Wexxon the Great Alien Warrior - Juno Wells Page 0,49

me to marry you,” Grindeem murmured.

“You did marry us, Grindeem.” I offered him a slight smile. “You married us.”

“Not Wexxon.” Grindeem coughed between his raspy words. “Reddin. He…he wanted me to marry you to him. But I refused. I think he…he was following Wexxon, from the time he left the castle. From the time he came looking for you.”

“…Why?” I blinked back tears as I tried to hold Grindeem even closer, wanting to offer him comfort in what I knew were going to be his final seconds on Xelxar. “Why in God’s name would Reddin want us to be married? He despises me. He despises Wexxon.”

“…Despise?” Grindeem forced down a breath, his response coming out like a shaking rattle. “You misunderstand, Rachel Waters. Reddin does not…despise. Reddin…envies. His love…his heart…it’s all been twisted by it. He has been twisted by it.”

Grindeem coughed again, this time the noise turning into what sounded like a painful choking.

And then, Grindeem closed his eyes.

“Grindeem…” I cradled his lifeless body, tears slipping down my cheeks. I’d never had a chance to get to know him any better than a rushed church ceremony, but I knew that he was innocent in all of this, that he didn’t deserve to bleed out in the middle of a madman’s hall.

In fact, the only wrong Grindeem had ever done was arrange a wedding for Wexxon and me in the middle of the night, performing the ceremony as a favor to an old friend. I continued to hold Grindeem in my arms as the sadness that flowed through me began to shift into something else, something that blazed behind my chest, something that made me want to grab a sword of my own and aim it right at Reddin’s neck.

Because while Wexxon may not have been able to take his brother’s life, in this moment, there was nothing that I wanted to do more. It was only a matter of time before he came for Wexxon, before he came for me, before he came for Aldvirion, before he came for Palqeet.

Before he came for our child.

I then carefully slid the blade out of Grindeem’s back, silently tucking it into the side of my dress.

And then I continued down the hall, an anger inside me threatening to settle down into my veins and make itself at home.

It didn’t take me long to find Reddin, the sound of his awful laugh trailing all throughout the halls. I followed the sound of it, grateful for the empty nature of his home, assuming that all of his warriors were out wreaking havoc on a nearby town, maybe even trying to attack the castle.

I then quietly sent up a small prayer for Aldvirion, directing it toward any God that would listen, hoping that he would’ve been able to protect the castle with the warriors that lived inside.

A few seconds later I was rounding a corner, Reddin’s laugh coming from the other side of it. I slid down against the wall, not wanting to reveal my position just yet, wanting to be able to surprise Reddin as I sank the weapon underneath his skin.

Fuck.

What was going on with me? I wasn’t used to feeling this way, like I wanted to be the one to deliver justice from my own hands. But as I thought about Grindeem’s life fading away in my grip, I knew that something needed to be restored, that something needed to be repaid if things were ever going to feel the same.

Oh God.

I’d become Xelxarian, hadn’t I? I’d become just like Wexxon, just like the man who shared the mark on my forearm. For a moment, I smiled at the realization, something warm and proud in my chest as it occurred to me that maybe me ending up with Wexxon wasn’t just some random act of fate.

Maybe the reason I’d felt so strange on Earth was because I never belonged on Earth to begin with.

Maybe I’d somehow always belonged on Xelxar. Maybe I’d somehow always belonged with Wexxon, too.

“…I don’t know why you’re being so greedy with your secrets, brother,” Reddin said, his voice spilling out into the hall. “I only asked you a simple question.”

“You only asked the question to get a reaction out of me,” Wexxon’s response was low, like he was groggy or half-asleep. “And if you ask me again, I will finally cut off your fucking head.”

Fucking head.

Hearing Wexxon use one of my words made my heart ache behind my chest.

I couldn’t believe I’d been such a fucking idiot.