30. Evanee
Evanee
My raven hair blended with my night-hued body, which was covered in little star-like flecks that shone bright and proud.
Panic took root in my stomach as I changed back to my human form instantly and threw on a robe. Aiden knocked on my door, and I made the excuse of feeling sick; thank the moon he'd only yelled his irritation and moved on instead of barging in as he had on several occasions.
I’d never seen another Gargoyle with these colors. The only place I’d even read about unique colorings was in the old leather tomes in the armory. But Gargoyle coloring didn’t change just from reading. It changed after the proper steps in a matching ceremony.
I knew that my color setting in would put both mine and my mother’s lives in danger. Yes, technically, I could still marry Aiden. But it would be an embarrassment for him. For the crown. I knew without a doubt they'd assume I’d slept with someone, and the punishment would be death.
I had to leave.
Tonight.
I needed to get my mother first, though. I knew she'd be at our estate, pulling together last-minute preparations for the big event tomorrow night. So I quickly threw on flying leathers, and as I cracked open my door, the hallway was empty, no sign of my guards.
I ran.
Keeping to the shadows, I kept an eye on the celebrations. Aiden took to the skies, surrounded by fawning, unmatched females whose gray forms complemented the clear night. Shifting wasn’t an option for me with so many eyes.
I moved quickly toward the city below, hoping to reach my family’s estate before I was seen.
As the full moon hit me, my skin rippled, my Gargoyle wanting to come out and show off her new colors.
I blanched as I held out my arm in front of me, shifting just my clawed hand, and stared at the new, mesmerizing color.
A noise startled me out of my trance, and I quickly shifted my hand back.
Gargoyles and humans both cheered far across the meadow as music played. My steps hastened. But as I came across the pond that sits between the castle and the vibrant city below, a figure walked toward me, making me falter.
Recognition sparked, heat instantly spreading to my belly.
Ryker approached from an adjacent path that led to the mountains. He froze upon seeing me. We stared at each other briefly and intensely before we started at a slow stride toward one another.
“Evanee…”
My neck craned to look up at him.
If this was my last time seeing him, I would show him what he meant to me. My hands fisted in his black shirt as I pushed onto my tiptoes and pulled him the rest of the way.
My breath left me as I brushed my lips against his. Soft, full, delicious.
He stood stock still.
Every fiber of my being ignited as I pulled back, my breathing ragged as I began to back-peddle—fearing I’d mistaken his feelings for me.
He reached out and caressed my cheek as he'd before, then grabbed the back of my neck, pulling me to him, his lips claiming mine.
His tongue pried my lips apart, and my fingers threaded through his white, silky hair. The intoxicating scent of cedar and leather, his scent, made a moan scrape from my throat. A sound of pleasure escaped him, too, his grip tightening a second before he pulled back.
“I want to show you something,” he breathed. Unable to form words, I nodded, willing to follow him anywhere. This one last time.
As he held my hand and led me toward the mountains—that’s when I realized that my love for him blazed hotter than the sun.
If tonight was my last night in this realm, I wanted one last night that was mine.
I loved him enough that I couldn’t ask him to come with me.
I couldn’t put him in that kind of danger.
So I buried the feelings deep down to live in this one last moment with him.
Ryker led me all the way to the top of the smaller mountain, overlooking the celebrations and the bonfires. Watching our people fly in the distance, far enough away that they couldn’t see us.
“This is where I like to spend my time. It brings me peace when the darkness rears its head in me. I’ve wanted to share it with you, but I knew…” he trailed off, brows creasing.
Silence stretched.
“Ryker… tomorrow. I can’t—” Tears welled in my eyes.
“I won’t let him touch you. I won’t ever let anything happen to you,” he growled. Fire licked through my veins, but a sad coldness dampened the effect.
I wanted to tell him I was running—but couldn’t risk him trying to stop me.
Or worse, following me.
The corners of his mouth lifted as he faced me. A relaxed side of him that he rarely showed to others. It made him look younger. Happier. I forced my mouth upwards in response, fighting the guilt his smile stirred in me over leaving him.
It became difficult to breathe as he cupped my cheek, guiding me back to him. Within seconds, we were ravenous.
Heat flooded my veins as I relived every moment—as we shed each other’s clothes, taking in his impressive length, the gentleness in which he handled me, the brief moment of pain followed by insurmountable pleasure.
I’d never been with a male before that night.
And I wouldn’t have had it any other way.
It felt so right to have Ryker as my first. Even though he didn’t tell me he loved me, I felt it in the way he made love to me, slow and gentle—as if I were both his beginning and end as he was mine.
A connection snapped between us that I couldn’t explain—
My climax hit hard, and when it had, I unwittingly shifted.
Every one of my muscles locked tight.
My gaze met Ryker’s, and the moment I saw the shock and disbelief on his face, panic rushed in.
I pushed him off, stumbling away.
“Evanee—”
“I have to go!” I cried, not looking back at him as I snatched my leathers and took to the skies, my heart pounding at what I'd done. What I'd revealed.
With this new coloring, I blended into the night sky around me, managing to get away quickly, the clouds covering me until his voice grew distant.
No other Gargoyles were in the sky. Most of them seemed to be passed out drunk in the fields below. Though it was too quiet. Too still.
Something flashed in the moonlight, catching my eye below as I was about to dive down to our estate.
Someone… No—two beings ran swiftly from the castle gates, down the path through the eerily quiet city, glancing back every so often.
I tried to focus on their faces, but their hoods were drawn.
I remember thinking I needed to get to my mother before sunrise, but something nagged at me about the hooded figures.
The way they snuck out and kept looking back toward the castle.
The way that eerie silence had settled over everything.
Then they shifted, cloaks falling away, revealing two familiar dark-blue forms. One with black hair, the other blonde.
Aiden and his mother, Queen Ava.
I followed—every instinct screaming to stop. Go back.
I should've listened.
They flew past the docks and over the sea… I hesitated. To fly out over the sea this close to sunrise could be a death sentence. Yet I had to see what they were up to. I flew higher in the cloud coverage and took off as fast as I could.
We flew for almost twenty minutes. My wings started to tire, the burning pain creeping from my back, up along my shoulders, but I pressed on. Finally, they descended toward the water, where a ship waited. A ship flying the Fae kingdoms’ flags.
My heart stuttered—then stopped.
Why would the Fae be this close to our lands?
Something told me then—when the wind tore the clouds apart and revealed a vast armada bearing the Fae flags—that Aiden and the Queen had done something unforgivable.
I needed to tell the King. But when I started back toward our lands, clouds and fog had grown thick.
I got turned around, thinking I’d been flying back toward our lands, but I must've turned further east.
I flew lower, trying to recognize any landmarks, my wings ready to give out.
A spear whistled through the air and pierced me through the shoulder, and the ocean rushed to meet me.