Evermore (The Night Watchmen Series Book 5)

by Candace Knoebel

  “I helped him flesh out a spell he could weave into the mechanics of the machine. Watched him draw up ideas within the sheets of my bed. I had no idea it would ever come to fruition. Then again, I didn’t foresee him being my end either.”

  She coughs a couple of times, and I try to act like I don’t notice the blood staining the napkin she wipes her mouth with.

  “The point is, there is an opposite to everything that exists. If the machine he made can siphon, then it can also be—”

  “Manipulated to give,” I say as her words begin to take form.

  She watches me, almost as if she’s surprised I caught on so quickly. “Yes. You could overpower the spell it runs off. You could manipulate it.”

  “And he doesn’t know I’ve brought you back,” I say, continuing with her train of thought. “He doesn’t even know I’ve found you,” I say, thinking it through. “And if you are bound to me, then if I die, you die. If I overpower the machine to reach him, then I could make the final decision.”

  She nods and adds, “Which is why you must ensure you die together. You must have a hold on him up until your last breaths, and then guide him to where you want him to go.”

  The Dwelling.

  “Can we do it so it won’t affect my friend? He’s tied to me through an affinity link. I don’t want anything to happen to him should this work.”

  Cecilia nods. “Blood magic is different from the magic your Coven uses. The bind is only from my soul to yours. It has nothing to do with the mind, which is where the link you share with that boy rests.”

  I don’t know why, but a sense of calm washes over me. A comfort in knowing the end before it happens. Knowing debts will be paid and an evil that has harbored over my people for centuries will finally reap what he sowed.

  “How do we do this?” I ask, anchoring myself in her solid gaze.

  Setting the last and final trap.

  BY NIGHTFALL, ELIZA IS RELEASED.

  Over the monitor on the apartment wall, Mack relays that we’ll be prepping for departure at dawn once the plans have been finalized with the Divine. He tells us to have a nice meal and to sleep well. He says all this with more confidence than I’ve seen in him in quite a while. Like he’s sure we’re going to find Mourdyn and put him down.

  As if it’s that easy.

  Katie calls me shortly after and invites me over for dinner with her mother.

  I can’t say no.

  Jaxen joins me, and he even dresses in a nice button-down shirt and a pair of trousers. I remain in my Night Watchmen uniform. A small part of me, the rebellious, immature part, wants to revel in the fact that I became more than Eliza ever projected I would be. Wants to make her see it.

  Jaxen takes my hand in his. We head through the sequester toward Katie’s home on the other side of the canal. A light snow trickles down from the sky as the stars play hide-and-seek behind the darkened clouds.

  When Katie opens the door to the house she shares with Jezi, she jumps into my arms. “You came!” she says, pulling me into the house at once. The warmth of the room wraps around us, thawing our cheeks the moment we cross the threshold.

  Jezi and Weldon are on the couch. They are curled up underneath a blanket near the roaring fireplace, watching the nightly Watchmen news. Weldon nods a hello to Jaxen and me as we pass by, following Katie into the kitchen.

  Chett is setting the last of the plates on the table that’s filled with a feast fit for a king. There’s a large roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, bread… there’s even a pie cooling on the counter that Eliza is putting her finishing touches too.

  This is the kind of meal I remember having at Katie’s. If Eliza was good at anything, it was cooking, and that thought alone sends tiny cracks through my hardened heart.

  Jonathon had always boasted about Eliza’s cooking. He went back for seconds, and sometimes even thirds, and always insisted I take some home to my parents when it was time for me to go.

  And now he’s gone.

  “It smells amazing, Mrs. Coccia,” Jaxen says politely, pulling my chair out before taking his seat.

  “Yes,” I agree, allowing myself to take in the heavenly scents. If I’m going to have a last meal, at least it will be a meal like my mother’s.

  Katie sits next to me at the head of the table as Chett takes his seat on the opposite side. She smiles when Eliza goes around the table, pouring us a punch she brewed. “I still can’t believe you’re here,” she says, watching her mother through the eyes of the little girl I used to know.

  Eliza returns the smile, and then pours two extra glasses for Weldon and Jezi. “Would you be a dear and take these out to them, and maybe invite them to eat with us?” she asks Katie. Always so formal and proper.

  Katie takes the tray into the living room and returns with Jezi and Weldon, who stare at the table with hungry eyes.

  “We didn’t want to impose,” Jezi says as she takes her seat next to me. Weldon sits next to Jaxen, and then everyone fills their plates, exchanging pleasant chatter and smiles.

  Eliza looks to Weldon when he passes the last of the dishes after only taking a slice of chicken. “You’re not hungry?”

  Weldon looks down for a moment, and it’s the first time I think I’ve ever seen him pause before saying something slick.

  “This kind of food doesn’t really offer him nutrition,” Jezi tries to explain without going into the gory details at the dinner table.

  “Oh?” Eliza says in question.

  “I’m part demon, ma’am,” Weldon explains, looking up.

  Eliza offers a smooth smile. “Well, no mind. You can still enjoy the punch!” She holds her glass up for a toast. When we lift ours, she says, “I just wanted to thank you all for taking care of my Katie while I was… away. I’m sure you must have your reservations about me, but everything I did, I did thinking it was best for her.” Her eyes connect with Katie’s as she adds, “I still do what I think is best for you.”

  “I love you, Mom,” Katie says, and then we all take a sip before digging into our food.

  My senses are overwhelmed by the taste. I didn’t realize how hungry I was until I take a bite of chicken. The silence that comes with eating follows as we all hover over our plates, stuffing our faces and offering compliments here and there to the chef.

  And then it happens.

  I should have trusted my gut from the moment Katie received the first letter.

  Jezi is the first to yawn, followed by Katie, Chett, Jaxen, and then me. The fog of sleep comes on quick and hard, like being run over by a truck. Jezi’s head is the first to drop onto her plate as Eliza looks on like a conductor in a symphony, preparing her final piece.

  Katie is next, followed by Chett, and then Jaxen.

  That’s when I realize.

  Eliza stands from her chair, the scraping sound grinding against my eardrums. She’s wearing a winning grin as I fight to keep my eyes open. As I curl my fingers around the end of the butter knife, trying to convince my muscles to work so I can lift it and throw it at her.

  I blink sluggishly, feeling like my blood has turned to sand. Watching as Weldon struggles across from me, his eyebrows furrowing as if he can’t make out what’s happening to him.

  His head falls next.

  “Love is a blinding emotion, is it not?” Eliza says as she moves around the table in my direction, carrying a glass of a grassy-looking concoction. I’m desperately struggling for air, for more space than just the few inches away from this table, as she stops in front of me. “I just wish I could see the look on Mack’s face when he realizes the men who returned from Mourdyn’s supposed location weren’t the same men he sent out. To think I would just give up his location like that. Mourdyn will be found when he’s good and ready.”

  I struggle for words. Fight for a breath.

  She picks my head up by the hair, and it takes all my effort not to scream from the sharp pain. “Drink,” she orders, pressing the cup to my lips.

  The brew
has a mossy taste to it and goes down thick like tar. But, within minutes, the fog begins to lift, my power returning to me. Volation streams down my arms as I aim my power at her, but she’s one step ahead.

  The moment my eyes clear, I see her standing behind Katie. Katie is holding a knife pressed to her own throat, head hanging slightly, eyes sealed shut.

  But it’s not just any knife. It’s a copy of the Dagger of Retribution.

  For a moment, the world stops spinning and all that exists is that knife against Katie’s throat and me. It’s like ice has been dumped inside my bones, freezing me in place. Paralyzing my thoughts until, suddenly, the fear shifts and changes, leaving me sharp and focused.

  I zone in on the knife. I can spell it away from her.

  “Do it and she dies,” Eliza says as Katie presses the knife closer, enough so that a trickle of blood bubbles up over it. “She is under my control, and she has already been ordered to take her own life, with any means necessary, if something happens to me.”

  My head is pounding, beating as hard as my heart. “Why?” It’s the only word I can form through the blinding anger replacing my blood.

  “Get up,” she says, not bothering to answer me.

  Katie is the first to stand. I stand with her, feeling as if the walls are closing in on me. Feeling like if I could just get that knife away from Katie, then I would drive it straight through Eliza’s heart. Cut out all the dark parts of her soul so she can never exist again.

  She reaches under the sink for a small bag. Starts setting out ingredients until I realize she is going to cast a spell. “Too many people think they have to be the strongest or the fastest to matter in the world. And, sometimes, those attributes come in handy, but as for me, I’ve always relied on my brain. Not just that, but on my patience as well. So many generations don’t appreciate the value of lying in wait. The rewards that come with taking the time to let things happen as they should.”

  I reach out to Andre and The Seven, trying to relay that I’m in trouble, praying they hear me and understand. “What are you going to gain from this, Eliza? Even if you succeeded with whatever you’re trying to do, Mourdyn will still be taken out, and Katie will never forgive you.”

  She flicks a smile over her shoulder. “You really are confident, aren’t you?”

  She turns back to the mortar she’s now grinding ingredients together in. A second later, she sprinkles some over the flames lit on the black candles, and then incants words in a language I’ve only heard in Sanura’s tongue. When she’s done, she turns back to us, dusting her hands off.

  “There,” she says proudly. “Now we can get on with it.”

  “What did you just do?” I ask, trying to buy time as I reach out to Weldon.

  There’s nothing but silence.

  “I cloaked us so we can slip by the annoying and overly kept guards within the Divine’s quarters. We can’t very well bring the rest of the Darkyns in without putting a crack in that pesky veil, now can we? Besides, you have a date waiting on your arrival.”

  Fear is a fist wrapped around my throat, drawing my muscles tight. Time smacks me in the face.

  She’s going to take me to Mourdyn.

  “Shall we?” Eliza asks, studying me closely.

  Katie turns, knife still pressed to her throat, and heads for the door. I move in behind her, so close I can see the serrated edge of the blade pressed against her skin. Rage drowns out all thoughts. I can’t let her be a part of this. I can’t let anything happen to her. I can’t do what I need to if I’m worried about what’s going to happen to her.

  In a flash, I have the knife from Katie’s hand pressed against Eliza’s throat. “The only place we’re going to go is right back to the correctional facility where you can be handled,” I say, pressing it tighter against her neck.

  Sickening laughter trickles through the short bit of air Eliza is able to exhale. “Is… that… what you… think?”

  She doesn’t have to say more. Fear becomes a winged creature inside my chest. I watch in horror as Katie turns to the fireplace and sticks her hand out, reaching into the flames as if she could grab a hold of them.

  “Katie, no!” I drop the knife and rush for Katie, knocking her over onto the stairs as the putrid scent of burning flesh and hair assaults my nose. My eyes water as my hand covers hers, whispering a healing spell. Tears rush down my face as I tell her how sorry I am. As I try to shake her awake.

  Her eyes never even blink.

  “I told you, she is under my control,” Eliza says as she marches over to us with the knife in her hand. “If I die, she knows what to do. If I am harmed, she knows what to do. Catch my drift?”

  I feel The Seven moving closer, and a ripple of fear courses through me. If they try to stop her… My eyes fall on Katie. “All right. I will take you there, but you have to follow me,” I say, not wanting a repeat of Katie hurting herself.

  Eliza’s smile is cold and trapping, like she knows she has me right where she wants me. She nods to the door, keeping her hand on Katie, and waits for me to hold true to my words.

  It takes all my courage and strength to stand. To leave behind my friends and turn the handle to the door, knowing I’m about to meet the end. Never getting the chance to say goodbye. But, with a tight breath, I turn the handle.

  It’s time to face Mourdyn.

  WE HEAD INTO THE NIGHT toward the Divine’s quarters.

  I pull on Weldon’s power, moving us in the opposite direction from where The Seven are traveling, draining the lights one after the other to move us through shadows. Every jump feels like a curse against my soul. Feels like a step toward an ending. I reach out to One and shove an order at him to go and warn the others. To prepare the Elites for an incoming attack.

  Because, no matter what, Eliza will take me to Mourdyn.

  I gather up my strength as the link fades between Weldon and me, and use it to propel us through the last shadow, putting us right outside the Divine’s door. “We’re here now. Can you please let her go?” I ask, looking to Katie with my fists curled at my sides.

  “No,” Eliza says coldly. “Open the door.”

  I close my eyes and turn the knob, swallowing thickly. Preparing for anything.

  We’re greeted by silence. By a room empty except Cecilia, who rises from a chair. “Welcome, brother,” she says with a smile, almost as if she had been waiting for us.

  Brother?

  The world comes to a screeching halt when she says this.

  “Where are the others?” Eliza asks, pushing me into the room and shutting the door behind her. I’m still trying to wrap my mind around why Cecilia called Eliza ‘brother’. About how he fits into this equation.

  “I knew you’d be coming, so I arranged for them to be elsewhere tonight.” Knowledge pulses in her eyes as she looks to me and offers a reassuring smile.

  It does little to quell the storm brewing inside me.

  “I want Alesteria and Wistar here. I want to see the looks on their faces as I drive this dagger into Alesteria’s heart,” Eliza says, her voice changing, taking on deeper tones of hatred and malice.

  “I know,” Cecilia says easily, almost sympathetically. “However, you will have to make do with me.”

  Eliza pushes me further in the room, hand still on Katie’s shoulder. I nearly stumble over my feet as I search Cecilia’s face for a sign of what she wants me to do, because she can’t possibly want to die. But she doesn’t look to me. She keeps her eyes on Eliza, who is now moving Katie around the room, inspecting things.

  “I guess it doesn’t matter. If it doesn’t happen now, it will happen later, after I drain the Everlasting and regain my powers,” she says, shoving Katie away from her. Eliza turns. When she locks eyes with me, my blood drains to the bottom of the earth. Her eyes are not her own anymore. They’re clouded white, a sneer across her lips.

  “You won’t survive the night, Mourdyn,” Cecilia says in a confident tone as she makes her way to where Katie stands.
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  Eliza scoffs. “And you know this how? I’ve cloaked myself from you. Not even your powers could scratch the surface of blood magic.”

  Cecilia stands firm. “Maybe. Maybe not. Are you going to get on with it… or are you going to putter around like the schoolboy you are, waiting for someone else to do your dirty work?”

  I don’t know why she’s egging him on, pushing him toward an end I’m not sure I can save her from.

  Eliza’s lips curl as she flips the dagger in her hand and stalks over to Cecilia. But she doesn’t stop in front of Cecilia. My blood screams, or maybe I do, as she drives the dagger through Katie’s stomach, smirking in Cecilia’s face. “How’s that for dirty work? You can take the blame for that one, Ceci.”

  I. See. Red.

  I scream out, volation coursing down my arms as I rush Eliza until we both fall. I land a punch, and then another and another, until she has me flipped over, hands on my throat, reaching for the dagger that fell at Cecilia’s feet.

  “I’m going to kill you!” I shout, reaching for the power inside her. It’s deep and dark, like an ocean of oil, too thick to absorb all at once.

  “Stop,” I hear Cecilia say, but I don’t. I want to murder her. I want to take the life away from her the same way she’s taken Katie’s. I pull enough to loosen the grip she has on my neck, and then draw an elbow sharp across her face, watching a tooth fly within a puddle of blood.

  Eliza falls beside me and I stand, using the momentum to pull hard on her magic. Ripping and tearing at her insides until I find what I’m looking for—him.

  He’s lodged deep inside her, rooted through magic like a parasite. I use my magic to form fists around the darkness spread inside her and tug as hard as I can, trying to rip it away.

  “Faye,” Cecilia says, and the odd tone in her voice forces me to look her way. The crippled sound it takes, like she’s trying to speak through pain. She has healed Katie, but there’s something off about her. A crimson stain that shouldn’t be there. Blood is flooding the front of Cecilia’s dress, and it takes me too many seconds to piece together that she has stabbed herself.