by Rachel Jonas
“What’s with you two?” I’d been wanting to ask for months now.
Beth sat Roz’s things by the door before answering. “I just don’t like the girl,” she said plainly. “She’s a know-it-all. She’s a brat. She’s needy. She’s—”
“Everything you’re not?” I cut in with a smile.
Chuffing a short laugh, Beth nodded. “You could say that.”
It seemed like they still would’ve found a way to coexist without every interaction between them being a cold one, but I couldn’t judge. I had issues of my own.
We gathered the things we could carry, leaving the rest for the staff members who’d be by to bring it topside once the facility cleared out. Beth and I stood at the door, glancing back at the room we shared. I think we both perceived the uncertainty the future held.
***
Liam
The busses were filling fast.
That was the plan—get these kids out of here as quickly as possible. Having them out in the open, all at once, was the most critical part of this entire operation. I stood off in the distance, resting against my truck, watching the tree line for disturbances.
A set of heavy footsteps accompanied by the lighter variety approached from my right. I didn’t turn, shifting my eyes toward the entrance of the decoy house where Evangeline would be exiting any second.
“We’ve got ourselves a problem.” The announcement came from Dallas, the words rolling out slowly in his Southern drawl.
My shoulders heaved with a deep breath. “What else is new?”
Seemed all we had these days were problems. Here we were, leaving the facility, and they were still coming at us.
“I’ve heard from the Council just this morning,” Elise chimed in. “Apparently, Nicholas’ mother, Mrs. Stokes, has been inquiring about … ‘the girl’.”
I glanced at Elise just long enough to confirm she meant Evangeline, turning toward the house again when I asked, “What about her?”
“It seems Mrs. Stokes never approved of the short-lived relationship between the two and has suggested they consider what role she may have played in her son’s disappearance.”
“He didn’t disappear,” I said flatly. “The jackass ran away.”
Because that’s what cowards do …
“Either way, she’s making waves, calling attention to the problem, calling attention to Evangeline. Neither of which we need at the moment.” Elise paused and the air around us thickened, causing me to give my full attention when she went on.
“She spoke to Evangeline’s parents.”
My brow tensed and, instinctively, both fists clenched. “What do you mean she spoke to them? They don’t even remember her.”
Elise breathed deep. “Her intention was to find out if Evangeline had mentioned anything that might allude to where Nick’s gone, or any inkling there was more going on than their family has been told. Of course, the Callahan’s knew nothing, looked at her like she was insane for insisting they even had a daughter.” She paused again and I knew this was going to go from bad to worse when she turned away, choosing to watch the busses instead of looking in my eyes.
“In short, Mrs. Stokes is demanding answers,” Elise sighed, “threatening to seek help outside the Elders, outside the Council if need be, but she assured them she would get answers.”
I could take care of all this. Easily. However, as soon as I opened my mouth to suggest it, Elise spoke.
“And, no, you can’t kill her.”
“It’d fix the Council’s problem. It’d fix ours, ensure the woman can’t do anything stupid,” I countered.
“Makes perfect sense to me,” Dallas mumbled in agreement.
Elise eyed us wearily. “Need I remind you both of the importance of maintaining a low profile?”
“That’ll be hard to do if Momma Stokes’s antics compromise us,” Dallas added, taking the words right out of my mouth.
Shock filled Elise’s expression when Dallas continued to butt against her. “Just sayin’,” he added, lifting his hands in surrender.
Her gaze slipped back toward me. “Just be patient while I find out more.”
“No promises,” I said honestly.
She ignored my response and relayed the rest of the Council’s message. “In the meantime, they won’t allow Evangeline to return to Seaton Prep. Not just because of this latest issue. It would have required more magic to reintegrate her into the system, seeing as how she’s been wiped from half the staff’s memory. They’ve arranged for a tutor to come to the house twice a week and that will ensure she’s able to finish her coursework for the year. So, Liam, if you wouldn’t mind—”
When I took a deep breath and shoved off the side of my truck, Elise knew I understood. She wanted me to be the one to break the news.
I felt Evangeline before spotting her and Beth as they lugged heavy bags down the porch steps. I went to her, leaving Elise with a few parting words as I walked away.
“I’ll take care of it,” I sighed. “I always do.”
The twisting in my chest spun even faster when Evangeline and I locked eyes, tripled when she smiled. We were close now, the three of us within a few feet of one another.
I nodded toward Beth. “Afternoon.”
She nodded back, but didn’t speak. She was always so formal around me and I guessed it was because she knew me only as her instructor.
“Evie, I’ll text you in a bit,” she said in parting, offering another of her tense smiles. Before she could step away, I stopped her.
“You’re welcome to ride with us if you want,” I offered, aiming a thumb over my shoulder toward my truck. It’d be a little cramped, but there was room. Mostly, I just wanted her to know that, despite all she read about me, she could relax.
Her lips were tight when they turned upward. “Thanks,” she began, blinking profusely. “But I already had the guys hold a seat for me.”
And by ‘guys’ I assumed she referred to Chris and Lucas.
I smiled back. “Suit yourself. Just text Evangel … Evie,” I corrected, “if you change your mind.”
“Will do.” With that, she headed for the bus.
The weight of a black duffle bag shifted from Evangeline’s shoulder to mine when I relieved her of it. Our steps toward my truck were slow as we exchanged words for the first time today.
“You’ll have to forgive Beth,” she said with a smile. “In her mind, you’re basically a celebrity.”
The idea of anyone regarding me in that way was laughable.
“She’s like your super fan or something.”
I shook my head. “Kind of strange she’d find anything honorable about my darker years.”
All the killing. The bloodlust.
“Beth’s a different breed,” Evangeline said with a laugh. “She’s a bit rougher around the edges than the rest of us. She likes the blood and guts of it all.”
I tossed the duffle into the bed of my truck and caught her gaze before heading around to open the passenger side door. There was a look in them that wouldn’t let me go.
I smiled a bit. “What?”
Evangeline’s head tilted to the side as she studied me. “You really don’t think there was anything honorable about your past? About the wars you fought?”
During that time, my heart was as black as night—cold, empty. While the side I fought on may have been the side of righteousness, my reasons for getting involved were anything but righteous. I wanted to kill, wanted to bring pain and darkness to others because it was eating me alive. I liked taking lives.
Not wanting to taint her innocence with such a response, I simply shook my head. “It’s not that simple.”
Maybe she sensed it in my tone that I didn’t want to talk about it, because she didn’t press. Instead, she climbed into her seat and only thanked me.
By the time I got in and started the engine, the busses had done the same as a few stragglers rushed from the facility. The compartments with the remaining pieces of lugg
age the staff brought up were closed tightly. In front of us, the brake lights of a black sedan glowed red as Elise and Dallas prepared to lead the way back to Seaton Falls—a journey I don’t think anyone dreaded quite like Evangeline.
I reached for her hand, squeezing when I took it. There was nothing I could say to make this easier, so I didn’t bother trying.
My gaze shifted toward the decoy house we’d dwelled beneath for so many months, thought of all that had changed while we were here. In this place, she reunited with her mother, found her way back to me, found herself.
She took a deep breath as I put the truck in drive, pulling off right behind Dallas as he drove Elise’s car carefully through the rough terrain. The busses were leaving as well. I watched from the rearview mirror, still keeping an eye out for anything out of place.
After weeks of preparation, we were on our way.
The first few hours were mostly quiet, especially after I broke the news of her being tutored for the rest of the year. She said she didn’t mind not going back to Seaton Prep, but I imagined this, along with everything else, just added to the mounting changes she was going through.
Had it not been for the radio, it would have been completely silent. Evangeline changed positions every ten minutes or so—from leaning on the window to leaning on my shoulder. Restless.
“Looking forward to having your own room again?” I asked just to make conversation.
She forced a weak smile and shrugged. “Sharing with Beth wasn’t bad. She’s good company.”
“Well, rest assured, whatever house Elise picked out, your bedroom is likely to be the size of a modest apartment. She’s always had grandiose taste,” I said with a laugh.
“Have you seen pictures?”
I shook my head. “No, but I know your mother.”
Evangeline smiled. “Maybe I’ll wander inside your head if I ever get lonely.”
“Or … you could always just wander down the hall and visit,” I suggested.
Glancing over, I noted the red twinge to her cheeks before she spoke again.
“My mom would’ve loved you,” she said amidst the bubbly sound of easy laughter.
“And your father?” I asked.
The question earned me a huge grin. “Are you kidding? You would’ve been his worst nightmare.”
I didn’t take offense. Actually, I found the answer amusing. “Why’s that?”
A warm glance passed over me, landing on my arms just beneath the hem of a white t-shirt, then my chest, and eventually my face before answering.
“Because … you look like the authority on talking your way into girls’ beds,” she grinned.
I turned away, keeping my eyes on the road ahead, but feeling the smoothness of her leg beneath my palm.
“Not ‘girls’, plural,” I corrected. “Just one. Doesn’t that count for something?”
My knuckles warmed when she shifted in her seat, unconsciously squeezing my hand between her thighs.
“It may not have made a difference to my dad,” she replied vaguely, leaving me to reach my own conclusion—that being the one and only mattered to her.
My heart, nor my body, had ever wanted another.
Her head made its way back to my shoulder, and this time she was more content, running both hands up my bicep as she settled in.
“I’m okay with going back,” she said out the blue.
I listened, but didn’t speak. This was a far cry from where her head was a few days ago. Maybe she’d put things into perspective between then and now … or maybe she just wanted to seem brave, fearing the rest of us would think less of her if she didn’t.
“I talked with Hilda the other day and I think it helped me focus,” she added.
Talks with Hilda had a way of doing that, helping you focus on the issue at hand because she wasn’t one to deal with the extra fluff.
“What changed?”
She shrugged, gathering her thoughts and, meanwhile, I tried to keep mine clear. Easier said than done as the tips of her fingers traced a tattoo. Her touch had always, and would always, be a distraction.
“Hearing her break everything down just made me grateful—grateful to be alive, grateful my parents didn’t meet a worse fate, grateful I have Elise.” I felt the heat of her stare when she went on. “Grateful I have you.”
She pressed a kiss to my arm. At the feel of warm, sticky lip gloss against my skin, coating her fleshy lips, I toyed with the idea of pulling off the road. Maybe no one would notice if we disappeared from our convoy for an hour or two. I went over the entire scenario as the heated tension between us thickened. It was always there—heavy like sultry air before a downpour. The waiting … it was enough to bring me to my knees, begging.
But then she rested her head against my shoulder, and just like that, I was reminded of her innocence. Reminded of our unspoken vow to take things slow and steady.
“As long as I have you, I’ll be okay,” she breathed.
Those words settled on my heart. I waited half my life to hear her say she felt that way again.
Her hand slipped down to mine. She caressed my palm a moment before letting her fingers travel to my ring—one that matched her brothers’. I only recently believed I had reason to bother wearing it again. Before, I didn’t much care whether I lived or died.
“Promise you’ll never take this off.” It was a solemn request, one filled with the knowledge of how final death would be if I did. Long lashes that shrouded the most beautiful set of eyes I’d ever seen fluttered toward me.
“Promise me,” she breathed a second time.
I nodded, assuring her. “You have my word.”
With that she settled again, getting comfortable at my side, watching the back of Elise’s car as Dallas barreled down the freeway—fast, reckless, like an immortal with a million lives to live.
We had several driving hours under our belts and when Dallas pulled off at the next rest stop, I guessed either he, Elise, or Hilda needed to stretch their legs.
Evangeline stayed seated when the engine went quiet. Moving my fingers from the handle, I leaned back in my seat, waiting to see if she intended to step out or not. When she continued to gaze out her open window, I guessed she didn’t.
Her tongue peeked out from between lush lips when she wet them, breathing deep right after. Something seemed to be troubling her, but I never expected the words, “I’m sorry,” to tumble from her mouth.
I frowned, wondering why on Earth she was apologizing.
“For?”
Her lids shielded me from the brown centers of her eyes when she blinked—long, hard, contemplative.
“For fighting you all this time about Nick. For not believing he was who and what you said he was,” she explained. “I’m sure that caused you undue stress.”
It was completely unnecessary for her to even bring it up, but I appreciated it nonetheless.
“Apology accepted,” I said quickly, no need to even give it a second thought.
“You never asked.” She turned after making the vague statement. “When we left Seaton Falls, I was hellbent on making things work with him. Then, when we got to the facility … I barely said one word to you about him,” she added. “And you never asked why—never asked where things stood between he and I.”
She didn’t seem upset, just puzzled.
When I shrugged, I put my thoughts to words. “Because he never mattered.”
That was the simplest way I could put it. In the big scheme of things, with the centuries Evangeline and I shared, Nick was merely a blip on the radar. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind she’d eventually realize it, too. And I had nothing but time to wait until she did.
One corner of her mouth tugged up into a smile. “You were that confident I wouldn’t let things go too far with him?”
I replied as honestly as I could. “No, but I did know you’d eventually feel what I feel, and you’d be just as powerless against it as I am.”
Truth was, she’d alw
ays been stubborn as a mule. No one could make Evangeline do anything she didn’t want to. No one could stop her from pursuing something she believed in. And, for a while, her relationship with Nick was one of those things she believed in. There was nothing I, or anyone else, could tell her to change her mind. It would take her seeing it for herself.
And, while I wasn’t sure what the tipping point was exactly, I was sure he’d shown her whatever she needed to see.
So, here she was, beside me, latched to my arm. Right where she belonged.
Elise approached the open passenger-side window with a cheeky grin and bag in hand. Passing it to Evangeline without a word, she headed back to her car. The plastic rustled when Evangeline dug inside, and the moment she smiled, I guessed what she’d been given.
“Seems she didn’t forget my weakness either,” she grinned, dangling one of several candy bars between her fingers.
The bag was tucked between her feet where she could easily reach it when she wanted, and then her eyes went to Elise. Warmth filled her expression and the look gave me hope where none existed before.
Evangeline may not have fully accepted it yet, but I wasn’t the only one she needed. Her mother was waiting for her to come around, holding back all the love she had to give for when her only daughter was ready to receive it. Evangeline couldn’t have understood how important she was to all of us and it had nothing to do with anyone wanting her to be queen. For all we cared, she could run from the throne all her life and it wouldn’t change how we felt about her. When she was gone, we all fell apart, went to dark places, at times hoping for death to quench the loss.
Now that we had her back, we’d all been given a second chance. Not just her.
Her heart was incredible. She had the capacity to love and forgive like no one I’d ever seen before. These were only a few reasons I was confident that, when the day finally did come that she must choose to accept her role as queen, she’d be the fairest the lycans could ever hope for. Under her rule, it’d be the dawn of a new day.
To them, she’d be the compassionate sovereign they always wanted, always deserved.
