Plus, the way he was looking at me was beyond words. I’d seen lust in his eyes before, but not this. This was something utterly different. No one had ever looked at me the way he did.
Had I been the idiot this whole time not believing Bibbi? Had Hawk declared for me? It wouldn’t be my first blunder in judgment. Nor the second, or the hundredth, and definitely not the last.
My feet slowed as the shock to my system began sucking up all the available energy in order to process what I was sensing.
I kept slowing until I’d stopped completely.
“Are you okay?” he asked, stopping not far from me.
I stared at him for a few seconds, having a hard time believing I was going to rehash this conversation, and right now, of all times. “You did declare. You called it an old wives’ tale, but it wasn’t, was it?”
His eyes locked on mine. “I don’t think the timing is quite right for this discussion,” he said, before looking the other way.
Up ahead, Xazier stood, waiting. At that moment, I didn’t care if Xazier waited. But what if Hawk was stalling so he didn’t have to tell me how wrong I was right before this meeting? Did I really want to be rejected right now?
Hawk was right. This conversation was better off at a later time, or never. Maybe never?
All that gooeyness was getting to my head. I shoveled it away, focusing on Xazier. It might be an act, but he didn’t look as angry or annoyed as I’d hoped. He had to know that we’d trapped Dread. He had his finger on the pulse of everything here, not to mention you could literally feel its absence.
“If things go bad, please, for the love of Xest, follow my lead for once in your life,” Hawk said, hearing the same alarm bells I had.
I opened my mouth to say I would but then had to pause. “I’ll try.” It was the best I could offer. If he did something I disagreed with, I’d end up doing things my way no matter what I said. It was best to set realistic expectations.
He looked at me, shaking his head. “I gave you your way on the hill and I can’t get this?”
“Let’s be honest about that—you were touch and go at best. You were a hair away from stepping in and trying to call the shots,” I said. He was going to play the hill card? That was hardly an earth-shattering compromise.
“But I didn’t.” He tilted his head, the way he did when he was convinced of his rightness.
“Is this really the time?” I asked, making a point of looking up ahead and smiling. If the hair on the back of my neck was accurate, it might be the only smiling that would happen for the rest of the night.
We walked the last bit in silence. It was better than yelling as we approached.
“Xazier,” I said.
“Tippi,” he replied, and then, with less enthusiasm, he added, “And Hawk.”
“I’m guessing you’ll realize there’s no further need for meetings.” Please, realize. I had no desire to fight with anyone tonight, least of all Xazier. All I wanted from him was his absence.
“Actually, no, I’m not quite clear on that at all.”
Could he not feel the difference? How was that possible? He had to know. He had too many spies that would’ve told him something had changed. There wasn’t a person in Xest who didn’t feel something, either good or bad, with Dread’s presence around, and now the lack of it.
“We handled the problem,” I said. “It’s over.”
Xazier squinted and then began to shake his head slowly. “No, I don’t think it is. There are a couple of issues with that interpretation of events. If you’ll allow me to expand?”
I didn’t answer. He was going to expand whether I wanted him to or not.
“Please do,” Hawk answered, his words polite but his tone lethal.
“You agreed to eliminate a problem. Well, the first issue with that is you didn’t actually do all of the eliminating, did you? It wasn’t your plan. That had all the hallmarks of Lou. He’s the only one who would’ve known how to utilize that hill.”
“She did it all, and there’s no changing that,” Hawk said.
Xazier put his hands up. “I’ll give you that point if you insist, but there is another problem that is still lingering. That is most likely only a temporary fix.”
“You don’t know that,” I said. No one did. Not even Lou.
“Oh. But I do, or Dread wouldn’t have happened in the first place.”
That was not good news, and not because he’d broken out of it once already. Dread had originated from the hill. It hadn’t only been a cage. It had been its birthplace. If our magic was so similar, what did that mean for me?
“You’re not taking over Xest, and you’re not taking her.” Hawk was bristling in a way I’d never experienced before. There was a strange feel to his energy, as if I were standing beside a bomb about to blow.
“I’ve decided to allow some leeway for partial progress.”
My heart was thumping. I wasn’t sure which was going to be worse: Xazier trying to take Xest or me, and then what would come next.
“I’ll just take you,” Xazier said, smiling.
“She offered up collateral that isn’t hers to give,” Hawk said. “She had a previous binding contract with me. You can’t have her. To be honest, I’m surprised you didn’t already sense it. Must be off your game.”
“You gave me a false pledge?” Xazier was darkening by the second. His eyes filled with awareness as the truth hit him.
“You’re never getting her,” Hawk said. He wanted the fight. Him holding back was the most surprising part. Was this sort of like Rest rules, where he wanted Xazier to swing first so he could kill him?
“He’s not getting her or Xest,” Lou said, appearing out of nowhere.
Great, the gang was all here. The only surprise was that I hadn’t expected it. Maybe we could have a little tea party next.
Lou closed the distance, looking unhappy with everyone but landing his primary focus on Xazier.
“You’ve overstepped, Xazier. Did you think you could do this under my nose? That I don’t have as many eyes and ears in this place as you do? Maybe more? You wouldn’t even exist if it weren’t for me. Xest is neutral territory. You can’t do anything without informing us. Those are the rules.”
Maybe the additional company wasn’t so bad. If Xazier was too busy fighting off Lou, there wouldn’t be much fight left for us.
“I know exactly who I am,” Xazier replied. “I think you holier-than-thou people might have overestimated your place.” He took a few steps toward me. Lou matched him step for step.
Hawk moved closer until his arm brushed mine, the violence vibrating in the air around him.
“What’s going on? What do you both want with me? Let’s cut the bull and put it all out there,” I said, fed up with all the games these people played. It was worse than recess at grammar school.
“Yes,” Hawk said. “Why don’t we all lay our cards on the table.”
Xazier looked at Lou. Lou looked back. I crossed my arms, biting the inside of my cheek so as not to rush them. This might be my only shot at getting some answers. I wouldn’t force it to an early conclusion that might end badly for me.