by Rachel Jonas
These were all the reasons I avoided his calls, his texts just to check in after we made it home from our run-in with the Sovereign. I knew he only wanted to know I was okay—and, actually, to know Liam was okay—but I shut everyone out while I tried to cope with it all. Even calls to Beth were few and far between. As I stood before him today, Nick seemed to understand my recent detachment hadn’t been anything personal.
His lips parted to speak, but halted when Roz’s name was called from across the lot. Waving her in his direction, wearing a less-than-happy expression, was Officer Chadwick.
A breath puffed from Roz’s lips and it was clear she would have preferred to stay with Nick, but alas.
“Guess that’s my cue,” she sighed, glancing up toward Nick.
He nodded. “It’s cool. I’ll call you later.”
She reached up to loop her arms around his neck, and after a brief embrace, she jogged toward her father.
It was just Nick and I.
“I was going to say I’m glad to see you out. Beth said you’ve had a lot going on.”
I nodded, confirming. “Yeah, that’s one way of putting it.”
My thoughts immediately went back to Liam, to the strange mood I returned to find him in today. It honestly put me in a funk, too, bringing out a depth of sadness I wasn’t sure most people were able to feel for another.
But I felt it for him.
His emotions, like always, were mine.
“Crazy stuff they’re talking about, right?” Nick aimed a thumb over his shoulder, gesturing toward the building where we’d just been informed Seaton Falls would soon be a town strictly composed of shifters. At least temporarily.
“It’s insane,” I concurred. At first, he smiled, but then it faded.
Quickly.
What was left behind was a tense brow and closed lids that hid Nick’s eyes from me.
I was just about to ask if something was wrong, but he spoke again, forcing the words from his throat.
“I’m sure it’s mostly a precaution, but still. It makes it all feel real, like it’s actually happening.”
He flinched a bit when he finished speaking, and I no longer had to guess if he was in pain.
My concern for him grew.
“Nick …” I stepped closer.
Maybe it was a headache, one of the ones that came on suddenly. This one seemed to have stolen whatever words he would have said next as he gripped his temples.
I stepped a little closer, and this time, I instinctively placed a hand on his shoulder, opening my mouth to ask if he was okay.
I didn’t get the chance. At my touch, he shrugged away like I had the plague. Like I had been the cause of all this.
I didn’t understand.
“Are you … okay?” It seemed like a dumb question as he began to recoil, inching away from me.
“You don’t … you don’t hear that?”
The question made me glance around, thinking I’d missed something. I paused, listened harder, and then looked him over again—the redness in his face, tension in his jaw.
“No,” I breathed, suddenly aware of a chill in the air. “I don’t hear anything.”
He stepped back even further, and instinctively, so did I. It wasn’t that I was afraid of him, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit my concern.
Considering our history, mine with his grandfather.
“It’s like … buzzing or … electricity,” he tried to explain. “And it’s louder than your heartbeat.”
That was something we’d both gotten used to—his ability to hear my pulse racing like it was now. This new sound, the one that seemed to overshadow all others, driving him mad … I was as clueless as Nick was as to what caused it.
The hairs on my arms stood on end and I shuddered. This time it had nothing to do with the trace of cold air winter had left behind.
It was fear. I knew that feeling well.
My eyes shifted left and then right, taking note of who was still around, who might be able to help if things suddenly turned ugly. I accepted the fact that the event we both dreaded may finally be upon us.
Maybe this was it—the moment he could no longer fight his nature.
“I have to go,” he huffed, forcing the words out through clenched teeth.
He took several more steps back and I stared at his feet. The distance between us grew and I couldn’t explain why I felt relieved by that, relieved that someone I considered a friend was getting as far away from me as possible.
Shouts from the left drew my attention there. They were the voices of his brothers calling him in the direction of what I guessed to be his ride. Only, he wasn’t answering. Instead, he took off in a full sprint toward the woods. Richie turned to me, looking about as confused as I felt. When I shrugged, letting him know I didn’t have an answer for the question in his stare, his gaze followed Nick into the trees where he disappeared.
Screeching tires caused every head to turn, including Elise’s from where she and Dallas watched discreetly from the car. I turned to where I’d just watched Nick run off and couldn’t help but to wonder what was happening.
Was he changing again? Going deeper into the darkness.
My heart raced as yet another threat was apparently beginning to surface. Deep down in my gut I knew whatever had just happened was a sign.
The Sovereign was easy to spot as an adversary. He made it clear it was my head he wanted served to him on a platter. However, there was another, one I regarded as a friend. One I’d underestimated once before.
Friend or not, it was time to accept something I’d fought for quite some time now.
Nick was beginning to lose control, and when he did … he’d come for me.
Chapter Twelve
Evie
I was distracted and grateful I wasn’t expected to take part in the spell. While I’d been at Beth’s, Hilda coerced Maisy into assisting with the first portion—a preliminary ‘seasoning’ as she called it—and now they were delving into phase two.
Liam would have blown a gasket if he knew I was even in the vicinity of the beast Hilda and Elise brought into the house. However, in order to blow a gasket, he would have to know I was even down here.
When we came in from the meeting, I didn’t bother heading upstairs to check in. There were many reasons. For one, I knew for a fact he preferred to be alone right now and there was also the strange incident with Nick. I was confused and wanted to sort through my thoughts before jumping to conclusions, before telling Liam what I suspected.
So, here I sat, perched in a chair just outside the false wall in the basement where, beyond it, the sound of undecipherable chants grew louder. Through the sliver where Elise left it cracked when she went in, bright green light filtered through, swirling a peculiar pattern on the wall beside me.
There was a real chance of the spell working this time. If it did, things around here would undergo yet another significant change. My brothers would be back, for one. Meaning, Hilda and Elise would get their wish; our precious numbers would be up.
The volume rose even higher, the sounds coming forth making my skin crawl. I could only imagine what was taking place in there, but dared not venture inside. While I was positive Maisy’s magic couldn’t affect me, and I was equally sure Hilda took extra precautions, I still wanted nothing to do with that disgusting witch. Laying eyes on her as the guards held her down … I was sure I’d have nightmares for years to come.
Eventually, things went quiet. The commotion that had nearly shaken the house only moments before ceased completely. The silence was eerie.
A door crept open, and then the seam in the wall widened as Elise emerged, clutching a violet-colored stone too large to close her fingers around it. There was no missing the nervous excitement in her expression. She bore the look of the skeptically hopeful.
I smiled at her. It was tense and reserved, but it was the best I could offer.
“So?” I breathed. “How’d it go?”
Sh
e took slow steps as her eyes danced across the floor, still doing all she could to bridle her enthusiasm.
“Better than expected,” she stated. “Maisy cooperated, thanks to Hilda being quite skilled at persuading others to bend to her will.”
I found myself not wanting to know what that entailed. Maisy didn’t strike me as the ‘bend to another’s will’ kind of witch.
“Did it … work?”
The question left my mouth quietly, my own nervousness getting in the way.
It took a moment, but Elise finally flashed a smile.
“It’s a bit early to tell, but I believe so. All that’s left to do is wait,” she concluded, placing a hand on my shoulder as she sauntered toward the steps. I didn’t linger in the basement long either, mostly because I was still kinda creeped out by Maisy.
I ascended and then crossed the foyer, heading up another flight of stairs. When I got there, I stood in the hall, hesitating in the space between my bedroom and Liam’s, wondering if it’d be okay to knock. It didn’t take long to realize I didn’t yet have the nerve. So, I changed first, sat on my bed a while to stall, and even stared over the balcony thinking the fresh air would help.
It didn’t.
It seemed strange there was so much distance right now, considering what had transpired between us a mere twenty-four hours ago. A girl could get insecure being blown off so soon after giving herself to a guy. Only, I knew better than to let my mind wander in that direction. The one thing I knew for sure, period, was that Liam’s love for me was the fiercest I ever experienced. There was never a question of whether last night meant as much to him as it meant to me.
It was the rationalizing I did on the balcony that brought me to my senses. Liam could have his space, but only after I made sure to let him know I cared. After that, I had no problem leaving him to his own devices while I slept alone in my own bed.
But he did need to know.
I crossed the hall quickly before I lost the nerve. Movement on the other side of the door after I knocked had me running a hand through my hair, straightening my hoodie over the waistband of my shorts.
There was music—low enough someone with normal hearing wouldn’t have even heard unless they were within a foot or two of the radio, but I picked up on it right away. The earthy tone of an acoustic guitar and a soulful male voice accompanied Liam’s footsteps as he neared the door.
He answered and the sight of him still made me lose my breath. My chest heaved when I laid eyes on this living, breathing work of art. Even broody and sad, he was impossibly perfect—his dark hair pulled back into a disheveled bun, his torso lacking a shirt as a pair of tattered jeans rode low on his hips.
I blinked and lifted my gaze, trying to focus on his greenish-brown eyes.
“Ca—can I come in?” I stammered, fidgeting with my nails while I struggled to concentrate on only his face, trying to distract myself from … well … all the rest.
He nodded, stepping aside to let me pass. He still hadn’t said actual words, which was strange.
Behind me, the door latched gently. He took a few steps and then stopped, crossing both arms over his chest as his gaze lowered to the carpet. I was left with the impression it was difficult to look at me.
I breathed, let my hands fall to my sides, breathed some more as I searched for words. I didn’t really have a game plan beyond coming to see about him. Only, now that I was here and sensed a strange, cold vibe, I found myself wishing I’d thought this through a bit more.
My eyes wandered behind me, to his bed.
“Can I sit?” It seemed strange to ask, but I felt awkward here, like maybe I should have stayed away.
Again, only a nod.
I crossed the room and dropped down onto the mattress. Things had gotten so hot and heavy last I touched it, but you would have never guessed as much now.
I gathered the nerve to look at him again, to ask a question I hoped would break the mile-thick ice between us.
“Did I do something?”
In a perfect world, he would have answered right away, but that wasn’t the case. He made me stew in my own anxiousness as I watched him nearly gnaw a hole through his lip.
His tone cutting deep with its sharp edges when he finally answered, “Nothing I didn’t already expect.”
My brow twitched and I felt an inward recoiling, as some small part of me reacted to the brashness in his voice that’d never been aimed at me before.
“I’m not really sure what’s going on,” I breathed, feeling how my lungs quivered with every syllable. “But whatever it is, I’m sure we can just talk about it,” I suggested.
However, when he didn’t readily respond, doubt crept in.
“Can’t we?” The smile I tried to brave slipped from my lips with the question.
His broad shoulders rose and fell with a deep breath. The rims of his nostrils flared, making it abundantly clear he was pissed, but had yet to brief me on the cause. All I knew was, somehow, I was at fault.
With anyone else, I might have let the awkwardness get to me, would have stormed off to let them figure it out on their own, but I couldn’t bring myself to walk out on him. So, I stayed.
Stayed and waited.
When his lips moved, I focused intently.
“Found out something interesting last night,” he said, taunting me with the lighthearted cynicism that dripped from the statement.
I watched him, all too aware of this being a new experience. He’d never been angry with me. Not like this, anyway.
“What’d you find out?” I did my best to hide how much this got to me, how much it hurt to feel distance like this between us.
He let his back rest against the door before going on, folding thick arms across his chest.
“You went after him,” he seethed, adding more for clarity. “The Sovereign.”
My stomach sank and I didn’t immediately know what to say. I wouldn’t lie to him, so denial was off the table.
“Who … told you?” I stammered. “Dallas?”
Liam shook his head, still not meeting my gaze. “No. One of the other hundred people who knows,” he answered bitterly. “One of Nick’s brothers.”
My teeth sank into my lip.
I had every reason to keep what I’d done from Liam. Namely … this reaction. Granted it might have gone over better had he heard it straight from me, but there still would’ve been hell to pay.
“I would have told you, but—”
“But you knew how reckless it was? But you knew I’d tell you how that monster would have ripped you apart the moment he laid eyes on you?”
Those shoulders were heaving again, muscle rolling beneath skin as he stared. The disappointment in his gaze was impossible to miss.
“Evangeline, I can’t …”
He stopped and began pacing in front of the door while searching for the right words to scold me.
“I can’t protect you,” he admitted.
Watching him, my warrior, I knew those words burned like venom as they left his mouth.
I lowered my head.
“And if you keep doing things like this, if you keep—”
This time, I was the one who cut him off.
“It won’t happen again,” I promised, knowing I only gave my word to make that look he wore go away. To describe it as heartbreaking would be an understatement.
A response didn’t come immediately, and I knew that meant he was still thinking, knew it meant the conversation was nowhere near over.
“I’d like to believe that, but every time I turn around, you’re running straight into the eye of the storm,” he fumed as desperation rivaled anger for dominance. The frustration within him was bubbling over.
More pain in his voice. More hopelessness.
I heard him. Really, I did, but also felt so misunderstood. It wasn’t lost on me how stupid I’d been. No, it wasn’t okay that what I did caused him distress, but in my eyes my actions were justified. As much as I hated to admit thi
s after I’d just given him my word, I’d go out there into the darkness, the uncertainty, all over again if I had to.
For him.
“I’m not ashamed of what I did,” I spoke up, knowing he heard the boldness in my voice, knowing he likely resented it under these circumstances. “You would have done the same for me.”
He didn’t argue with that because we both knew I was right. The difference was, in his eyes, my life had more value. However, I begged to differ. The same resolve he felt when it came to putting his life on the line for me, I felt for him.
I stood when my blood heated in my veins.
“What was I supposed to do?” I asked, lifting my hands into the air before they fell to my sides again.
“You asked me to do something a while back,” he interjected, ignoring my question. “You asked me to always tell you the truth. Even when it was hard. Even when it felt like the wrong thing to do.”
The conversation was still fresh in my mind. “I remember.”
“Then you should also remember that I agreed to this, gave you my word.”
I nodded, feeling a breath hitch in my throat when he took steps closer, so close I felt his energy pulsing in tandem with mine, even in the absence of his dragon.
“I remember,” I repeated, distracted by the pull of his soul as it lassoed mine closer.
“Do you also remember the one and only thing I ever asked you to promise me in return?”
The question sobered me, made me focus again. When I didn’t answer quickly enough, he answered for me.
“I asked that you never run toward danger. No matter what. Not even for me, and you gave me your word,” he huffed, each syllable leaving his mouth more laboriously than the last.
“Liam, I—”
I lost my thought when he came closer, a mass of bronze skin and intense emotion as he stood before me.
“Our word to one another has always been everything.”
I blinked, I breathed, but words wouldn’t come.
We were nearly toe-to-toe now, staring into one another’s eyes as our every thought and feeling came bursting from within like fireworks. I couldn’t even pinpoint when he took my hand, when his fingers interlaced with mine, but they had.