Page 40 of Xander
Chapter Nineteen
Frost
Frost awoke slowly and wondered why her head felt detached from the rest of her body.Her thoughts floated around in her head, and no matter how much she had concentrated on pinning one down, they managed to flitter away the moment she had some semblance of recognition.Instead of targeting one thought, she asked questions and she hoped that she could find enough strength to answer them.
Am I hurt?No, not hurt.The only problem was that her head was fuzzy with something other than sleep.
What do you remember last?Huh.That took a little longer to remember.Silas.Silas and Xander were running around the mountain, darting in and out of the trees as they chased each other.She—no Xander—wrestled with Silas in their leopard forms until…what?Silas…something that had to do with Silas.
Her throat constricted with panic as she tried to pull the memories from the back of her mind.It took her a few minutes to push away the dread that came with her thoughts, enough so she could concentrate on the full recollection of their time playing in the trees.But all she could see was Silas, his pure white and tiny form, tripping from time to time as he tried to keep up with his dad.
There.What was that?Frost watched in her mind’s view as Silas paused and quirked his ears up to hear a conversation.No, not a conversation; thoughts, he said.Others’ thoughts, who were closing in on their positions.
Why?
That she didn’t remember.She reached for Silas.Did she drop him?Hurt him?
Again, despair locked down her body and froze her mind at the thought of her son, their son, hurt or worse because she couldn’t protect him.Xander.She knew that Xander would protect him, both of them, with a ferocity that would scare other immortals.
Concentrate, Frost, for fuck’s sake.
A little swell of pain, in her neck.She remembered that.Silas—she had moved Silas underneath Xander so his dad could protect him, but after that, nothing but darkness.Darkness and the bleakness of not knowing whether her family was still alive.
She felt tears pour down her face, something that she couldn’t have prevented, even if she wanted to.Her muscles were slow to respond; she couldn’t even clench her hands into fists.What the hell was in that dart that struck her?
Dart—there was a dart that she pulled out of her neck.She remembered glancing at it as though it were the cause of all the trouble in her life.And because she couldn’t move, was she being kept—by Anzû?No, she had to get out, to get back to her family.But as much as she struggled, nothing would move.She tried to pry open her eyes and yet, nothing.
Her chest heaved up and down with her fearful breaths.Without a way to relax her body with the thoughts and the imaginings of what had happened to her family, she blacked out.
***
Awareness slowly seeped in and she couldn’t remember for a split second, where she was or how she got here.The panic that she had felt and that made her pass out seemed dampened by the thoughts pinging around in her mind.She could think, make connections, and she wasn’t sluggish.But instead of getting excited, she knew that she would have to assess her current situation.
Her breathing slowed as she listened for any movement anywhere around, and she could distinctly hear two different breathing patterns close to where she lay.She sensed no danger, so she relaxed a bit more.She took a deep breath and inhaled the familiar scents of her son and mate in the same room, and she unlocked the rest of her muscles and opened her eyes.
Xander’s arm lay around her waist, his hand splayed around her hip and holding her close to his side.His head was buried against her neck, and that’s when she spotted Silas.He was curled in between them, touching both of them in his sleep as reassurance that his parents were safe and sound.
And suddenly she was pissed.Silas had witnessed the attack on her and even worse, she had no idea what happened to him.Did they attack him as well?She couldn’t contain the growl that escaped her throat.In the same moment, Xander’s eyes popped open and met hers; his widened when he spotted the fury in hers.
Did those fuckers touch Silas?
No, no sweetheart.He protected you while Jade, Ax, and I took care of them.
They’re dead then?Frost was pissed enough at that moment that she wouldn’t have minded a shot at them.Not that she knew how to kill anyone, but for putting Silas in danger, she would’ve found a way.The throbbing in her head became more pronounced.
Are you okay, sweetheart?
Yeah, just a headache.I think it’s a leftover product of being tranquilized.Earlier I couldn’t even move.How long have I been out?
He glanced at the clock and looked back at her with wide eyes.It’s been eight hours.The tranquilizer should have burned up in your system within an hour.They must’ve upped the dose and miscalculated.If you were still a human, it would’ve killed you.
What happened?She glossed over the dose.A headache was a small price to pay considering what could have happened to her family.
Xander relayed exactly what had occurred, leaving nothing out, even how the shifters had died at their hands.But the message threw her.Why would he leave a message with Xander if their goal was to kidnap her?She smiled down at her son, proud of their little man.He’d kept his cool and despite the worry that he must’ve been feeling, he did exactly as his daddy instructed.
Why would they try to kidnap me?It makes no sense, after all this time, unless he really wanted Silas and thought that kidnapping me would give him an advantage.I hope he comes back, because he wouldn’t survive the encounter.
Xander captured her lips and kissed her until her breathing became erratic and she had forgotten her anger that was replaced by lust for her mate.When he pulled back, she ran her fingers through his hair.The devastated look on his face caused her heart to squeeze painfully in her chest.She never wanted to be a liability to Xander, but last night, she had become one.
