Chapter Nineteen #2
“Many suspect you worked together to break Evan out of his cell the night of the ball and helped him flee the castle.” Reign looked at Briar. “And they believe you’re the one who crafted the poison given to the king.”
“What?” My pulse quickened. “This is ridiculous. They didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Neither did you, love.” Briar said, a tremble in his voice. “I anticipated this happening. Our disappearance the same night as yours would be seen as suspicious.”
“Cedric damn well knows I didn’t escape my cell,” I spat, anger rising. “The psycho had me dragged from my cell and handed me over to Stryder under the belief I’d be killed. As far as Cedric knows, I’m six feet under right now. Why put a bounty on my head?”
“To keep up appearances, more than likely,” Onyx said, speaking for the first time. “The kingdom is unaware of the bargain he struck with Nocturne. To their knowledge, you did escape and are on the loose.”
“That’s fair, I guess.” My hands balled into tight fists. “But why go after my men?”
“Because their absence hasn’t gone unnoticed,” Draven explained.
“We overheard a patrol of knights speak of how Maddox would move mountains for you. Your relationship with Shadow and Briar is also widely known, as is your close bond with the other knights. Declaring them as traitors helps sell the story Cedric crafted and further takes any suspicion off of him.”
The injustice of it all, the backstabbing and lies, awoke a soul-quaking anger I’d never felt before.
“Is Sawyer okay?” I asked. “What about Kuya and Sir Noah?”
“Prince Sawyer will be traveling to Voltas with Lady Alina soon,” Reign answered. “A tour of the city for now, but once they’re married, it will be their home. I’m uncertain what will become of the demi-cat and the royal knight.”
Angry tears burned in my eyes.
“When will Cedric be crowned?” Briar asked.
“At week’s end,” Draven answered. “Arrangements are currently being made for the occasion.”
The rage in my veins bubbled hotter.
“Just perfect!” I rose from my chair and shoved away from it so hard it wobbled.
“I’m framed for trying to kill the king and chased from the only home I’ve ever known.
The men I love are accused of treason. Prince Sawyer is left to deal with a tyrannical brother and marry someone he doesn’t love for the sake of an alliance, while poor Kuya is cast aside. ”
My head spun, my thoughts crashing into each other.
The people closest to me were being targeted. What about Miles? Alice and Peter? I thought of all the demi-humans who’d visited my café, thanking me for giving them a safe place where they felt welcomed. Everything had been ripped away because of Cedric.
“Sweetheart?” Maddox stood and approached me. “Take a breath and—”
“I’m too pissed to breathe, Maddox!” My hands squeezed into fists.
Fire burned through me, faster now. Hotter.
I felt like a volcano about to blow its top.
“How is it that so much bad happens to good people, while someone like Cedric, a goddamn evil psychopath, gets exactly what he wants? Where is the justice in that?”
I screamed the last sentence, having reached my damn breaking point.
The fire in the hearth blazed higher, as though doused in gasoline. Flames so high, in fact, that it left scorch marks on the bottom of the mantel.
“Maddox.” Briar gaped. “His hands.”
I looked down. Dark blue flickers sparked from my fingertips.
What the hell? I stared for several beats to make sure my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me. Shock drained the anger from my veins and replaced it with a deep, unsettling chill. The blue sparks died away, and the electric charge in the air went with them.
Silence followed. Every set of eyes in the room lingered on me, flickering between surprise and concern. One pair, however, burned with something much darker.
Onyx stared at my hands before, ever so slowly, lifting his gaze to my face.
He knows.
“Evan?” Reign stared at me and trembled. “You’re… gods, how are you…”
Draven grabbed his shoulder to steady him, then looked at me, visibly shocked.
“His mana, V,” Reign rasped, using Draven’s childhood nickname. “It’s so bright.”
Rowan stepped away from the wall, joined by Lake and Callum.
“Love?” Briar stepped up beside Maddox, his concerned gaze pinned to me. Slower, he took a step toward me and held out his hand. “Why don’t you come sit down?”
Instead, I shuffled back from him, putting more distance between us. Tears pooled in my eyes.
“Give me your hand, love.” Briar stepped closer.
“I… I’m sorry,” I said, shaking so much I barely got the words out. “I don’t know what happened.”
“You nearly set us all on fire, little treasure, that’s what happened.” Rowan studied the scorch marks on the mantel. “Question is how.”
“I’ll never forget the way her hands sparked as she dug her fingers into his chest and ripped out his mana. Like blue fire.”
I felt like I was going to throw up. Bile rose in my throat, and I ran for the door. Maddox called after me, and I heard the scuffle of boots against the floor. They pursued me, their steps echoing behind me in the corridor.
“Ev!” Callum shouted.
I sprinted faster, lungs squeezing and tears welling in my eyes. The dramatic exit from the room would probably embarrass me later, but the only thing I felt right then was fear and the need to be alone.
Reaching the side door near the kitchen that led toward a courtyard, I burst through it and kept going, running as fast as my legs could carry me.
***
A glowing blue fish swam up the edge of the pond. Felt like it was staring right into my soul. I sat on the grassy bank, knees drawn to my chest and arms wrapped around them.
“Have you come to eat me?”
The scales along its back pulsed, then shifted from blue to an aquamarine with streaks of gray, blending more in with the shallow water and rocky bottom.
“No way. Chameleon fish?” I peered closer. Then nearly shit myself when the thing splashed the surface and dove back under. I shrieked and plopped backward in the grass. “Ow.”
The view on my back was pretty though. A moonlit sky of twinkling stars and cloudlike clusters that seemed like far-off galaxies.
Iridescent branches of the trees around me shimmered in shades of green, purple, and light blue.
A luminescence that was invisible during the day. It had two sides to it, just like me.
Being a child of light and dark, both types of magic existed within me. The power to purify but also to, apparently, set things on fire. Remembering the blue sparks in my fingers terrified me. Even more unsettling was the deep anger in my core that’d triggered them.
I never wanted to feel that way again. Never wanted to surrender to that anger.
Much to my surprise, my men hadn’t found me yet. Then again, considering how Lake could sense my presence and find me no matter how far I wandered—Oreo too—I suspected they knew exactly where I was and were watching me from a distance. Giving me space but being nearby in case I needed them.
My theory was proven true as a whisper of wind ruffled my bangs, bringing familiar scents with it. Warm spice. Magnolia blossoms. Another breeze brought traces of peaches and black cardamom, then something sweet and comforting.
I smiled up at the swaying branches. “I know you’re all there,” I said loud enough for my voice to carry.
“No, we aren’t,” came Callum’s voice from the section of trees to the edge of the pond. There was a tiny snarl, followed by the leaves of a bush rustling. “I let you chew on my boots earlier. Be nice to me.”
“Please bite him,” Rowan said.
“Yoyo,” Maddox said in a warning tone. “Behave.”
Despite the gnawing of confusion and fear in my belly that had yet to dissipate since my outburst in the throne room, I found myself laughing as I lay on my back in the grass.
Proof that no matter what life threw at me—like the manifestation of scary powers—I was always better off with them by my side.
“Might as well come out.” I sat up and looked toward the trees. “Your cover is blown.”
Maddox appeared first, then Lake. A dark shape darted around Callum’s feet as he emerged from the woods next, almost tripping him, followed by a laughing Rowan and a softly smiling Briar. The sight of them helped chip away more of my bubbling anxiety.
“Where’s Duke and the others?” I asked, not spotting the knight trio or the spies.
“In the parlor.” Reaching my spot near the bank, Briar sat beside me. “Varys wished to speak further with Draven and Reign and invited them for a drink. The knights accompanied them.”
“And Onyx?”
“In his study.” Rowan grabbed a low hanging branch and pulled himself up into the tree. “He left right after you did, not sayin’ a word to anyone.”
He’s upset. I recalled how Onyx had stared at my hands. The realization that’d crossed his face. Perhaps a trace of hurt.
“Ah.” I nodded and returned to my earlier position—hugging my knees to my chest. “Sorry for running away earlier. I don’t know what happened.”
“Your powers awoke.” Briar rested his hand on my lower back.
“People like me arise in times of great conflict, right? We’re meant to be heroes or whatever?” I made myself smaller, hugging my knees tighter. “But that angry place inside me didn’t feel heroic, Briar. It felt dark.”
“Sometime when powers first manifest, they’re triggered by strong emotions,” he said, rubbing soothing circles on my back. “Anger and fear being the most common.”
“Specs is right,” Rowan said. “First time I used the Bone Crusher, it was an accident. A man with a dagger had me cornered in an alley, saying how he couldn’t wait to flay the skin off my bones, then sell my meat to the butcher. Next thing I knew, he was a pile of flesh and blood at my feet.”
A whine reached my ears. Lake sat on my other side, his wolf ears drooping. “I thank the gods you escaped that life and found your way to us.”