Evermore (The Night Watchmen Series Book 5)

by Candace Knoebel

  A moment later, the sheets rustle as he sighs and faces the ceiling again, relenting.

  Seconds slip between us, tugging on the ends of my eyelids as the fog of sleep finally swirls in.

  “Do you think he and my mom should ever…” He doesn’t finish the sentence. It’s almost as if he just wanted to give the thought a set of wings, so it could drift away from him and never to be thought of again.

  “I love you,” I mutter out in between a yawn as I roll into the covers, grateful for the weight of sleep pressing against my eyes.

  “I love you too,” he says as I drift off to sleep.

  MORNING COMES EARLY AS ALWAYS.

  I hear Chrissa in the hallway asking Cassie question after question like a bird pecking for food, and then I force myself to get up from the warmth of my bed. I rub the edges of sleep from my eyes just as Eliza’s name blinks in and out of my head like a flashing neon light.

  What information will she bring us?

  The thought is like caffeine to my body, waking me up, putting pep in my step that wasn’t there before.

  Jaxen is already pulling clothes from his dresser, outlined in a sheen of gold from the sun sifting through the blinds.

  I have half a mind to reach for him and pull him back into bed so we can chase away each other’s demons, but I steel myself when I look to the clock. Eliza should be returning any time now. I want to be there when she does, not only for Katie, but also for the answers I know she’ll have.

  “You know that feeling you get when you know something is just around the corner? Something… unstoppable?” he says as he turns back to face me, pulling a tight black, long-sleeved shirt over his head. I frown when his abs are covered completely. “That’s how I’m feeling. You?” he asks, completely unaware of the effect he still has on me.

  I relish in the warmth spreading to my cheeks and extremities, and reach for my Elite uniform that hangs in the closest among all the other uniforms that make up the extent of my wardrobe. “Yeah,” I say, taking my time to step into the legs of my suit. Wanting to make him burn with desire just as much as he does to me. “I think that’s why I couldn’t sleep.” I pull the fabric up slowly, teasingly, and then flick a glance over my shoulder at him. “There’s no going back after today. We can’t afford to wait any longer.”

  His eyes are masked with desire, grazing hungrily over the last bits of exposed skin as I slide my arms in and then pull the zipper shut over my stomach, then my chest.

  “Why do you torture me so?” he asks, crawling on his knees across the bed toward me in a begging manner.

  “Because it will leave you coming back for more,” I say on a giggle, satisfied.

  He groans, and then sits, pulling his boots from under the bed. “I just want this all to be over with so the world can finally let us bury ourselves within the covers. I swear I’m going to take a year’s vacation when all is said and done so I can lock you away and torture you myself.”

  “A year?” I ask, laughing as I slide my boots on.

  “Yes. With all the things I’ve been planning to do with you, it’s going to take at least that to perfect every technique.”

  I bump his shoulder. “You’re so silly.”

  “And you love it,” he says, leaning over for a kiss.

  I kiss him with my eyes squeezed tight.

  Yes, I do. I sure do.

  EVANGELINE, I THINK, IS A stranger I never met.

  She’s at the head of the table, serving eggs, wearing a silk blouse and a form-fitting skirt with her hair freshly curled and makeup applied to her face. She looks nothing like the woman I met running wild in the woods.

  There’s a smile on her face that looks brand new, a smile I’ve yet to see before. I think Jaxen and Gavin notice this too, because they’re watching her with their foreheads wrinkled, as if they can’t make out what’s so different about her.

  “You look good, Mom,” Gavin says as he nudges Jaxen’s elbow.

  Jaxen’s elbow slides off the table from leaning on it, and he catches himself as if pulling away from a daze. “Yeah. Good. You look really nice,” he hurriedly says, turning to glare at Gavin.

  “Thank you, boys,” Evangeline says as she points to Chrissa and then her plate, telling her to eat.

  “She put makeup on so she can go see him,” Chrissa says tauntingly, making kissy faces at her.

  I didn’t know Evangeline could turn so many shades of red.

  “What, wait?” Gavin asks, setting his fork against the plate. Cassie looks over at him, shaking her head ever so slightly to tell him to back off.

  Evangeline clears her throat. Forces herself to look at them both. “It’s true,” she says, trying to hide the slight tremble to her voice with her hand over her mouth. “He’s asked that I meet with him today, and I agreed.”

  “I’ll say,” Jaxen murmurs.

  Her eyes flash over to his.

  He recoils from the look, an apology spreading through his eyes. “I just… I think you should keep yourself guarded. He’s not the same, Mom. He’s—”

  “Are any of us the same?” she counters, leaning on her forearms. She waits, firmly, and then continues when no one answers, “I’d like for you to respect me, and to respect your father. Though what happened to our family is nothing short of a travesty, we still are your parents.” She coughs, and then adds, “Also, I think I know your father a little better than you. I ask that you trust I know what I’m doing. I still… I still love him.”

  The quiet that follows her words makes its way around the room. There’s only the clinging of silverware against plate and the light music playing on the radio that surrounds us.

  “I hope it works out, Mom,” Gavin says. He looks up and hands her all his sincerity through his gaze. “I mean it. Even though he’s been completely fu—” He cuts his eyes to Chrissa and stops himself. “I mean, completely idiotic since he’s been back, I sensed that he was still in there the last time we met with him. Maybe… maybe seeing you will bring him back out.”

  She grins, ducking her head to hide the smile.

  “And then you can make kissy faces at each other, and I can finally stop worrying about you,” Chrissa says, sharpening her tone to sound more adult-like.

  Everyone busts out in laughter, laughing harder when her face turns red and a scowl forms on her face.

  “Yes, dear,” Evangeline says, patting Chrissa’s hand.

  AFTER BREAKFAST, RESTLESNESS HAS SEWN itself to the bottom of our shoes, moving us toward the inevitability that is Eliza.

  Outside, the sun has coated the snow a pale yellow, slowly melting it like butter. The streets are full of citizens huddled close together, some skirting looks to the Elite’s standing guard, questions murmuring on the breeze, and others passing through as they usually do with noses up and eyes forward. Though it isn’t a good sign for the straight-lined bodies and the gleaming guns to be out patrolling the streets, the citizens once again choose to deal with it by not dealing with it.

  What you don’t know can’t hurt you.

  We pass through the walkway lined with the Coven flags. There are a few servicemen out, replacing the torn flags from the latest storm that swept through. I don’t think I’ve ever felt as cold as I do. It’s bone deep, numbing my fingertips.

  Mack is standing outside the door to the war room by the time we make it there with Gavin, Cassie, Jezi, and Weldon, who looks as tired as I feel. “Where is Coccia?” he asks as his eyes click past me to the elevator. He’s jumpy, practically bouncing on his toes with anticipation, and I wonder if he even slept at all.

  “She’s coming,” I say as my eyes dip in worry. “Are you all right?”

  He jerks his head to me, a crease forming between his eyes. “Who? Me?”

  I nod.

  “Of course I’m all right,” he says too quickly as he looks down to his watch, and then back to the elevator again. “Eliza returned a bit ago, and I’d like to get this show on the road.”

  A sec
ond later, the elevator dings, and I think it’s the first time Mack takes a breath. He’s already moving forward, meeting her at the elevator before she even has the chance to step out.

  Her mouth opens but her words fail her as we all pile in, pushing her to the back of the elevator. I worm my way through next to her, and just smile when she looks at me questioningly.

  “I wasn’t sure you were going to make it,” Mack says with his back to her, keeping his eyes on the numbers dropping as we descend.

  “You said eight,” she says as she looks to her watch. “It’s only 7:56.”

  The bell dings and the doors slide open. “No matter. Let’s go,” he says as his feet move in double time.

  We find ourselves inside the correctional facility in record time, standing in front of a glass pane, Eliza seated on the other side behind a steel table. Katie keeps her gaze hard and forward, but I can see the way her chest is rising and falling at a rapid rate. The way the tip of her thumbs glide restlessly over her fingertips as she watches Mack sit at the table and begin his interrogation.

  Minutes take their time moving forward. Eliza’s looks nothing like how I remember her. Her hair has gray streaks on the sides swooping back into a tight bun. Her eyes have wrinkles around the edges softened by sadness. Her mouth seems to be in a permanent frown. She looks past Mack, in Katie’s direction, as if she can see her through the double-sided mirror.

  Katie flinches. Reaches for mine and Chett’s hand.

  A moment later, Mack opens the door. Asks for Katie. I keep my eyes on Eliza as Katie makes her way into the room. Examine every movement Eliza makes as she stumbles out of the chair and rushes over to Katie, opening her arms and clinging onto her as if this was the last time she’d ever get to see her again. She’s crying, squeezing, holding her hair and looking her head on, telling her words I can’t make out.

  And Katie’s nodding with her, cheeks flushed and tears streaming as her hands shake against Eliza’s waist. Then they embrace again, and a hot rush creeps up the back of my neck, making me feel dizzy. There’s an odd comfort in seeing her again. A link to my childhood I didn’t realize I missed as much as I do in this moment.

  The world is upside down, tilted, spilling out all the facts and rearranging them.

  I blink and Katie’s at the door, asking for me. I find myself in the room, in a daze as Eliza hugs me tightly and thanks me for everything I’ve done to keep Katie safe. Her voice is still the same, but the hard edge to it is gone, replaced by penitence and awareness. And I want to believe her. I think I do as Katie’s eyes grab a hold of mine, head nodding in encouragement, asking me to believe this. Begging me to approve.

  “I was so very wrong, Faye,” Eliza says as her words finally begin to make sense. “I doubted you, this Coven… everything. And because of my doubt, lives were lost. This is something I will never forgive myself for, which is why I’ve decided to do what I can to help you bring an end to the evil, even if it means giving my life up.”

  “She has disclosed the location where Mourdyn is being transported. I will be dispatching a small team to investigate and ensure this is accurate before we send you out into the field,” Mack says, returning to his business manner. “In the meantime, Eliza has honored her end of the deal. She is to be released as a citizen of our city later this afternoon. If you’d like,” he says, looking to Katie, “she can stay with you.”

  Katie’s eyes are on her mom, big and round and full of hope. “I’d like that very much.”

  Eliza takes Katie’s offered hand and squeezes it, lips trembling with a smile.

  “Good,” Mack says, looking away from all the emotion with a roll of his eyes. “Since you were a fugitive, you will have to abide by the law and be outfitted with a tracking device. Standard policy that I’m sure you have no problem with.” He eyes her down, examining.

  “Of course,” she offers with a smile. “Anything I need to do to prove to you and to my daughter that I am here for the long haul and want to atone for my mistakes, sign me up.”

  Katie beams at her.

  “Good,” Mack says again, gathering his things. “Then it is settled. You will be held here until we are sure the information provided is accurate. I will send an Elite in who will walk you through the citizenship process. Katie will be alerted when you are released so she can make arrangements to pick you up.”

  Eliza embraces Katie once more, hugging her the way she always should have hugged her. Holding her close like only a mother could.

  With watery goodbyes, we leave the correctional facility. Mack advises us to sit tight while he arranges a team for investigation of Eliza’s information. I feel like I need to be doing something. Moving forward. Figuring out how I’m going to destroy Mourdyn when the time comes.

  We pass the Divine being escorted by The Seven toward the building where all leaders stay. A building it would take a miracle to ever enter because it’s so heavily guarded. Alesteria waves at me as they pass, and then resumes her conversation with the others as the citizens stop and bow their heads, a swelling excitement of words lifting to the clouds.

  Seek her out, a voice calls out in my mind, and I realize it’s Cecilia. She throws a small look over her shoulder at me and winks. Sanura’s face enters my mind. She wants me to visit her.

  I grab Jaxen by the arm and halt him, the others unaware as they keep walking. “I have to do something,” I say quickly, almost excitedly.

  “Okay,” he says, laughing a little. “What do you want to do?”

  My eyebrows furrow. “I don’t know exactly, but I need to visit Sanura. I just have this feeling…” My words die off as I try to figure out how to form my thoughts into words that make sense.

  “Okay. We can go there if you’d like,” he says as he turns toward the hospital.

  I grasp onto his arm, stopping him from turning. “No,” I say in a rush that dies off at the end. I avert his gaze, looking to the cracks in the concrete. “I need to go alone.”

  A moment of silence thumps between us.

  “Oh,” he finally says. I let him go as he reaches for my cheek. I lean into his hand, closing my eyes. “Well, I’ll save you a spot for lunch.”

  I smile at him. “I’d like that very much.”

  He kisses me, and then turns, jogging to catch up with everyone else. Weldon shoots me a weird look over his shoulder, but I wave at him and plant a smile on my face, hoping it’s enough to keep him from prying in. The last thing I need is for him to try to stop me from doing what needs to be done.

  I just hope I have the courage for it.

  “I DON’T WANT TO BE the mouse,” I say in the doorway to Sanura’s room.

  A crooked smile lifts the side of her mouth. “Good,” she says, opening her hand to the seat beside her. There’s a large, black book spread open across her lap, her Grimoire, I assume. She still has cords hooked to her hands, pumping fluids into her as she tries to get comfortable in an upright position.

  I didn’t think it was possible, but she looks even worse than the last time I saw her.

  She must notice me examining her because she coughs and says, “I look better than I feel.”

  “What’s wrong?” I ask, taking a seat next to her as the monitor behind me beeps incessantly.

  “It seems this world doesn’t fit me. I’ve been… gone too long.” Her breath hitches on the word gone. A prideful smile crosses her lips. “They say I surpass their magic and medical abilities. They’ve never heard of someone being pulled from the Dwelling after such a time.” She pauses, looks down to her Grimoire, and then lifts her chin, as if fighting away the human emotions trying to surface. “They say there is nothing they can do for me.”

  I open my mouth to say something… some kind words of comfort that I know mean nothing, when she holds her hand up.

  “It’s fine,” she says through a pained smile. “I told you in the Dwelling, girl. I have one purpose, and you swore to see that purpose through. Living in this plane was never a part of t
he plan. It just seems I won’t have the strength to see this plan through in person.”

  I nod, shoving away any thoughts of sadness. Hardening my heart and mind.

  “How do we stop him?” I ask, looking her straight in the eyes.

  “We set a trap,” she says simply, as if the words themselves will make it happen. She moves the Grimoire over, trying to push it in my direction, but her strength is frail. I end up taking it from her.

  “This book is written in blood magic, black magic, with spells that could light this world on fire. Spells written by my ancestors. Mourdyn sought this out because he knew it spoke of spells that would allow him the kind of power even you couldn’t imagine in your worst nightmares. The kind of power not even my people would touch for fear of the stain it would leave on the soul. But when you don’t have a soul you care about to begin with…”

  My eyes prey over the page she has it on. “You want to do a binding spell?” I say, looking up to her in question.

  She nods. “Whatever happens to you, happens to me. Wherever you go, I will too.”

  She waits… letting this sink in.

  I hate that Cecilia’s vision is the first thing that comes to mind. The blood she found me in. It’s a black wave of awareness and realization that crashes down on me, pulling me under, drowning any hope I had for making it to the end alive.

  “That machine we dreamed up, the…” She taps her lips, trying to recall.

  “The Exanimator,” I say for her.

  “Yes. The Divine told me about it. They mentioned he has it now, and if I know him, then I can guarantee it is running again and waiting for you.” She waits, letting it sink in. “It came from a siphoning spell I taught him how to use whenever he was injured and his magic was weakened. He had the brain of a scientist. Always asking questions and trying to find ways to evolve things. I remember the night he proposed the idea of making a machine that could do the same thing, but on a grander scale. I had never thought such a thing was possible, but then again, I didn’t know much about machinery and trinkets.