31. Evanee
Evanee
I shot up, dragging in a new breath of life.
“Evanee!” Ryker knelt next to me, his concerned gaze searching every inch as I turned to hang my legs off the large bed.
“I remember,” I croaked, the room spinning. “I remember everything.” A laugh bubbled up my throat, the sound a mere rasp. A fang sliced into my lip, making me wince, yet the pain sadistically brought me joy—my body was back. I was me again.
“I remember you,” I said around my tongue as I licked the blood off my lip. His eyes flared briefly, then settled into a look of relief.
“Ryker, what happened?”
His jaw worked before he ran a hand through his hair, and sat in a velvet, cream armchair beside the bed, so at odds with his black fighting leathers. He didn’t launch into the story so much as drag it out—piece by piece, like it hurt to say.
He told me he looked for me that night when all hell broke loose—skipping over what we'd done leading up to that—but was needed on the battlefield, to protect the civilians.
How the Fae had a relic to help them use magic.
Aniah tried and failed to destroy the object, but managed to hide it with a human, whom she wouldn’t name, at the cost of having her powers stolen by whatever dark, ancient power lay within the orb.
Ryker had searched everywhere for me, and when he couldn’t find me, he thought I was dead.
Until word reached him that I’d been shot down over the water and taken to the Fae lands.
From there, he and Aniah searched for the entire three years.
Now she stayed behind—to help Malachai, as they’d helped me.
Each word felt heavier than the last, settling into place with sickening clarity.
I shook my head in disbelief. “I can’t believe I’ve been with Malachai and Aiden these past weeks and never knew who they were.” It was more than disbelief—I felt sick. Dirty. wrong. I’d let Aiden touch me. Touched myself to thoughts of him… A shudder snaked over my body as nausea churned.
“I feel like something in me should have recognized them.”
“You couldn’t have. Not with that memory curse.” He shut his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“I don’t think Malachai’s memories are completely locked away.”
“How so?”
“He… interrupted Aiden and me in several… intense situations.”
A growl built deep within Ryker’s chest. His lips pursed, the silver nearly snuffing out the blue. He’d seen us on the beach—did he look at me differently because of it?
I frowned as the sun, which had filtered through the trees—was suddenly blotted out by dark clouds.
To change the subject, I told him of my own journey since that night, skipping over the moments of tension with Aiden, inwardly recoiling at the thought that I’d wanted his hands on me—to sleep with him.
I waited until the end to tell him that Aiden and his mother had betrayed us. Ryker was livid, but not surprised.
“How are you so calm about this?” I asked as I followed him into the quaint living room. The cabin was larger than the last—warm colors inside and surrounded by tall cedars—yet the air felt anything but warm.
“Because he’s always been weak. And weakness hides behind cruelty. Just like his murderous mother.” His voice strained as if he was trying to rein in his anger as he stoked the fire. Arms folded, I waited for his explanation.
“What do you mean by his murderous mother?” I whispered.
“She killed my mother.” My skin prickled at the venom in his voice. “Out of jealousy and spite,” he ground out, throwing the poker into its holder. He didn’t look at me when he added, quieter, sharper—
“Just as she did your Father.”
The words hit like a physical blow. My father’s death wasn’t something my mother would talk about. She’d always said he was caught in the daylight while flying home one day—turned to stone and shattered in the valley between the mountains.
“My father? What do you mean?”
I fell to the couch behind me, unable to believe his words. “How could you know she killed my father? And your mother?”
He leaned against the wall, arms crossed.
“I know.”
“You don’t have proof?” I frowned. Not that I wanted to defend someone who produced such an awful spawn, but this—this was a stretch.
“It’s a long story. You just woke up. You need food, and we don’t have time—”
“Ryker,” I growled. “Tell me.”
His teeth ground together, eyes growing distant. For a moment, I thought he wasn’t going to say anything.
Then—
“Long ago, Queen Ava had spies throughout the kingdom. She trusted no one—not even King Ezren. I sent spies of my own who discovered she received intel that the Fae were forming an alliance with the Coven Council.”
My stomach twisted.
The Coven Council.
Of course, they were involved. Aiden had said as much at Thaddeus’.
“King Ezren never hid his distrust for them,” Ryker continued, his voice tightening. “He was outspoken at summits with the Southern Realm—claimed the Coven had the Elementals killed. That the Witches were abusing their power, and had been alive too long. No one was keeping them in check.”
“What did he hope to gain by doing that?”
Ryker huffed. “He thought he could rally beings together. Build an army.”
“And?”
He shrugged. “He was careless and foolish. The Queen knew when she learned the Fae were already entangled with the Coven that it was only a matter of time before they came after us. Our people. But she protected only herself and Aiden.”
My jaw locked, teeth grinding.
“Instead,” he said, sitting on the couch near me. “She planned ahead.” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. I stayed silent. Waiting.
“She made sure that she—and any child she had—would survive.”
Something cold slid down my spine.
“She commissioned a troupe of soldiers to travel to the northern lands for a rare flower that grows at the top of the highest mountain peak, where no one could fly. According to the old texts, that flower could be used to gift powers to offspring.”
My brows creased. “How did she learn about something like that?
“Aniah said the Coven Council was the only one with knowledge of the flower. But many soldiers went to retrieve the flower; none returned. Several years later,” he said, his voice quieter now, “she found another way. A young Witch, a lesser Witch, who’d been traveling with a local theater group.
Word had spread among the Witches of the Queen’s search—the witchling said her grandmother possessed such a flower.
Two, in fact. All she and her grandmother wanted as payment was freedom—refuge to keep the witchling hidden from the Council and their trials. Queen Ava agreed.”
I swallowed dryly.
“Did she set her free?”
His jaw ticked, a short nod.
“Through death.”
My stomach dropped out from under me. Anger burned hot, my jaw clenching tight enough to break teeth.
“Later that night, she crushed all the leaves, putting them in a tea for King Ezren, knowing he'd need to ingest the flower before she tried to conceive. But what she hadn’t known was that King Ezren was cheating on her with another female. It was the other female’s bed he warmed, and not Queen Ava’s.
The female later gave birth to King Ezren's firstborn son. The second attempt she made with the remaining flower had also failed. Queen Ava hadn’t accounted for the King’s best friend and advisor, Jasper Stygian, to show up that night. ”
My fingers dug into the cushions.
“That’s… my father.”
Ryker held my gaze—unflinching.
“King Ezren shared the tea with your father that night. Queen Ava realized this after he'd left and had one of her personal guards kill him. But she acted too late.” His gaze dropped.
“Who was the female?” I asked quietly, though I knew the answer. “Who was the female who had the King’s first son?”
“My mother.”
Everything slammed together—my mind spinning to keep up. My gaze snapped to his.
“Aiden. He’s your—”
“Half-brother, yes.” His tone darkened.
Ringing filled my ears as my world tilted. My skin grew clammy, pulse skidding out of control.
I shot from the couch, wrapping my arms around myself as I paced before the fire.
He’s Aiden’s brother.
Of course he was. The resemblance was clear in the shape of their eyes and even in their jaw line.
“But you told me stories of your childhood in the seaside village. Of Watka.” My voice rose. Aniah and Malachai knew who Ryker was. But neither told me.
“Was it—was it all a lie?”
“No,” he said firmly. He stood—but didn’t come any closer.
“I’ve never lied to you.” His voice didn’t waver, though his jaw and shoulders were tense. “I did grow up there. When my mother told the King she was pregnant, she knew what the Queen would do. She could see the hatred and loathing in her eyes. She ran soon after I was born.”
I plopped back down on the farthest edge of the couch, fingernails biting into my arms.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
He exhaled slowly. “I thought it would scare you. And Evanee, you were fading away. You needed the outlet that training provided. ” He dragged a hand through his hair. “I never expected to…“ He shook his head. “I saw my own darkness reflected in you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
He shifted, just slightly, leaning his shoulder against the wall.
“I never wanted that life.” His eyes became distant, voice quiet.
“I never cared about my title. I didn’t even know I had a title until I was older.
I was happy living far away in the small village.
She raised me alone with the help of others.
Each of them teaching me different things.
I remember being happy until my father started to visit twice a year. Then things changed within me.”
“Because of him?”
He nodded, arms folding in front of his chest.