Chapter Twenty-Five – Evelynn
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
EVELYNN
The room stays silent, the words of the story hitting us all like a two-ton truck. “Is there nothing else in that book?” Viktor asks, his voice hoarse.
I shake my head, flicking through empty pages until, on the final page, something catches my eye.
Evelynn,
This is for you only. This must not be shared, or all will be lost.
Only you can save him.
I flick through the pages, looking for the rest of the message. Nothing. No details, no instructions.
“What is it?” Lucian asks, looking over my shoulder.
I clear my throat and shake my head. “A personal message to me, nothing important. Just caught me off guard,” I lie.
“So, I guess we’d better prepare for war,” Marko casually states.
“How long do you think we’ve got?” Lucian asks.
“I’ve got watchers that said they were spotted two towns over. And that was yesterday. My guess, by sundown tomorrow,” Cain informs.
The air is tight, tension consuming the room. “As your president, I am ordering you all to stand down. I am only required to end this. There is no need for you all to risk your lives. I suggest you leave now until this is over,” Lucian orders.
“If you think I’m about to leave you to face Anathema on your fucking own, then you’re even more stupid than I thought,” Silas snaps at him.
Talon stands, as do Shade, Marko, Rook, Viktor, and Hex. “We ain’t going nowhere either,” Talon fumes.
Clutch, Echo, and Diesel stand too. “Well, I guess that means we are staying too. Not like we got anything better to do,” Clutch grins, twiddling his toothpick between his lips.
All the brothers turn and look to Cain’s empty chair. Disappointment floods me; I thought he was better than that. “Cain is a nomad, free to come and go as he pleases,” Lucian defends.
“Still thought he would have more fucking honour,” Silas spits angrily, and for the first time, I agree with him.
I stand. All eyes come to me. “I’m not going anywhere,” I assert firmly, staring into Lucian’s blazing gaze. He begins to shake his head. “I’m not leaving you, and you can’t make me.” His hands cup my face, resting his temple on mine.
“I should have never marked you. I should have left you alone,” he exhales, his eyes burning with pain.
I pull back slightly, placing my hand over his.
I turn my head and place a soft kiss on his palm.
“Finding you, falling for you. Giving myself to you.” My smile widens as my cheeks heat.
“Giving you my heart is the best decision I’ve ever made.
So don’t take that away from me. Because there isn’t anywhere I’d rather be than here with you.
Even if that means the end is near. I will die in love, feeling utterly worshipped, happy.
” I choke, swallowing back the tears. I want to protest that it’s not fair, that we didn’t get long enough together, that it’s over before we’ve even really begun.
But I don’t. I refuse to spend the last few hours we have together full of pain and despair.
“If this is going to start turning into our declarations of love for each other, then I’m really fucking off,” Cain huffs.
We look to him as he dumps a large duffel bag on the table.
“Now, I’ve been fantasising about ending these fuckers for a really long time.
Learned some things along the way.” He unzips the bag and pulls out water pistols.
“Water pistols?” I ask in confusion.
He smiles, his blood-red eyes dancing with excitement. “Yeah, in these is some kind of liquid,” he says vaguely.
“Some kind of liquid? You going to elaborate on that?” Lucian presses.
“I don’t know what’s in it. I met these folk on my travels. They were spiritual people, but not the church-going kind. We got talking, and when I mentioned Anathema, they gave me these. It won’t kill them, but it will hurt them,” he says proudly.
Everyone exchanges a look. “Well, I guess it’s better than nothing,” Clutch shrugs.
The brothers all reach for a water gun. Lucian stands there, staring off into the distance. “Hey, you okay?” I ask, concerned.
He frowns. “Put the guns down. We are going out,” he orders. Everyone stops and looks at him like he’s lost his mind.
“Prez, it’s war,” Clutch protests.
“Yeah, it fucking is, and we are already fucked. So, let’s go out, live one last night.
I don’t intend on talking through ways we can prolong the inevitable,” Lucian demands.
My heart stutters at the thought of losing him if I can’t save him.
If this Anathema can erase vampires, then I’m not sure what use I can be.
Looks are exchanged; concern, sadness, and anger at the thought of them losing their leader, their brother, their friend, a member of their family. Silas is the first to place the gun down. “You’re right. We live for tonight. We fight death tomorrow.” The others, one by one, place their guns down.
“Does this mean we get some pussy?” Diesel asks, the youngest of them, his eyes excited and eager.
Lucian smirks. “Come here,” he orders. Diesel’s excitement fades, and a look of worry that he’s in trouble spreads across his face as he makes his way to Lucian.
“Prez, I meant no disrespect to your woman,” he mutters. I have to bite down on my grin as I step back. Lucian firmly grabs his shoulders, glaring down at him.
“You don’t deserve this,” Lucian growls as he rips the prospect patch from Diesel’s cut.
“Shit, I… God, man. I’m sorry,” Diesel pleads.
Lucian reaches into his back pocket, pulls out a fresh patch, and slaps it against Diesel’s chest. “This is what you deserve.”
Diesel’s face lights up like a kid on Christmas morning.
“You’ve shown restraint. Control. Most importantly, loyalty,” Lucian says.
“Standing beside us as we go to war. Fighting for us. For me. For my—” He pauses, turning to me, a slow smile curling across his arrogant face.
“My woman.” He winks. A bubble of laughter escapes me.
“You’re one of us now. Our brotherhood. The coven.
Our family.” Lucian claps Diesel on the shoulder.
Diesel turns, pride blazing across his face as the other brothers cheer and crowd around him, giving their congratulations.
I slip my arms around Lucian’s waist. He pulls me close. Tilting my head up, I meet his gaze. “If I’m your woman,” I say, my lips curving into a playful smile “Does that make you my man?”
He looks down at me, his eyes alive with heat and adoration. He shakes his head once. “No, Petal.” His voice drops. “It makes me your monster.” Then he kisses me.
“Everyone is looking at us,” I murmur as I gaze around the bar. Lucian keeps his hand protectively at the back of my neck. Guiding me to their normal table at the back. His thumb strokes in reassurance.
“Ignore them. It appears the town has forgotten who we are,” he whispers in my ear.
“Or they heard about what happened back at the Crawley brothers,” Silas mutters beside him.
We reach their table. People who are sitting at it scatter like ants when they see us approach. “Sit,” Lucian orders. I take my seat and try my best to relax, but it’s really hard when the entire bar keeps looking over at us.
A woman with golden-brown hair and freckles dusting her cheeks walks over. “Well, gentlemen, it’s been a while,” she greets, smiling at Lucian. I stiffen and possessively place my hand on his thigh, leaning into him and feeling his chuckle vibrate through me.
“Easy, Petal. This is Lilith. She’s one of us,” Lucian whispers in my ear. I frown, looking at her. She doesn’t look like them. Her eyes are a rich emerald green. She looks human.
Lilith winks at me, giving me a friendly smile. “Sorry,” I mutter. “But I’ve not exactly had a good experience meeting others, especially people like you,” I say with a wince.
She arches her brow. “She came into contact with Seraphine,” Silas states, his eyes on her appreciatively. He quickly looks away when he catches me watching him.
Lilith’s eyes widen. “And you lived to tell the tale?” she asks, with an underlying hint of amusement.
“Barely.” I shrug, returning her smile. I hold my hand out, “I’m Evelynn.” I introduce.
She shakes my hand, her skin cold and silky. “Good to meet you,” she smiles warmly, pausing as she goes to withdraw her hand, inhaling my scent. “Well, well, well. I had heard that a mortal had captured your attention,” she says to Lucian. “But marking her?” she breathes in disbelief.
Lucian shakes his head back and forth. “Is there going to be a problem?” he asks her, a threat threaded within the question.
She places her hand on her hips and cocks her head to the side, her green eyes flaring.
Ah, there it is, the vampire, I think to myself.
“Lucian, how many years have you known me?” she glares at him.
“I will never forget what this club did for me. I would never betray any of you,” she fiercely declares.
I look from her to Lucian, their intense glare between them. “Okay. So, any chance of a gin and tonic?” I ask, breaking the tension.
Lilith’s attention snaps to mine, a slow smile spreading across her lips. “Sure can. In fact, why don’t you come over to the bar while I make it for you? I have a new selection that I got specially in from Europe,” she gestures.
“Oh god, yes,” I say, eager and practically salivating at the thought. I move to stand, but Lucian’s hand on the back of my neck holds me firmly in my seat. “Lucian,” I hiss.
Lilith crosses her arms over her chest. “I’m not going to hurt her. She smells utterly delicious, but I’m not stupid. I value my undead life, thank you very much,” she tuts, rolling her eyes at him.
“Lilith, just go and get us a drink,” Silas sighs with annoyance.
She snaps her gaze to him, anger flaring. “Kiss my ass, Silas. Evelynn,” she gestures with her head for me to follow.
“If she says anything or does anything you don’t like, shout. I will be there,” Lucian states, overprotectively.
“I’m no more than twenty feet away,” I smile, placing a delicate kiss on his cheek before following Lilith.
She takes my hand in hers and leads me behind the bar into her small office.
“Er,” I say, looking back over my shoulder, wondering if Lucian was right to be overprotective.
Letting go of my hand, she reaches up for a box on the top of her shelf and places it on her desk.
“Here, take this.” She hands me a dusty bottle. I wipe the label with my thumb; grapefruit and elderflower gin.
“Oh.” I breathe a small sigh of relief.
She grins, looking at me as she places the box back on the top shelf. “I’m not Seraphine. Don’t worry, you’re safe with me.”
“Sorry,” I mumble my apology.
“Don’t be. I know what it’s like being human around vampires,” she confesses.
I look at her, my lips parting in shock. “How long? When did you?” I stutter my questions.
“Twenty-seven years ago. Let’s say I gave my heart to someone who didn’t deserve it,” she says, sadness in her eyes.
“Silas.” I blurt, gasping as I cover my mouth with my hand.
She lets out a soft laugh, shaking her head. “No, not Silas. But you picked up on that, huh?” she asks.
I nod. “Yeah, it’s a bit hard to miss.” I wince.
She nods, swallowing. “That’s a story for another day.
” She clears her throat. “Come on, before Lucian rips the office door off the hinges looking for you.” She leads me back out to the bar while she makes my gin.
Bending down, she grabs a large plain black bottle sealed with melted red wax.
“Grab those glasses for me, would you?” She points to the stack of tumblers.
I grab them and follow her back to our table.
I can feel Lucian’s gaze on me as we make our way through the crowd.
I give him a playful wink, making his lips twitch in amusement.
As I’m about to swerve around a group of men laughing and joking with each other, one of them steps in front of me, smiling, his breath stinking of beer.
“Hey, I’ve not seen you in here before,” he slurs.
I can’t hide my disdain. He’s young, maybe college age, good-looking in that boy-next-door way.
“That’s because I’ve not come in here before.
I’m with my…” I pause, thinking. What do I call him?
Boyfriend seems too casual for what we have.
We aren’t married. He’s more than a lover.
“Er, life partner?” I say it as a question, but it doesn’t sound right.
His eyes spark. “Oh really, where is she?” he asks, looking over my shoulder.
I shake my head. “No, not life partner as in I’m a lesbian, life partner as in he’s mine for life,” I ramble, my mind working a mile a minute, trying to think of what I mean. “Soul mate!” I blurt. “He’s my soul mate?” I add, smiling to myself. I got there in the end.
“Oh, I see.” He mutters, disappointment etching across his face.
“Yeah… anyway, have a good night.” I force a smile and step past him.
His hand closes around my elbow. “Wait.” I gasp, caught off guard. He releases me almost instantly, his face draining of color. I don’t need to turn around to know Lucian is standing behind me.
“My soulmate.” I grin up at the drunken student.
He nods stiffly and backs away. I turn, still holding the tumblers, and tilt my head to meet Lucian’s gaze.
His amber eyes blaze down at me, furious for half a second before they soften, melting into something dangerously tender. “I had it handled,” I murmur.
“He touched you,” he breathes. The words vibrate with restrained rage.
I smirk. “If you behave, I might let you touch me in more intimate places later.”
That finally breaks through his anger. His lips curve faintly, desire burning in his stare.
“Tonight,” he says with a quiet intensity, “I won’t stop touching you.
I want to memorize every soft curve of your body.
Every sound you make. Every breath. I want you carved into me so deeply that when I meet my fate tomorrow…
” He pauses, his fingers delicately brushing over my cheek.
“My last thoughts will be of you.” My throat tightens and my nose stings.
I fight the tears threatening to spill as I cling to the smallest, most fragile thread of hope that somehow, I can still save him.