“Upset? With you? Perish the thought, my dear lady. Besides, I knew I would win you over eventually. I am irresistible, after all,” he said, grinning widely. Wyatt waited for her rebuttal, but it didn’t come.
“It seems you are,” Nev replied, smiling.
Wyatt thought for a brief moment about resisting his building desire for Nev’s touch, but he quickly acquiesced. If she thought he was irresistible, then he truly had no hope of opposing her. A fact he was totally fine with. He placed a finger to his mouth and winked at Nev. “Quick and quiet,” he suggested, grinning briefly before kissing Nev passionately.
The sound of giggling and muffled voices coming from the back bedroom caused Addi to roll her eyes in response. Wonderful, this is just going to be so much fun. I suppose I should pack some cloth for my ears, she thought. In truth, Addi was mostly happy for Wyatt. Well, she was happy if their relationship was how he presented it. Despite his easy-going nature and sweet personality, he’d always had difficulty making friendships. Also, as far as she knew, he had never had any girlfriend to speak of. Still, for him to have fallen in love in just over a week seemed strange. And what kind of woman falls in love with a man that quickly, she questioned.
The fact that the prowler from her nightmares had trespassed in her brother’s mind was terrifying. That fact alone would have been enough to push her to accompany them. Addi’s distrust of Nev’s motives, however, was all the more reason it was necessary to go with them. Wyatt needed her to look out for him, just as she always had. Nev was just the latest in a long list of things Addi had helped keep Wyatt safe from. He was her baby brother and damn if she was going to let harm come to him on her watch. She had promised their parents, after all. The last conversation they had, before the flu took them, was focused on her responsibility to look after Wyatt.
It was why the decision was easy for her to make when the enforcers started asking questions about rumors involving her and her brother. She’d tried to dissuade the investigation, and for a while, it seemed to be working. Then the prowler arrived in their tiny village. He immediately showed up at their house and began questioning Wyatt about rumors involving someone being hidden from the emperor. Addi knew she would never see Wyatt again if they discovered he was a Tink. The Marked, however, could return home—if they survived the testing, of course. So, Addi presented herself and volunteered to submit to testing. Immediately she was snatched by Sagrine. Wyatt and his abilities had remained safely left unnoticed.
She’d never told Wyatt about what happened to her once she left to be tested. She had endured and survived. Being allowed to go home was the only thing that mattered to Addi at the time. Upon her return, she had immediately packed up Wyatt and a few of their belongings before moving to the other side of Obsidia. She’d lived as an unregistered Marked in the years since. Living incognito carried a few risks, but it was what she needed to do to feel safe. At least safe enough to try and rebuild her life. Most people were satisfied she was following the rules when they saw she carried the brand that signified she had completed the testing.
Now Wyatt and this, Nev, had brought the focus of the prowler back into their lives. Addi had almost lost Wyatt once to that thing. She was not going to let it happen now. She took a deep breath before taking a quick inventory of what she already packed. With Wyatt’s room growing quiet, she decided it was time they were helpful. “If you are quite finished with whatever is so important back there, I could use some help,” she suggested loudly, making sure she sounded sufficiently annoyed.
Nev heard Addi yell back at them. Feeling suddenly embarrassed, she sighed and finished buckling her boots quickly.
Wyatt saw Nev hurrying to get dressed and pushed her back onto the bed, pinning her beneath him. “In a hurry?” he teased playfully.
Nev grunted and scowled at him, responding, “Your sister already hates me. The last thing I should do is keep her waiting.”
“Hates you? Never. How could anyone hate you?” he countered, still pinning her against the bed.
Nev glanced towards the door and replied, “Quite easily, it would seem.” She shoved Wyatt off her and went back to buckling her boots.
“Hey,” he interjected, kneeling below her and looking up at her. “You know she doesn’t actually hate you, right?” he inquired.
Nev looked at him unconvinced and finished latching the last buckle and then moved past him and stood up. She avoided his gaze and began checking her belt and pack for all her belongings.
“Nev,” he sighed with concern.
“It’s alright. I don’t blame your sister. I heard what that prowler said. Any woman who has been tested should hate me,” she surmised, exhaling deeply and pretending to be busier than she was.
Wyatt’s brow furrowed, and he grabbed Nev’s hands. He pulled them to his mouth before gently kissing them. “She doesn’t hate you. She hates him,” he assured before pausing briefly. He momentarily bit his bottom lip before continuing. “And possibly that you are the first girl… friend I have ever had,” he stammered, stumbling a bit over his words.
Nev looked confused and asked, “First, girlfriend? But in the cave, when I told you I never had… You acted like you had. You had, right?”
“Umm… no. Actually, that was the first time I had… had. I just felt like you were already feeling awkward. And that if a little fake bravado on my part made you feel better, then I was willing to… I don’t know… give it a try,” he suggested, sounding very unsure if he had either made a mistake before, now or both. “You aren’t mad, are you?” he asked cautiously as peeked up at her.
Nev thought for a long moment. “No, I’m not mad. I guess I’m glad that we both hadn’t,” she admitted, still looking unconvinced about something.
“So, everything is good? You still love me, I love you, and you know that Addi doesn’t hate you, right?” he asked, sounding hopeful.
“We are good. I still love you, and you still love me. And Addi still definitely hates me,” she contested with a half-smile.
Wyatt grumbled overly dramatically, “This is going to be so much more fun now. You, me, and Addi spending lots and lots of quality time together.”
Nev pulled him close, “Aww, poor you.”
Wyatt nodded and tried to sound extra pathetic. “Indeed, poor me,” he sighed playfully.
Nev grinned and kissed the tip of his nose. She leaned back and smiled before pointing to her cheek. “Think you could play healer now?” she asked.
“I suppose. Although, you do know that it is more fun to do before you get dressed, right? Or, at least, that is what I’ve been led to believe. Never done it and no false bravado here,” he added with a laugh.
Nev rolled her eyes at him. “Just stitch up my cheek,” she instructed, grinning and handing him his back his sash.
Chapter 21
Addi had her nose deep in a map when they both exited the bedroom. “Your healer skills must be severely lacking if it took you that long to get finished,” she suggested flatly, still staring at the map.
Nev felt her face flush as she stared at the ground.
Laughing out loud, Wyatt quipped, “Oh, you have no idea.”
Hearing his response, Nev shot daggers at him and felt completely embarrassed.
Wyatt just shrugged, smiled at her, and mouthed, “What?”
Addi looked up at them and shook her head. “Look, here,” she directed, pointing to the map. “Marsdon is about a two-week journey if we keep to the back roads and countryside. It’s far enough away and a large enough settlement that we should be able to blend in and disappear for a while. There are a few spots along the way with people Wyatt and I know. We’ll be able to sleep and resupply at those locations. I can get us to Marsdon, that isn’t what worries me. What worries me is what comes after that,” she admitted before looking directly at Nev.
Nev swallowed hard as she felt Addi staring suspiciously at her.
“We can…” Wyatt started to respond before Addi turned to hi
m and raised her open-palmed hand towards him. The message from his sister to stop talking was clear.
Addi returned her intense gaze to Nev. “My brother is sweet and courageous. He is also naïve,” she stated.
Wyatt grunted in protest, “Umm… and also standing right here.”
Addi ignored Wyatt and continued to press Nev. “You and Wyatt materialize in his bedroom and offer no explanation as to how that came to be. That is not even, shockingly, my greatest concern. Wyatt has told me about how you saved his life and about the prowler that pursues you. What he hasn’t told me is why. I am guessing you are Unmarked, yet you should be. You wear a shirt like I have never seen. Beyond that, you also carry the dagger—and I am guessing sword—that bears the insignia of House Colfax. Maybe Wyatt knows the truth, and maybe he doesn’t. Either way, I want to hear it from you. So, before I allow my brother to spend one more minute with you, I demand you answer one question. Who are you, really?” she demanded, with ferocity.
“Addi,” Wyatt interjected. He knew his sister could be fiercely protective of him, but he felt awful for leading Nev blindly into a confrontation.
Addi glared at Wyatt. “I love you, brother. I do. But I promised mother and father I would look after you and keep you from harm. And that means harm in all its shapes. Even if that shape is of a woman you are enamored with,” she proclaimed sternly.
Nev nodded acceptingly and moved to sit down in a nearby chair.
Wyatt gently grabbed her arm just before she sat down and pulled her close to him. “I will talk to her. You don’t have to do this, at least not like this,” he offered with regret. His eyes flashed at Nev with a profoundly apologetic expression as he stared at her.
Nev took a deep breath and pulled her arm free from his grasp. “No worries, remember,” she reminded softly. Sitting down in the chair with a heavy sense of apprehension, Nev tried to formulate an answer for Addi.
Wyatt nodded and pulled two chairs in front of Nev, gesturing for Addi to take one as he sat in the other. He leaned over to Addi and whispered, “Sister, you do have a right to know, but you didn’t have to ask this way.”
Addi felt a little guilt over how she had brought it up, but not over her insistence on knowing. Maybe Wyatt or Nev would have told her eventually, but she wasn’t going to put her brother in even more danger for a “maybe.” Listening to them giggle in the back room had just pushed her too far. Wyatt was obviously in no position to be unbiased. So, she alone would need to assess Nev and the threat she posed.
Wyatt sighed and thought the next time he got Nev alone in a tender moment, he wasn’t going to let either of them leave it. If things were destined to always be intense between them, then he knew which type of intensity he preferred, and it generally involved fewer weapons, threats, interrogations, or impending death.
Nev breathed in sharply and focused her mind. She felt Wyatt’s surge of warm, compressing energy travel across her hands and nodded softly before exhaling. “The sword and dagger bear the insignia of House Colfax because…” Nev explained, before taking a brief pause and a deep breath. “Because they belonged to my father and mother. My father told me who my mother was on the last day of his life. He explained that she was the Empress Astrella, but that she’d died when I was still an infant. During the coup, he somehow managed to escape with me, but not her. I was only a baby and have no memories of her or what happened to make us leave.
“He knew people would see me as a threat, and I would be hunted… always. So, he raised me alone, deep in the woods, where he trained me and loved me until Sagrine found us. My father allowed himself to be captured, tortured, and burned to death so that I could escape. I have been running ever since,” Nev remembered. Trembling and fighting back her tears, she stared at the floor while she wrung her hands tightly together.
Nev breathed in sharply before pushing herself to continue. “I’ve been hunted and alone every day of my life since my father died—until I met your brother. At least now I’m not alone,” she whispered, her voice and expression poignant and distant.
“Nev, you can take a break,” Wyatt suggested, feeling concerned and giving her a sad smile.
Addi was sifting through what Nev had told her. “No! That isn’t everything. That doesn’t explain how my brother got caught up in this,” she fumed as she dug her fingers into the chair.
“Addi, come on. You’re being a tad unreasonable,” he argued gently.
“NO! She doesn’t get to come in here and lay claim to you after what I endured to keep you safe. You don’t know what they did to me. What they have done to countless women. So, she could what? So, she could live in the woods and giggle with my brother in my home?” she thundered, sounding furious.
Wyatt knelt in front of Addi and squeezed her hands with his. “Hey, you are right. I owe you my life, and what happened to you was beyond wrong. But it wasn’t Nev’s fault. She didn’t make them hurt you or anyone else. She isn’t the one you are angry at, she is just… she is just the one here,” he stressed gently, trying to console her.
Addi pushed Wyatt back and stood up. “If she would just turn herself over to them, then they would stop. It would all stop, and you could be safe again. They told us every time they hurt us that they wished they didn’t have to. That the real threat was still out there and that it would only finally end once they had her. I had convinced myself they had lied. That there was no hidden heiress, but there was. She is right here,” Addi stammered, she was crying now and pacing with clenched fists.
Nev watched as Wyatt move to intercept Addi and wrap his arms around her, with Addi initially resisting before collapsing into him. It was a sad dance Nev knew well because she and Wyatt had done the same moves many times. Suddenly, Nev felt incredibly guilty. All she could think was, Addi does hate me, and she should. How long before Wyatt comes to the same realization and hates me too? The longer she watched Wyatt struggle to console Addi, the more Nev began to realize what she needed to do, especially since she truly did love him. You deserve so much better than the life you’ll have with me, she sighed.
She slipped back to Wyatt’s bedroom and closed the door softly. Leaning against the door with her back, tears began rolling down her cheeks. She carefully untied the piece of her baby blanket that she’d carried with her since her first night alone and laid it gently on Wyatt’s pillow. Climbing out through the open window, she felt the rain begin to fall. Quickly, Nev hurried off and disappeared down an alley.
Chapter 22
Addi was crumpled on the floor sobbing. “I’m sorry. I am so sorry,” she repeated over and over.
Wyatt wiped the tears from her face. “You don’t have anything to be sorry for, well not much anyway,” he replied, winking at her. “Although Nev, kind of felt like you hated her already. So, you’re probably going to need to make the apology a pretty good one,” he suggested, only half-jesting.
Addi looked up at him and gave him a small smile. “It all just came flooding back. I didn’t mean to yell at her like that. I just wanted to keep you safe and for someone to pay for what happened to me,” she offered softly.
“I know. And you do and they will,” Wyatt promised, helping her to her feet.
“I should apologize to her. Will you go get her?” she asked as she wiped her face with her hands.
Wyatt looked around, suddenly realizing Nev was no longer in the room with them.
Addi motioned towards Wyatt’s bedroom. “She went in there. I can’t blame her. I was being pretty awful to her,” she admitted, sounding regretful.
Wyatt was suddenly overwhelmed by a sinking feeling. Something was wrong. He ran to his room and threw open the door. He went through the motions of searching the rest of the house, but he already knew she was gone. He could feel it.
Addi watched Wyatt search the house and was overcome with guilt.
“She’s gone,” he lamented as he collapsed to the floor on his knees. “I promised not to let go. To keep her safe, and I failed her.”
Addi had only seen her brother this distraught twice in his life. First, when their parents died and then again when she was taken to be tested. She ran over to Wyatt and tried to think of something she could say that would comfort him. “Maybe… maybe she just stepped out for a moment,” she suggested.
Wyatt wanted to believe that, but he knew better. He could still feel Nev, but she was getting farther away, not closer. “I need a few minutes,” he muttered, walking towards the back bedroom. He closed the door and curled up on the bed with his eyes closed, still smelling the scent of her hair on his pillow. Something brushed his nose, and he opened his eyes. Focusing his sight on the piece of fabric that Nev always kept tied to her belt, his heart sank. She really is gone, he thought.
Nev ran and ran until her legs began to scream in protest, eventually coming to the shore of a large lake. The lake looked like black ink under the overcast sky, but hints of moonlight were trying to pierce the evening’s dark veil. Suddenly, she spotted what appeared to be a beached and aging dinghy. She approached it cautiously, scanning for anyone that may have noticed her abrupt arrival. There was a worn-down dock with an attached boathouse, both barely clinging to what they once were. Fortunately, she saw no one nearby.
After several minutes of working to urge the boat back into the lake’s embrace, she succeeded in launching it into the water. Rowing until all land had disappeared from view, her heart and muscles ached. Only after the shore was devoured by darkness did she allow herself to be seized by her exhaustion and emotions. Closing her eyes, she shuddered as the tears came. He would have come to hate me. Just as Addi does and almost as much as I do. So many have already been hurt because of me. He’s hurting now, but he will forget. Then his life will be better, and he will be safe, she promised herself.
She curled up in the bottom of the boat and hugged her knees tightly to her chest. “Plus, it’s my fate that keeps putting him in danger. I’ll face my demons, and then maybe I can let someone get close again. Maybe then I can let him get close again,” she lamented as she drifted out into the lake and off to sleep. In her dreams, Wyatt’s face was waiting for her.
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