The Genesis of Evangeline (The Lost Royals Saga Book 1)
Page 32
Different how?
Different like me?
Evie searched my eyes for an explanation as to why we stopped so suddenly. My heart was heavy with the news, but I had to say something.
“We should, uh… we should head back home. It’s not safe out here,” I said flatly, finding it difficult to say what came next. “Maddox… something happened to him and his brother in the woods a little while ago.”
At my words, Evie’s light-brown skin went a bit pale. I was sure that, with the woods outstretched at either side of the road, she was afraid.
“We’re fine. My brother just said we should get home and stay indoors. You can come to my place if you want after your parents take off.”
She didn’t answer right away, just nodded in silence. We turned back and I kept an eye out for any strange shadows, listened harder for noises that seemed out of place.
If something was out there watching Evie and I right now, the same something that took the life of a friend, I wasn’t going down without a fight.
*****
Evie
“Please say you can hear me.”
I didn’t have much faith in our communication system just yet, mostly because there were still a few kinks I needed to work out. However, the presence of a deep, urgent voice resonating inside my head meant I’d managed to get it right on the first try.
“Loud and clear,” Liam answered.
I was careful to keep an even expression as Nick walked beside me, escorting me home. I couldn’t let on that I was currently holding some version of a telepathic conversation inside my head.
Not an easy thing to explain.
“Did you hear about the attacks?
“Yeah. More mutts. And there’s no telling how many have been sent. No way of knowing where they’re hiding, when they’ll strike next.”
“Are you all right?” It didn’t matter a whole lot that I sounded like a spaz. I was simply relieved to hear his voice. I was sure that, by now, he knew I cared.
The first thing that came to mind when Nick mentioned what happened to Maddox was Liam. I would never forget the gruesome scene I found when I went to him last night.
Those monsters…
“Still breathing,” he answered, but that was it. He was distracted. Now, as I listened harder, I could pick up on his background.
The sound of his truck’s rickety frame bounding over rough road.
“Where are you headed?”
His answer came quickly and it made my heart race. “To you. It’s too dangerous out here for you to be on your own.”
“But I’m not on my own,” I insisted.
Liam scoffed at my rebuttal. “Well, I suppose you should prepare your boyfriend for our first meeting because I’m not taking no for an answer. I won’t let anything happen to you,” he added unwaveringly. “Not again.”
Not again…
I said nothing, just lingered on those words, feeling the emotion I was sure Liam didn’t mean to let bleed through them. We hadn’t discussed that part of my past yet, how I died. There were so many things to cover, I knew we’d only scratched the surface, but that particular detail… I hadn’t asked for a reason.
And now I knew it was something tragic.
Something that, after God knows how many hundreds of years, Liam still hadn’t gotten past.
“Two minutes.”
“I’m assuming there’s nothing I could possibly say to stop you right now.”
I heard the resolve in his voice. “Nope. Nothing.”
A sharp breath hissed from my lungs. “How the heck am I supposed to explain who you are?” I snapped. “How am I supposed to explain what I am, I… He’ll never understand.”
Liam breathed deeply and I could tell he was irritated. Maybe because I made everything so hard. Maybe because Nick was the only major hold up in his plan.
“Trust me. He’ll understand,” was Liam’s cryptic reply. One that made me glance toward Nick.
“What are you talking about?”
Another frustrated sigh left his mouth. “His scent,” Liam explained. “I smelled it all over you the night you shifted. My sense of smell is nowhere near as heightened as a lycan, but I’ve been around long enough to recognize it easily now.”
I blinked, but didn’t speak.
“He’s one of them, so, even if he hasn’t explained the details, I’m sure he already knows what’s going on.”
At his words, I scoured the last month of details, remembering all the odd coincidences I chose to ignore, things I couldn’t easily explain away—the incident with Maddox’s truck, him rescuing me during the earthquake.
“Thirty seconds.”
“I won’t leave him,” I insisted.
“Then you must be planning to ask him to tag along because I’m not leaving you.”
He was so freakin’ stubborn. How did ‘old me’ put up with it?
His engine revved in the background, a reminder of time winding down.
“Stall,” was my last word to Liam, knowing it’d be impossible to hold him off altogether. The best I could do was ask for more time. Even then, I wasn’t sure he’d listen, so I spoke quickly when I addressed Nick.
“Ok, I have to tell you something,” I blurted. “I imagined this would all come up in a far more delicate conversation between us, but… there’s no time.”
As badly as I wanted to keep things locked in, there was no getting around it. When I suggested that we start fresh, I didn’t necessarily mean we ought to lay all our secrets bare right away, but, with Liam barreling toward us, it had to be done. The luxury of avoiding the truth, about everything, was about to expire in a matter of seconds.
It’d be better if I prepared Nick before that happened.
“I know about the mutts,” I said in a rush, hearing the roar of Liam’s engine.
Nick’s feet stopped moving and he stared. There was a strange mix of confusion and understanding I recognized well. It was the same look I imagined I wore when I began to suspect he was more than just a guy—believing I knew the truth, but not wanting to accept that it made sense.
“Mutts?”
I nodded, recalling Liam’s explanation. “Humans who’ve been bitten by lycans. They turn into these… awful, ugly creatures and do the bidding of whoever they’re sired to.”
The words were on the tip of my tongue, my truth, but I couldn’t force them out. I had to, though. Time had run out.
Breathing became a chore as I struggled to confess. The hard look set in Nick’s eyes and the distinct sound of a truck thundering closer made me dizzy, like I’d faint. It was more than just fear of what would happen once I confessed. It was also knowing there would be no more pretending I was only human. My life would change yet again.
And then there was the other issue—the fact that Liam and Nick would meet shortly.
Daily, these two incited a war within me—on one side, my logical, physical self was certain Nick was the one, my best option. On the other side, something primal, something way deep down inside urged me to do away with logic altogether. It was that same side that had this… hunger, this unrelenting craving for one man and one man only.
Liam.
But the wick had burned out. Time was up and I no longer had the luxury of keeping the two sides apart. The moment had arrived for every single one of my secrets to be exposed.
And I wasn’t ready. Like… at all. So, I just had to blurt it out or I’d never say the words.
“I’m a shifter, Nick. Half dragon, half lycan. A hybrid.”
There. It was done. Each breath came fast and hard, but I said it.
I stared at him, waiting for his expression to show the shock my admission spurred, but there was none. Instead, he took my hand in his and blue oceans, in the form of eyes, swallowed me whole.
“I figured it out. Well… sort of. I didn’t realize you were both.”
I shouldn’t have been surprised. The scent of smoke probably tipped him off like it did
everyone else.
“And I know what you are, too,” I added. “Which is why I’m pretty sure I don’t need to explain all that’s going on in Seaton Falls. I’m assuming you’re aware?”
He nodded and I was mildly relieved I didn’t need to waste time breaking it all down. Especially seeing as how a set of tires stirred the gravel on the shoulder of the road behind me.
My eyes slammed shut at the precise moment the door to Liam’s truck did the same. His heavy boots thudded against the ground and I felt my heart race. Nick’s gaze lifted from me to Liam and I knew he had so many questions. I couldn’t blame him.
Breathe, Evie. Just… breathe.
“I need you to trust me, Nick.” The words left my mouth in a whisper, but it wouldn’t have mattered if I yelled them. His attention was focused above my head, locked in on a target. His brow tensed, shoulders squared, and the low hum of what sounded like a deep growl resonated from the center of his chest.
Liam’s steps slowed and finally stopped directly behind me. Close enough that heat from his body surged against my back as the sun was blotted out by his shadow.
“We need to go.” His voice was always deep and commanding, but today… there was something more as he came face-to-face with Nick for the first time.
Someone he knew I felt something for.
Someone who kept the trace memory of feelings I felt for him at bay.
My hands shook at my sides as our surroundings grew quiet. Not even the wind blew.
“Nick, can you please just come with us?” My voice was quiet and I hated myself for not sounding more sure. I sounded small, childlike. He had no reason to agree to this, but I needed him to because Liam wasn’t going away. Even if we insisted on waiting things out at Nick’s, I was sure the three of us would be waiting it out together. In other words, the setting mattered very little. For today, we were a trio.
A packaged deal.
“Us?” I didn’t miss the suspicious undertones in Nick’s voice when he asked. “Who is this guy?” His teeth gritted together and his mouth moved very little with the question.
An old friend?
My mentor?
How was I supposed to explain?
“Liam.” That was all I had. “He’s been helping me understand who and what I am. And we really need to get out of here. It’s not good to be standing in the open.”
“I’m not going anywhere but home,” was Nick’s stubborn reply.
“Fine by me. I guess this is where we part ways.” Liam’s voice was stern and hard, unwavering as he towered over me from behind. Right after speaking, his fingers loosely encircled my wrist, making it crystal clear he was still intent on me leaving with him regardless of Nick’s choice.
Nick’s eyes went there, to the place where Liam’s skin met mine. Maybe noting the fact that I didn’t pull away.
I should have pulled away.
“Nick, please.” I was on the verge of begging and wasn’t above it. “There’s no one at your house. We’re safer if we all stick together. Please, just… come with us.”
There was that word again. Us. And I saw Nick wince when I used it.
I swallowed hard, hoping we could somehow overlook the subtle implication of there being more to Liam and I, saving that conversation for a later date. Not that I thought I’d ever be able to explain it, but right now was certainly not the time. All our lives were in danger.
Nick looked around, letting his eyes slip from tree to tree as he, maybe, weighed his options. As much as I’d like to think it was simply logic that convinced him to agree to join me at Liam’s, I was actually sure the decision was driven by something else.
Jealousy.
Mistrust.
“Fine,” he seethed, brushing past Liam and I as he trudged toward the bed of the truck and hopped over the side with ease. His phone was in his hands as he sat, his weight shifting the frame of the truck beneath it.
Liam released me now and walked to the truck with his steps matching mine. He pulled the passenger door open for me, just being polite, but I wished he hadn’t. It looked too much like something a guy does for a girl who belongs to him. I suppose that, in his mind, I did, but… not anymore. He had to understand that.
The door slammed and I watched him round the hood of the truck, headed for the driver’s seat. He took it, started the engine, and I was afraid to look anywhere but straight ahead.
Afraid to look at Liam because, when I did, my eyes might give too much away if Nick was watching.
Afraid to look at Nick because I didn’t want to see the disappointment on his face. I was sure it was there, but I’d avoid it for as long as I possibly could.
Our bodies bounced and swayed when the tires left the smooth, paved road, crossing onto rougher terrain as we veered toward Liam’s house. We were silent. All of us. Even with the window between the cab and the truck bed open, none of us chose to speak to the other. It was easier this way.
I knew I blew it. I mean, completely blew it. Again. There was no telling what Nick thought of all this. Here was Liam, this guy I never even so much as mentioned, this guy I was clearly familiar with, swooping in like a knight, saving the day. It looked bad.
Really, really bad.
But I was sure that, to Nick… it felt even worse.
—
Chapter Thirty —
Nick
Even in this unfamiliar space—these cramped quarters with its paneled walls and dull furniture—I only concentrated on one thing. It wasn’t my surroundings. It wasn’t my safety.
It was her heart.
The way it beat just a little faster when he offered her something to drink. The way it skipped when she dared to glance up at him. The way it hammered inside her chest when he touched her wrist as we stood on the road.
He affected her.
…And I hated it.
My gaze slipped out the window toward the landscape, to the woods surrounding his property. It crossed my mind that this may have been where she’d gone yesterday when she couldn’t stand being at school anymore; when she couldn’t face me. This was maybe even the ‘friend’s house’ she ran off to the night she disappeared during the party, the night I believed she first shifted. Actually, the more I considered it, the more sure I became. This was the place.
She came to him.
The idea of their tie being limited to his knowledge of Evie being a dragon shifter was thin. As hard as I tried, I couldn’t convince myself there wasn’t anything more to it.
Where did he come from?
How did they meet?
Why had she never mentioned him before?
These were all valid questions; questions that rolled around inside my head when I turned to stare at him again. This wasn’t the first time I’d seen him. We hadn’t formally met, but I recognized him right away—the guy I saw at the meeting with the Council. They smelled the same, him and Evie. Like smoke, which meant he was a dragon as well. They were the same.
According to Roz, both were forces to be reckoned with. And yet, here I sat. Face to face with potential danger, as if there was no threat at all. My being here had nothing to do with believing he’d hurt Evie, had nothing to do with believing he wasn’t capable of protecting her. No, it came down to something much simpler than that…
I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving her here alone with this guy.
Stupid, right? To be thinking about something so trivial when these mutts were on the loose? When a friend had just lost his life? I still found room for my pride to somehow get in the way.
My phone buzzed in my hand and I was grateful. It distracted me a little from the sudden spike in Evie’s pulse when the caveman/biker outlaw sat beside her on the couch. I even hated the way she looked at him.
“You’re where?” Richie’s text read.
“In the woods. With Evie. At some guy’s house.” I felt pathetic explaining that because, before today, I didn’t even know there was a guy’s house to be concerned about.
I started to tell him not to bother, but they’d never understand my reasons. I knew I should be at the meeting, but I couldn’t stand the thought of leaving here without Evie. Couldn’t stand the thought of leaving her here for someone else to protect and defend her if something went wrong.
That was supposed to be my job.
But maybe I’d been wrong this whole time.
My eyes shifted to Liam when he scooted his huge feet back toward the couch, their soles scraping against the wood floor. I hated him. Everything about him and we hadn’t said more than a handful of words to each other. Hated how comfortable he seemed to be with all this, completely unbothered, his attitude toward the awkward situation making one thing abundantly clear:
To him, I was no threat.
“Give me some kind of landmark so we can find you,” Richie chimed in again.
I glanced out the window at the property. “Near the creek. Right before it widens going toward the reservoir.”
“Be outside,” he instructed, prompting me to rise to my feet the next second. I needed some air anyway.
The sudden motion pried Evie’s gaze from the spot where her feet were planted. Now, she focused on me.
“You’re leaving?” she asked. The air of panic beneath the words wasn’t lost on me.
I nodded. “There’s a meeting my brothers and I have to get to, so…”
I had the attention of the behemoth as well. “The Council?”
I breathed deep and answered him in passing on my way to the door. “Yeah.” There was no point in pretending such a thing didn’t exist. He already knew, had already attended.
Evie was on my heels, her footsteps echoing behind mine. We reached the porch and she touched my arm before I could step down.
“Can we talk?” she asked. “Please?”
I kept my gaze trained on the trees instead of her. There was a great risk that she’d see more than I wanted her to if I looked into her eyes.