Dark Side of the Moon (The Lost Royals Saga Book 2)

by Rachel Jonas

  Elise sat waiting as I opened it.

  “It’s yours. From before,” she clarified as my fingers ran the length of chain. “After bringing you back, I’ve kept it safe, hoping I’d be able to return it to you one day.”

  I didn’t expect much to come out of this day, but I was truly moved that she’d held on to something so significant, something tangible linking me to my past life.

  A necklace.

  “Is this … is this the one Hilda made? The talisman?”

  Elise nodded. “It is, but …” Her eyes drifted closed for a moment while explaining. “It won’t work a second time. The magic that tied you to it severs after one use and such a spell can’t be done a second time—on the necklace, on you,” she clarified.

  While it would have been nice to think it still worked, I was honestly just touched to have it in my possession.

  I stood from my seat and Elise’s eyes widened when I approached for a hug. “Thank you. This is absolutely perfect.”

  She held on for a while and I did the same, eventually releasing one another to watch Liam.

  He removed a heap of tissue paper from his bag. Reaching inside, he brought his hand back out with something silver between his fingers. A coin was my first guess. Only, it was larger than any I’d ever seen.

  I tilted my head to get a better look. Liam said nothing. He simply held the ancient piece while he stared. To me, to anyone who didn’t understand its significance, it was just a piece of metal with a tree engraved on one side, words etched on the other.

  He kept his gaze trained on the gift. “I can’t believe you still have this.”

  A weak smile brightened Elise’s expression just a bit.

  “What is it?” I asked. I got the sense this moment was far heavier than I realized, but no one had explained what I missed.

  “The family emblem,” Liam shared. “A gift from your father many, many years ago.”

  “I tried to gather the most important items,” Elise added. “The ones that tell our family’s story.”

  Liam pursed his lips tightly together for a second. “It’s perfect.” He stood to embrace Elise after returning the piece to his bag.

  “I feel terrible,” I chimed in. “You’re the only one without a gift.”

  Something I said made Elise laugh.

  “Please. Evangeline, having the two of you here with me has been the best gift I could’ve ever imagined.”

  The contentment in her gaze told me she meant that and, despite my feelings toward her in month’s past, I was glad I hadn’t cheated myself out of getting to know her. If life had taught me anything this time around, it’s that family might not always come in the form you’re expecting or even hoping for. But when you’re loved, I mean surrounded with it, submerged in it, be grateful.

  Today, even though I didn’t get to spend the holiday the way I might have wanted, I was grateful.

  Because this is definitely what love feels like.

  —Chapter Twenty-Four—

  Evie

  Gravity kept pulling me closer to him. No matter how much I fought it, Liam had a hold on me.

  We lingered outside my door long after leaving Elise’s. For me, the reason I hadn’t moved my feet was because I was in no rush for tonight to end. No rush to be alone. No rush to be without him.

  He peered up with a look I might call boyish on someone else, but not him. He was all man, one-hundred-percent of the time. Even now, as a half-smile and a hooded stare threatened to make my knees give way.

  “What?” I asked, smiling when I couldn’t take it anymore.

  He shook his head and his hair lightly swept his shoulders with the motion, tempting me to touch it.

  “Nothing,” he breathed. “Just dreading the thought of letting you go.”

  Heat crept up the length of my spine hearing his confession. While I completely agreed, I didn’t have even a fraction of his boldness. Tonight had been a good night. I couldn’t deny it. Elise was warm and inviting, but I think my favorite part was that I got to spend it with Liam. He made everything better. Not just the bad; the good, too.

  My fingers on both hands warmed when his slipped between them, locking his palms against mine. Out of habit, I took a step back, but only because it was still unnerving that he could control me without a single command. My body, my soul, preferred to follow his lead more than following my own.

  Like now.

  He took a step closer to undo the distance I put between us and I should have cared. But didn’t. In truth, I wanted him to overstep his bounds, wanted him to push me to my limits so I could stop fighting it.

  A heated stare burned through me and I couldn’t look away. At every turn, he was there. Always protecting me, always putting me first. In that moment, I questioned whether it was possible for love to be contagious. Was it possible for someone to love you so thoroughly, so unselfishly, that it could become infectious?

  It didn’t come over you like a disease, but there were definitely chills. And fever. I felt both whenever he touched me.

  The mass of his chest pressed against mine and a sudden burst of bravery made me look him square in the eyes. I wouldn’t turn away until he did. With quivering breath, my lips throbbed to the beat of my racing heart in anticipation of his mouth meeting mine. It was coming. I could feel it long before he leaned in and allowed me the privilege of breathing his air.

  There were mere inches separating me from what was to come, from what I wanted.

  But then … darkness.

  The only sound that filled the hallway was the surge of air I drew in when the lights went out. Whereas Liam stood close for one reason; he now did so to protect me.

  “What’s happening?” My eyes darted in all directions, but there was nothing but the inky blackness you’d expect in a windowless basement.

  “I’m not sure, but stay calm.”

  The next second, his palm went up in flames and he cast light to our left and then right, taking in our surroundings. We were still alone, but it didn’t feel that way. Fear crept over my skin. My fingers gripped Liam’s bicep because holding on to him never failed to make me feel safe.

  As quickly as the darkness came, small, temporary lights spaced along the floorboards began to flicker to life. I guessed a backup generator kicked in. My heart slowed just a bit, but I was still far from settled.

  “Stay close.”

  Following Liam’s words, I was led back in the direction we’d just come from a little while ago.

  The two staff members we passed on our way seemed just as confused as we were. We stopped in front of the elevator and I panicked, thinking of all the movies I’d seen where scenarios eerily similar to this one didn’t end well.

  “What if the power goes out again and we get stuck?”

  Liam shook his head. “We’ll be fine. With the generators on, that won’t happen. I just need to get you up to Elise’s until I figure out what’s going on. Her place is locked down like Fort Knox and she’s got a direct link to the security feed. I need to access it,” he insisted.

  It would’ve been nice to assume this was a typical blackout, but nothing seemed to be typical around here. So, I chose to trust him.

  We stepped onto the elevator and I swear I held my breath the whole way up, and then hopped off the second we stopped. Elise’s sector was now dimly lit just like all the others, meaning the outage had affected the entire facility.

  Once again, she answered long before Liam and I reached her door, clutching the lapel of a black, silk robe tight to her chest.

  “Are you both all right?” There was panic heavy in her tone, and when we stepped inside, I think we were both shocked to see she wasn’t alone.

  It became clear the plate she set aside wasn’t for a midnight snack.

  Dallas gave a nod, a polite, wordless greeting, but seemed just as surprised to see Liam and I as we were to see him.

  It was late. He wore pajama pants and no shirt. The dots weren’t hard to connect
. He and Elise were, clearly … a little more than friends.

  “We, uh … didn’t mean to interrupt,” Liam stammered. “I couldn’t think of anyplace else to bring her.”

  Elise gave a dismissive wave. “Of course you were supposed to come to me,” she insisted, taking my hand to lead me to the couch. She sat beside me and, like any mother would do, she gave me a thorough onceover, pushing my hair away from my face as that concerned look deepened.

  Liam kept his eyes on Dallas. It was no secret that, when it came to me, he had trust issues. He seemed to prefer that I not be around new people because he wasn’t sure what they were capable of. He especially preferred it that way when my secret was at risk of exposure. Maybe sensing emotions running high, Dallas dismissed himself, retreating to Elise’s room while we sorted things out.

  “We’ll come back when he’s gone,” Liam declared, making steps toward the door.

  “Dallas isn’t a threat,” Elise assured us, but it’d take more convincing on Liam’s part. In his eyes, Dallas was an outsider despite however close he and Elise might have been.

  She stood. “Liam … he’s a soldier. In fact, he was one of few dragons to fight in The Lunar War. His story is quite similar to yours—a dragon raised primarily by a lycan family,” she shared. “He’s the reason we were able to recruit so many dragons to this facility. He’s a well-respected and honorable man.”

  “How long have you known him?” Liam’s tone was cold and unfeeling, proving he wasn’t moved in the least by Elise’s spiel.

  The question seemed to jar her a bit. “Summer of 1924.”

  I guessed they’d been together that long—nearly a century. Liam stared, studying her in that deep, penetrating way he has, and I took note of the moment tension seemed to leave his posture.

  “He doesn’t know yet,” Elise assured us. “He doesn’t even have a clue who I am, or was … let alone you and Evangeline. However, I’ve only kept things from him because I vowed it to the Council and out of respect for the two of you. Not because I distrust him.”

  It was clear her connection with Dallas was deep for her to even consider bringing him in on the truth—who I am, who she is. Ninety-plus years is a long time to hide your true identity from a person, but I knew this was an example of one of those hard choices, a sacrifice for the cause.

  Liam stared and Elise stood her ground, holding her composure until he caved and finally blinked.

  “You’d trust him with your life?” he asked, adding, “…With hers?”

  Elise didn’t hesitate for even a second before nodding and, with that, Liam took her at her word. “Then bring him out.”

  There was a trace of a smile on her face before going to grab Dallas. In the meantime, Liam took her laptop from the desk and brought it over to the couch. He booted it up and entered Elise’s passcode. I wasn’t sure when, but she’d clearly allowed him access before now. With his hypervigilance, I shouldn’t have been surprised.

  The security feed came up and I watched as he maneuvered his way back to the time the blackout occurred. Video showed the entire facility going dark all at once. Liam skipped through the frames from varying angles. Elise and Dallas rejoined us in the living room after several minutes. They were fully dressed now and I imagined, during that time, she’d given him the short version of our story. He didn’t seem rattled as he held her hand, unable to hide in his expression how deeply he cared for her.

  I turned back toward the screen when Liam stared at something—a shadow on an outside camera, mounted high in a tree, I believed.

  “I think we have something.” He zoomed in, but the somewhat grainy image was inconclusive.

  “I’ll assemble a team to do a perimeter check,” Dallas offered. “Kas, Martinez, Randall, Mei…”

  “And wake David as well,” Elise suggested. “While you all do the sweep, he can run a system check to make sure there wasn’t a breach to our firewall. For all we know, the blackout could’ve been a distraction from a more subtle attack.”

  Dallas gave a quick nod and then rushed from Elise’s quarters. She seemed nervous. Right after I noticed, Liam did, too.

  “What is it?” he asked. “What aren’t you saying? Is it the mutts again?”

  She blinked and I knew Liam was right to question her. “There was another security issue, but I’ve taken care of it and, therefore, didn’t see the need in alarming you.”

  Frustrated, Liam sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I thought we already discussed this. If something happens, you tell me.”

  At times like these, their mother/son dynamic all but disappeared. When it came to me, my safety, Liam was always the authority figure. Always.

  Elise lowered her head when she breathed deep. “Dallas and his crew have been on a special security detail, reporting everything they hear and see.”

  Liam shook his head before she finished speaking. The rims of his nostrils flared and even if I hadn’t seen the ferocity rising in him, I felt it. Right in my chest like always, his dragon signaling mine, waking her.

  “Again with the secrets. Maybe it isn’t Dallas I shouldn’t have trusted.”

  The accusation stunned Elise, rendering her speechless as she stared at the man she revered as a son.

  “The agreement was, when something arises that could potentially threaten Evangeline, I’m to be notified. Why am I just hearing about this now?” he fumed.

  “I told you, I’ve had Dallas on it and—”

  “You know him,” Liam cut in. “I’m not obligated to trust anyone.”

  The harshly spoken words prompted Elise’s mouth to snap shut. Her eyes slipped away from Liam’s.

  “Show me the footage,” he seethed.

  Elise swallowed and was slow making her way back to the couch. When she did, she clicked the mouse a few times and typed in a date range before locating the old clip in question. Or rather, a still frame; one that nearly made my heart leap from my chest.

  It was … Nick.

  She turned the screen toward Liam and he didn’t move.

  “Of course, he’s in Seaton Falls and has nothing to do with this power outage, but he’s been slipping out at night. Not every night. It’s only been two or three times that we know of,” she admitted.

  Liam started pacing, but didn’t say a word. I was frozen in my seat—from fear, from the rising tension in the room.

  “At night, I’ve had Dallas, Martinez, and Kas rotating shifts, keeping watch with strict orders to notify me if he’s seen leaving again,” she rambled, trying to plead her case. “With so many eyes on him now, Evangeline hasn’t been in any imminent danger.”

  “That’s not your call to make,” Liam snapped, halting when his eyes shifted toward Elise. They cut through her like daggers, forcing her to lower her gaze once again.

  “This is incredible to me,” he went on. “You sit in here, locked up tight behind a steel door capable of surviving nuclear fallout, and yet … you didn’t even think to let me know she might be in danger.”

  His words struck me deep, sinking in until they hit bone.

  “She’s your daughter, Elise. She’s my…” His words ceased and he never finished that statement, but a look of understanding passed between them.

  He stared at her and I was surprised to see it wasn’t so much anger concealed within the look.

  It was hurt.

  Frustration.

  “Liam,” she began. “What you’re implying—that I value my own safety more than I value hers—you couldn’t be more wrong.”

  It was clear from his expression that her words now fell on deaf ears.

  “Everything I’ve ever done has been for my family. If it were up to me, Evangeline would have been here with me since the day she arrived at this facility, but I couldn’t force my way into her life,” she reasoned, glancing toward me right after. “Think about it, if I’d pushed for that, do you think she would’ve cooperated?”

  Her eyes were on Liam again, and I answered the ques
tion myself inside my thoughts. No, I wouldn’t have allowed her to bully me into staying with her. I was barely even convinced coming for dinner tonight was a good idea. She was right and, even if Liam didn’t believe her, I did. My wellbeing mattered to her, but she could only protect me as much as I’d allow.

  “Liam.” The sound of my voice made him turn. “She’s doing the best she can,” I stated. “She’s working with limited resources, trying to comply with the Council, and I’m sure she’s got good reason for keeping this latest incident under wraps.”

  A gentle smile brightened Elise’s expression just a bit. She mouthed a silent ‘thank you’ before explaining.

  “I know you’ve been anxious to leave,” she said, speaking to Liam this time. “You don’t trust this place.”

  “Can you blame me?”

  Elise breathed deep before replying. “I can’t, but I hope you’ll understand why I can’t let that happen. Sure, this facility isn’t perfect, but it’s better than having the two of you alone and roaming around out there. I know things seem quiet on the Sovereign’s end, but you know as well as I do, it’s when he’s silent that he’s most dangerous,” she declared. “Mark my words: there will be a war, and it’s coming sooner than any of us realize.”

  The grave outlook made my stomach sink.

  “I thought that, if I kept this from you, dealt with it on my own, you’d stay,” she explained. “Both of you.”

  My heart went out to her, acknowledging how difficult her position was. It had to have been quite the conflict of interest—spearheading a revolution, protecting those you care most about. There was only one thing I could think of to lessen that burden.

  “We’re not going anywhere,” I stated, making the decision for myself instead of leaving it in Liam’s hands. Yes, I knew he always acted in my best interest, but I had to stand for what I knew was right. The decision was mine this time. Not his.

  Elise’s hand warmed mine. The sound of a walkie talkie chirping from the next room prompted her to excuse herself and she left me to deal with whatever aftermath there might be from Liam. His stare lingered although I wouldn’t look over at him.