by K. G. Reuss
Jared and Brandon nodded from their perches in the living room.
I sighed and rubbed my eyes. I parted my lips to agree when the front door opened and Ever limped in covered in mud and twigs, her hair a twisted mess.
“Damn, what the hell happened to you?” Damien whistled, looking her up and down.
“I fell,” she muttered, plucking a muddy leaf off her shoulder, her mouth twisted into a scowl. Her entire face was covered in mud along with her clothes. There was dried blood on her face and in her hairline.
“Into what? A mud factory?”
“Obviously,” she shot back, limping deeper into the room. Her shoes sloshed with each step, leaking muddy water onto the ornate rug in front of the door.
“Are you OK?” Eric asked, surveying her with confusion.
“I am now,” she answered.
No one said a word as she stood awkwardly in the room.
Finally, I cleared my throat. “Ever, my office, please.”
I thought she’d protest. Instead, she merely frowned and staggered off to my office, leaving muddy footprints in her wake. She didn’t look back as she stepped into my office.
I cast a confused look at my silent crew who answered with their own baffled expressions. I rubbed my eyes again and went to my office, closing the door behind me.
Ever stood by the fireplace, warming herself. She didn’t bother glancing up as I entered the room.
“We need to talk.”
“So talk,” she grunted, wringing her wet hair out on my floor.
“Where were you?”
“Out.” More water dripped as she twisted her long tresses more.
“Where?”
“Well, obviously in the mud. Thought at least that much was clear.”
I ground my teeth at her sarcasm. “Were you with Blackburn?”
“You know I was.”
I swallowed down the angry hiss on the tip of my tongue. I’d already promised myself I was done playing around. If she wanted him, fine. But I wouldn’t make it easy on her. I also wouldn’t tell her about the votum aeternum. She clearly didn’t give a damn how I felt. Everyone already had heard that I’d managed to get my wedding canceled. Only Damien, Eric, and Amara knew how though. I’d protect Ever as I’d always done but no more giving in. She needed discipline.
“That is officially over.”
“Sure.”
“I mean it, Ever,” I growled, giving her a hard look. “It ends right here. Right now. I forbid you to see him.”
She stopped wringing her hair, her green eyes stormy as they focused on me. I stared her down as she approached me.
“You don’t have to right to command who I associate with,” she snarled as she glared up at me.
“Wrong, my Mancer. I do. I’m your general. Your leader. Your boss. Your Reever. I’m the one pointing the fingers, and you’re the one who follows. Remember?”
“And yet you play house with the beast who left me for dead. Nice.”
“Amara is a member of this crew and not part of this conversation right now—”
“Of course you’d defend her. You only had your tongue down her throat and God knows where else in here last night.”
I ground my teeth at her words, sick she’d think so lowly of me.
“And where, my sweet Mancer, did Nev have his tongue last night?”
Her nostrils flared as more storm clouds gathered in her eyes.
“The same place you only dream of now,” she answered back in a dangerous whisper.
I flinched at her words like she’d struck me.
She took note of the chink in my armor and gave me a feline smile. “You do dream of me, right, General?”
“This isn’t like you, Everly. You’re not a cruel person. You’re a sweet, kind, caring woman. He’s sunk his fangs in too deep.” The words were a bitter rasp on my lips. “My girl wouldn’t say such things.”
“No, but his would.”
Within the span of a heartbeat, I had her on the floor, tucked neatly beneath me, her face cradled in my hands. She stared up at me, her chest heaving as she tried to calm her racing heart beneath the pressure of my body.
“He is a liar,” I growled at her. “Cipher trash. Vampire, Everly. It’s his job to play with your mind and your heart. Do not fall prey to him. Do not seek him out to hurt me, for it only hurts you, and I cannot bear the way your soul will suffer at his hands. He’s a predator, and you my sweet Everly, are but a doe to him.”
“At least I’m something to him,” she whispered hoarsely, tears brimming her eyes.
“You’re something to me too,” I answered back, wiping her tears away.
A muscle popped along her jaw. “I was never anything to you but a way to pass the time.”
“You know that’s not true.”
“Then why were you in here kissing on her if it’s not true?”
“I wasn’t.”
“I saw—”
“Nothing. You saw nothing, Ever. I didn’t kiss her. Like I didn’t kiss her in the gardens that night either.”
“Liar. Her lipstick was on your lips. I saw.” She struggled to move me off her, but I held fast.
“Yes, because she kissed me after I told her the wedding has been called off.”
Ever went limp beneath me, her green eyes wide.
“Besides, why are you so angry when you’ve been with Nev?” I asked, the ugly words hanging in the air. “Why does it matter what I do if you’ve already written me off?”
A tear slid down her cheek. She closed her eyes for a moment before staring up at me. “I wanted to feel something other than pain. He offered that to me when I went to him. I’m sorry if it hurt you. I never meant to harm you.”
I studied her face for a moment, the truth in her eyes.
“I can’t come back from the place I’ve gone to. I can’t be saved. You can’t protect me. W-we’re on different sides, Shadow.” Her voice cracked as another tear slid from her eye.
“Everly, what are you talking about?” I crinkled my brows as I gazed down at her. The darkness of her words had me sick to my stomach. “We’re on the same side. We want our peoples’ safety. We want the warring to end.”
“I want peace,” she whispered hoarsely. “There’s no peace if we kill the innocent. There’s no peace as long as I’m alive.”
“Everly, sweetheart, this isn’t like you. Talk to me. Please. I want to help you.”
“Where were you when I needed you?” she whispered, her lower lip trembling. “You didn’t come.”
I frowned at her. I hadn’t felt one bit of a twinge for her all night. As far as I knew, she was safe wherever she was.
“I-I didn’t know you needed me. You know I would’ve been there.”
She shook her head and squeezed her eyes close. “It doesn’t matter. It’s too late.”
“Talk to me, damn it,” I whispered, my chest clenching with worry and fear. “Tell me what happened. Did Blackburn hurt you?”
More tears flooded her cheeks. I ran my fingers along the ugly mark on the side of her face and pushed my healing into her. She shook in my hold for a moment before the bruising faded and the wound sealed closed. She relaxed beneath me, her green eyes bright. Sad. Afraid.
What the actual hell was going on? How did she end up hurt without me knowing?
“Promise you won’t hurt anyone. Not even the vampires,” she whispered.
“Vampires aren’t innocent—”
“Neither are shifters. Witches. Warlocks. Mancers.” A deep breath escaped her as she peered up at me. “We’re all villains in someone’s story, Raiden. I’ll be the villain in yours if we continue down the path we’re on.”
I ground my teeth at her words. “You’ll never be a villain to me.”
“I screwed up.”
“We’ll fix it,” I soothed. “Together.”
More tears cascaded from her eyes, her small body trembling beneath mine again.
“You’ll h-hate me. You
need to.”
“Never,” I murmured. “I’ll never hate you.”
Her body continued to quiver as I hovered over her. I relaxed my hold on her.
“The wedding is off,” I repeated softly. “Like I promised it would be. I fixed it like I said I would.”
I didn’t know what I expected. Maybe her soft lips to meet mine, tears of joy, anything but what she gave me.
“Shadow,” she whispered, her body quaking against mine. “It’s too late for us.”
“Everly,” I whispered back, biting back the pain of her words. “Please. Don’t go to him again. Don’t align yourself with the monsters just because you can see them in the dark. If you continue on the course you’re on, I’ll have no choice—”
“To what?” she choked out. “What will you do, Raiden?”
I swallowed hard, my voice barely above a rasping whisper, “I’ll take you to Xanan for punishment. Those are the rules.”
“We’re divided,” she murmured.
“We aren’t. You’re just having trouble adjusting. I know you’re hurting. I am too. But doing what you’re doing is not the way to feel better. Give me a chance. Let me in. The choice is yours. But it’s unfair to the rest of the members for them to give up their friends and lives while you continue yours.”
“I didn’t want this!”
“But it’s yours, sweetheart.”
“I hate you,” she choked out, more tears falling from her eyes. “Te odio. Te odio.”
Wind swept into the room, the glass panes in the window rattling as she wept beneath me, her body shaking.
“What the hell is happening?” Damien demanded in my head.
“Do you need help?” Eric called out.
“No,” I growled, my heart aching as Ever sobbed beneath me.
I tossed my friends from my mind and focused on her.
“I’m not the bad guy, Everly. I swear to you, I’m not. Don’t make me the bad guy. Please. Just listen to what I’m telling you! I can’t bear for you to be h-hurt,” my voice cracked on the last word as she finally stilled beneath me.
The wind died down, the shaking glass ceased.
“I’m the bad guy,” she whispered. “I’m your enemy. Queen of the Dead.”
“No,” I ground out, cradling her face. “No. Never.”
“That’s what they’ll call us. Never.”
Pain laced through me at her words. I knew the name. A combination of her and Nev’s. Students whispered it on campus. The vampire with the Conexus whisperer.
Unable to bear it any longer, I pressed my palm to her forehead. She went slack beneath me, her lips parting as my sleeper charm began to work through her.
“Death will claim me far too soon.
He goes by the name Ravenger, the Carrion King.
Beneath the blood moon
Three days deep
Stand over my grave
And do not weep
I shall rise from the dirt and all that is dark
To return the stake unkindly given right back to my enemy’s heart.”
Her breathing slowed as her glazed eyes shuttered.
“Find Forever and Never beneath the red
Return to your throne, sweet shadow prince.
Leave me for dead.
And with that, her eyes remained closed, her breathing deep. I swallowed down the terror in my throat at her words.
“Never means something else entirely to me, Everly,” I whispered, lifting her into my arms in my shadow form. As in not a damn chance it’ll happen. “And I’ll fight to the death to prove it.”
And with that, we melded into the shadows.
Twenty-Nine
Everly
“Son of bitch,” I groaned, rubbing my head. It took me a moment to come to my senses, but when I did, I got to my feet and marched to Raiden’s room and pounded on the door. He answered moments later, looking disheveled. His silver hair was a mess, his eyes laced with exhaustion.
“Good morning, Mancer. I trust you slept well.”
“You palm thingy-ed me!” I snapped, poking my finger into his hard chest. “You can’t go around doing that to people whenever you don’t get what you want! That’s the second time in a day it happened to me! If I get a freaking brain tumor from you shits playing mind games with me, there will be hell to pay!”
Raiden folded his arms over his muscular t-shirt-clad chest, an eyebrow arched. “Who the hell else palm thingy-ed you?”
I snapped my mouth closed and glared at him.
“Just don’t do it again. I’ll kick your ass,” I warned, poking him once more for emphasis. “I have Damien’s strength and Brandon’s speed now.”
“So do I,” Raiden shot back, yawning. “And I’ve used them longer.”
“Yeah, well, I’ll bring back the dead to kick your ass,” I huffed, wincing at the prospect.
Raiden let out a soft laugh. “Don’t burn the bridges you stand on, sweetheart.”
“I’ll burn anything I damn well please—”
“We have training in twenty minutes. You slept through an entire day and night. I’ll meet you downstairs after you shower.” He snapped the door closed in my face, leaving me to gape at him.
“Freaking asshole,” I muttered, making a rude gesture at the door. I heard his soft chuckle from inside. It would figure the jerk would have x-ray vision on top of everything else.
I hated that I was punctual.
Raiden seemed astonished I even showed up as he rose to his feet and nodded his head at Mason and Amanda.
“Surprised?” I muttered.
“Perhaps.”
I trudged to the door and yanked it open. “Are you coming or what?”
He let out a sigh and shook his head but followed me outside. We walked in silence. It was the first time I’d ever walked with him. Since my induction, I’d made it a point to leave earlier than the rest of Conexus just so I wouldn’t have to look like I wanted to be there.
I frowned as students rushed away, giving us a wide berth.
“You know, you catch more flies with honey than vinegar,” I said, glowering at him as more students sped away.
His black cloak billowed behind him, his face set in that stone mask he wore so well. “And why, my sweet Mancer, would I care to catch flies?”
“I’m only saying we should be building bonds with the students, not terrifying them all the damn time. The fact we can’t associate with them is ridiculous. We aren’t better than them—”
“We don’t associate with them, not because we deem ourselves better, but because getting too close to any one of them could end in their demise. We protect through distance, not by unity. Our enemies are everywhere. Even lurking on these grounds.”
I knew his jab meant Nev.
“He’s not so bad, you know.”
He grunted, not bothering to ask me who I was talking about. I walked through the training room door as he held it for me.
“You should give him a chance.”
“If you let a viper into bed with you, it’s sure to bite.”
“I’m not telling you to sleep with him, General. I’m only saying I think you hate him for reasons that aren’t fair.”
Raiden snorted, shaking his head.
“Have you ever really talked to him? Gotten to know him?” I pressed, going through my stretches with him.
“Ever, if you’re asking for my blessing to love him, do what you will. You don’t need my approval. You’ve made that clear.” He cleared his throat and looked away.
“I’m not asking for your blessing. I’m asking for—”
“My what?” he asked, peeking back over at me, his face hard. He stopped stretching. “Do you think it’s easy for me to know he had his hands on you? His mouth? That you kissed him how you once kissed me?”
“I never kissed him like I kissed you,” I whispered.
A muscle popped along his jaw.
“I only wanted to feel something again—”
; “I’m sure you felt it,” he practically spat, his aquamarine eyes fading to black.
I frowned at him. I’d only ever seen his eyes do what Nev’s did once before.
“Yeah. I guess I did,” I snarled back, getting to my feet.
“You admit it then?” Raiden was on his feet, looming over me. “You slept with the vampire?”
“I admit nothing. We both know you kept your secrets, Shadow.”
We stood there, staring one another down, both of us breathing hard.
“Did you kill Declan Eres?” I demanded, needing to know if the vampire fell by Raiden’s hand like Nev and Marcus said he had.
Raiden’s brows crinkled. “How do you know that name?”
“Did you?” I plowed on. “Tell me. No more secrets, Raiden.”
He ground his teeth, his eyes wavering as he studied me.
“He was a Cipher.”
“How do you know he was?”
“He was in a nest we raided. He tried to kill me. He attacked. Had he come in for questioning, perhaps he would’ve survived.”
“Perhaps.” I laughed bitterly. “But you’re also the F.I.R.E. General. And you hate vamps. You would’ve killed him anyway.”
“Don’t paint me as the enemy, Everly,” Raiden grumbled. “I’d kill anyone with the means to hurt you. Know that. That vamp trash was Cipher.”
“You don’t know that—”
“I know it!” he shouted so loudly the floor trembled. “I’m not a murderer! I don’t just kill for the fun of it. That’s your vampire Cipher trying to poison your mind.”
I let out a gasp as Raiden reached forward and grasped my face between his hands, his body shaking.
“Don’t let him ruin you, Everly. Please. You were meant to be with a king, not a monster.” He rested his forehead against mine, his chest rising and falling quickly. “Please don’t go back to him. I’m begging you just this once. Listen to me.”
“And if I don’t?” I whispered.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” he choked out. “And my next step would devastate you.”
My heart thudded hard against my chest. “You’d hurt Nev?”
“For you, I’d burn down the entire world.”
