39. Evanee
Evanee
Aiden’s next dagger sank into my shoulder and I screamed, the sound swallowed by the enraging storm.
“You shouldn’t have come back.” He swept his tail out at me. I dodged it—barely. “Give up!” he hissed.
With a raw cry, I ripped the dagger free, raised my sword with my good arm, and charged.
Pointless.
Even in Ryker’s blizzard, Aiden owned the sky, giving him a considerable advantage over me. I fought to lift off the ground, but my wings were too heavy.
My leg was useless as I’d ripped that dagger out too, wielding it against him and had managed to get a few swipes in when he got close. But nothing I did slowed him. In fact, I’m the one who slowed, the blood loss catching up.
He vanished.
I scanned the storm—nothing. The sky was white and empty. Even my sense of smell was off. I bared my fangs, scanning and scanning—
He hit me from behind.
The ground rushed at me.
Pain exploded through my shoulder as it took the brunt of the impact. He flipped me over, eyes wild as he tried to pin me, ripping my sword from my other hand.
Panic seized me.
I lashed out with my dagger—determination edging me on.
He instantly snatched my wrist, a deep laugh rumbling through his chest to mine. I bucked beneath him, the weight of him as heavy as the dread in my gut as he snapped the dagger out of my hand, pinning me to the ground.
“Maybe I should have trained you. This would have been fun foreplay,” he taunted, his face angled over mine. Smoke and pine wrapped around me—the same scent that had ensnared me only a week ago. Now it turned my stomach—suffocating me.
Rage boiled, and with a surge of strength, I pulled my other wrist free of his grasp and swiped my talons across his face, leaving four jagged, bloody marks.
He roared, rearing back to his heels. I scrambled backward, managing to grab my blade. Blindly, I swung it toward him with a shout of rage as my muscles screamed and ached.
The bones in my arm shuddered as I struck steel instead, Aiden having thrown his sword up, blocking me with ease.
My muscles faltered—just for a heartbeat. It was enough.
In a flash, the hilt of his sword cracked against my skull.
Then nothing.
My arms hung limp in my lap—human once more. My bare back scraped against the grimy stone wall and a shiver coursed through me.
Rats scurried along the opposite wall, hunting for scraps. But all that lingered was blood and piss.
The manacles had already started digging into my wrists and ankles. I almost laughed at the irony—the inked shackles were gone, replaced with literal ones.
I shifted positions—white-hot agony lanced through my shoulder. Fresh blood seeped down my arm.
Chunks of grime and other things I didn’t care to examine further squelched between my fingers as I tried to stand. A grimace snaked through me as a putrid smell clogged my nose. The pain in my leg was almost non-existent—until my weight settled on it.
A yelp squeaked out of me, followed by a string of curses as I fell, the filth splashing beneath. A gag ripped free as I tried to shift, reaching for my Gargoyle.
Nothing.
I reached again—
Still nothing.
Cold panic crawled up my spine. Where is it? I still have my memories. But why the hell can’t I shift?
The door creaked open.
“Evanee…”
His voice slid through the dark in a sing-song tone. I braced myself as his slow footsteps padded toward me until he stopped in front of my cell. The four angry lines on his face gave me twisted satisfaction. Though I wished I’d struck deeper.
His gaze turned cold. “You won’t be able to shift for a while. I poured a tincture down your throat while you were passed out.”
The torchlight lit only half his face as he gripped the bars and leaned his head against them.
“I don’t know what lies that Witch fed you, but whatever you’re remembering isn’t real. The only way to ensure it is, is to have Cressida—”
My low, cold laugh made him stop, his jaw clenching.
“Is something funny?” he asked through gritted teeth.
“Oh, nothing.” I smiled tightly, running my tongue over my split lip as I steeled myself, refusing to let him see how much pain I was really in. How immobile. “I just think it’s funny,” I said softly, “that you believe Aniah was the only one to help me.”
The side of his mouth kicked up cockily. “If you’re speaking of Thaddeus, I already know of his disloyalty.”
I shook my head, keeping that tight smile in place.
His faltered.
“Ryker.”
He jerked back from the bars.
“That’s impossible.” He shook his head. “He’s dead!”
A vein popped up on his forehead as he snarled, the throbbing of it nearly visible. Laughter tickled my throat, though I was in no position to push him further.
“No, Aiden. He’s very much alive. And he knows what you’ve done,” I spat.
“He knows that it was you who betrayed our people. You and your mother let the enemy in. Made sure everyone was incapacitated, then snuck out like the cowards you both are. I saw you,” I said, unable to hide the disgust in my voice.
“I saw you both running just before the armada hit shore because I followed you.”
A muscle flexed in his jaw.
“Didn’t end well for you, did it?” he said, calmly. Too calmly. A mask of indifference he wore well. “I saw you, too, Evanee. I saw you training with him. The way you looked at him.” My stomach dropped. A lump formed in my throat that I had to push past to keep my breathing even.
A low, malicious cackle filled the increasingly suffocating space before he cocked his head, a mocking frown sliding into place.
“What, you thought I didn’t know about your secret little sessions?
Nothing happens to my property without my knowing.
The Witch underestimated my involvement.
Why do you think I had Cressida bind Malachai’s free will?
It would’ve been too easy to strip his memories and make him a soldier.
No,” he chuckled, “I wanted him to know exactly who stood over him—and that he could do nothing. A fitting punishment, really. Father insulted me the moment he assigned our strongest warrior to guard that bastard, Ryker.”
I ground my teeth.
“I hate to be the one to break it to you, but the male you think so highly of happens to be my bastard half-brother.”
He waited for my outrage. For the betrayal to strike me down. Instead, my mouth curved up. The fury in his eyes turned to outright hatred.
“I was ready to lock you away before things grew between the two of you. Couldn’t have my future wife get knocked up by that bastard. Not when the power in your veins belongs to me."
“I know about the powers you seek, Aiden,” I bit back. “I know what you planned to do with me. I’d rather die than ever let you lay finger on me—”
“Those powers are mine!” he shouted, his composure slipping. “They are my birthright!”
Disgust twisted on my face as he paced in front of me.
“I was ready to let you die with our people.” His gaze darkened. “But then I saw you change.”
I stared him down, my teeth grinding as my leg and shoulder throbbed.
“Your colors… Same as his.”
I sat still as a stone as he glared down at me.
“Ryker may have been a failure, but you won’t be.
” The cruel curl of his lips sent a wave of trepidation through me—no one knew I was down here.
I was alone and defenseless. The increasing thump of my pulse made it feel like my heart was stuttering.
Breathing became increasingly difficult as my fingernails dug into the gore I sat upon, cracking and breaking.
Adding bits of myself to the horrors that had taken place here before me.
“You may have matched him. But he never carried power like you. He was a waste. But you… I saw the storm you created.”
He doesn’t know. Ryker had been careful never to let anyone see his power.
“I made a decision that night. I knew you’d run home with everyone distracted.
A sad attempt to grab your mother and escape the gifted life I offered you.
But I was faster. I grabbed my mother and made sure you followed us, staying on foot rather than flying.
You were so focused on us, you failed to see the human messenger who’d taken word ahead to the Fae King to strike you down.
It was almost too easy,” he snickered, rubbing a hand along the back of his neck.
I glared at him, the truth hitting harder than his fists or kicks could. “You said you didn’t know I was at Castle Aurelia until later.”
He rolled his eyes. “Of course, I knew. I’m the one who had you stowed away there and had your memories erased. I couldn’t have you fighting back every step.”
If my muscles could have gone tighter, they would have.
“The location was meant to be temporary, but the Fae and Werewolves had... issues, adjusting to my new position as captain. As for the memories—despite what you may think, I’m not evil. All I want is power, as we all do.”
My gaze narrowed to slits, jaw aching from clenching so tightly.
“I knew if we had a clean slate and time to get to know one another, it'd make things easier for you in the long run. King Raul had even agreed to let me marry you. No cage. No chains. Had the Witch and bastard not interfered, everything would've been fine.”
He spoke as if he believed every insane word out of his mouth.
“What was your blood oath with the King?” I demanded, my heart thunderous as I waited for confirmation of what Ryker had said.
The lock clicked to my cell.
Stone bit at my back as I pressed into it, wishing it would just absorb me.
He sauntered in, crouching before me. “That I'd share you with him. You’d provide him with the means of gaining power. Just like you would me,” he sneered. “So he and I could rule over the new world as generals for the Dark Master.”
“Why?” Anger sliced through me. Who the hell is this Dark Master?
“I told you—power. When the Dark Master is finished, there will be no continents or realms. No kingdoms. He will rule over all, with the Witches as his priestesses. He still needed leaders. King Raul and I will be more than capable. Once we have magic in our veins, no being will be able to move against us.”
“So that’s it? That’s the big plan? Blindly following this asshole calling himself the Dark Master because he claims he can take over the world?”
“He’s coming. And when he does, all those against him will die. My mother saw this long ago. She listened—paid attention. My father, King Ezren, was a fool, standing against the Witches and their agenda. Achieving nothing but his inevitable death. But my mother ensured we were on the winning side.”
His eyes lit up as he stood to his full height, shadow swallowing me. His smile said he believed he’d already won.
“You’re insane, Aiden, to think the Witches or the Fae King would ever let you, a Gargoyle no less, have access to power. And I feel sorry for you,” I snapped.
Aiden bellowed, anger creasing his features as he lifted his boot. I barely had time to brace before he brought it down on my injured leg.
Crack.
White-hot pain tore through me.
My scream ricocheted off the stone walls, black dancing at the edge of my vision as I peeled my eyes open, nausea churning in my stomach.
“You will give me what I want!”
“Wanna bet?”
The words came from the darkness beyond—low, dangerous, and dripping with threat.
Aiden turned—and froze.
Silver-threaded electric-blue eyes cut through the dark.
My attention flicked to the hall, my heart racing as Ryker strode through in his human form, clad in black. His gaze was murderous as his eyes dragged over my injuries and the sticky blood that pooled beneath me. A shudder coursed through my body beneath his gaze, the primal anger in it.
The similarities between the two were clear as day, as they stood side by side. Not sure how I’d ever missed it. One light, one dark. Yet the shape of their eyes and mouths was the same.
Another figure walked in behind him—Freesia.
Reinforcements must be here. Relief flooded beneath the pain.
“She isn’t going anywhere!” Aiden snarled as he tried to step toward me.
In the blink of an eye, Ryker transformed. A clawed hand wrapped around his brother’s throat before he drove him into the wall.
A sickening crack echoed.
Aiden shifted to his Gargoyle in response, clawing at Ryker’s hand where blood dripped.
Ryker didn’t flinch.
Instead, a growl tore from Ryker’s throat, deep and menacing as he towered over Aiden.
For the first time, fear flickered in Aiden’s eyes.
“Freesia,” Ryker hissed, not taking his eyes off his brother. “Get her out of here.”
As Freesia looped an arm around me, and I hobbled beside her, I cast one look back at the two brothers. My gut clenched at the choice only Ryker could make—whether his brother lived or died.