew, and the stepbrother to Xander.

I paled. If someone had told me that things would come crashing down in the span of a couple of hours, then best believe that I would have laughed hysterically to the point of no return. Until, now that is. Now, I had no idea what I would have done.

A small groan reached my ears, and I jolted. It took a while, but eventually, I realized the sound had come from the direction of the throne room, and without thinking, I dashed towards it.

“Xander?” I got to him in a couple of seconds. As per Xavier's orders, he'd been chained to the wall, with his hands high over his head and his feet dangling in the air. His head hung low, and has he not chosen that exact moment to let out another groan, I would easily convinced myself that he was dead and gone. “Xander.”

“Please tell me you're okay.” I cupped his face in my palms. It felt ice cold and I didn't miss the blood that trickled down the side of his face and onto my skin. “Xander, please…”

I couldn't even complete my sentence. Yes, Xander had hurt me countless times, but seeing him in this state was more than I could handle. He'd been beaten and battered up, and it was a miracle he was still surviving by now, even though it was all still hanging by a thin thread.

“Guards!” I yelled at the top of my lungs. “Anyone! You have to help me, please.”

Tears blurred my vision and my voice broke with each syllable. I wasn't sure how long I yelled out for, but eventually, I didn't miss the echo of footsteps edging towards me.

“Ma'am.” A guard walked up to me immediately. He was wounded, but apparently, he could still hold his own. “I'm here. What's wrong? What's. …”

“Please help him.” I didn't let him finish. “He's in a bad shape as it is right now, and these chains, get him out of it right now.”

The guard nodded, before beckoning to about two more men. In less than a minute, they had already surrounded Xander and were doing everything they could to get him out of those chains. My sobs didn't stop, instead,I prayed that he was going to make it out of all of this.

After that seemed like forever, they were finally able to get him out, and without wasting so much as another second, they rushed him into the infirmary. As I trailed behind them, someone appeared beside me.

“I'll take care of him ma'am.” I wasn't sure Ophelia was being truthful or only trying to comfort me, but I didn't know what to think at this point. “Once I have him cleaned up, he'll be alright again.”

Ophelia got to work immediately, just as she had promised. She'd barely started on him, but I wouldn't be exaggerating if I said he was already looking slightly better. The color was slowly returning back to his eyes,but there was just one problem.

He wasn't speaking to me at all. He hadn’t said a single word to me since, not during the bloodied clean up,not when Ophelia tended to his wounds, not even when I tried to ask if he was alright.

He didn’t have to say anything. His silence was a poison,slow and deliberate, and while I should have taken that as a sign to keep my mouth shut, my mind had other plans.

“Xander.” I called out again. “You haven't said a word since Ophelia started tending to you. Are you okay? Is there something you would like me to get for you …”

“I want you to start far away from me as possible.” He snapped.“You’ve been working with him all along, haven’t you?”

I turned around too quickly, my hand stilling mid-air as I reached for a towel on the table. His eyes were bloodshot, his expression wild. He looked feral, like a lion wounded in more ways than one.

“What?” I breathed. “No. Xander, I…”

“Don’t play dumb with me, Lyra!” He got on his feet so quickly it was a miracle hot he didn't topple back down. He pointed a finger in my direction, and I flinched, before taking a step back. “You knew him. You let him touch you. You slept with him!”

“I didn’t know” My throat dried.. “I didn’t even know his name”

“But you opened your legs for him, didn’t you?” he snarled, and I flinched.

He hasn't slapped nor touched me, but the words could easily have been said to do the same thing.

“He took Emily.” I would be lying to myself or simply choosing to be delusional if I said I didn't realize the hurt in his voice. It was raw and painful to watch because even in a million years, I wasn't sure he would give that same reaction when it came to me. “Because of you. That bastard took everything from me. My throne. My soldiers. And now her.”

“I’m still here,” I whispered.

“You?” He let out something in between aa scoff and a groan. “You’re just a walking curse!”

His voice echoed off the walls, and I stood still. My breath caught in my chest, and a part of me wanted to yell back, remind him that I had always stood by him. That I bled for him. That I buried three unborn children for him. That I watched him touch another woman in our bed and still stayed.

But I didn’t.

Because for the first time, I realized,none of that had ever mattered to him. Xander stormed closer and jabbed a finger toward my chest, and I quickly snapped out of my thoughts.

“You’re going to fix this.” His voice was dangerously low. “You’re going to make sure your little lover brings Emily back.”

“He’s not my…” he cut me off before I could let out anymore words.

“If you don’t…” His voice dropped, and that made it worse. “I will make this palace a living hell for you. You think I’ve been cruel before? I promise you, Lyra, you haven’t seen anything yet.”

I didn’t speak. I didn’t blink, because I couldn't.

“Bring her back.” He smirked, dark and venomous. “Or drown with him.”