Chapter 248
XADEN’S POV
Once Jasmine had walked out of the room, Xaden kicked his fist into the wall and began smashing things.
When he was through, he was breathless; very slowly, he crumbled to the ground and sat down with the mess and pieces of furniture surrounding him.
He was breathing heavily.
He felt like a fool!
An absolute fool!
She had taken him for a fool! He had gone through all those lengths for her, and I’ll tell you how she had instantly betrayed him.
He was barely even able to believe any of it.
When he asked her if all the accusations being made against her were true, he had hoped that she would deny them.
Hoped that she would tell him and try to convince him that it was all a lie.
But to his greatest horror and disappointment, it had all been confirmed.
The moment she began to plead to him to forgive her, he knew that it was true.
It had shattered him.
It was a nightmare he had wanted to wake up from.
But it was reality.
He had made plans in his head.
He told himself that he would defy the order and make her his mistress.
He could never marry her because she was a slave, but he would give her a spot as his mistress.
He had even spoken to Erik about it, he had been excited and had even ordered that his room be made to accommodate someone else living with him.
His mouth felt sour and bitter.
He raked his fingers through his hair violently as he rummaged through his mind.
He was distraught.
Distraught that all of this was true, he now had no one else to turn to.
He had wanted to be with her, yet she had chosen to Betray him.
He looked so stupid in front of his men!
Thank the goddess that he had not announced to anyone else that he would make her mistress apart from Erik.
He would have been made a laughing stock.
It was something that he would never have been unable to recover.
The door opened, and Erik came in.
Erik put his hands on his waist.
“How are you holding up?” Erik asked.
Xaden remained on the floor, too weak to even stand up on his feet.
He did not even reply.
Erik went to his side and sat down on the floor with him, and they sat together in silence.
“I wish Eleanor was here.” Xaden broke the silence. “She always knew the right thing to say or to do.”
Erik said, not letting Xaden express his feelings.
“Can not believe she was going to murder me,” Xaden said. “She was here as a spy and planted to find a way to kill me eventually.”
Xaden shook his head in disappointment.
“First Aurora died, then we traveled to the isle and then returned. Now I meet my mother is dead, then I find out that Jasmine is an imposter and has planned to kill me, and then I discover that my sister is dead.” Xaden ranted out all at once.
He sighed in heavily and leaned his head back on the wall.
It was truly all too much for him to comprehend. It was too much for him to process at once.
“What did you think is the first thing we should do?” Erik asked. “If we go one step at a time then I am sure that it would be easier for you to comprehend.”
Xaden sighed weakly. “I want to put her to rest. She deserves it. But I want to do it alone. She always said that if she died, she would want to be sent away in a river.”
Xaden’s eyes went red, and then it hit him.
He was planning her goodbye.
Her burial.
He was never ever going to see her again.
He burst into tears, and Erik held him.
He wept for the second time in his life since the day he had watched his family being murdered.
It was as if he had been carrying a heavy weight on his shoulder.
Erik stayed by his side all through, and when he had recovered, his eyes were bloodshot red.
He was quiet again.
“And that bastard took my sister!” Xaden said through gritted teeth.
He knew what they did to women.
He has, after all, done it to Jasmine.
He did not want to imagine that his sister had gone through all that.
If he had known this entire time, then he would have gone and looked for her from the beginning.
But he had been here in this castle living life so swell and his sister had been suffering in the moonlight pack.
“I believe that is the next cause of action,” Erik said.
“Yes. We will leave today.” Xaden said. “We will go by sea. Going by the roads will take forever. Send word to Garrick about our arrival, and he will keep it to himself. I do not want to risk Bale finding out and making an escape. I will end his life.”
“And what about Jasmine? Have you chosen her punishment?” Erik asked.
“You want me to pardon her? You have always had a soft spot for her.” Xaden said.
“Of course not. You should punish her. She lied to you and kept it from you.” Erik said. “But I believe you should listen to her. I told you from the very first day she traveled with us that was something amiss. Her new story fills all the missing holes and makes more sense.”
Xaden did not want to agree, but it was true.
It made more sense now.
“She will come with us on the journey, and it is there that her fate will be decided,” Xaden said, rising to his feet. “If I find out that Bale had a hand in my mother’s death. I will kill Jasmine whether she has a hand in it or not.”
And he left the room.