Chapter 5
Exton landed on the stairs with a loud thump.
He looked around frantically for Gemma but there was no trace of her. From behind he heard the loud voices of Rye, Xavier and Caspian.
"What were you thinking?" Rye shrieked as she ran down the stairs to him. "What were you thinking?"
Exton didn't pay any attention to her, his eyes were on Caspian.
"Send me back! Open the portal!" He demanded.
Rye grabbed his shoulders and shook him. "What the fuck?" she screamed.
Exton stepped back from his mother's grip and ran up to Caspian.
"I found her! Open the portal!"
"No!" Xavier ordered Caspian as he marched down the stairs.
"Please!" Exton begged frantically. "I found her!"
"It's too dangerous," Xavier shook his head. "It's a miracle you even made it back!"
"I will be fine!" Exton yelled. "I was fine! I found Gemma!"
"No, Exton," Rye pleaded. "You can't go back."
"Caspian open that portal!" Exton hollered.
"Exton!" Rye stomped her feet.
From the top of the stairs, Toby watched the commotion quietly.
He sighed as he watched the desperation in Exton's face. Slowly, he began to walk down the stairs.
"Rye," Toby said. "Let him go."
Rye turned to look at Toby as if he had lost his mind.
"He's not going to stop," Toby explained. "If it had been you or Xavier, not going back would be out of the question."
Toby waited a second for the truth to sink into everyone's mind. He then turned to Exton.
"If you're going to travel into the veil, you need to do it correctly."
Everyone looked at Toby with wide eyes.
"Eli used to take me into the veil with him," He explained quietly. "He would go there to meet Lafayette...at the time, I didn't know. He would leave me in his cabin and go do this business."
Exton watched the look of heartbreak on Toby's face. He knew the pain of losing a mate was immense.
Toby exhaled, "I'll teach you how to find her again and how to keep the gatekeeper pleased. You made it out of the veil, so that means you didn't fall for her tricks."
"Her tricks?" Exton asked confused.
"The gatekeeper collects souls," Toby said. "Did you see all the tea cups around her?"
Exton nodded.
"Eating or drinking with the gatekeeper binds you to the veil forever."
Rye gasped.
"Don't worry," Exton said gently. "I didn't consume anything."
"Good," Toby nodded. He turned to Xavier, "Exton will need pixie gold and an iron dagger."
Xavier hesitated. His eyes landed on his son and then on his wife.
"Okay," he finally said. "If he's going to do this then he needs to do this safely."
Within a few hours, Xavier presented Exton with a ring made of pixie gold and an iron dagger.
"The pixie gold will help you open a portal back from wherever you are," Toby explained. "Turn the ring to the left and think about the place you want to travel to. Keep turning the ring until the portal opened."
He then handed Exton the iron dagger. "For practical reasons. The veil is littered with witches."
Exton nodded.
"Now remember," Toby gripped Exton's shoulder. "Do not eat anything with the gatekeeper."
"Noted," Exton said. He turned to Caspian and asked him to open the portal.
"Be care full," Rye said to him as he hugged her. "Bring her back but you need to come back too."
Exton nodded, "Okay."
He then turned to face his father. "Thank you," he said.
Xavier sighed. "Just come home, that's all I ask."
"I will."
And with that Exton stepped back. He turned towards Caspian and waited.
The merman gave a slight nod and opened the portal again.
Exton stepped through and held his breath for the freezing cold. Luckily, this time he remembered to grab a jacket.
He followed the scent of cinnamon to the gatekeeper. She was unmoved from her tea party of death.
"Twice in one day?" The gatekeeper asked raising a brow. "I like you Exton. Maybe this time you can accompany me for a cup of tea?"
"No, thank you." Exton said quickly. "I need to see Gemma again."
The gatekeeper smiled over her cup of tea. She was so very odd...in a field of white, she was the only thing drenched in color. Her copper hair stood out like flame.
"She's through there," The redhead said nonchalantly. She used her tea cup to motion towards the portal.
"Thanks," Exton said as he bounced away. Eagerly, he stepped through the portal, expecting to be in Gemma's room again ...but he landed in the middle of an empty hall.
Loud music and voices climbed up from the end of the hall. Exton looked around and realized he was standing in a replica of Lafayette's castle from outside the veil.
He stayed close to the walls and inched closer to the stairs. Carefully, he climbed down and hid behind a pillar.
From a nearby table, Exton quickly grabbed a rob that had been hanging on a chair and put it one.
With the hood over his head, Exton snaked through the crowd. His eyes spotted Gemma at the head of the room.
She sat at the dinner table staring at her plate. Lafayette said to her left and another man with dark hair to her right.
As Exton watched, the man with the dark hair looked over at Gemma and placed a kiss on her cheek.
Exton smacked the wall next to him scaring a group of witches. They scurried away from him without a second glance.
Gemma remained unmoved. She sat still as a statue.
Exton's eyes stayed solely on her.
He thought he was going to commit mass murder when the man picked up Gemma's hand and placed another kiss upon it. But to his relief, Gemma pulled her hand away and stood. She gave the man and her uncle a polite smile and headed for the exit.
Exton followed her.
When she had climbed upstairs and was in the empty hall, Exton pulled her into a corner.
Before she could gasp, Exton's hands were over her mouth.
"Don't scream," He told her. "It's me."
Gemma's eyes were wide as the moon, but Exton felt her body relax. He dropped his hand and took his hood off.
"What are you doing back?" Gemma whispered harshly.
"To have dinner with you uncle," Exton said sarcastically.
Gemma gaped at him making him roll his eyes, "I came to take you home."
Gemma opened her mouth to protest.
"Don't say you are home," Exton stopped her. "This isn't your home."
Gemma glared at the boy. "Why should I go with you? You're the enemy."
"You don't mean that," Exton said leaning closer to her. His eyes dropped to her lips as Gemma's breath hitched.
"Who is that man?" Exton voice was barely a whisper.
Gemma closed her eyes and swollen, "My fiance."
Exton's jaw tensed, "I hate that word."
"Exton," Gemma said opening her eyes. Suddenly she forgot how to speak when she realized how close he was standing to her.
"You should...you should...." she began.
"I should really show you how you deserve to be kissed," Exton completed her sentence.
"Yes," the word slipped out from Gemma's lips without her permission. Once she caught what she said, she shook her head, "No. No, that's not that I meant. You should go."
Exton smiled, "I'm not leaving without you."
"Why are you so stubborn?" Gemma groaned.
"What's keeping you here?" Exton demand. "Is it your lovely uncle? Or is it that man?"
Exton had to admit, he was scared to hear her answer.
"I can't leave," Gemma said looking down.
"Why the hell not?"
"Because!" Gemma snapped. "I have to marry him. You have no idea who he is."
Exton was ready to punch something once more. "As long as I'm alive, you will never marry any other man."
"Exton," Gemma turned away. "He's the god of the underworld...he's Hades."
Exton laughed suddenly, "What?"
"I'm serious!" Gemma glared. "And why can't I marry any other man?"
"Because I'm going to marry you," Exton said bluntly with a shrug.
Gemma stared at him with her mouth wide open.
"Hades can go fuck himself," Exton said as he cupped Gemma's face. "You're mine, princess."
Gemma's heart skipped a beat at his world. She tried to tell herself this was some kind of trick.
"You're lying," Gemma called him out.
"I'm not," Exton smiled down at her.
"What about when you find your mate?" Gemma tilted her head slightly to one side.
Exton's eyes dropped to her lips once more. His self control was really wearing off.
"I have already found her," Exton whispered.
"And you're still here standing in front of me talking all this rubbish."
"It's you Gemma." Exton said with a serious face.
Gemma froze. She could suddenly hear a ringing in her ear. She looked at Exton as her heart began to pound in her chest.
Suddenly, there were voices that began to walk towards them.
Gemma watched in horror as Exton began to pull out an iron dagger.
"Stop," she hissed.
Before he could stop her, she stepped out into the hall.
"Ginny!" Gemma said with a shaking smile. "Just the person I was looking for. Could you please bring me some dinner to my room. I don't have the energy to be at a party tonight."
The girl, Ginny, bowed politely and walked away with her friend.
Gemma waited until they were at the bottom of the stairs before she pulled Exton into her room and locked the doors.
"Okay, don't worry about packing anything," Exton said. "I'll summon the portal. Is there anything you really need?"
"What are you talking about?" Gemma asked, her mind was racing.
"About leaving," Exton looked at her confused.
"Why would I go with you?" Gemma almost yelled.
"Ah, I'm your mate. We belong together." Exton said as if it was a simple face and he didn't understand why she was not understanding it.
"Are you crazy or are you just insane?" Gemma wanted to laugh at him. "You said you hadn't found your mate! You said I was not your mate! You said I couldn't be your mate because I didn't have a soul!"
Exton bit the inside of his cheek.
"An now you just show up here and say I'm your mate and expect me to drop everything and go with you?" Gemma waved her arms around in the air to drive her point home.
"Yeah," Exton said calmly.
Gemma froze. They stared at each other from across the room.
Gemma didn't know whether she wanted to laugh, cry, or scream in frustration.
She simply opened a portal under his feet and made him disappear.
This time, Exton landed in the throne room.
A quiet hush fell over the place as all the councilmen and his parents gawked at him.
"She like flipped out on me," he said awkwardly.
"What did you do?" Rye narrowed her eyes at her son.
Exton didn't want to talk about it with his dad's vaulter crew watching him.
He rolled his eyes and ran out in search for Caspian.
"Caspian! I need another portal!"
What are your thoughts on Exton?