9. Chapter Nine #3
There’s no way HE didn’t have something to do with this.
My mind latched onto Eldrake, unable to stop thinking of his haunting presence.
Since his arrival, everything in my life had shifted—it had twisted into something unrecognizable.
First, the stories about my mother, the revelations about the Riftborn…
and now this? It was too much. Too perfectly timed. Too impossible to ignore.
I clenched my fists, my nails digging into my palms as I struggled to calm my racing heart.
But— even as the logical part of me tried to dismiss the thought, I couldn’t shake the feeling that somehow, some way, Eldrake was connected.
I exhaled sharply, my breath trembling as I buried my face in my hands. I need answers.
Throwing the comforter off my legs, I swung out of bed and slipped into the cool darkness of the inn. The air was still, the quiet of the night pressing against my ears. It had to be the middle of the night now, but I didn’t care. This couldn’t wait.
I padded down the halls with careful steps; the aged wood cool beneath my bare feet. I didn’t bother with a candle; I knew every hall, every creak in the floorboards, every turn in this old inn like the back of my hand. My movements were precise and silent so as not to wake my father.
Nervous sweat continued to coat my skin.
I told myself I had to do this. For answers—about my mother, about Colin, about the nightmare that had me questioning everything.
But as I neared his room, I couldn’t ignore the knot of nerves twisting in my stomach.
I stopped in front of the door, the faint scent of dogwood from the flowers I’d left earlier still lingering in the hallway.
I hesitated, pressing my ear against the wood. Nothing.
This is insane. I stared at the grain of the wood like it might answer for him. My hand hovered near the door, uncertain. What if it wasn’t him? What if I imagined it? No. I didn’t. I know it was him.
I didn’t bother wiping the sweat from my skin.
I needed answers more than I needed dignity.
Summoning what little courage I had, I rapped lightly on the door, the sound barely more than a whisper against the stillness.
For a moment, nothing. Then, faint shuffling.
A muffled groan. Heavy footsteps moving toward the door.
The handle turned, the door creaking open just enough to reveal him.
Eldrake stood in the dim light; a loose linen shirt, trousers slung low on his hips, hair tousled from sleep.
He blinked at me, eyes bleary and half-lidded, and scrubbed a hand over his jaw like he was trying to wake up a second too late.
His familiar scent hit me like a wave—spice and rainwater but now mingled with the warmth of sleep.
There was something softer about it, something dangerously intimate.
He blinked again. “Eva?” he looked confused. And sleepy. “Are you okay?” My mouth went dry, and for a moment, I forgot why I was there.
“Not really.” I managed, my voice barely above a whisper.
He studied me for a long moment, his expression unreadable, before stepping back and pushing the door open wider.
“Come in.” he said, his tone low and steady, and the sound of it sent another shiver through me.
I caught his eyes, tracing the length of my figure as I drifted past him, suddenly aware of how little I was wearing.
The dampened silk of my nightgown clung to my every dip and curve.
His gaze lingered for a moment too long, and my heart leaped in response.
“I’m sorry to wake you… Part of me didn’t entirely think you slept, to be honest,”
“You’d be surprised,” he murmured.
“I saw… something.” I said quickly, because if I didn’t, I’d forget how to speak.
I turned to him. “I saw someone die.” his expression didn’t shift, but the air between us tensed.
“I was inside this… body,” I said. “I felt everything. The forest floor. The panic. Colin will be killed,” A silence stretched between us, heavy and trembling.
“It hasn’t happened,” I said, softer. “Not yet. It was like… like knowing a thing before it unfolds. I keep seeing his hands. The dirt under his nails. The—” I stopped.
Then, unexpectedly: “Who’s Colin?”
I blinked. “Uh- A man from town who… it’s—ugh—complicated.”
He hesitated, gaze flicking away for half a second before settling back on me. “Oh. Are you two…?”
My face went hot. “Oh! No. I mean… kind of, but—Gods, no.”
The question hit with more force than it should have. Was he jealous? He studied me a moment longer. His face was unreadable, but something in him eased—barely. The moment hung, unspoken, until he shook it off with a breath and looked away.
“I see,” He turned toward the desk. But not before his eyes flicked again— this time to where the silk of my nightgown stretched taut over the hardened peaks of my breasts— then away fast, jaw tightening.
“I’m not sure what you saw, Eva, but you’re not safe here.
” His eyes flicked to the curtain, to the dark window beyond, as if measuring the night.
“We caught a watcher on the ridge at dusk. A warden’s man.
Fen scattered him. She found the mark he left.
” He moved to the desk and picked up a square—thin charcoal rubbed into a folded scrap of paper.
He opened it. A symbol, clean and ugly, stared back.
A slash through a circle. “Aberdeen’s. They’re getting close. ”
My mouth parted. “How… What is that?”
“They can sense the Rift,” he said quietly. “You’re Riftborn, Eva. You inherited it.”
I shook my head. “Wha— what? What does that mean?” I trailed off, not understanding what was happening.
“Your mother didn’t die in an accident.” I froze. “She was one of us,” he said. “She was powerful. She led operations that saved hundreds— thousands of lives. And when the King realized what she was… he sent men to burn her alive.”
I stared at him, vision tunneling. “No. That’s not?—”
“She fought for us,” he said, sitting on the end of the bed. “Until the end. She was a hero.” Something inside me cracked.
“Your mother was special, Eva.” I stilled. “She had the gift of prediction. They called her The Seer. And it seems our commander was right—not only that she had a living heir, but that you’ve inherited her power,” The Seer . The words sank like stones in my chest.
“There aren’t many of you left,” he continued. “You’re rare. And you’re hard to track,” he smirked faintly, the humor brief and sharp. “Probably because you can all see us coming,” he paused. “Except you, of course.” I almost smiled back. Almost.
He turned serious again. “Felix, Fen, and I were sent to retrieve you.”
“Retrieve me?” I snapped. “Like a lost dog?”
Drake grimaced, raking a hand through his hair.
“Poor choice of words. I’m trying.” I waited.
“Look, Eva—your mother wasn’t just powerful.
She was the Uprising. She could see the King’s movements before his generals made them.
She saved so many of us. She was the reason many of us are still alive,” he looked down, shoulders tense.
For the first time since I’d met him, the mask cracked.
“And without her,” he said, his voice softer, “we’re falling apart.
Soon, there may be no Rift left to protect. ”
I sat next to him on the bed and stared into the candlelight. Everything felt unreal. “I don’t believe this, Eldrake.” I said, voice shaking.
“Call me Drake,” he said softly.
His gaze flicked to my lips. Just for a second. Then down— again. I shifted in place, the motion causing our thighs to brush against each other. The contact was electric. We both froze. I heard him expel a ragged breath, his chest rising and falling as though he were steadying himself.
It’s criminal this man ever wears clothes.
We sat too close, the edge of the bed dipping beneath our weight.
I tried not to notice the heat of his thigh brushing mine—but then I saw it.
Just above the waistband of his trousers, where the fabric slouched low, a faint shimmer caught the candlelight.
Crimson ridges, small and sharp-edged, fanned just along his hip before vanishing beneath the cloth.
My breath caught. Scars? No—too patterned, too deliberate.
I dragged my gaze away before he could notice, cheeks burning. I didn’t dare ask.
I looked back at his face—and saw him watching me like he didn’t know whether to kiss me or run. He blinked, then straightened—retreating behind his command.
“The more you practice your gift,” he said briskly, “the farther you’ll be able to predict.
Not just in distance, but in clarity. You may even develop abilities beyond foresight.
Our archivist can guide you. But we need to leave soon,” the shift was jarring.
Captain Eldrake was back. Calculated, cold. The man beside me—Drake—was gone.
Though, I couldn’t ignore the way his thigh still lingered against mine, as if neither of us dared to move away first.
I narrowed my eyes. “What?! I never said yes!”
“You were never meant to stay buried here.”
“No offense,” I snapped, “but I’m not a package to be picked up and delivered. I need to think. I—” I stood and headed to the door, heart pounding.
“Wait,” he said. I turned, but he was already crossing the room in three long strides.
He stopped inches from me, caging me between his body and the wall.
My breath caught. His voice was low, fierce.
“For what it’s worth, I know you’re meant for more than this,” the words hit harder than they should have.
“Please,” he said. “We need you.” He reached up, brushing a curl behind my ear.
The gesture was so gentle, so unexpected, it knocked the air from my lungs.
Then he stepped back. Back into his role.
Back into armor. He opened the door for me.
I left in a daze. I stumbled out, my legs barely carrying me as I made my way to my bedroom, my thoughts a swirling tempest of emotions.
Meant for more than this… save us.
His words echoed in my mind, tangling with the heat of his gaze and the lingering warmth of his touch. I felt him like a brand beneath my skin—too close, too much, too fast.
He needed me.
The thought sent a shiver through me. Eldrake—this larger-than-life figure with molten eyes and a commanding presence—had looked at me as though I held the key to something greater.
To him, I wasn’t just the lonely innkeeper’s daughter or a forgotten girl in a nowhere town. To him, I was important. Vital.
I sank back onto my bed, staring up at the ceiling.
My heart raced, excitement thrumming in my ears, and for the first time in what felt like forever, a glimmer of possibility sparked within me.
Could it be true? Could I really be more than this—more than what this little inn and forgotten town had made me?
The idea tugged at something deep inside, a quiet yearning I hadn’t dared to acknowledge before.
I thought of Eldrake’s words, his touch, the way he’d looked at me. And for once, I didn’t feel insignificant. I closed my eyes, letting the warmth of that thought settle over me like a blanket. For the first time in a long time, the world beyond these walls didn’t feel so far away.