Chapter 28
Blake.
Blake, with bronze hair wild, his face resigned. His chest was rising and falling, his shoulders tense.
“Let me go,” I cried out, shoving at him.
He released me immediately, backing off with his hands raised, glancing around as though to ascertain we were truly alone. It looked like a mirage—none of it real or believable.
Yvonne and Poppy rushed into his arms with a cry.
Blake bent down and caught them both, his massive frame folding around them. Poppy buried her face against his chest, tiny fingers clinging to his shirt, while Yvonne’s breath shuddered against his shoulder.
For a moment, he just held them. But over their shoulders, he kept his eyes on me, expression intense.
Then his eyes closed, relief sagging his shoulders, his hand cradling the back of Poppy’s head. His body was still coiled for battle, but for now, they were safe.
After a long moment, he released them. His icy gaze lifted back to me. He took a step forward, jaw tight, his eyes sweeping over me.
I could still hear my own heartbeat, still feel the raw ache in my throat from whatever that song had been. I stepped backward instinctually until my shoulders hit the wall.
Blake stopped and exhaled, his voice barely under control. “Are you hurt?”
I shook my head as I swallowed, my whole body shaking, my breath coming fast.
Blake’s gaze sharpened, his eyes dragging over me with the kind of scrutiny that made my pulse stutter. “You are bleeding.”
“She hit her head, Blake,” Yvonne called. “Hard.”
I barely had time to blink before he was there, crossing the space between us in a few long strides.
His hands, calloused from battle and honed for war, cradled my head with an unbearable gentleness. A thumb brushed against my pulse, a fleeting touch. His jaw was tight, focus absolute. He was bleeding from half a dozen wounds but didn’t seem to notice.
I gripped his wrist in my hand. “Flame,” I begged, nearly delirious. “The tygers—they—”
“I know,” he cooed, eyes softening for a moment.
Flame rumbled in my mind, I am all right, dear one. I can rest now that you are safe.
“Kingsolver was able to contact me.” A quick half smile pulled his mouth. “Smart, Rubi.”
The warmth of his fingers ghosted over my skin as he wiped away the blood, his touch careful. It shouldn’t have felt so intimate. It shouldn’t have made my breath hitch.
But it did. And he was the secret leader of a rebellion that had killed innocents tonight. He was the Twin Blade and the Ravager. And he had a family with another woman.
What the hell was I doing?
I pulled back, flinching away from his hands. He let me go easily, but his eyes didn’t stray from mine.
My pulse kicked hard as I stared back at him. “I thought the Ravager was an Azure.” My voice was still hoarse.
He gave me a faint smile. “Misdirection is everything.”
“You’re the one who did this,” I snapped. “Don’t play word games with me. I saw the rebels. You’re the Ra—”
Yvonne stepped up then, cutting me off with a heavy stare. “Perhaps we should take this somewhere more private?”
She held Poppy close, who was biting her lip hard, trying not to cry. It made the fight drain out of me as I nodded, turning away from Blake toward Yvonne. I had no place in their little family.
“I should go,” I said.
She reached out then. “At least come to my home and let me get you something for those wounds before you head back. You just saved our lives. We owe you everything.”
Poppy raised her tearful eyes to me. “Please?”
Blake stayed silent, before I wearily agreed. Without the mask, he was simply a man, a powerful, handsome man dressed in black. Nobody would know. He turned away abruptly and started sifting through the broken metal and blood.
“I wouldn’t have made it without you smashing that demon with the lid,” I said quietly to Poppy. “How is it that you already have magic at your age?”
Poppy’s expression fell. “I’m not supposed to show other people.”
Yvonne stroked her hair, voice warm with reassurance. “You did exactly right, darling. It was very clever of you to know when to break the rules.”
Why did Blake’s wife have to be kind, beautiful, and wise?
Blake returned then, handing me my ribbons, wrapped perfectly, as if I’d never unleashed them on him.
Poppy peeked up at me again, pulling my attention. “Your hair’s such a pretty color.”
I huffed a soft laugh, but Blake was already tugging my hood over my head, then doing the same to his own.
“Come on,” he said gruffly, taking Poppy from his wife. “We must leave the square before Jace and his band arrive.”
Meaning the warriors sent by the king to put down the rebels.
The square was empty now, save for the bodies of demons and their victims alike.
Blood pooled in thick, dark streaks, the stench of death settling into the air.
As we passed, a few people crept forward, checking for survivors.
There were none. My stomach twisted as I passed a husk of a man, his body drained.
Blake shifted Poppy higher in his arms. “Do you think Mommy can warm up some milk buns when we get home?”
I blinked, startled by the softness in his voice. Something in my chest burned. He was trying to keep Poppy from looking at the carnage around us.
She brightened slightly, nodding against his shoulder. “With sugar?”
“Of course,” he said, his lips pulling up just slightly into a smile.
The streets wound through the city, quiet beneath the hush of night. Shadows stretched long against the stone and metal walls, and the air carried the mingled scents of damp earth, distant fire, and the metallic tang of blood.
Blake led the way, his shoulders tense beneath his cloak, his steps sure and steady. Yvonne walked beside him, her hand a constant presence on Poppy’s back, as if grounding herself in the fact that her daughter was here and safe.
I followed slowly behind, watching the display with something like grief clogging my throat.
Though Blake did keep shooting quick, slightly worried glances over his shoulder at me.
I was still in shock, heart rate slower but exhaustion seeping into my bones. Each step felt heavier.
When we reached the house, I hesitated for a moment.
It was modest, but with a warmth that seeped into my bones.
A small garden hugged the front, where night-blooming jasmine wove up the stone walls, mingling with clusters of moonflowers that glowed pale in the dim light.
Tiny violets peeked between stones, and a row of rosemary and lavender lined the path, their fragrance stirred by the night breeze. Another sign of love, of a home.
Blake pushed open the door, stepping aside to let us in. Along the walk, Poppy had fallen asleep, so he stepped by us and toward the rooms off the far end of the house.
Yvonne beckoned me to the kitchen, and I followed easily.
A sturdy wooden table sat at its center, worn smooth by years of use. Dried herbs hung from the rafters. The scents of lavender, rosemary, and sage mingled in the air. Open shelves lined the walls, stacked with mismatched ceramic plates and neatly labeled jars of spices.
A place meant for rest, not war.
It reminded me of Edith and our shack, if only for the feeling of home.
Yvonne moved through the space with practiced ease, putting a kettle of water on the stove to boil.
As she reached for a bowl and a couple of mugs, I leaned against the counter. Keeping my voice casual and low, I asked, “So, how long have you and Blake been married?”
Her hands stilled. Her eyes flew to mine, wide with something that might have been shock, but then turned into pure amusement.
From the doorway, Blake’s deep voice cut through the quiet. “Yvonne is my little sister.”
I sucked in a breath. My head snapped toward him. Relief I didn’t understand flowed through me.
Yvonne, for her part, just continued measuring herbs into the bowl with a small smile playing around the corners of her mouth. She was an Axefire. Why was she living in this little house?
“But…you don’t—”
“I’m a Lesser and a yin,” Yvonne said, meeting my gaze with understanding eyes. “I was born without any Marks. When nothing further manifested at my first zodiac year, it became quite clear what my future would be.”
I blurted out, “What is the big deal with all the magic-level stuff with Silvers? It seemed to me there were plenty of mages at the market who could manipulate metal.”
Yvonne laughed. “Magic is very specific. A cook who can make a spoon move is completely different from a musician who can play strings. Someone like Blake, who can manipulate almost every type of metal, with the degree of power and control he has, is extremely rare. Our family has always specialized in weapons, which is profitable, to say the least. And of course the creation of glyphs related to any mage’s specialty is a tremendous source of wealth and power. ”
Meaning because she didn’t have magic, she was seen as without value. To her own family.
“Even though I could never inherit as a yin, if I’d had power, I would have at least been useful as a bargaining chip for marriage.
” Yvonne said it so matter-of-factly. “But since I had no magic, my ranking would have been devastating to our family’s Average.
To remain in the Octagon, the average score of every living family member must be extremely high.
We would have been ousted. So, our father decided to follow in the footsteps of our ancestors and peers. I was to be killed.”
The words slammed into me.
“That’s murder,” I snapped out. Then my eyes found Blake’s. “Why didn’t your mother stop him? Why didn’t you?”
“Our mother died giving birth to Yvonne.” Blake’s voice was quiet but edged with something dark.
His hands spread across the table, and I worried it would crack under the weight of his burdens.
“The clans, including the Axefire dynasty, follow their own rules. The system has been in place for centuries. It’s how the aristocracy holds power.
Any child born that might seem less promising is immediately hidden away and not registered publicly.
They reported that Yvonne was stillborn.
If she had turned out to be useful magically, she would have been presented as having been raised in seclusion for her own safety.
The parents barely interact with those kids because they know they might need to get rid of them.
No one would have noticed her disappearance, even if anyone were to care.
Which no one does. Assassinations and murders are clan business. ”
I stared at him, my blood running cold. “That’s revolting.”
His eyes burned. “I know.”
I turned back to Yvonne. “So how did you survive?”
“Blake.” Her smile softened, something warm and achingly sad in the curve of it.
“He was always sneaking away to play with me from when we were little. Making sure I was all right. And when the decision was made after my first Zodiac, he managed to smuggle me out even though he was still so young himself. He’s been there for me my entire life. ”
She looked at him with fierce, unwavering love.
My chest grew somehow tighter.
Blake’s voice carried a quiet warning. “No one knows who Yvonne truly is. That’s why she keeps a modest house and a low profile.”
I let that sink in, glancing around again at the simple home with its garden, the worn wood, the warmth of it all. “No one in your family knows?”
“No one alive,” Blake said.
Meaning Zayden, the other Twin Blade, had known.
“Zayden was the golden boy,” Yvonne said with a laugh, though it didn’t seem from humor.
“Our brother was kind,” Blake said, his voice raised slightly, defensively. “But he always did everything our father wanted. When ugly things happened, he would look the other way.”
My chest burned with injustice. “Even the disappearance of his own little sister?” I said, my voice low with disgust. I looked to Yvonne and took her hands in mine. Her skin was warm, calloused from hard work.
“I’m sorry that happened to you,” I said. “No one deserves that. Especially not from their own family.”
For a moment, her eyes glistened. She squeezed my hands once, then let go and straightened. “I consider myself very fortunate. I have Blake. And I have Poppy.”
“Who is Poppy’s father then?” I asked. As usual, the words slipped out before I could stop them. I winced. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.”
Pain flashed across Yvonne’s face before she masked it. “No, it’s all right. Someone who dumped me and Poppy the moment a woman with more magic batted her eyes at him.”
I flicked a glance at Blake. “Where is he now?”
He said mildly, “He’s in the military. Somehow he got stationed in the far reaches of the dominion. Terrible place. Lots of predators. I hear the weather’s awful there, too.” Blake turned to his sister, his expression softening. “But indeed, Poppy is special.”
I smiled brighter. “She’s lovely.”
Blake hummed, and I looked up to find his face alight with one of the most beautiful, real smiles I’d ever seen on him. Dimple in evidence.
It made me soften just looking at it.
The gentle, domestic side of him felt real, like it was his true self once the armor and responsibility were stripped away.
Yvonne looked back and forth between the two of us. She gave an exaggerated yawn. “Well, I can’t keep my eyes open. I’ll leave you two to clean your wounds and have a cup of tea.” She nodded to the bowl and bandages laid on the table now. “I made that cream myself. It should help with your cuts.”
“Sleep well, Yvonne.”
She stepped to me and gripped me in a tight hug, whispering in my ear quickly, “He talks about you all the time,” before leaving the kitchen.