Chapter Ten
Evelyn
Evelyn tiptoed her way down Nūa’s docks. It felt oddly eerie that the last time she’d had entered the harbor, she’d been readying to flee the city then, too.
Ships bobbed on the choppy water. Clouds remained overhead, more storms rumbling on the horizon. Evelyn’s heart hammered in her chest as she eyed the prison tower situated on the isle a mile offshore.
Tùir glared down at her. Small windows ringed the thirty levels, like a thousand eyes narrowed to slits. Evelyn gritted her teeth, a scorching heat flushing through her.
For Kade sat in one of those cells.
Because he’d walked away from her.
Evelyn’s shoulders slacked with an imaginary weight. She’d been there, struggling with her flame but everything they’d endured together, did Kade not trust her? Did he not understand that she was with him in this, no matter how immense his power was?
One, two, three.
The planks under feet. The whooshing waves. The salty wind. Evelyn grounded herself and tucked her worries into the back of her mind—she had a meeting point to get to.
Evelyn peered left and right, ensuring the dock was clear, and scurried across.
The door atop a fishing boat groaned open, and Evelyn ducked out of sight between two barrels covered in netting, clamping a hand over her mouth to stifle her breathing.
Boots clobbered out of sight, and tobacco carried on the wind.
“I’m telling you, these storms aren’t natural this time of year,” a fisherman said, his voice growing nearer.
Evelyn pressed further into her hiding space.
Not Guards, thank the Goddess, but Evelyn didn’t want to be seen by a single soul, not when the stretch from here to the tower was long and difficult, and coming across the wrong witch might alert a Guard before she’d even made it to the shores of the Tùir’s island.
“Nothing natural of late,” another muttered as he huffed. Tobacco grew thicker in the air, tickling the back of Evelyn’s throat.
“I suppose you’re right.” The fishermen grew closer, their worn boots near enough, Evelyn could reach past the nettling and touch them.
She didn’t move. Didn’t breathe.
“The fish are scarcer while more of those water-like demons are paying us a visit,” the fisherman said. “Spitting squids, I swear I saw one not too far off the docks. Venturing out of deep waters, I’m telling you.”
Fucking flames.
Evelyn glanced towards the sea—dark, murky, and angry.
Were demons swimming below the choppy waves?
Sea demons dwelled farther north, near Morrow, a party town that bordered the Void.
Evelyn’s stomach churned like the waves trapped under the docks.
The darkness was spreading. Why hadn’t she considered the Sapphire Sea?
“Now who’s spouting the ridiculous? You’ve been smoking too much of that pipe of yours, gotten your magic and sights all in a twist.”
“Just trying to take the edge off,” the fisherman grumbled.
A resounding smack bounced off the boats. Evelyn fidgeted ever so slightly, catching the two fishermen three feet away. One had grasped the other’s shoulder, a soft smile tilting his moustache and lips.
“Well, there’s a bit of hope—the Daughter of the Goddess is back,” he said.
Evelyn’s heart skipped in her chest. The bones of the dock bruised her ass, as she waited for the onslaught of insults she’d read for weeks in the Nūa papers. Or worse, beliefs as strong-willed as her sister’s.
Yet, the fisherman sighed, mirroring his friend’s smile. A lightness beamed in his eyes. “Indeed, she is. With that other third born, the werewolf, I hear. I suppose you’re right.”
The two fishermen continued on, their conversation turning jolly as they laughed their way up the docks.
Buzzing with infectious energy, Evelyn peeled from her hiding place and hurried down, running with the shadows of the fisherman’s boat. Wind nipped her ankles and bare arms. She searched the end of the docks, Goddess, she wished she had her magic to assess the area.
“Psst, Evelyn,” a male voice whispered.
She whirled, finding Emmet and Artie waving behind a crate. Evelyn checked her surroundings before she ran to meet them, and together, they hunched out of sight.
“Mirella?” she asked.
Emmett tapped his temple. “She and Ruth made it into the prison.”
Evelyn fought a wince, told herself Kade’d not be stuck in a cell for much longer. If their plan worked.
“Here’s a bag of supplies,” Artie said, handing her a satchel. “Enchanted it myself, so nothing will get wet. I suggest you tuck the bloodstone inside there, too.”
“Thank you.” She studied them both. “And thank you for helping me. I know this must be difficult—”
“The true challenge, Evelyn, is watching you leave again so soon.” Emmett offered a sad smile. “Your sisters missed you. Every day. Even Blair, despite her decision.”
Her sister’s berating words weaved with the wind, as if Blair’s bronntanas encircled Nūa.
She’d refused to help, and that left Evelyn off-balance, like the uneasy waves stretching between the harbor and Tùir.
But was she a fool to have expected such a warm homecoming?
That Blair wouldn’t resent her for losing her scholarly position?
Evelyn sighed, averting her gaze from her brother-in-law. She blinked back tears and assessed the waves. “Any wager there are demons out there?”
“If there are, I bet they’re more afraid of you than you are of them.” Artie winked.
Evelyn snorted, appreciating her relative’s tease.
Emmett shut his eyes, tilting his head. “Mirella just mind-linked. They’re on their way to Kade’s cell now.”
Evelyn nodded and swung the enchanted satchel over her shoulder. She’d donned a simple mock tank top and linen trousers. Light and airy, the attire suited her better than her usual fighting leathers or high-waisted trousers. If she made it across the sea—
No—when she reached the island, another set of clothes would be waiting.
Evelyn gritted her teeth as she caught her reflection in the water.
Yellow bled from the lanterns behind her, drawing out the determination edging her brow.
She squatted down and swung her legs over the edge of the dock.
The sea kissed her legs with crisp droplets, and goose bumps prickled up her flesh.
Goddess, please let there be no demons.
She didn’t have time to pay the fisherman’s story any mind, not when others were counting on her, Kade most important of all. As she eased into the water, Emmett and Artie stared down at her with encouraging smiles.
“Good luck, Evelyn,” her uncle said. “We’ll keep the Guards distracted while you’re swimming across.”
“Thank you,” she breathed.
With the help of the choppy current and her strong legs, Evelyn kicked her way from the docks. As the boats shrank, the water turned colder, enough that her teeth chattered, but ahead her, the tower grew taller, the distant lanterns surrounding its base like beacons.
The last shred of light from port vanished, and Evelyn reached waters drenched in night.
She swallowed, calming her ragged breaths, and began to swim with her arms and legs.
Waves barreled into her. Salt stung her eyes and pinched the back of her throat.
After twenty-five yards, Evelyn’s lungs burned.
Exhaustion reached up like the tentacles of some demon and gripped her ankles.
But Evelyn didn’t care.
With each kick, stretch of her arms, and pull against the sea, she rallied her might and swam towards her fated.
No different than a ratlike demon in Connacht Castle.
No different than the Void, Drystan snow, or the vampyr fighting rings.
Whatever they faced, whatever separated them—a vast sea, thick iron bars, or lost time—they’d always fight to be together again.
Evelyn didn’t have her magic or a weapon, but she did have her mind, body, and will.
As well as her love for Kade.
And she harnessed hope.
It energized her all the way to the rocky shores of the Tùir.