The Genesis of Evangeline (The Lost Royals Saga Book 1)

by Rachel Jonas

  “Remember our conversation the other day?” he went on. “When I told you about your family?”

  “Of course.”

  Liam’s head lifted for a second when he positioned his arm behind it. “I told you you were born to Originals of two shifter races, but we didn’t get into much detail about it.”

  I remembered. There were so many things to discuss, that portion didn’t even resonate with me at the time. But it did now.

  “There’s this small town in France by the name of Ars-en-Ré,” he began. “Your mother was born there—a dragon shifter, the first of her kind,” he shared.

  “She was the first, so that means her parents were human? How does that happen?”

  Liam took a deep breath. “They were, and I can only tell you what she told me.”

  It still felt surreal to hold an actual conversation with someone connected to my past, someone who knew my birth parents.

  “She was young. Not even ten. The village was under siege by what her people thought was a foreign army, but, in reality, she later discovered Sebastian had sent his militia to destroy the town. All because a young hunter discovered and spread word of the lycan race’s Achilles heel—fire. It resulted in lycans being burned by the masses in towns where people had been terrorized by them for centuries. Now, thanks to the hunter, they were no longer powerless.

  “Sebastian’s never been the type of guy to hand over power without a fight. So, that’s what he did. He fought—punishing the village of the man who brought humanity one step closer to leveling the playing field, sending a message far and wide with the massacre. Most of the village’s men were slaughtered in the streets. Many of the women were captured and used for breeding purposes, which was a death sentence. And the children,” Liam began, “they were… a liability,” he explained, adding, “…a headache the soldiers didn’t want or need. So, they rounded them up, filled house after house with kids until they were all locked away. Scared. Crying. Then, like the savages they were… like they’d been ordered to do by their king… they burned the houses to the ground with the children inside,” he added. “His idea of poetic justice, I suppose, for exposing their weakness to fire.”

  I said nothing. There were no words.

  “Your mother was one of those children,” he went on. “Only… she didn’t die. She woke up while the house she’d been locked in collapsed around her. Her body was still smoldering, sizzling as embers burned off her skin. She said she could remember screaming out for someone to come, for someone to stop the pain, but there was no one left.”

  Liam was still and quiet. For a moment, I thought he might not continue and I would have been okay with that. From the way he spoke of my mother, I knew he loved and regarded her as his own.

  “By nightfall, rain came. It extinguished what was left of the fires. For hours, she lie there, letting it soothe her burns, praying for death. Anything to make the pain stop, but… death never came. It was dark and she was alone, but she got up, wandered the streets—surrounded by charred buildings, bodies, and… nothingness. She came across one of the other houses where children had been murdered, set on fire just like her. I don’t know what made her do it, but she went inside,” he added. “And… she touched one.”

  The images he painted were so vivid. I pictured her, a young girl, maybe with long, dark hair like mine… alone, afraid.

  “She touched one of the children?”

  Liam nodded. “I think she did it out of desperation, some deep-seated need to feel connected to someone, but, when she did this, when she placed her hand on the first kid’s arm… he moved.”

  I didn’t understand. “So, he wasn’t dead?”

  “Dead and missing half his face, actually,” Liam countered. “When he twitched, it scared her. She jumped back and tripped over another body and her hand went right into the center of a charred ribcage, landing on what was left of a girl’s heart.”

  The images that filled my mind were gory, heartbreaking, and I knew I’d never forget.

  “That body began to move, too,” he went on. “They all did; each one she touched as she scrambled to her feet to run.”

  I tried to imagine the terror that must’ve filled my mother that day, but couldn’t. The things she’d seen… the things she’d lived through.

  “She hid after that,” Liam shared. “Spent the night in the cobbler’s shop, hiding from the noise.”

  “What kind of noise?”

  “Moaning, shuffling in the streets as the children searched for her. For some reason, when she woke them up, when she brought them back, they were sired to her.”

  The word ‘sired’ wasn’t completely foreign to me, so I was pretty sure he meant they reverenced her as their leader.

  “They walked the streets all night and she watched from the window, watched how they changed as the hours passed—their burned flesh healing, their missing limbs regenerating before her eyes. By morning, the only evidence of the soldiers’ crime was the hint of soot left behind on the children’s skin. She went out to them, spoke to them, gave them water. And then, she did the unthinkable, the bravest thing you could imagine.”

  I was aware of my heart racing even as I slept. “What?”

  It sounded like Liam was smiling when he answered my question. “She woke up the others. All of them. And, for centuries, she remained there, led them.”

  I was in awe. At ten, I still needed help brushing my own hair and cutting my pancakes, but my mother was starting a revolution.

  “She sounds incredible.”

  Liam nodded again, making me breathe deeper with what he said next. “One of many traits she passed down to you.”

  The comment was nothing more than a sweet compliment. Not flirting. I could tell the difference.

  I uttered a soft, “Thank you,” before asking another question. “And my father? What type of shifter was he?”

  Liam turned onto his side, facing the window now, his arm hanging off the edge of the bed. I caught a glimpse of the words etched between his fingers—Love. Lost. Never. Dies.

  “He was the other original lycan. Along with Sebastian,” he continued, giving me the first morsel of my father’s story. “Italy was Sebastian’s territory, while your father ruled his kingdom in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. Where he was born. Where you were born.”

  I’d never heard of the city, but would try my best to sound it out for a Google search later.

  “He and Sebastian were as different as night and day, but somehow managed to coexist,” he sighed. “…Right up until the end.”

  I managed to utter the first syllable of my next question, one regarding the conflict Liam just alluded to between my father and Sebastian, but I never got the chance to ask. Instead, a sound startled us both.

  “Is someone there?” I asked, staring out the window Liam’s gaze was fixed on as he sat up, quietly inching toward the edge of his bed. I could’ve sworn I saw a shadow dash past it.

  I didn’t like that he wasn’t answering, didn’t like that he seemed on edge. It meant that, if there was indeed a visitor… they were uninvited.

  My heart raced a mile a minute.

  “Is everything okay?”

  Again, no response.

  He stood and I held my breath.

  “Just… rest,” came a hushed command, one clearly meant to dismiss me. “We’ll finish this later.”

  He was being cryptic and guarded and, now, I was suddenly being forced out of his head.

  …just as another shadow passed the window. This time I was sure of what I saw.

  “Liam… wait!” I called out in vain.

  It was too late. I already felt myself detaching from him.

  Although it was just me inside my head now, I still felt him. He lingered with me tonight and the feeling was new. Our connection hadn’t severed completely. His heightened senses and alertness had transferred to me. I felt it all—the rush of adrenaline coursing through my veins as it coursed through his.

  It was e
nough to make me sit straight up in bed the second consciousness returned, only slightly disoriented by Liam’s dark bedroom being replaced by my own. I stood and headed straight for my closet. It was like my body operated on autopilot, moving on its own. Not pausing to give my brain a chance to conjure a plan of action or to think things through.

  In fifteen seconds flat, I’d covered my bare legs with jeans and slipped into a hoodie. My shoes went on next and I didn’t even think of the consequences before slipping out of my window.

  Not like last time.

  Last time, I was afraid of what might happen if I left. Tonight, I was afraid of what might happen if I didn’t. I didn’t think about falling off the roof as I climbed down, didn’t feel afraid of going out into the night alone. At this moment, I had only one concern.

  …Liam.

  —

  Chapter Twenty-Eight —

  Evie

  My lungs should have burned with exhaustion as I sprinted down my street, but they didn’t. When I made the trek through the woods earlier, I could hardly catch my breath, but not this time. Right now, I felt stronger than I could ever remember feeling before.

  The nightguard posted at the entrance of my neighborhood was an obstacle I didn’t have time to work my way around, so I decided on another route. Cutting right, I veered toward a neighbor’s yard. My feet pounded the pavement before hitting grass. It was late, but I hadn’t checked the time. All I knew was no one was out and nearly every window I passed was dark, vacant. But, honestly, it didn’t matter; I would have made this journey regardless of time of day, regardless of weather conditions.

  But why?

  Why was I willing to risk so much? Why was Liam, someone I considered a stranger in the very recent past, important enough to spur this mad-dash out into the darkness?

  I rounded the red brick of a massive colonial and a wrought-iron fence came into view. For the first time since I set out, I felt defeated. There was no way I could clear the thing. It was almost as tall as me and, not to mention, the homeowners had a huge spotlight beaming from their back porch, illuminating their entire yard.

  What if I get caught? What if…

  My arms pumped, my legs moved faster than I knew they could.

  I had to just stop thinking about it, stop doubting myself.

  I raced across the lawn and focused on the fence, focused on the strength it would take to clear it. As I drew closer, my muscles fired off one by one, the power in my calves triggering my thighs and core into action. I took hold of the smooth cap covering one of the posts and launched my leg across the top, clinging there, feeling the sting of metal pressing into the tendon behind my knee. I fought to steady myself on top and was eventually able to swing my other leg over and landed with a surprisingly graceful dismount.

  I glanced back as I tugged the hem of my hoodie down my waist to make sure the commotion I caused didn’t garner me any unwanted attention. After noting there was no one outside but me, I took off again.

  With each step toward Liam’s house, I prayed I wasn’t too late. Prayed something terrible hadn’t happened. Our connection was severed a good five minutes ago and, with my suspicion that he was in danger, it felt like a lifetime. I didn’t want to think the worst, but he was out here alone.

  Vulnerable.

  I still wasn’t sure I knew my way, but my feet kept moving. Every now and then, I’d get an inkling to veer left or veer right and I went with it, trusting that our tether would lead me right to him.

  He said that was how it worked—if one of us was in trouble, the other would know. The night I shifted in these very woods, he found me, brought me to safety, took care of me. If he hadn’t been there… I don’t know what might have happened.

  I… owed him.

  As my fists pumped back and forth in the cool air, I noted how they began to glow before small flames ignited around my fingernails, spreading up my hands to my wrists. I sucked in a sharp breath at the sight of my body changing, but I didn’t let it slow me down. If anything, I wondered if it might help.

  I had no idea who or what I might find when I got there, but I had a feeling my dragon was preparing me for something. Like a fight.

  Something I’d never done.

  My life, up until recently, had been a very sheltered one. I’d never been exposed to violence and the extent of my self-defense skills started and ended with kicking an assailant in the nuts before taking off running. And yet, here I was, trying to wrap my mind around defending Liam.

  As if something capable of taking him down wouldn’t take me down ten times as easy…

  Either way, whether I was capable of winning or not, I didn’t even consider turning back.

  His house came into view and it was an array of ominous silhouettes and dark shadows—shadows where anyone, or anything, could easily hide. I breeched the tree line and the glowing in my hands burned out. My steps finally slowed, too, but only so I could listen. It seemed like, all around me, leaves rustled and eerie groans filled the air, but I knew it was my imagination. When you’re on high-alert, normal sounds could easily be mistaken for those of some hungry predator hunting you like a docile rabbit.

  At least, this is what I told myself. If I acknowledged that it might be something else, I couldn’t focus; I might have missed the faint gurgling coming from the other side of Liam’s house. It took a moment to decide that’s what it was, but now I was sure. It was the sound of someone struggling for breath.

  I stopped thinking again and darted past the shadows that once intimidated me. I wasn’t sure what I’d find when I got there, but I knew I had to press forward. Even if that sound was coming from Liam.

  …Especially if it was Liam.

  However, all the pep talks in the world couldn’t have prepared me for the carnage I laid eyes on when I rounded the corner of the house.

  Bodies. Three. Beasts the color of night. Huge… things… I couldn’t even begin to guess the identity of. I froze in place when I came to the first. Although it lie in the grass motionless, I was afraid to pass.

  Claws the length of my foot protruded from hands that could easily take out a large tree with one swipe. And fangs… there were fangs stained with blood.

  Red blood. The kind that didn’t match the crude-colored slime seeping from the creature’s body. Which meant… the blood must’ve come from somewhere else. Someone else.

  “Liam…”

  The moon glinted off his back as he knelt in the grass, the weight of his body slumped against a tree. The dousing of sweat coating his skin and hair could be seen even from a distance, along with a deep gash that stretched from shoulder to spine.

  He’d fought hard and the evidence of that was the beasts that lie mangled behind me as I darted to his side. The worst possible thought entered my mind, but I wouldn’t let myself believe it. He had to be alive.

  Had to be.

  It didn’t matter that I’d gone my entire life not knowing him, not realizing he existed. Now that we met, as strange as it may seem… I couldn’t bear the thought of him not being a part of this world.

  Of… my world.

  A familiar sting in my eyes was startling, mostly because I didn’t realize until now that my feelings for Liam… whatever they may be… were powerful enough to evoke so much emotion.

  But the proof was sliding down my cheeks as I drew closer.

  He moved. I saw it and slowed a bit, noticing how the muscles in his back twitched and jerked every so often.

  I took another step and that’s when I saw it, another one of the beasts, but this one wasn’t dead like the others. The sole of my shoe came down into the grass again just as a large arm the shade of obsidian reached around Liam’s back, tearing into his flesh, creating another deep, crimson gash.

  My instinct was to run to him. However, a harshly spoken, “Evangeline… don’t come any closer,” halted me.

  My shoulders heaved as I breathed deep, fighting the pull to disobey Liam’s command, but I stayed put a
s I focused my eyes to see through the darkness.

  The beast’s body extended past the tree Liam braced himself against and the claw that had caused the second wound to his back suddenly went lifeless. The bulge of Liam’s arm swelled outward as he applied pressure around the thing’s neck.

  And then… snap.

  The sound of a severed spinal column rang out into the night and only then did I see Liam take a breath. He reared back on his haunches, exhausted, as he shoved the creature’s body away from his.

  I was at his side the next second, assuming the only reason he told me to stay away was because I’d be in danger. And that danger died with the beast.

  “Are you okay?” I touched him without thinking, held his face in my hands as his shoulders heaved. I searched his eyes, seeing very little of their hazel centers beneath his heavy lids.

  He nodded, focusing intently on me as he panted. “I’m okay.”

  “Are you… are you hurt?” There was so much panic in my voice and I couldn’t seem to come down from it. The idea of how close I’d just come to…

  Long fingers cuffed my wrists as I clung to him, feeling remnants of the stubble that lined his jaw against my palms. His eyes had a little more life to them now as he stared. Not at me, but… through me.

  “I’m okay,” he repeated, making sure I believed him this time.

  I studied his face, noted how strong he seemed aside from being fatigued, and nodded back. “Okay,” I breathed. “…Okay.”

  That might have been the end of it, but then a tear fell.

  And another.

  Until there were too many to count. I was so embarrassed to be crying in front of him, mostly because I couldn’t explain what spurred it, but I couldn’t hide. As we lingered in one another’s space, there was no taking back what these tears represented.

  I cared.

  A whispered, “Come here,” rested over my heart as protective arms fell around my waist. My hands moved from Liam’s face to his neck when he brought me down to my knees with him—face to face. I don’t know where or when I found the courage to embrace him, but I did, pressing my face against the side of his neck, breathing him in while he held me.