Chapter 12 Eviana
EVIANA
Sky-blue eyes slammed into her the moment she entered the tiny room above the tavern they’d been staying in the last several nights.
Corbin was downstairs waiting for the food they’d ordered, while Eviana had come back upstairs to pack up their few things.
As soon as they were done eating, they were going to be on their way.
They’d made it over the border and a few miles into the Serafina Kingdom before Corbin’s power had started to give out.
It was exactly what they’d expected given he was having to expend more to keep them dry and fight the current.
They’d slowly come to the surface, doing their best to watch the shoreline and make sure they weren’t spotted.
Then they’d all donned sweatshirts with deep hoods to hide their faces, walking until they came to a decent-sized city.
Passing two small towns along the way, they kept moving.
Gossip spread like wildfire in small towns.
No, they’d needed a small city large enough that they wouldn’t be noticed.
Where they could easily slip to the seedier parts of the city and bribe someone for silence, room, and board so the two could recover their power reserves.
For a moment, she’d thought she was going to have to figure out a way to drag them up the two flights of stairs because they were so exhausted.
If she could feel anything anymore, she probably would have felt guilty for making them expend their power then walk for hours.
They both collapsed onto the only bed before she’d even shut the door.
Lange had slept for two days straight. Corbin had slept for four.
And she’d sat in this tiny room, in a chair next to the window, planning their next moves.
They’d stayed a few extra days to allow them to recover as much as possible. There was still a ways to go to get to the Dreamlock Woods, not that the males knew that yet, and once they got there, they’d need every bit of that power they’d just spent the last days restoring.
“Where’s Corbin?” Lange asked tightly.
“Waiting for our food,” she answered, already striding for her pack.
“You left him down there alone?”
“Can he not handle retrieving food and bringing it up the stairs?”
“That’s not what I mean,” he gritted out, standing from the bed.
For the first time since this had started, Eviana felt a trickle of…something. She didn’t know what, but Lange was imposing as he towered over her. His eyes were narrowed, pale hair falling into his face, and the air in the room stirred, despite the window being closed.
“I don’t know what the worry is then,” she replied, turning back to her packing. “Unless you know something I don’t?”
She waited for him to answer, but he said nothing. She wasn’t surprised, but she was disappointed. Or perhaps more irritated than anything.
“If you’re packed, you should pack his things,” she said, double and triple checking all the various weapons she’d stolen. “We leave the moment—”
“I’m going to help Corbin,” he said tightly, and she spun, finding him already striding out the door.
Interesting.
Maybe she didn’t need to be disappointed after all.
Zipping her pack shut, she hoisted it onto her back. Then she finished packing Corbin’s few things before picking up the packs Lange had left behind. If her suspicions were correct, they wouldn’t be coming back up here.
She took her time descending the stairs, but Lange grabbed her arm, dragging her out the door and into the small alley where the entrance to the rundown establishment was.
He shoved her up against the wall, no one around to pay them any mind.
Even if there was, no one would do anything, but all Eviana could think about was the casual way he touched her without thought.
No one touched a Source. The sensation was jarring.
“What did you do?” Lange hissed, mere inches from her face.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she replied calmly, holding his stare.
“Bullshit,” he spat, shoving her lightly again before stepping back and running his fingers through his hair. “Corbin is gone, Eviana. I know you did something.”
“How can you possibly know that?” she asked, her tone bored as she set the other two packs down before straightening her coat and readjusting her pack. Toeing Lange’s bag on the ground, she added, “Here. I grabbed these for you.”
“Just when I think we’re developing some sort of odd trust—”
“Don’t ever think that,” she interrupted. “The only person you can trust in Devram is yourself, and even then, it’s all lies you tell yourself to make it to the next day, hour, or minute.”
He stared at her, and she had no idea what he was thinking. To be frank, she didn’t care.
“I know you had no one in that fucking house,” Lange finally said, each word sharp and filled with a fury she hadn’t known he was capable of.
But she saw it now. She felt it as the wind picked up with every syllable that fell from his lips.
“I don’t know what horrors you’ve experienced.
I probably can’t even fathom them, and I’ve faced some pretty fucked up shit, Eviana.
But by the gods, you can’t assume every single person who crosses your path is out to hurt you.
You could have a friend if you tried. We’re not the fucking Legacy. ”
Her head canted to the side at his words, and she didn’t know what he saw on her face, but he took a step back from her.
“Take that fucked up shit you’ve experienced, little wind-walker, and multiply it by fifty,” she replied, lacking the venom of his tone, but he straightened anyway.
“Then do it every godsdamn day for decades. I considered it a good day when it ended with blood on my hands rather than my own blood being spilled. I hoped for the days that found me on my knees rather than on my back. I breathed a sigh of relief when it was Valter whose bed I shared at night rather than another’s.
You speak of friends? They’ll sell you out the moment they believe it will gain them something, even for something as small as extra rations at a meal.
Ask me how I know that. Ask me why you were moved to the Celeste Estate.
Ask me which of your friends knows what you truly are. ”
He stared at her, mouth pressed into a thin line, until he finally said, “If there’s not even an ounce of trust between us, after all these days you’ve forced us to spend with you, then you’re no better than the Legacy who did those things to you.”
“You’re right,” she answered simply. “I’m not. Now, we should go before we’re too late to save your lover.”
“I’m going to kill you when this is over,” Lange muttered, stalking past her and snatching the two packs she’d dropped from the ground. “I’m going to kill you and dump your body in the river and make Corbin bury it in the bottom so not even the fish can eat it and become poisoned.”
“Surely you can be more creative than that,” she said, having to take two steps to his one to keep up with his long strides.
“Give me time, bellana. Give me time,” he muttered, stopping for a moment as a gust of wind swirled around them. “Which way do we go?”
“What did the winds tell you?”
“You keep saying that shit—”
“And you keep feigning ignorance,” she interrupted. “I would love to hear another delightful monologue from you about the merits of trusting people, but I’m afraid Corbin’s life depends on you proving me right.”
“A dagger. Multiple stab wounds,” he muttered, as he stretched his neck from side to side, summoning another gust of wind.
“I recommend deep into the thigh. It is one of the most painful, but I will stay awake for the repeated stabbing.”
“Or in the ass so you feel it every fucking time you sit down,” he snarled, turning left and leading the way.
“Much more creative than just killing me and sending me to the bottom of the river.”
“You are…” He shook his head, never finishing the thought. Instead he became quiet and focused, following silent instructions that only he could hear.
She was pretty sure he didn’t know exactly what he was, but she’d guessed he was getting a grasp on his powers now that he’d finally had time to actually sit with them.
Selection years were chaotic. It was when Fae were supposed to master their magic, but they were never truly given the chance to discover their depths.
Their classes were kept to the basics, and even the advanced courses kept them busy mastering only specific skills.
And once they were assigned to their kingdom and duties, they were kept busy in other ways.
Why would the Legacy want a Fae to understand what they were truly capable of?
Only those who became sentinels were given that kind of training—other than Sources, of course—and the privilege of that training came with chains of its own.
The average Fae didn’t know that sentinels were forced to bear loyalty Marks that gave a Legacy complete control over them.
Not quite as extensive as a Source, but…
Lange had been destined for that life. Valter had already been planning it as soon as he’d learned of the male’s heritage. Corbin’s fate, on the other hand, hadn’t been decided yet. Valter had still been debating what to do with him.
But with days of sitting in the Raven Harbor house, the days in the car, the river, the tavern, she’d given them that time to let their magic breathe.
She needed them to tap into all of that power to survive the Dreamlock Woods and what would come after, and if she had to push them to their limits to get them there, then that was what she would do.
Lange started to turn another corner before he was suddenly lurching back and shoving her hard into the wall. She swallowed her cry of surprise, glaring up at him, only to find him glaring at her.
“I am going to ask you this one time, Eviana,” he said, his words too controlled. “Did you sell Corbin out to the Serafina Kingdom?”