Chapter 19
EVIANA
“Motherfucker,” Lange grumbled when the vehicle lumbered over a large pothole in the road.
Everything not secured rolled all over the back of the truck.
Corbin grabbed him, keeping him from rolling off the bench where he was stretched out, his head resting on Corbin’s thigh.
“Every fucking time I’m asleep. You’d think they’d be able to keep their roads in decent condition. ”
He was grumpier in the truck. Or maybe it was just her effect on him.
When Eviana had first met Lange and Corbin, Lange had been the more carefree and easygoing of the two.
But with each passing day, he became snarkier.
Darker. A little meaner. She should probably feel bad about it, but truthfully, it was a good thing.
He’d need that grit for what they were about to face.
Sunny dispositions got you nowhere in Devram.
Even if she was starting not to mind his stupid nickname for her.
“How can you sleep, bellana?” Lange muttered, something hitting her in her face.
She opened her eyes, stretched out on her own bench, and glared at Lange, brushing the crumpled napkin onto the floor. “I’m not sleeping with your constant commentary,” she retorted.
“Like you could sleep in these conditions anyway.”
“I’ve slept in far worse, wind walker. At least we’ve been alone these last several days.”
She could feel eyes on her, and she glanced at Corbin, finding him watching her far too intently. If Lange was the carefree one, Corbin was too observant and introspective. Which wasn’t surprising. She was sure it was an instinct based on what he was, but it didn’t mean she liked it.
“Do you think we’re close?” Lange asked around a yawn, trying to stretch out a little more. Corbin’s hand fell to his chest, fingers brushing down his torso and back up. Lange relaxed some under the comforting touch, and Eviana suddenly wondered if she’d ever find a touch comforting like that.
Probably not.
“I don’t know,” Corbin answered. “We’ve never been to the Serafina Kingdom.”
“That means we’re once again reliant on you, bellana,” Lange drawled, and Eviana shrugged, pushing to a sitting position.
She climbed onto the bench, pushing onto her tiptoes. It allowed her to just see out of the small rectangular window. Nothing had changed since the last time she’d looked out, and she said as much when she answered, “Still just trees.”
“They’re not just trees,” Lange said, sitting up himself and reaching for a bag of food they’d been given. It hadn’t been much. Deli sandwiches. Fruit. Cheese. Water. He fished out a small bag of carrot sticks, opening it up.
“The trees aren’t the problem,” she replied, leaping lightly off the bench before beginning to move from one end of the space to the other.
“Stop doing that,” Lange muttered. “It makes me uneasy.”
“That’s unfortunate for you,” she said, not ceasing her movements.
She knew exactly where they were though.
Just as she’d predicted, they’d traveled around the Dreamlock Woods.
Actually, they’d given the woods a larger berth than she’d thought they would, adding more days to this trip than she’d anticipated.
They’d stopped in cities along the way so the transporters could rest and eat.
That was when they were allowed to use restrooms, under supervision of course.
They had to put bands on whenever they left the truck, but the moment they were locked behind the warded doors again, they removed each other’s.
But the Serafina Estate was maybe a day’s travel away now, and they needed to get out of here and into the woods before they passed it.
“How many times have you been here?” Corbin asked, his hazel eyes tracking her progress back and forth.
“Why does that matter?” she replied.
“Just trying to gauge if we have any idea what to expect. I’m from the Anala Kingdom. Lange is from Falein. We were both at Celeste and then Arius. All the kingdoms are different, and this is the only one we’ve never stepped foot in.”
“The Serafina Kingdom is—”
But she went still, sucking in a sharp breath. Frozen. She felt entirely frozen for several seconds, unable to breathe out. As though she was being attacked by a water and an air Fae at the same time, but this wasn’t that.
She moved with purpose then, leaping back onto the bench to peer out the window. The Source bond and all its facets were still blocked, but she didn’t need a bond to know the oppressive shadows drifting about like a fine mist were Valter. She’d know his magic anywhere.
“We need to get out of here,” she said tightly, stepping back down from the bench.
“If we could do that, we would have done so already,” Lange said dryly.
“It wasn’t time until now,” she replied, efficiently packing up the backpack. She slipped a couple sets of bands into the bag and pulled out the glove Lev had slipped to her. “You two need to create a diversion. Get them to stop the truck.”
They stared back at her as though she’d just spoken in an ancient language.
“Get them to stop the truck, and I’ll get us out,” she said, her power thrumming with excitement at the prospect of being unleashed after weeks and weeks of being trapped.
“You’ll get us out,” Corbin repeated, those intuitive eyes narrowing. “You’ve been able to get us out this entire time?”
“Not while the truck is moving.”
“But you can… Why did you wait?”
“Because she set this all up,” Lange said, venom in every word as he got to his feet. He prowled forward, and that darkness she’d been contemplating earlier spiked. He looked more like a predator as he towered over her, his teeth bared.
He looked like a primal Fae, the way they were always meant to be. Not submissive beings who answered to the Legacy of gods. Not tamed creatures, bowing and serving.
She started when he reached out and took her chin between his thumb and forefinger, holding her stare as he said, “She set you up to be captured back in that town. I couldn’t figure out why until now. You’re trying to get somewhere.”
Eviana scowled, shoving his hand away from her face, but Corbin was there too.
Both of them advanced until she was up against the wall of the truck.
They hit another bump, and she stumbled, falling into Corbin’s chest, but Lange shoved her back hard enough that the back of her head slammed into the truck wall.
Lange gripped her chin fully now, his fingers squeezing in an all too familiar way.
Each word was laced with a quiet fury as he said, “You’ve put our lives at risk.
I know you don’t give a single fuck about anyone else, but you’re going to tell us what exactly we’re giving our lives for, Eviana.
You’re going to tell us now, or we’re not doing shit. ”
“Lange,” Corbin said, a low sternness to his tone.
“No, Corbin,” Lange retorted. “She had you fucking kidnapped. They could have killed you right then and there. She didn’t care. She’s after something, and she’s using us to get it. We deserve to know what we’re about to die for.”
But Eviana said nothing as she held his malice-filled stare. She knew her eyes were just as hard, revealing nothing, and Lange released her face with a mirthless scoff.
“You’re just as bad as the Legacy,” he sneered.
“I don’t know why you ever thought otherwise,” she replied flatly, still not daring to move. Corbin still stood before her, even with Lange stalking a few paces away.
“If you told us, we could help,” Corbin said quietly.
“Don’t bother, Corbin. I already tried,” Lange spat, kicking a discarded water bottle to the other end of the truck. “She’s a selfish cunt that poisons everything and everyone who comes in contact with her. We should help deliver her to Valter. Maybe then he’d spare our godsdamn lives.”
“Lange!” Corbin barked, his head snapping towards his lover. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
But Lange didn’t answer. He just shook his head before dropping back onto the bench, staring resolutely ahead.
Corbin slowly turned back to Eviana, and she saw it then. The subtle shift in his eyes. She’d been waiting for it. The larger pupils. The change from hazel to a pale gold. The shape even became a little more almond shaped.
More feline.
His hands landed on either side of her head, caging her in as he leaned down.
His voice was soft and cold, so low she wasn’t sure even Lange’s Fae hearing could pick up the words.
“You’re changing him. Whatever the fuck you’re doing is changing him.
So this is what’s going to happen.” Each word was accompanied by a low, fierce growl.
“We’re going to get this truck to stop. You’re going to get us out of here, and the moment it’s safe, you’re telling us everything.
If not, we’ll do exactly what Lange said and turn you over to your Master. ”
“He’ll still punish you,” Eviana said evenly.
“As long as you’re back under his control and unable to even breathe without his consent, I don’t think I give a fuck.”
She stared up at him because for the first time in decades, something stirred in her chest. An emotion she hadn’t paid any mind to for years and years. An emotion that never served her.
But she felt a trickle of fear. They meant it.
They would give her back to Valter, who was currently far too close for comfort, and then she would never save the only person who truly mattered to her.
She could understand their anger in that regard.
They cared for each other in the way she cared for Priya.
Would kill and torture, burn and endure for each other.
She let them see none of that though. Right now she needed to focus on getting into the woods, far from Valter. Once she’d gotten to Priya, gotten the girl to safety, she’d gladly turn herself back over, as long as Priya was no longer an option for him.