Descendants Academy: Young Adult Urban Fantasy Belle Malory (highly recommended books .txt) 📖

Xander swallowed, steering his gaze to mine, a reminder that his answers were meant for me alone. “The Underworld.”

I sucked in a breath. So those particular rumors were true. Knowing Grandpa, he would get to the rest pretty quick.

“How did you end up in the Underworld?” Grandpa crossed his arms over his chest, slowly pacing the room, like a true interrogator.

“I was taken.”

“Taken by whom?”

“Hollows, as you’ve likely heard.” Xander’s eyes flicked once to Grandpa, letting him know he was being evasive on purpose.

“Which ones? What are their names?”

He shook his head, trying to remain still. “Not relevant.”

Grandpa scowled. “It’s relevant to me, you manipulative twit.”

“I wasn’t taken willingly,” he said, stiffly. “That’s all I’ll say about that.”

Grandpa paused, rubbing his jaw. “Are you a Hollow?”

There it was, the question of the hour. I held my breath, waiting to hear the answer.

“No.”

The vines didn’t tighten; he was telling the truth. I was more relieved than I expected.

Grandpa, on the other hand, seemed more confused than ever, and getting more upset by the way this was progressing. Xander made it clear he would only tell us what he wanted us to know, and the only way for him to do that was to give him the reins.

“Fine,” Grandpa said, sounding annoyed. “Let’s stop dragging this out. Tell Sheridan what you want to tell her, and I’ll ask my questions after.”

Xander nodded. He took a deep breath before locking on me again. “When I was fourteen, I was taken and held captive in the Underworld for three years. During that time, the Hollows did everything they could in order to get me to join their ranks. Beatings, torture, starvation, isolation, threats against my family—they tried it all. I’m proud to say I never once cracked. I wanted to. God knows, I wanted to.” He winced at that part, his eyes glazing over, as if he was reliving it.

My god. I couldn’t even begin to imagine living through that. When I was fourteen, the worst torture I experienced was getting my braces taken off. Those years were Xander’s teenage years, and he spent them in a literal hell.

The ollodipher hadn’t tightened either, proving every word true. My heart bled. I wanted to wrap my arms around him and tell him how sorry I was he experienced that, but I don’t think he wanted my pity. He just wanted me to listen and believe him.

“They kept me in a cell,” he continued, shaking himself away from the memories. “Hidden in a dungeon beneath their headquarters, almost impossible to escape. I thought I never would…but then I met your mother.”

He stopped, pausing to gauge our reactions. Grandpa looked just as stunned as me, his eyes flaring wide.

My mother was alive. But then…“That day at the lake.” I sat forward in my chair, flattening my sandals against the floor. “You said she was dead.”

He shifted in his seat, the vines tightening with his movements. “I said most people assumed she was killed.”

“You know what I thought you meant.”

I felt bad for what he’d been through, I truly did, but how dare he withhold that kind of information. He had to have understood its importance.

“I’m sorry, Sheridan.” He looked away. “Selena asked me never to speak about her. I feel guilty as hell for telling you this, because I’m breaking my word to her.”

“What does my mom have to do with this?”

“She helped me escape. Without her, I wouldn’t be sitting here right now.”

I looked up at Grandpa, wondering if he knew. For a man of so much strength, he looked weak at that moment. He moved to perch himself on the edge of the desk, arms still crossed. He rubbed a hand over his face and mustache, staring into space. “Alive, all this time.” He shook his head. “This is going to kill Daniel.”

“Explain,” I said, pressing Xander on despite Grandpa having checked out of the conversation.

He nodded. “I told you the first half of the story at the lake. About Petra and your mother. What I didn’t tell you was that Petra descends from a long line of Hollows. That’s how she was able to pull off your mother’s kidnapping—she had help from powerful dark mages. Anyway, her original plans were more twisted than the curse. After both babies were born, she wanted to send you and your sister back to your father in a casket—”

“Wait,” I said, trying to wrap my head around that part. “Her own baby? I mean, me I understand. But why would she want to kill Riley?”

Xander shrugged. “The woman is demented, Sheridan. She felt Daniel’s blood tainted both of you.”

“You knew her personally?”

“Petra was the one who tried to break me.” His eyes darkened. “It killed her that I wouldn’t submit to the Hollowed Council and pledge my service.”

“Why did they want you?”

He shook his head. “Sorry, but that’s another question I can’t answer.”

Fine, I could live without knowing that. As long as he finished telling me about my mother.

“So what happened? Who thwarted Petra’s plans?”

“Also, your mother. Selena’s Athenian heritage gives her a strong sense of precognition. She can see future events playing out in dreams, and the Hollowed Council would’ve done anything to obtain that ability for themselves. So your mother made a deal with the higher-ups. Her life for yours and your sister’s. They forbade Petra from killing the babies, and your mother can’t leave the Underworld. She pledged herself to the Hollows. She has to work for them for life.”

I sat back in my chair, feeling my nose and throat sting. She sacrificed herself, stuck in that terrible place at my expense. Jesus.

“Now do you see why I didn’t tell you at the lake? Selena didn’t want you to spend your life worrying about her. She wanted her sacrifice to mean your life would be full of joy. Then again, she hadn’t anticipated Petra’s curse.”

“How did that happen?” I said, bitterly.

“The Hollowed Council agreed to let