41. Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-One
Evelyn
L ight blinded Evelyn as a hatch opened above the tunnel.
The scent of bread, sugar, and butter overtook the mildew and dirt of the darkness as Eldrick pulled her free.
Evelyn panted from running what felt like miles, and as Eldrick closed the tunnel, she tried to even out her breathing. She stood, half expecting to find Kade, but the space was empty aside from a female vampyr with red-rimmed glasses, staring at her intently.
Evelyn backed up a step, but Eldrick squeezed her shoulder reassuringly.
“This is Lou. She’s a friend of Tovi’s and helped us get you out of the castle.”
“Oh.” Evelyn swallowed. “Thank you.”
“Think nothing of it,” Lou said. “Nice to finally meet who’s been causing all the fuss.”
Aside from her paler complexion, the vampyr didn’t dress or carry herself like the vampyrs within the walls of Drystan Castle. In fact, she was reserved, wearing a simple tunic and trousers, while a kindness shined in her eyes.
She sized the three of them up. “Wait, where is Tovi?”
Eldrick gritted his teeth. “She had something she needed to do. ”
Evelyn assessed Kade’s older brother. He looked much like Kade, but that’s not what riveted her. She was more interested in his reaction to Tovi earlier. She’d seen her old friend’s reaction around the werewolf, something she’d never seen in all the years she’d known her. Usually, Tovi ignored the opposite sex unless she desperately needed a night of release. Even that was rare.
“I don’t recall another witch being a part of the plan,” Lou said.
Belle stepped closer to Evelyn, her shoulder bumping against her elbow. The usual rosy glow of her cheeks had spread farther, exertion coloring the freckled bridge of her nose. Her blonde curls matted to her forehead with sweat, and though they’d sprinted for their lives from Drystan Castle, Belle already appeared better, brighter outside the stone walls.
“Sometimes plans change,” Evelyn said, using her body to shield Belle from the vampyr’s perusal, friend of Tovi or not. “Belle is here to stay.”
Lou chuckled. “Alright, Daughter of the Goddess, no need to bring that flame of yours forth. Not yet anyway.”
Not yet.
What else did their plan entail? The day’s events weighed on Evelyn. She wanted to see Kade. To have him hold her, to run her hands through his hair and beard. She felt useless, unaware of the plan. A stone dropped in her belly, her heart thudding in her chest like a series of war drums thumping to impending doom. She couldn’t wait any longer, couldn’t stand and do nothing as the walls of whatever cottage they’d stumbled into closed in around her.
“We have to go back.”
Eldrick whipped his head around. “No.”
The simple, stern tone seemed to be a Drengr trait, and it riled an angry heat through Evelyn’s blood.
“I’m not going to stand here while Kade fights—”
“Listen to me,” he said. “I know you want to go to him, I know this is driving you insane. But Kade waited for the right precise moment, almost driving himself mad before he could get into the castle. He waited, you can do the same. Trust the plan, trust him.”
Evelyn’s fingernails dug into her palms as she fisted her hands. She hated every second Kade wasn’t here, but Eldrick was right. She couldn’t jeopardize the plan, not when it seemed so many had risked their lives to make sure it all went well, and she’d trusted Kade since she’d been thrown into the carriage in Callum and stuck on that ship in the Sapphire Sea.
Evelyn swallowed and nodded. “Alright.”
A small smile spread across Eldrick’s clean-shaven face. “It’s truly good to finally meet you, Evelyn.”
“And you,” she whispered.
Evelyn half expected anger or annoyance from Kade’s brother. Yet, the eldest Drengr brother seemed pleased to see her, excited even. His eagerness threw her off guard, the right words lodging in her throat. The only ones that came to mind were apologies, and they left her deflated.
Luckily, Eldrick gave a roguish grin. “When we leave Drystan, I want your account of Kade as Cyrus Skender the huntsman.”
The playfulness in Eldrick’s tone relaxed her taut muscles, and she smiled. “He was rather unbearable.”
Eldrick’s small smile stretched into a full-blown one, and he laughed. “Oh, really? Did you hear that, Lou? Unbearable.”
“Doesn’t sound like the story he’s been telling us,” the vampyr said with crossed arms, leaning against the cottage’s whitewashed brick walls.
Evelyn wanted to ask what Kade’s version was, but her name on the wind outside caught everyone’s attention, averting their gazes out the front window. Evelyn’s heart skipped. Anticipation thrummed in her veins.
“Evelyn!”
Her name was a cry that boomed—it gripped her soul and tugged . She moved, running towards the door and ignoring the protests behind her as she sprinted into a wintery forest. Her breath plumed like clouds of smoke in the frigid air as she whirled around wildly, searching for Kade.
“Evelyn!” he called again.
Evelyn spun, snow crunching under her useless wet flats.
Through the trees, Kade ran towards her. Evelyn released a sob. Shirtless and bloody, she’d never seen him so worn, so tired, and yet so wild. Half his hair had been tied away from his face, but a few strands stuck to his forehead with blood, sweat and dirt. His strong muscles pulled and pulsed through his frame, as if he ran through battle to get to her. All the while, his amber eyes never left hers, the warm whiskey sending heat through her even at this distance.
“Kade!” Evelyn moved without thought, without thinking. She only wanted to be with him— needed to be with him. Snow caught in her eyes, tangled in her hair, and burned her cheeks as she ran. Her shoes slipped off in the snow, but it didn’t matter. The icy forest poked and froze her feet—that also didn’t matter. She was so close. He was so close.
She ran, ran, and ran until they reached one another, and Evelyn launched into Kade’s outstretched arms.
Her heart thumped. Raced. Beat in tandem to its twin.
Everything she’d been through crashed into her. It hit her in waves. One after the other. Uncertainty, worry, devastation. Everything she’d kept at bay during her time in Drystan Castle. All of it rocked Evelyn as she clung onto Kade, desperate to feel, to smell, to see the man she considered home. Evergreen and rain filled her lungs, calmed her heart, and swelled her soul.
Kade was here. He was here. He’d come.
For a moment, they held each other, letting their souls be one, centered together. She buried her face in his neck as she cried. Kade held her close, one arm around her waist while his other hand weaved through her hair. His heart hammered so quickly in his chest, Evelyn felt the rapid thumps through her breastbone.
When they pulled apart, tears stung against the cold as they traveled down Evelyn’s cheeks. Kade appeared pained, brows pinched and eyes narrowed. That brave, wild warrior had shifted to a man in anguish.
“I got you, love,” he said. “It’s alright.”
They leaned their foreheads against each other. Evelyn sighed as peace floated through her. The forest was still, and flurries descended around them in silence.
“I always knew you’d come,” Evelyn she said so low it was a mere breath.
Kade pushed her hair out of her face, drinking in every inch, his amber eyes leaving a caress across her skin wherever they roamed. “I’d fight the gods and goddesses to have you by my side again, Ev.”
Ev.
She could burst.
Evelyn shut her eyes, letting Kade’s words sink into her bones, reaching her soul and cementing what she already knew of their bond. She kissed him. Kade met her fierceness like a starving beast hungry for her, but there was also something else, something deeper. As his lips molded to hers and Evelyn held him close, their kiss vibrated through them like a declaration, far deeper than a homecoming.
When they pulled apart, tears at the corner of Kade’s eyes collected like beads, and Evelyn ran her thumbs under them, smiling and laughing through her own tears.
Being together again was a magic within itself.