Queen Ascending (Ace of Queens #2)

Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Exton watched as Gemma slept in his arms. Her eyelids fluttered as she dreamed about far away places. Her long lashes fanned out over her cheeks as her lips parted slightly.

She's inside of me...

Gemma's words echoed in Exton's mind. The fear that he had seen in Gemma's eyes raddled him to his core. He could feel it in every bone of his body.

There was no sleeping for Exton, his mind raced against time. He had to come up with a way to keep her safe.

He had to.

It wasn't as option. Tobias would not hesitate to kill Gemma if he found out who she was. This was a chess match, and he needed to protect his queen.

Exton quietly slipped out of bed and placed a gentle kiss on Gemma's forehead. She did not stir.

Exton closed his eyes and focused hard on the numbers that swam behind his eyes. Soon, he felt his body tingle and dizziness took over.

Normally to travel back to the exact moment, Exton would have had to waste a lot of his energy to focus on the timing and numbers. But today he let him mind wander and his body pick. The day he had fought Tobias in the greenhouse was April 28th. Exton knew he would land somewhere in that time frame...maybe the 29h or the 30th.

As soon as Exton felt his feet touch solid ground, he peered his eyes open slowly. He was standing outside of the throne room. He could sense his family inside.

"Is there no way to communicate with him?" Lafayette's voice reached Exton's ears. He pushed open the door and walked inside.

Everyone turned to look at him as he entered. Rye gasped as she ran up to him and pulled him into his arms.

"Oh thank god," she murmured in his ear. "Are you okay?"

Exton nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine...What day is it?"

"May 1st," Xavier informed.

"Where is she?" Lafayette suddenly asked. "Where is Gemma?"

Protect her at all cost...Exton thought.

"What do you mean?" He asked looking around.

Lafayette narrowed his eyes at him, "Where is Gemma? She disappeared with you."

Exton shrugged. "Well she didn't appear with me when I gained consciousness."

"What happened, Exton?" Xavier asked from his seat.

"You and Gemma disappeared, where did you go?" Rye asked as she placed a gentle hand on his arm.

"I don't know," Exton said. "I remember her throwing her arms around my neck and that was all...I woke up in my timeline and now I'm here."

"She wasn't with you?" Lafayette asked again. His voice had an urgency. Exton felt bad for lying to the man. He clearly cared for Gemma too. But he knew Lafayette would side with Tobias.

"No," Exton said.

Lafayette banged his fist against the wooden table making the glasses raddled.

"We'll find her, Lafayette." Xavier assured him as he watched his son.

"This is all your son's fault!" Lafayette suddenly said. "He attacked Tobias. Why would he do that? And Gemma! Why would Gemma do such a thing? Protect him?"

Exton kept his mouth shut. He knew his parents expected him to tell Lafayette what the connection between him and Gemma was. He felt the weight of their gaze on him.