Chapter 27 #2
Her words sent a shock through the table.
Belle gasped, covering her mouth. Todd cursed.
Yen and Bétar’s stares couldn’t decide where to land, Evelyn or Kade.
Tovi gripped the edge of the table as she fought to stand, and Nadia remained stoic and silent.
On the other end, Eldrick and Aramis leaned forward, both alphas rigid.
Lorkan observed with his chin resting on his hand, golden eyes locked on Blair past his spectacles.
“How long do you have?” Linx asked.
“Three weeks.” The tense air in the hall strangled her resolve, but Evelyn pushed on. “Which is why Blair is right. We don’t have time to research another option. This is it.”
“Evelyn is my sister, and I don’t like the idea any more than the rest of you, but the prophecy details this idea—a journey to the beneath where life and death meet.”
Stunned silence stretched in the hall, but Evelyn’s heart raced with promise.
“How would we ensure Evelyn not only ventures to the Otherworld but returns to the Living Lands?” Kade asked with an unnatural level of calm.
Evelyn gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, grateful he was at least hearing this out, and nodded for Blair to go on.
Her sister sighed. “We’d use a spell that guides Evelyn there and back.”
“What does the spell entail?” Belle asked.
Blair retrieved a piece of parchment, and Evelyn recognized her neat handwriting at this distance.
“Spells work best with the power of three. First” —she peered up at Evelyn— “there’s you, your physical mind and body.
Usually, spells use timing, but because that isn’t on our side in this instance, we need a location as our second element, one powerful enough to aid the spell, but also relevant to your destination.
Now, hidden portals exist—like wells, lakes, the sea—across Sorin and Torren, which we can discuss as contingencies, but I think the Sun Goddess’s temple in Cirrillo is our best bet. ”
Belle thrummed her fingers against the table. “It’s ancient, and legend says built by the goddess herself.”
“Exactly,” Blair said. “She gifted Evelyn her flame, and perhaps her influence will aid the spell as well.”
Evelyn nodded. “I’ve traveled to the temple before. I know how to get there without being discovered by the Guard.”
After she’d run from her wedding to Kade, she’d tried to get her flame back, visiting the temple and praying to the Goddess who’d gifted her the power. Seven days, seven nights. The desert mages who tended the sacred place had found her unconscious and dehydrated from her efforts.
Kade exhaled. “What is the third part of the spell?”
“Objects, and to keep the theme of balance, it’ll need to be three items strongly connected to Evelyn. The first one is simple—the bloodstone. Your magic, a piece of your soul, is already inside it. Which leaves us with two more to decide on.”
“How about your staff?” Kade studied her. “It has the power to withstand your flame.”
“Perhaps,” Evelyn said. “But my staff was found and forged, not made by me.”
Kade snapped his attention to Blair. “Does that make a difference?”
“It might,” Blair said. “Made is best.”
“Your grimoire?” Tovi asked. “Your parents crafted the cover and spine with your bloodline’s magic, but you filled the pages and created the contents. It has to have at least two decades’ worth of you in it.”
“That’s in my apartment in Nūa.” Evelyn’s shoulders sagged. “It’s too much of a risk to go back and get it.”
Blair nodded. “Fair. There has to be something else.”
“What about your muince? Witches make them as a rite of passage with their own magic. It’s similar to the bloodstone in that regard,” Belle said. “Where is it?”
“At the bottom of the Sapphire Sea, I’m afraid.” Nadia grimaced. “Thanks to Riven.”
Belle’s expression brightened. “Luckily, you have a witch with a water bronntanas. If we found its location, I could retrieve it.”
Evelyn nibbled her lip. “It’s not a terrible idea, but we would need a seer with the ability to scribe and find the necklace, which is already rare enough, and a witch we trust.”
“Uzoma,” Blair said without hesitation. “She lives in Sorin’s valley now, far outside the city.”
“Your old tutor?” Kade straightened in his seat. “Can we trust her?”
His question had an edge to it, as if he had layered it with another: Is she like Circe?
Evelyn nodded. “Yes, we can trust her.”
“It’s also on the way to Morrow,” Tovi said. “I have a contact—a vampyr—with access to ships, so that leaves witches out of it.”
For the first time in weeks, Evelyn’s restless being sighed with relief. A plan.
“Alright, that leaves us with the third and last item,” Blair said. “We could lean on your physical being if we must, though it wouldn’t be my preference—“
“Me,” Kade said. “I’ll be the third item for the spell. I’m Evelyn’s mate, and even if our bond is frayed, our love remains strong enough to withstand the distance of worlds and realms.”
Evelyn didn’t know it was possible to fall for Kade all over again, but there she was, fighting tears as they threatened to spill.
She couldn’t breathe. Struggled to find the words.
He brought their clasped hands out from under the table and rested them atop the table for the team to see, a symbol of their unity.
“Kade,” she whispered.
His kind golden eyes met hers, and the world around them fell away.
The stone walls of Lār crumbled. Their friends drifted from existence.
It was just them. Their brimming devotion brought Evelyn back to the first time they agreed to work together, sitting at the bar in the Runaway Radish as Kade cleaned glasses.
The whiskey bottles glowing behind him. The scent of stew and crusty bread.
And the inevitable magnitude of something starting.
The kindle of forever in a place full of rain, clouds, and promise.
He addressed her, and only her. “We swore that no matter what we face, we face it together. If you must travel to the Otherworld, Ev, then so shall I.” He kissed the back of her hand.
Evelyn’s wounded heart swelled, and she feared she might burst from her fated’s fierce love.
Because she knew this was a risk. Knew, even without their mating bond fully intact, it was unnatural for him to accept this notion, to allow her to die.
But they’d made a promise. Partners, in everything and anything.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
Kade’s throat bobbed. He blinked a few times, composed himself, and then his expression transformed back into the beastly warrior known as the Son of the God. He stood and addressed the group.
“Thanks to Blair, Evelyn and I have our course of action. We’ll head to Morrow at dawn. While we’re away, there’s still Riven to worry about and the prophecy.”
“I suggest Lorkan and Blair work together to decipher it,” Eldrick said, glancing at the two scholars.
“What?” Blair hissed, then blinked, as if realizing she’d spoken out loud.
Evelyn froze, studying her sister. Hurt marred her dark eyes as they skittered over Lorkan, but fucking flames, why?
Linx slid a pamphlet across the table, and the Morning Sun‘s block print logo taunted Evelyn. “This arrived by italog this morning. Blair’s name has been added to the list of traitors to Sorin.”
Blair snatched the parchment, and the temperature in the hall dropped a fraction. “They’re calling for my arrest and—blasted books—it’s a ten thousand silvers reward. Am I safe in the Drengr Village?”
Aramis sighed. “You’re more than welcome here, but I think it’s best you and Lorkan travel to Vísdómr. That library is a far richer resource to aid in deciphering the prophecy. Don’t you agree?” He raised a brow in his son’s direction.
Lorkan shifted in his seat and cleared his throat. “My father’s right. It’s our best chance at finding answers, and you’ll be harder to arrest if you’re on the move.”
“I think it’s a fine idea,” Nadia said, mirth etched into the crevices of her small smile. “The two of you used to be thick as thieves as young scholars.”
Blair’s expression turned unreadable, and Evelyn rooted to her seat. She shared a glance with Tovi, whose brow was raised as if to say, What does that mean?
Evelyn didn’t have the faintest idea. Of course, Blair and Mirella had traveled with their parents during formal visits to the Drengr Village when she’d stayed in Nūa, upholding the request of the Elders and alphas that she and Kade couldn’t meet until their wedding day—oh, how circumstances had changed—but Blair had never, not once, mentioned Lorkan.
Unease churned in Evelyn’s gut. Perhaps she didn’t know her sister as well as she thought.
Blair exhaled, inquisitive brows raised. “If I’m to travel to Vísdómr, who will perform the spell to send Evelyn and Kade to the Otherworld?”
Belle stood. “I can, seeing as I’m going with them to help retrieve her muince.”
Kade nodded. “Alright, Belle will travel with Evelyn and me. Mother is headed north to retrieve the Moon God’s sword. Lorkan and Blair will work on deciphering. The rest of you?”
Tovi stared into the grooves of the wooden table. “I must return home and unite Drystan under one banner. I’ll write to my contact in Morrow first. They’re a potential ally.”
“I’ll be at your side,” Yennifer said.
Tovi stilled. “What? But Bétar is—“
“Yen and I have already discussed the possibility. I’ll remain here, protecting the village and helping the Drengr pack win the Earl vote, while she accompanies you.”
Aramis ran his fingers through his scruff. “It’s important for vampyrs to understand werewolves are with you in the fight against darkness. Yen can act as an ambassador.”
“With a bow and arrow, of course,” the archer added. “No dresses.”
Evelyn followed Kade’s line of sight. Eldrick leaned back in his chair, expression otherwise observant, but his knuckles bled white as he gripped his chair’s arm.
He and the princess hadn’t spoken a word to each other during the meeting.
Even now, Evelyn’s best friend assessed Yennifer, jade stare averted from Eldrick’s.
Evelyn pocketed it for later when she had a moment alone with Tovi.
“Are you sure?” she asked.
“Yes,” Yennifer said. “Besides, what sort of friend am I if let you face this alone?”
“I think it’s best I travel with Evelyn and Kade’s party. Always a plus to have a healer amongst you,” Linx said.
Todd whistled. “Moons, Bétar, you barely lasted a month as Commander. The Gray Fenris is disbanding.”
The burly werewolf grumbled. “I like to think of it as dividing and conquering.”
“He’s right. We’ll come back together.” Kade smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “All of us. The Earl vote is in a month’s time, and we should reconvene then.”
A silent agreement rippled through the team, and a sense of purpose peppered the air.
Evelyn swore she’d have her flame back at her fingertips again.