Deviant Descendants (Descendants Academy #2) - Belle Malory Page 0,28

more than I cared to admit. I tilted my head to the side, softening my voice. “Xander, you can trust me.”

“This has nothing to do that. I already trust you.”

He said it so quickly, I believed him. “Then why won’t you tell me?”

“Because you have enough to worry about. I don’t want to put more on your plate.”

The curse, dealing with Riley—he was trying to spare me. I should’ve guessed. “Let me decide what I can handle.”

He looked at the sky, and then back at me, as if he were gathering strength. “Can’t you accept you’re better off not knowing?”

I snorted, and he rolled his eyes. “Figures,” he sighed. “Okay, just remember you asked for this.”

“Go on—out with it.”

“I believe my father sent them.”

Slowly, I backed away from him. “Your father…why?”

“The man has attacked every person I’ve ever cared about. Ione, my mother, and even Chloe. I was an idiot to think he’d finally given up.”

Chloe.

Ione mentioned her before, back on Twilight Island. Aside from me, Chloe was the only girl Xander had ever dated. Ione told me about her, and how their relationship ended abruptly.

I was so happy to see him find some happiness, some normalcy again, but it was ruined. The hollows made one threat against her life, and he broke up with her on the spot.

A gnawing fear furrowed in the pit of my stomach, and I wondered if history would repeat itself. God, I didn’t want to consider the possibility.

I shook myself. “Xander, why did they listen to you? When you told them to leave, they didn’t even put up a fight.”

“I’m immune to their power. Always have been. That’s why they used Petra, because they couldn’t torture me themselves.”

Knowing my own mother wielded her magic to hurt Xander still gutted me. The mind tricks she’d played. The things she made him see. I hated that it happened to him, that she was part of the darkest time in his life. Most of all, I hated that I still kind of liked her in spite of it. I should despise her with every fiber of my being, but I didn’t.

“We should get going.” Xander looked back toward the sidewalk. “Will you meet me tonight? Down by the lake where I first told you about your parents?”

The request came out of nowhere, and it made me semi-nervous. As serene as that lake was, I associated it with bad news and shocking revelations. I looked at him pointedly. “Are you breaking up with me?”

“What?” My conclusion caught him off guard. He blinked several times, then laughed. “You can’t get rid of me that easily.”

Hearing his laughter, as if that was the last thing he expected, put me at ease.

He leaned down to kiss my forehead. “We can talk more there.”

I wondered what more he had to tell me. “Okay.”

“So you’ll come?”

I nodded.

He ran his fingers through my hair, now fully regrown and back to its former glory. I was grateful to have the soft, shiny strands again, and even more grateful for moments like this one.

“See you tonight, damsel.”

There was something different about Xander, something that didn’t quite feel right, but I couldn’t put my finger on what it was. I tried to push the feeling aside, but it bothered me.

12

On the way to my next class, a Zeus student named Jonas gave me his seal of support. He handed it to me on the sidewalk as if it were no big deal, as if we weren’t making magical warfare transactions out in the open.

Dumbfounded, I just stared and blinked. “Why?”

“I need a love potion,” he said simply. “A good one. If you ever use it, that would be my request.”

I twisted the gold coin in my fingers, considering that. Potions were simple enough. We didn’t use them in Mirror Realm because they created fake emotions that eventually wore off, but Jonas would be aware of how they worked. His direct tone was eager, making me curious why he wanted it, or rather, who he wanted it for.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Looking around to make sure no one was eavesdropping, I cleared my throat. “What can you, ahem, offer in return?”

“Invisibility.” He smirked. “Very rare magic. Only a few accomplished Zeus students are successful at invisibility spells. I’m one of them.”

“Like Vanisher’s reflector invisibility?” Vanisher transported students to Twilight Island, using his magic to reflect against the water. In most scenarios, reflection wouldn’t be very useful.

“No, actual invisibility.”

Hm, that was pretty spectacular. I wasn’t sure when or