Evie's Knight

by Kimberly Krey

  Calvin nodded, his gaze settling on her lips. “Extremely.”

  They didn’t look dry. They looked perfect and smooth. Thoughts of their first kiss rushed to her mind. Evie held up the ChapStick and raised her brows in question.

  He shook his head. “No. Not like that.”

  A warm dose of desire shot through her. “You want it from here?” she asked, pointing to her smile.

  He licked his lips, eyes fixed intently on her mouth. “That’s exactly what I want.” The sound of his voice was deep and certain. He leaned toward her.

  Evie inched forward too, distracted when, from the corner of her eye, she saw the car ahead of them proceed through the light. Calvin must’ve noticed as well, because he straightened up, shifted into gear, and eased through the intersection. “Guess it’ll have to wait,” he said.

  It remained quiet as they wove through the darkening neighborhood. Evie wondered if Calvin would really kiss her once they got to her place–more than the small, goodnight kiss he usually gave her. Ever since that first magical night when they’d gotten back together, he seemed to avoid intimate moments with her, and she couldn’t help but wonder if he was afraid–worried that he might somehow upset Jocelyn Blanch even more. Reap an even greater amount of wrath and revenge upon them.

  She sighed, taking in his altered appearance. His hair was longer than she’d seen it, he hadn’t shaved in days, and though he was still lean, his entire body had bulked into a more squared and chiseled piece. He looked so…rugged. Was there any look that didn’t compliment him?

  After Calvin pulled into her driveway and tugged on the parking brake, Evie looked over at him, wondering where his mind had drifted. When he glanced her way, she smoothed her lips together, hoping to remind him of his prior intent.

  “Did I finish telling you about The Lockdown?”

  “I don’t think so,” she said, trying to mask her disappointment. She worked to remember the last thing he’d said about the strange prison world. Leaning over, she rested her head onto his shoulder and wrapped her hands around his upper arm. “We left off at the part where you and I will be waiting there–in The Lockdown world–after Parker disappears with Jocelyn. You said there will be other spirits trapped down there,” she said, summing up the last few details.

  “Yes. They’ll see us, they may try to talk to us even, but they can’t hurt us. We’re supposed to ignore them.”

  Evie’s imagination ran wild. She tried to contain it by asking another question. “So how will we find it, the lock…world?”

  “The Lockdowns are always near a water source, which works in our favor. In canyons, we have both rivers and waterfalls. I’ve already learned how to recognize the vortex leading to them. Anyway, once we’re there, I’ll have to create a mechanism to keep her in there.”

  “So that’s the cage you mentioned?”

  He raked a hand through Evie’s hair, raising goose bumps along her arms in an instant, and began twisting a long strand around one of his fingers. “Yes. But it doesn’t have to look like a cage. I’ll have the freedom to create whatever I imagine. I mean, it could be a giant box of paper-thin glass, but if I build it with the purpose to restrain her, it will. I could even do something like … draw a circle in the sand, simply imagining that the line would prevent her from ever moving beyond it– that it had the ability to keep her–and it would. Fiona told me not to get hung up on the design, but to focus instead on the intent, the purpose of whatever it is that I’m building, what it’s designed to do.”

  Evie could see the reason for Calvin’s lifted spirit when the topic arose. It would be a fulfilling moment for him, for everyone. Conquering the beast once and for all, creating an eternal prison where she would dwell. It was something to look forward to–the end of Jocelyn’s wicked reign, and the beginning of their own blessed freedom.

  Chapter Thirty-seven

  “That didn’t take long,” Parker said when Calvin walked in.

  Calvin threw his keys on the coffee table, took a seat on the couch. Parker lounged on the smaller couch next to Fiona, looking like someone had just crashed his party.

  Calvin looked at Fiona. “Mind if I ask you something?”

  She shrugged. “Shoot.”

  “You said you were from a place called The Harbor. Do you have family there?”

  She looked at Parker before answering. “No. My parents were sentinels, like me. But they were killed when I was young. It’s a long story.”

  Calvin let that seep in for a moment. He had a million questions he wanted to ask her, but he knew he probably wouldn’t get any answers. “Are you ever going to tell us more?”

  She tucked her hair behind her ears. “Probably not. You’ll have to forgive me for being so vague, but you’ll be leading normal lives after this. That’s hard to achieve when you’ve been given too much knowledge about things beyond your own world. So far, you two have handled these phenomenal concepts very well. There’s no need to push it. Now, let’s discuss the recent developments in your dream. We know Evie will be captured at night and taken to the canyon by morning, right?”

  Calvin nodded. “Right.”

  “What did you find out about the fireworks? How often do they have displays here?”

  Calvin reached for a stack of printouts. “Each local city will host an event with fireworks, but they won’t start until June.”

  “Okay, good. That means we have a little more time to prepare. Also, I uh…” She pulled her knees to her chest, crinkled her face. “I have to tell you guys something.”

  Calvin’s heart plunged. He straightened in his seat, dreading the words she might utter.

  After glancing briefly at Parker, Fiona looked back to Calvin. “I lost contact with her.”

  Calvin shot up off the chair, a sudden ring clenching around his throat. “With Jocelyn? Why didn’t you tell me? I wouldn’t have taken Evie home.” He patted his pockets for the keys before spotting them on the coffee table. With the jagged set of keys clenched firmly in his hands, he sped to the front door.

  “No, Calvin. Wait,” Fiona said. “This is why I didn’t tell you earlier.”

  “Why? What do you mean?” Calvin’s heart hammered almost painfully as he debated on whether he’d wait for an answer.

  “Because I didn’t want you to overreact.” She eyed his grip on the doorknob. “When we came out of The Loft tonight, Jocelyn’s voice was gone. I couldn’t hear her anymore. But that only means she’s narrowed down her candidates. Now she’ll focus on testing those minds, see which one she trusts to carry out her deeds. It’s not a full-on possession, so she’ll need to find someone she can manipulate precisely the way she wants. And my guess is she’ll spend the next few weeks or so working on her selected pawns, nudging them until she finds the most obedient. It’ll take time.

  “Also, we have the advantage of those visions, Calvin,” she reminded him, pointing to the printouts. “If those dates are accurate, we can assume Evie won’t be captured for at least another month.”

  Calvin had listened to what Fiona said, every word of it. But none of it made the hurt–the sheer panic–go away. “If you think I’m just going to sit around and wait for them to get to her you’re crazy.” His mind spun wildly out of control. “Some mentally deranged spirit-of-the-dead is on the loose now, targeting Evie, and I’m just supposed to sit tight and wait for it to happen?”

  Calvin hadn’t seen it coming, his own crazed reaction to the news. All along he’d known this time would come, that Fiona would lose contact with Jocelyn. It shouldn’t have been such a surprise. Yet the feelings that came over him revealed an unpleasant truth: he wasn’t ready to handle it. He’d been so sure that if he simply figured out all the details, got a clear picture of what to expect, he’d be able to cope once the time came. But all he wanted to do in that moment was run to Evie, stay with her, and never let her out of his sight.

  “Listen, Calvin,” Fiona said. “You have to trust the powers you’ve been given, and
have faith that they’ll help you conquer. Avoiding the capture altogether isn’t an option, though I know it’s tempting.”

  She’d read his mind. That was exactly what Calvin had been considering–how they might skip the entire abduction, move on to the next phase without it. But there was no way of making that happen. Somewhere, buried beneath the sudden weight of anxiety, he knew that. He sunk back into the couch and ran his hands through his hair, trying to ignore the pressing resistance in his lungs. “I’m listening,” he finally said through clenched teeth. He had to listen; there was too much at stake.

  “You’ve got to let things run their course. Do you understand why?” Fiona asked.

  Calvin kept quiet, still desperate for a way out of the dreaded capture.

  “This needs to play itself out. And if you attempt to avoid it, you could take away the advantage of foresight by altering the event. There’s only one way you guys can fight this. You’ll need to be led to where you can make contact with Jocelyn. Evie’s abduction is the only thing that will offer you that opportunity. It’ll provide the time and the place to fight her head-on. You can’t win without it.”

  None of this was news to him, but it was still hard to hear. “So Evie’s just a pawn in all of this?” Calvin hissed in disgust. He stood up again, too anxious to sit. He wanted to blame someone, anyone.

  “A capable pawn that will be followed, watched and protected by you and Parker,” she assured. “Not to mention the amulet you gave her; that alone is extremely powerful.” Fiona stood up to meet his gaze. “Look, I’m not suggesting you become blind to it, Calvin. If you follow the impressions, the hints given in your visions, you’ll be ready. You’ll be there to trail after her and her captor, pursue them from a short distance to wherever he takes her. But in the meantime, we can’t have you smothering her like a crazy person. You’ll scare her to death; cause her to do things that could really throw off the event, rendering your foresight useless. We have at least one whole month until the capture takes place. You need to let her live a somewhat normal life until then, Calvin.”

  With a defeated sigh, Calvin sunk into the couch once more and let out a painful groan. It was torture–leaving Evie at that house– unprotected with Jocelyn on the loose. As he tried to focus on Fiona’s words, a wave of sickening heat permeated the surrounding air, caused him to break out in a sweat. His blood, coursing beneath his skin seemed to run cold against the heat, and the chill made him shudder.

  “Remember, the fact that you see anything happening in daylight proves that they’ll keep her alive through the night–you’ll be there to see to it. But also, I know Jocelyn would never have her killed before you guys get there. If she did, she’d have no card left to play, nothing to provoke you to murder. Without that, she can’t get into your heads and carry through the rest of her plan.”

  Calvin disagreed. “I can tell you right now that if I stumbled on a man who’d just killed Evie, I would slit his throat without a second thought. Don’t you think Jocelyn knows that?”

  “She’d never rely on it, Calvin. Not even you can be sure you’d be able to go through with it if it wasn’t going to save her.”

  Calvin moaned, pulling his head to his knees. “I’ve never felt so sick in my life.”

  “We can do this, man,” Parker said, breaking his silence. “Don’t start losing hope, Cal. It’s not like you.”

  “Listen, Calvin,” Fiona said. “We don’t want to alter the events in Evie’s life. She needs to go to and from school as if nothing has changed. The only difference is that you and Parker will be waiting close by during times of high threat, following her. As for the summer, does she have any vacations planned?”

  “She’s been talking about this cooking expo in Arizona. I told her I’d take her there. It’s a week or two after spring semester ends.” He checked the date on his phone. “Guess that’s only a few weeks away now. Great, I’m going to bomb finals this term.”

  “Shouldn’t I come too?” Parker bent forward to untie his shoes. “What if they go and she’s abducted while they’re gone? I won’t be around to help.” Parker paused then. “Maybe we can all go, Fiona. You could come too,” he said.

  She nodded. “We may as well not lose the weekend. If I come, we can continue practicing, find a vortex out there.”

  Parker grinned.

  “Okay, so we’ll all go,” Calvin said. “We’ll be leaving that final weekend in May, which is one week before the first display of fireworks. I already checked our route for Southern Utah and Arizona, and we shouldn’t run into any celebrations along the way.”

  Fiona stretched her arms over her head, releasing a weary groan. “I better get going. We all need some sleep. I’ll give you guys a chance to recoup, but I’ll be back first thing in the morning.”

  “You sure you don’t want to sleep here?” Parker patted the cushion next to him.

  Fiona rolled her eyes. “I’m sure,” she said, closing the door as she left.

  Parker turned over his shoulder to watch her through the window. “She said yes.”

  It took Calvin a moment to register his brother’s words. “About what?”

  “The trip. She’s coming to Arizona.” His grin was wide. Too wide. Calvin resented it. Parker was crazy about Fiona; it was obvious. It must be nice, he mused, to know the woman you love is safe. That no one is seeking her demise. Calvin lived in constant fear, reluctant to give Evie a decent kiss half the time. He wasn’t sure if it was the curse or Evie’s desire to wait that had him so reluctant. It was the combination, he decided then. The fear that he might possibly lose her one day made him desperate and careless. A justification often echoed through his head when he held her close: Why worry about tomorrow if all they had was today? He didn’t trust those thoughts though. They felt greedy and wrong. Faithless, even. He couldn’t accept the idea that they were in for such a terrible fate. He wouldn’t. One day he’d be married to Evie. And then she would really belong to him.

  “She is pretty great, huh?” Parker asked.

  “Who is?”

  “Geeze, Calvin, come back to the present. Fiona.”

  “Oh.” He managed a nod. “Yeah. She is.” Though he hadn’t given Fiona much thought. All he could think about was Evie. She’d finally learned about everything they faced, and she’d chosen to stay with him. Now it was his job to keep her safe. As Calvin let his eyes close, he recalled Fiona’s words, reminding himself that he should sleep, get the rest he so desperately needed.

  He tried. Only sleep didn’t come. Instead, Calvin found restless thoughts of Evie’s capture, creeping into every facet of his mind. Filling him with an almost audible thrum of panic.

  He finally gave in to the torment, allowed himself to drive out to her house. With the misuse of his ability, Calvin mindfully twisted the lock, opened the door, and slipped down the stairs leading to her room. White streaks of moonlight spilled through the blinds, casting an angelic glow over Evie’s face. He felt ashamed for being there. He wouldn’t wake her, and he wouldn’t stay. She was safe, as Fiona had said she would be. Now he could go home; now he could sleep. But first, he’d commit the lovely image before him to memory–beautiful Evie Wylder, captured only by a peaceful slumber–and he’d use it in desperate times of unease. Somehow, in the weeks that lay ahead, he’d learn to trust. Learn to follow the clues he’d been given, rely on them even, and hope it would be enough to save her.

  Chapter Thirty-eight

  Evie looked around her room as if it was the last time she’d see it. Bright light from the faithful fixture above poured amply into the space, but it couldn’t quite ease the black night’s outer darkness penetrating the cream colored walls and carpeted floor–the determined force seeping into the room in a silent crawl.

  Dressed in jeans, a tee shirt, and an old pair of Converse shoes, Evie tucked some extra socks into her small, navy tote bag. The silver clasp of the zipper, cool against her fingertip and thumb, slid seamlessly–the sharp noise cutting into the
silence.

  Maybe she shouldn’t have made the bed; it looked too tidy. Unoccupied. Final.

  Stop it, Evie. It’s just a weekend trip. Why did she have to be so paranoid? It wasn’t like anything was going to happen yet. Calvin didn’t anticipate running into even one fireworks’ display the entire time, and, according to his dreams anyway, fireworks were sure to accompany the abduction.

  Still, as she climbed up the basement stairs, stepped across the tiled floor in the dimly lit kitchen, she couldn’t quite squelch the thought that she might never return.

  “You about ready to go, Eve?” Dad called from the front room. His voice sounded so normal. So unaware.

  “Yep. Just getting a drink.” The fridge blared bright as she tugged it open. “You want a water?” she asked, securing an extra bottle in her hand.

  “Sure, thanks.”

  Dad was lounging on the couch. Stacks of paperwork covered the coffee table; his bifocals and tape recorder stood nearby. She wondered, for only a moment, what this picture would look like if her mother would’ve stayed. Would she be curled up beside him, flipping channels on the TV to find a movie they could watch together?

  She stifled the emotion that brought moisture to her eyes, shuffled over to him, and held out the bottle of water. “You done?”

  “Just finished up.” He stretched both arms before taking it from her. “Guess I’m going to be a loner this weekend.” He twisted the lid off his drink and took a swig. “Have I already told you it was a bad idea to leave so late at night? Why not wait ‘til the morning?”

  “It’s only ten, Dad. And the expo starts in the morning, that’s why.”

  He nodded. “That’s right. And Fiona had to work late.”

  Evie kept quiet, returning his nod in reply. Never mind the fact that Fiona’s work involved training her boyfriend and his brother how to fight off some dead lady who wants to kill Evie and take Calvin for herself.

  Her dad tipped his head back once more, taking another pull from his water, and gave her a puzzled look as he gulped it down. “I thought Fiona was meeting you here.”