Spurned Queen

Chapter 49: Traitor, Part 2

Aevran

I watched her.

My mind was blank. I was numb. I thought of nothing as I stared at my mate, sleeping peacefully. Maybe I should have felt a lot of things, considering what I had seen, but no. My mind was empty even as I saved her (for the second time) from a watery grave and got her to safety. Imogen had tried to get me to explain what had happened, but I just hadn't. Alexandra now lay in the bed, passed out just as she had been when I saved her the first time. Just as she had been when she fought the demons.

I had watched her blankly for five days now.

She stirred at long last. Her hands fisted the fabric of the covers as her body tensed. She grunted and her face scrunched up. Suddenly, she gasped, shooting bolt upright. Her eyes snapped to me. When I saw her eyes, it was like something awoke inside me. Like something had been silent all this time and was now returning to normal.

As if they were restraining her, Alexandra quickly kicked off the covers. She barely glanced at the healing gash on her right arm, already teetering on her feet. She trembled, still reeling from whatever nightmare she had had.

I did not speak. I did not move.

"Aevran," she said. Her voice was still scratchy and groggy, but somehow the way she said my name was immensely satisfactory. She stumbled across the room towards me and stopped when she was right in front of me. I looked down at her. "You came for me," she stated, eyes already tearing. "You shouldn't have... but thank you. Thank you so much Aevran," she said and unexpectedly, threw her arms around me. Just like last time. Only this time, her hand came up to caress my face, guiding me towards her lips.

She kissed me almost forcefully, a great strength of will behind the movements of her lips. The kiss was pure emotion. She poured her feelings into it, allowing me to feel the flood of gratitude she felt towards me. It took some time, but I responded, moving my lips along with hers. My eyes fell shut. A tear slid into our kiss, tinging it with salt.

It was like the switch in my emotions had been flipped back on. I gripped her waist and pulled, crushing her body into mine. Now I kissed her, roughly and angrily. Alexandra groaned into my mouth, arms gripping me tighter. My hands travelled up her back and into her tangled mess of hair. I twirled the soft strands in my hand delicately... and when I had a handful, I yanked.

She released a loud yelp of surprise and pain. Her eyes flew open wide with shock. Her expression turned into a grimace as my hold on her hair did not falter.

Her chin was up as far as it would go, exposing her throat to me. I ran the tip of my nose along her throat.

"How long," I asked coldly, "were you going to lie to me?" Because the first thing I felt was fury. At her.

Her feelings went from grateful to guilty in a nanosecond. "Aevran," she said, and this time it sounded like a plea.

"How long was it supposed to last?" I snarled. "Tell me Alexandra. Was I just never supposed to know?"

"Ow, let go Aevran, you're hurting me," she hissed. Her legs and one arm were free, so she could probably fight me off, but she asked instead. I let go of her suddenly, so suddenly that she stumbled back a few paces.

I felt so stupid. "How did I never notice?" I wondered aloud. "I always knew something was off with you; I had no idea," I chuckled bitterly. She said nothing, keeping her gaze on the ground and radiating guilt while I circled around her. "A witch. An elemental witch, of course. I thought I saw your eyes glow white sometimes. I wondered how... how a werewolf had come to adopt a witch, how a werewolf could enter and leave my palace like a very efficient spy," I spat. "I wondered why you looked sharply at whoever mentioned word witch, why you seemed so shaken when we discovered the doings of a certain coven. As for your aversion to actually killing someone on the battlefield... the joke's on me I guess for assuming it was empathy of some sort."