19. Evanee #2
“Ryker. And, no. I had the pleasure of meeting you for the first time that night you were in similar attire.” He smirked.
I flushed and turned my gaze quickly from him, but not before I saw a look pass between him and Aniah.
Brutish asshole. Every instinct screamed at me to run—but there was a small voice in my head whispering to stay.
Trust them. And it hadn't steered me wrong yet.
“What… What do I have to do?” I asked her slowly.
“I can use my magic on your blood—to draw memories from it. Then….” she hesitated.
“What?” The eagerness slipped out before I could stop it, my feet moving me away from the security of the wall.
“I’ll use my magic to draw as many memories as I can from your blood. Then there’s a mixture you’ll drink with it, along with an incantation.” She offered apologetically.
“I have to drink my own blood?” I exclaimed, my nose wrinkling in disgust. “Like a skur?”
“Don’t you want your memories back?” Ryker stepped forward, clenched fists falling to his side.
“Give her a moment to process it, Ryker, ” Aniah scolded. Freesia shifted uncomfortably in the shadows. He huffed a sigh that came out more like a bears growl, looking to the ceiling.
Aniah turned back toward me.
“Will you let me help?” she asked.
I gnawed at the inside of my cheek.
I wanted my memories back badly, but at what cost?
She claimed we knew each other, but how could I trust her?
Especially after my experience with Cressida.
And how did I even meet Aniah if she’d been at the Gargoyle kingdom?
Rumored to die alongside them? For each question that crossed my mind, three more popped up.
And if I wanted answers, I’d have to take a leap of faith.
“If you’re too scared of your own memories, then I’ll take you back—” Ryker started. But I bristled.
“I’m not scared of my memories!”
“Then what do you have to lose?” His words weren’t sarcastic or barbed—but calm. A subtle plea.
“Okay.” Uncertainty coated that small word. But he was right, I had nothing else to lose.
Relief flooded Aniah’s features.
“Freesia, will you stand watch outside?”
Freesia nodded once and slipped past Ryker.
“Come, Evanee, lie on this rock. I know it isn’t comfortable—it’ll only be for a minute. Ryker?”
I slowly walked to the rock I'd woken up on. More of a slab—long and flat. I lay down, my whole body rigid as Ryker came to stand beside Aniah, looking down at me with that calculating gaze. Unease settled in—but I didn’t look away.
I let myself get lost in those eyes. He elicited a deep, calming comfort I couldn’t put my finger on, and I found that a small part of me relished it.
“Ryker’s going to help me, if that’s okay.
” She looked to me for acknowledgment, so I gave her a short nod.
“He’s going to hold your arm still. This part will be uncomfortable.
” I glanced at Aniah, unease creeping in.
“I promise, I will let no harm come to you,” she said as she and Ryker knelt beside me.
She offered a smile that I supposed was meant to be comforting, as she took my hand and tugged the black sleeve up, baring my forearm.
I trembled slightly, but Ryker’s warm hands wrapped around my bicep and wrist, gently. Goosebumps skittered along my arm at his touch, but it didn’t stop the discomfort that spread along with it. I squeezed my eyes shut.
Aniah began chanting. I didn’t know what language the Witches spoke when they did their spells, nor where the power came from.
I never learned much about the Four Witch Sisters.
Not how old they were, where they came from, or even if they died.
Aniah looked my age, but hearing her voice change and the ancient, foreign language on her lips, I knew deep down she’d been here a long time.
Aniah’s voice reverberated in the cave as she grew louder and louder. The louder her voice grew, the more I started to feel a stinging sensation on my forearm. I opened my eyes right as she held a knife over my skin. I pulled at my arm, instinct taking over. But firm hands held me still.
“You’re okay.” His voice caressed me like a whisper beneath the loud chanting from Aniah. She brought the knife to my arm. I breathed in through my nose, hissing as she sliced my skin, dark blood welling from the cut. Ryker’s grip didn’t falter.
Aniah placed her hand over the gash. Her voice rose higher—and the sting in my arm intensified.
Not from the cut, but the feeling that something was scraping over every nerve in my body, trying to get to that opening on my arm.
I cried out, trying to sit up, thrashing, anything to get away from that pain.
Ryker’s hand shifted—from my bicep to my chest, right between my breasts, gently yet firmly holding me down.
I screamed, a tear rolling down my cheek as I locked onto Ryker’s intense gaze. His mouth moved, but I couldn’t hear what he said over the otherworldly echoes of Aniah’s voice filling the cave and the excruciating pain in my body.
Aniah stopped suddenly, and as soon as she did, the pain evaporated.
My breath was ragged as I looked at my arm.
No cut, no blood, as if nothing had happened.
Ryker removed his hand from my chest, holding the other out in offer.
I shakily accepted, and as I did, I noticed something with the ink on my wrists—it was lighter.
Patchy even. Disbelief gripped me as I gaped, my hand still in his.
A smile tugged at the corner of my mouth as I held out my other hand—same thing.
Aniah stood and staggered backward. Ryker immediately dropped my hand, lunging to grab her. She put a palm to her forehead, then held the other in front of her, observing that ring.
“Aniah, you’ve pushed yourself too far. It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have—”
“It’s okay.” She waved him off as she gained her footing. “It’s okay. You were right, this could be the only opportunity we would get.”
Ryker quickly retrieved a skin of water and offered it to Aniah, who downed it greedily. I wanted to offer—what, exactly? Help? What could I possibly do to help?
I settled on, “Are you okay?”
“Yes,” She breathed. “Yes… I’ve just… used a lot today.
Both spells, the proximity and the memory lock, are big spells to unravel.
There’s just one more part to it, then we’ll get you back.
I need to go outside. I’ll return in a moment.
” I averted my gaze, side-eyeing instead as Ryker helped steady her, his movement slow and gentle.
She patted his arm, mumbling something too soft for me to hear before she pulled her hood on and walked out.
Ryker leaned against the wall at the entrance, his arms crossed.
I stood, scrutinizing the patches on my ankles, too, before venturing closer to him.
“How long have you been following us?” I asked him. He glanced at me out of the corner of his eyes.
“A while.”
I rolled my eyes at his one-word answers. Then thought I would try a different route.
“How long have you and Aniah been together?”
He huffed a laugh, the silver flaring. “We’re not together.”
“Oh. I just thought…” Why did I think about it at all?! “So…” I cleared my throat. “Would you care to tell me what was wrong with the way I smelled that night?” The side of his mouth ticked up.
“Have you been thinking about me?” He pushed off the wall, putting his hands in his pockets as he faced me.
“Answer my question,” I scowled.
“No.”
“No, what?” I frowned.
“No, I don’t care to share,” he taunted. I glared at him.
“What’s your role in this? You say you don’t know me, so you’re what? A hired sword?”
He smiled, the look almost wicked. My stomach fluttered.
“Something like that.”
“What are you?” I whispered.
“Didn’t I tell you it’s rude to ask beings what they are?” He moved closer, echoing his words from Thaddeus’s. I glared at him, craning my neck.
“Isn’t it equally rude to sniff a female like an animal, saying ‘it’s true’?
” I imitated his voice, crossing my arms and rolling my eyes.
The rumble in his chest gave me deep satisfaction.
“You don’t see me commenting on your scent or your stupid, long hair.
” I audibly swallowed at his proximity. His scent of leather and cedar, with a hint of mint, was intoxicating, my stomach twisting traitorously.
However, my composure held as he evaluated me, one brow raised.
Then he let loose a chuckle, the deep sound stroking something within me.
“You have a point. I apologize, Evanee. Would you like to comment on my scent? Or say anything more about my hair that you deem too long?” My toes curled at the sound of my name, just as his attention flicked down to my bare feet. Great.
“Nope,” I gulped.
“Okay! Let’s finish this,” Aniah’s voice flitted in from outside. Ryker stepped away from me, his gaze grazed over me once more before he placed himself at the entrance again, in that nonchalant stance of his.
Aniah approached with a goblet in her hands.
“Now, you drink.” She offered it to me, and my stomach seized at the contents sloshing within.
“Here, this will help,” she said, holding out a clear bottle of amber liquid. “Whiskey.” I gratefully took the bottle from her, then reluctantly grabbed the goblet.
Inhaling deeply, I shut my eyes and chugged.
The thick contents filled my throat, making me gag several times, until it was empty.
I quickly flipped the stopper off the whiskey and took a big swig to wash away the metallic, bitter taste coating my mouth.
My throat burned, and my stomach lurched, but I clamped my lips together, keeping the contents from gushing back out.
After one more hefty swig of whiskey, I shuddered, placing my hands on my knees.