Free The Rise (The Alexa Montgomery Saga) by H. D. Gordon Page A

midnight sky, had felt her power and force crush him under her enormous will as easily as if he were some weak-minded human. Now, the question was how much did the girl know? He couldn’t be sure, but his gut told him that she knew everything. And that made for a dangerous situation, indeed. He would need to work quickly and tread lightly so as to keep things moving in the right direction.
     
    Also, there were people who needed to be punished.
     
    The door to the office opened, and in stepped Andre, the most loyal and trusted of all his Warriors. Following him was a boy with reddish-brown hair, striking green eyes, and a face far too kind to have been born of King William’s loins. But Jackson was his son, nonetheless. He had raised the boy since he had been just a pup. And whatever twisted sense of love the King was capable of feeling, he felt it for Jackson.
     
    He hoped that his suspicions about his adoptive son were unfounded. If reports he had received were true, they weren’t. And that was a shame, such a shame.
     
    King William rose from his seat behind the desk and flicked his wrist dismissively. “Leave us, Andre,” he said.
     
    The Warrior left, shutting the door to the office behind him.
     
    “Jackson, my boy,” said King William, walking around to the front of the desk, the heels of his shoes clicking softly with each step, his hands spreading out at his sides.
     
    “Father,” said Jackson.
     
    “Come, come, sit with me a moment,” King William said, leading Jackson over to the couch on the far side of the room.
     
    Jackson took a seat on the couch. King William sat across from him in the armchair. For a moment, King William let silence hang between them. Jackson didn’t so much as shift under his observation. He had taught the boy well.
     
    “How have you been, my Son?” he asked. “Well, I hope.”
     
    Jackson nodded once. “And you, Father?”
     
    King William sat back, folding his jeweled hands in his lap, crossing one leg over the other. “Oh, I’ve seen better days,” he began, his voice smooth, “I’ve seen better days, indeed.”
     
    Jackson raised an eyebrow, and concern passed behind his green eyes. This made something close to appreciation touch the King, but not quite. The boy was the only person left whom he considered family. He had forgotten long ago how it felt to be loved. What was left now of his heart were just an empty shell, bits and pieces of it slowly crumbling away with each breath.
     
    He smiled. “Do tell me what you’ve been up to, my Son. I feel as though it has been ages since we last spoke,” he said.
     
    “I’ve been doing what you asked of me, Father,” was all Jackson said. Smart boy, he was, always had been.
     
    The King tipped his head. “Ah, and what is it I asked you to do?”
     
    Jackson’s shoulders grew tense, so small a change in his posture that a less trained eye would not have noticed at all. “You asked me to keep an eye on the Sun Warrior,” said Jackson. “That’s what I did.”
     
    The King nodded, still smiling. “And where is she now? The Sun Warrior? Can you tell me that?”
     
    Jackson took just a moment too long before answering. “I don’t know.”
     
    “I see. And why is that, my Son?”
     
    Jackson held his father’s gaze, but it was not easy. “She left the city while I slept. I haven’t seen or heard from her since. Is everything all right?” he asked, and another look of concern passed behind his eyes. Anger spiraled in the King’s stomach when he reached out and did a small Search on his son. As he feared, the boy’s concern was not for his father, but rather for the Sun Warrior. So it was as he had suspected. The boy had fallen in love with the Sun Warrior. He had betrayed him.
     
    “Jackson, you disappoint me. You disappoint me greatly,” he said, and now the tiny bit of affection that usually rode his words when he spoke to his son was gone as though it had never been, and his voice was