Chapter 14
Chapter
Fourteen
ROWAN
Every step she took brought her closer to me. I took Seymour out of the bag and held the squirming flytrap in a tight grip. He vibrated with energy, sensing Caelan's powerful presence following his maker.
My wife came out of the shadows, Moira and Garrett beside her.
Every time I saw her, my heart thundered, love for her roaring to the surface.
She had no idea how much her presence had changed since her father had ripped off that lock.
Evie walked through the world, and the world responded, tree limbs leaning toward her, grass swaying gently in the breeze.
When her feet were bare and she walked the land, flowers bloomed under her skin.
A brilliant smile broke onto her face when she saw me. My heart thundered behind my ribs as I answered that smile. How was it possible to love someone so much it felt like your heart would stop beating without them?
Evie stepped to the right, allowing Caelan to come up beside her. Our eyes met first, a ring of gold circling his iris. Caelan would never forgive me for taking Evie from him.
But his anger was misplaced. I never took anything. A person wasn't something you took. Evie came to me of her own free will.
But I considered her mine now, and that wasn't something Caelan would ever forgive. He played for keeps, but he still couldn't take full responsibility for what he'd done to my wife.
Until he did, he and Evie would couldn’t fully repair their relationship. Even if they came to some kind of peace, our friendship was over. We both knew it.
“Rowan,” Caelan said, power rumbling through his voice.
“Caelan.” I tilted my head.
His eyes flicked to the squirming bundle in my arms. Seymour, the little asshole, sank fangs he shouldn't have, right into my arm, and leaped toward Caelan.
I hissed and slapped a hand over the wound.
“Seymour!” Evie snapped in disapproval. “No biting!”
Caelan caught him in mid-air, laughing as he did. “Hey, little guy!”
Seymour bumped Caelan's chest with his main trap, an odd trilling noise coming from him. Hurt punched me through the bond, and it took a moment for me to realize it was Evie's.
She and I both knew Seymour wasn't coming home with us. Maybe the thought wasn't charitable, but I wondered if Evie could make another slightly less assholish, non-venomous version to replace him.
I liked Seymour, and he liked me, but neither one of us liked each other all the time.
Especially not today.
Evie frowned and came over, brushing her fingers over my wound. Soothing magic bubbled through my veins as the poison evaporated, thankfully before I lost control of all my limbs.
“Sorry,” she murmured.
“You're getting better at that.” I paused and lowered my voice while Caelan was still distracted. “Though I'd much rather you heal me while we're naked and buried in a hole.”
Evie snorted.
Moira clicked her tongue. “Dirty boy,” she murmured.
Garrett let out a long-suffering sigh.
“Is he coming home with me, or is this a pity visit?” Caelan asked a moment later.
I felt the spike of grief through the bond. “Up to Seymour,” Evie said.
She held out her hand and gestured for Seymour to come. The flytrap hesitated for a split second before he leaped into her arms.
Evie tucked him close and stepped far enough away for no one to be able to hear her, leaving us standing there awkwardly. Caelan and I would never make small talk again.
He watched Evie closely, that ring of gold still surrounding his irises. “She looks good.”
I blinked in surprise. My first instinct was to antagonize him because of what he'd done to Evie, but she would want me to let it go. I wouldn't, but I'd pretend to. At least for tonight.
“She does,” I said quietly.
“She's happy.”
I nodded. There was nothing else to say. Evie was happy. She was blooming away from this cursed place and its brooding leader.
Caelan's heavy sigh almost made me feel bad for him.
But he was a dick, and I'd stopped feeling sympathy for him the second he made Evie feel regret about who she was. I wasn't sad that he'd lost someone so amazing because I'd gained her through trust while Caelan had gained her through stubborn stalking.
“Do you feel good about yourself?” Caelan growled.
Garrett straightened, eyeing Caelan's posture and position. He'd step in if he needed to, but there was no need. I was well equipped to take care of myself.
“Are you fucking kidding?” I said quietly. “I feel amazing.”
Garrett snorted. Moira tried unsuccessfully to cover her grin. She reached over and gripped my forearm, squeezing gently. Partly in warning, partly in approval.
“I scored a hot, powerful wife and a mate all in one.”
“And the fae crown,” Caelan mused. “And more territory than any other Lord has managed to attain during their reign.”
“I'd walk away from everything this second if Evie demanded it.”
Caelan scoffed. “You always were such a goodie two shoes.”
The other Lord was spoiling for a fight. He wouldn't get it from me. “Power doesn't do anything for me except complicate my life. And now that I have Evie, she is far more important to me than anything I can acquire.”
Caelan watched me for a long moment. “You truly love her.”
“She's my mate.”
His nostrils flared. “That doesn't always mean love.”
Empathy burned inside me, even as I wanted to squash it down.
Caelan had a lot to learn about love, about sacrifice and selflessness.
“When you are blessed with a mate, you will feel something unlike anything you've ever known.
If what I have with Evie isn't love, then love doesn't exist. What I feel for her is worth all the pain and all the heartache. All I can hope is you experience this feeling one day.”
Caelan's eyes dragged back to Evie. “I did.”
I shook my head. “No, Caelan. You loved her. In your own way. But a mate…”
There was no way to explain this to him. How could I tell him I'd tear out my own heart and hand it to her if she asked? “One day,” I said again. “My only advice to you?” I smiled and let a little of my wife's shared magic out in my eyes. “Don't fuck it up this time.”