Queen Ascending (Ace of Queens #2)

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

1 Year later

"Xavier, stop him!" Rye cried out as she watched Exton clumsy swing his sword at Basil.

He was drunk out of his mind on Pixie brew and wanted to fight Basil when he tried to cut him off.

"Exton!" Xavier boomed. He lunged forward and grabbed the sword out of his son's hand. "Enough!"

"Enough," Exton mimicked his dad laughing.

Xavier painfully watched his son reach for the bottle of pixie brew again. He grabbed him under his arm and pulled him away.

"You've had enough," Xavier stated sternly. "You need to sober up and get a grip."

Exton stilled. He stopped struggling and hung his head.

"Sober up?" He asked looking up at Xavier. "I don't want to...it hurts to be sober..."

Rye's eyes watered watching the heartbreak look on Exton's face. She placed a hand over her mouth to muffle her sobs.

"I can't stop seeing her eyes..." Exton sank into the chair in front of him. "It fucking hurts to be sober."

No one in the room knew what to say.

It had been almost a year since Lafayette took Gemma. With each passing day, Exton lost his mind a little more. There was no trace of her or Lafayette anywhere on Earth...sometimes it felt like they were searching for someone that never existed.

Exton slumped deeper into the chair and threw his head back. He stared up at the ceiling as images of blue eyes and the scent of bluebells descended upon him.

"Gemma," He called out. "Gemma, Gemma, Gemma!"

His voice rose with each desperate call for her.

Rye began to sob harder. She couldn't bare it. She couldn't bare to see her son in so much agony.

"Let's go," Xavier said gently as he tried to lift Exton up, "You need sleep."

"I need to find her," Exton jerked away from his father.

"How?" Xavier said in anger. "Like this?"

Exton blinked. His cheeks were tomato red, his eyes bloodshot.

"Drowning yourself in pixie brew won't bring her back," Xavier snapped. "Get yourself out of this hole of self pity and use your time wisely... you've been drinking for almost half the day now. That's half a day you could have spent searching for her."

"Xavier..." Rye took a step towards her mate.

Xavier held up his hand to stop her, "He needs to hear this, Rye."

He turned back to his son, "Control your anger, channel it."

Exton hung his head. He knew his father was right...of course he was. He always knew what to do. He would have never let this happen.

"If mom had gone missing," Exton began as he stared at nothing in particular. "You would have burned down the world by now."

Xavier stilled. Exton was right, he would have.

"What are you willing to do for Gemma?" He asked.

Exton looked up at him, "I'll snatch her from the gods if I have to."

_______________________

"Focus, little bird." Lafayette said as he watched Gemma. "Look at the energy...harness it, demand it to bend to your will."