We walk inside to a grand entrance and I am immediately wrapped in a hug. I can’t see anything around the soft material covering my whole head, burying my face in a chest.
“You have no idea how good it is to see you. I thought we were all going to go crazy not being able to check in or see you at all this summer.”
Xander releases me from the stranglehold he has on me and holds me out at arms distance, giving me a once over clearly checking for lasting damage.
“Xander, I’m okay.” I pat his arm awkwardly, his tight grip on my shoulders making it difficult to do anything. “I promise Doc Sylvia and Doc Ganon patched me up and cleared me for training.”
He doesn’t say anything, he just grabs my hand and drags me off without a word to anyone around us. I guess he’s my tour guide now. We traipse through the main halfway that could easily fit hundreds of people, like a banquet hall. But got no better look at it before he had me flying up the grand set of stairs to the balcony overlook. Just when I thought he was going to stop and show me something exciting he turned another corner and started down a hallway that was dimmer than the entryway. We flew past doors and I thanked the Goddess for my endurance, no mere mortal would have been able to keep up with his pace.
“Where are we going, Xander? Are you trying to rip my arm off?” I went for a joke to see if I could get him to respond. Nothing.
We just kept moving. Like he was trying to get away from someone, he dodged in and out of hallways and doorways, up stairways and every other kind of ‘ways’ you could think of in the humongous maze.
We finally came to a stop in a little alcove in who knows what part of the castle. Then he spins me around and grabs my shoulders again. “Who hurt you, Skylar? We want to know, now!” He looked a little deranged at the moment.
“Excuse you!” I shrugged him off. “Who is ‘we?’ And what makes you think I will answer to a demand like that? No friend asks a question like that. You have been hanging around Cameron, Dakota and Oliver a little too long, I think.” I’m angry now. I was so excited to see my friend and the first thing he thought to ask me is who attacked me over a month ago, he’s just as bad as the guys.
I shake out of his grasp and turn to the window, wrapping my arms around myself to stifle the chill that just ran through me. It felt like the same wall of separation that was between me and the guys before I left shot up between Xander and I at that moment. I don’t want to do this here. I’m a new me, I’m away from all of that for just a little while. I want to pretend that the whole situation doesn’t exist. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to calm my nerves and bring back my patience. He has been with the guys this whole time, I’m sure they have asked about me or if he can get any info on me from his parents. I don’t want to be ‘checked-up’ on for my brother and his friends’ benefits. I want someone to check in on me because they want to see me.
“Hey, don’t be like that. We have all been terrified and no one would tell us anything, but that you were alive. You have no idea how excited we all were to hear that you were going to be here today. All the guys tried to get a pass, but…well…”
“Your title got you special privileges.” I supplied his answer without looking at him.
He walked over in front of me and just shrugged. “It has its advantages sometimes. I really am glad to see you, though. And I really appreciate you doing this for me. You have no idea what some of these vipers can be like, if they set their fangs they don’t let go the whole night, no matter what I do Usually my parents can get me away from them, but it takes no time for another to latch on. The Elders have this wild idea about choosing my mate for me, which is ridiculous to even entertain the idea of a chosen mate, let alone someone I don’t even get to choose.” He enunciated the last part.
