Deviant Descendants (Descendants Academy #2) - Belle Malory Page 0,60

He cut a long piece of twine, then strung it around the wrapped gloves. “Ever since his return, people are curious.”

A centaur trotted past, kicking muddy snow up onto my boots. I shook my foot to get the snow off before it soaked through to my socks, only half-paying attention to the dwarf’s chattering.

“Of course, his return.” I was clueless about hollowed royalty, but it sounded like common knowledge. Since I was trying to blend in, I nodded along, pretending I understood whatever the dwarf was talking about.

He tied the twine into a neat little bow. “To be honest, I’m a little curious myself. I’d like to know where his allegiances lie since he’s the crown prince. Four years is a long time to be gone. Course, his father before him left for nearly a decade, trying to win over that wealthy Mythonian girl. You never know what that family is scheming.”

I dug through my pocket for the wots, offering a polite smile. “Thank you again,” I said, giving the dwarf the coins.

“Of course, miss.” He handed me the wrapped gloves and tipped his head. “Pleasure doing business.”

I took a few steps back toward Grey, then stopped suddenly. That last part struck a strange chord in me. Four years…a decade…why did those time frames sound so familiar?

“Hey, ah,” I spun around, “my mind went blank—what’s the prince’s name again? The one who returned?”

The dwarf looked up. “Prince Leo?”

I exhaled, shaking off the prickliness that came over my skin. For a moment, I had thought—

“Prince Lucian Trophonius Alexander Leo,” the dwarf clarified. “But they say he goes by Xander.”

I hiccupped. Xander’s last name was Arius. It was just a coincidence.

But I had to see for myself.

My instincts told me to move away from the crowd, but instead, I pushed my way through it. Adrenaline pumped through my veins with every step. Not my Xander, I chanted over inside my head. The closer I got to the guards, the harder it was to see. Frustrated, I looked around for a higher vantage point.

The fountain.

I went back and climbed up onto its ledge, careful to keep from slipping in my snow trodden boots. Once I was higher up, I looked over the wall of creatures and mages, searching for signs of him.

A silhouette wearing a royal crest exited a shop. It had to be him. I held my breath as the figure moved into the hazy sunlight, my heart drumming in my ears. He took a few more steps, and then—

No.

Dark hair waved around the same chiseled face I dreamt about every night, a little longer than the last time I’d seen him. Slightly crooked nose. Familiar gladiator build. And although I wasn’t close enough, I knew those eyes were the bluest I’d ever seen.

My stomach dropped out from under me. I stepped off the fountain ledge, the sea of faces around me a blur. My ears rang, my heart thumped at an uncontrollable pace, and I felt like I might pass out at any second.

The crown prince of the Underworld was my Xander.

31

I didn’t remember the walk back to the apartment. At some point, Grey took my arm and guided me. My feet moved, air went in and out of my lungs, but I blacked everything else out. Then, once I was safely inside, I went to the chair by the window and sat, staring at the curtains. Riley said something, but her voice was far away. Then, she and Grey spoke in hushed voices, but I didn’t listen, unable to focus. It felt like I was cocooned inside my own sea, everything else distorted and murky. Nothing made sense anymore. Nothing ever would.

“Have I ever lied to you?”

His voice echoed in my ear, an obscure, distant memory.

“No, I don’t think so,” I replied.

“Then let me be your anchor. Even if you can’t trust yourself, trust me.”

I did as he asked; I trusted him. He never lied, not exactly, but he didn’t reveal the truth either. He told me little bits and pieces of his life, but never this.

How was it even possible? How could no one else know he was the hollowed prince? I blinked, thinking of Ione.

“You’re not the only one with secrets bad enough to ruin you. I’ve gotten good at lying.”

They kept this hidden.

When Xander disappeared, she must’ve known where he went, but she couldn’t say anything. If she had, she would’ve revealed who she really was.

I sat there for a long time, staring at nothing. Riley left