Marked By Masks and Secrets (Everlasting Possession #1)

30

KYLO

I had to get the hell away from her. Something about the sweetness, the innocent curiosity in her voice when she’d asked me why I’d never fed from her had triggered my most base, predator instincts.

The entire conversation that followed was beginning to split my mind in two. My conscious mind held the reins. But that animalistic, starving part of me was two seconds away from holding her down and biting her all over, pulling her blood inside me until I was sated.

The trouble was, I didn’t think I’d ever be sated when it came to my Evie.

So I left. I left her even though I knew she needed me. She’d needed soothing touch, reassuring words, to be held until she drifted into the dreams that so often left her shaken and disturbed.

I knew what she needed most was for me to protect her from harm. And in that moment, I no longer trusted myself not to harm her, to ruin our tenuous trust forever.

She would forgive me for leaving. But she would never forgive me for breaching her boundaries.

And I sure as hell would never forgive myself .

The next few days I was too busy with clan matters to see Evie. I always had a guard posted near her estate. I was simultaneously relieved and disappointed to hear that she barely left her princess palace.

Was she still creating spells and goods with her beautiful magick? Was she still reading? Dreaming?

I had to let it go. My angel needed me, but Etherdale needed me more at the moment. I couldn’t let my obsession with her put the world at risk.

When I could finally, officially claim her, things would be different. Maybe then I could relax.

It was a nice, helpful delusion, even if I knew it wasn’t true.

As soon as I finished the paperwork that had gathered into a much-too-tall pile on my desk—correspondences from near and distant allies, initiatives from my commanders that needed my stamp of approval, new policies for recruitment—I was free to head to one of the underground training facilities.

New and old recruits alike were practicing and learning combat and magick together. It was a sight that warmed my heart—watching elder vampires mentor the young and the more powerful ones lend a hand to those reborn with less magick.

My clan was a perfect system, a web of reciprocal influence led by a shared dedication to something greater than ourselves. It bore a striking resemblance to Evie’s magickal philosophy.

Witch lights above mimicked the natural light of the sun, giving the plants that ran down the stone walls much-needed nourishment.

Princeton snuck up on me as I watched a sparring match, giving instruction as I saw fit.

I gave him a side-eye. “How in the hell do you do that?” I muttered.

“Magick,” he said with a grin.

I looked up at the ceiling, shaking my head. “I assume your network of weasels has already alerted you to the witch-conjured storm?”

“Of course,” he said slyly. “Then I put two-and-two together.”

“How bad is it?” I asked, turning to face him. “The witch hunt?”

Today’s outfit was a billowy white tunic and wide, forest green pants. Bone amulets and other esoteric trinkets hung around his neck and wrists and dangled from his ears.

His light brown, curly hair cascaded past his shoulders, slightly windswept.

He crossed his arms. “It’s not ideal. But those who are facing the most harm and danger are the witches without nearly as much power as I have—as she has. Born alley cats care more about the fresh kills and captives they bring to their masters than what is just or true.”

In other words, born underlings were flexing their muscles with witches that had nothing to do with the clan. Harming innocents was, of course, their favorite pastime.

I massaged the bridge of my nose. “Funny that the loyalists keep calling us propagandists. If only they could see that the born simply being the born is the greatest recruitment tactic at our disposal.”

“Hard to see anything with their heads stuck up their asses. Or, in this case, up the asses of Ravenia’s benevolent, merciful demon rulers.”

I read the glimpse of truth beneath the humor—the tinge of anger, the fear of grief.

“I’m sorry, brother,” I said. “I know you still have friends in those communities. I hope they’re staying safe.”

“They’ll be safer if I stay away for a while,” Princeton said, shrugging a shoulder.

I thought of Evie, the similar choices she was being forced to make in order to protect her family.

Princeton’s gaze unfocused for a lapse before driving into me like a psychic knife to scan my aura. Those bright, light brown irises darted around my face, then my chest, and then the space between my eyes.

He was motionless for two beats before grinning like a mad man.

“I hate when you do that,” I muttered. “Even more than when you sneak up on me like the slithering, devious snake that you are.”

Princeton laughed heartily, the most evil, sneaky gleam in his eyes. “You love me and my slithering ways, dearest Kylo.”

The sound of a collision momentarily shifted our gazes to the left, where a nasty fight had broken out. Fire magick flared. A shield was erected around the sparring mat. I watched as a commander stepped in, the tenor of her voice sending both women to their knees as they worked to soothe themselves. I sensed they were newly turned just by the crazed looks in their eyes.

New recruits were a testy, hungry bunch. That was why we worked hard to temper their proclivity for bloodlust, territorialism, and base instincts. We taught them to channel their primal desires and violence into fuel for the good of the clan, for the protection of mortals and the annihilation of the born.

My focus swept back to Princeton.

“Did you sense Evie’s power the moment you saw her?” I asked.

Princeton’s face didn’t move an inch. He let nothing slip. Just that infuriating little half-smirk on his lips.

“I could sense a buried power,” he mused. “A very curious power. Blocked and denied, but hungry nonetheless.”

“What if she had been a threat?” I asked, my jaw flexing with irritation.

“My loyalty is and shall always be to Spirit. I am not one of them,” Princeton said with eerie calmness, gesturing to the turned surrounding us. Light caught the metal of his many rings. “There was nothing you needed to know at that time.”

My anger was useless. Princeton did what Princeton wanted to do, nothing more and nothing less. He was a genius, a powerful chaos witch, and a major pain in my ass, but without him we were nothing.

“She hates the color black,” I said. “Specifically all-black clothing.”

Princeton’s lips curved ever-so-slightly. “Interesting.”

“Her blood…” I had to stop myself from grinding my teeth into dust. “Smells deceptively human, but stronger. She’s a half-witch. Her brother is human.”

“The boy you blacklisted?” Princeton asked. “My network of rodents was most perplexed.”

I made no response. What was the use when Princeton already knew the truth?

He lowered his voice. “You think she was caught up with the Servants of Lillian?”

I frowned. Every time I ran through the possibilities of Evie’s backstory, the reason for her nightmares, her trauma, her innocence, and her ever-present fear… I wanted to go on a born-killing rampage.

“She’s been on the run for a long time,” I said. “It’s what makes the most sense.”

He lifted a brow. “Have you considered asking her?”

Prick . My jaw tightened. “We’re working through some trust issues at the moment.”

Princeton chuckled. He twirled one of his curly strands around his finger, gazing off into space. “I see.” He sighed. “Well, if she was indeed a survivor of such a nasty cult, I’d imagine that would be a reason for her to fear and suppress her power. To despise violence. To despise us. ”

I’d suspected these things for a while, yet it still felt like I was grasping for answers in the dark. Exactly where Evie wanted me.

How could I protect her when I didn’t know who she was hiding from?

“I know you’re protective of this woman,” Princeton said.

The tone instantly put me on edge as I waited for the but.

My eyes narrowed.

“But,” he continued with a grin. “It is time to bring her in. She is too enmeshed in your aura now, her fate intertwined with the clan’s. I did not glimpse all of her mysteries that day in the market. I only saw she was like me. That she could be useful like me.”

A strange mix of guilt, dread, and territorialism sparked in my blood as I watched Princeton’s eyes light up. I didn’t want to bring Evie into my world, even if I knew it was what was best for her and for the clan. I hated that I had to be selfish with her after whatever horrors she’d endured as a child.

I hated that the right thing felt so wrong.

The moment I set my sights on her, our fates had become forever bound. Against her will. And some days, it felt like it had been against mine too. Our connection had throttled me, shaken me out of a decades-long haze, and now she had me dangerously consumed.

“I’m not interested in Evie for her usefulness, ” I said. “I will bring her in for her own safety and for that of the clan’s. Not to be assessed for any other purpose.”

Princeton lifted his hands in a position of surrender. His cheeky grin told a different story.

“She has no one,” I said bitterly. “No teachers. No mentors. Not even fellow witch friends , from what I have seen. Yet she grows more powerful by the day—her deepest, most hidden magick only coming out in fits of emotion.”

Princeton nodded in understanding, but that hungry little smirk remained.

“I swear to the gods, Princeton,” I hissed. “You and Spirit will become one if you so much as attempt to recruit her for clan purposes. Is that understood?”

Princeton’s smile widened, his eyes growing hooded. “Mm, you’re so fucking sexy when you threaten me. More please?”

I rolled my eyes and turned back to the sparring match. “You were the worst mistake of my career.”

“And you were the worst mistake of mine.”