Everlong

by Hailey Edwards

  “You have to stop this, Mother, now.”

  Disappointment marred her perfect features before the tiny show of emotion slipped beneath her usual mask of impassivity. She gestured to the priest below. “Proceed,” she said flatly.

  He didn’t have the chance to touch Emma again.

  The walls of the great hall shook, calling everyone’s attention to where a third of the evening’s entertainment wrestled within the confines of his chains. The pillar strapped to Harper’s back lurched from its base, sending bits of stone falling from the ceiling into the crowd below.

  The court erupted into chaos.

  The nobility’s cries echoed around the hall as the links holding Harper stretched and distorted, falling into a misshaped pile at his feet. His glamour faded and his wings thrust outward, brightening with his fury until they shone vibrant red. His silvery eyes reflected the flurry of panicked guests trying to escape.

  Mother’s private guards surrounded her, ushering her through a passage hidden just behind her throne. She fled behind Nesvia, who stumbled along as Rideal dragged her to safety.

  Only Archer stayed behind.

  “I won’t let him have you.” Archer shoved me down, pinning me to the floor beneath him. “You were willing to make the deal.” He tore aside my robe. “I saw acceptance in your face, and you will satisfy our bargain.”

  If death had a sound, I heard it then, passing through the open lips of the Evanti charging towards us. His guttural promise, a roar that splintered my soul and his, that everyone present would pay.

  Harper cleared the dais in a single leap and slammed his shoulder into Archer’s side, rolling them both off the carpeted edge to the stone floor below.

  The grunts and growls of male combat filled my ears as I crawled away from the fray and found my way to Emma’s side. She had sat upright after the priest scurried into an alcove, tugging her robe back into place, but hadn’t moved otherwise. Her face was down-turned with her focus centered on the floor between her feet.

  “Emma?”

  When her head tilted up, searching for the sound of my voice, I saw why she hadn’t moved. Her face was swollen and bruised; the fine web of tattoos crept across her skin. Her eyelids were puffy and closed. I doubted she could see anything. Even her lips were edged in pale purple and useless.

  She tried to answer me, but couldn’t.

  “It’s all right. You don’t have to say anything.” I took her hand in mine. “I’m here now and we’re going to take you someplace safe.”

  Her fervent mumblings had my mind searching for her meaning.

  “Harper?” I asked.

  She squeezed my fingers in acknowledgment.

  “He’s fine.” I twisted around to find him. “He’s right over…there.” When I located him, I almost wished I hadn’t. “Oh, Zaniah, no,” I whispered.

  Harper and Archer’s battle had progressed. Their chests heaved for air, each struggling to maintain the upper hand. Harper bared his teeth in a frenzied snarl, too wide and sharp to be the smile he projected.

  I realized then that he enjoyed the way his fists met with failing resistance. Even his eyes glowed as he pummeled Archer almost unconscious. His expression shifted again, his lips curving back, brows drawing down. As if he’d come to some decision Archer hadn’t yet reached.

  I watched it all in slow motion. Sound became distant and fuzzy. Everything ceased to be except for the large palm Harper wrapped around Archer’s face. The point of no return came and went as Harper slammed Archer’s head against the unforgiving stone floor in a single, downward thrust.

  My eyes closed but couldn’t block out the sound, dense and succulent, like the death of a ripe melon.

  Harper stood and turned from the corpse. His long strides consumed the ground between us.

  When he saw Emma’s face, he dropped to his knees beside her and encircled her with his arms and wings. I saw him whispering to her but couldn’t hear the words and wasn’t meant to. They were an assurance just for her.

  Fierce determination burned in his eyes as he gathered Emma and stood. “We have to leave this place. Please, if you care for your sister or me at all, you’ll come with us.”

  My thoughts jumbled, grasping on one certainty. If we stayed, Harper would be hanged. Emma…I couldn’t think about what would be done to her just yet. I couldn’t let this all be for nothing. If we stopped now, it would all begin again. I couldn’t let that happen.

  I gave the only answer. “Lead the way.”

  He almost smiled. “If we can get to the courtyard, I think I can fly us out of here.”

  I didn’t want to do the math of one set of wings times the weight of three bodies. I wanted to know where we would go, but I had to run flat out to keep up with him and had no breath for questions.

  We took a winding path from the great hall that led out into the open air. I could hear the low hum of voices approaching. The driving beat of feet falling in urgent pursuit.

  “We have to leave now. The guards are coming.” I didn’t have to remind him of how accurate the archers were, or that one errant arrow could slice his wings and end our escape before it began.

  I didn’t have to, but if he didn’t move soon, I would.

  “Give me a second to shift, Emma.” I heard her soft whimper just before his arms wound around me, lifting me up almost onto his hip. “You’ll have to hold on tight, and still this might not work. I’ve never flown two before.”

  I held tight and prayed as his wings unfurled and labored to get us airborne.

  After a time, his downward strokes became less strained. His arms quivered around me, but his grip never loosened and our course never veered. My chin kept dropping to his shoulder, though I tried to keep watch in case we were followed.

  “You can close your eyes. I know my way.”

  I wanted to ask how, but given his permission, my mind drifted. The last thing I heard was the soft chuckle of his exhausted laughter beneath my ear.

  Chapter Four

  Harper’s wide shoulder rolled beneath my cheek. “We’re here.” His gruff voice finished the job of rousing me from a sound sleep.

  My eyes opened to darkness. “Where is here?”

  I blinked several times, but my vision didn’t improve. I held Harper closer as my chest tightened and pulse quickened. Only his warmth beneath my fingers anchored me in the vast and blinding night. I realized then our journey had lasted long enough for the affects of the anesthetic to dissipate. Several hours of travel at least.

  “You don’t have to be afraid.” His thumb stroked my back. “Everything is all right. We’re back on solid ground. Everyone is asleep. That’s why there’s no light.”

  “I’m not afraid.” I released him from my death grip.

  He laughed. “I never said you were.”

  “You never said where we were, either.”

  “You’ll see,” he said with a smile in his voice. I felt his lungs expand before he called into the empty night, “Tergath nor. I seek safe haven.”

  I was surprised when a child’s voice answered back.

  “Tergath norta,” the timid voice replied. “There is no safe haven.”

  The exchange seemed to be a code of some kind. But that made no sense because he knew what to say. Which meant he must have been here before, but why? How?

  The sound of his outright laughter jarred me. “Marisol, leave the watch to your elders and fetch Dana.”

  “Yes, sir.” A soft sigh, already fading away, punctuated her petulant response.

  “Put me down.” I struggled in Harper’s hold, but he only tightened his grip on me. I wanted distance he refused to allow. Questions poured out of me. “How do you know her name? What is this place? Where have you taken us?”

  “Stop fighting me before you hit Emma. You’ll only hurt yourself if I put you down now,” he said. I stilled, reluctant to admit he had a point. “Give it just a moment longer.”

  Bright lights flooded the area where we st
ood and allowed my greedy gaze to drink in our surroundings. I raised a hand to shelter my eyes from the glare as Harper slid me down his side.

  “What is this place?”

  My slippers had fallen off at some point during the flight. When my feet touched the ground, they met blades of cool, soft grass. Trees with lengthy green needles spiking from their branches encircled us. Everything looked so lush and alive when compared to the harsh desert clime of Rihos.

  “This is an Evanti colony,” he answered. “The only one of its kind.”

  I faced him, startled by the wealth of knowledge in his voice. “You knew about this place?”

  His heavy sigh concerned me.

  “I have a lot of explaining to do.” His fingertips trailed my arm. “I never imagined I would have the chance to show you the colony. It’s so full of possibilities. We can all build better lives here, together.”

  I latched onto the most critical point—he meant to stay with us. The rest could be pulled into perspective once this new world stopped spinning around me.

  Behind us, a door opened and closed with a sharp click, drawing our attention.

  “Is that you, Harper? I didn’t expect to see you back so soon.” A feminine shape broke through the outer fringes of the pooling light. “Marisol said you brought guests?”

  Squinting against the glare, I saw she stood on a wooden platform attached to a small house a few yards away. She came forward, cradling her distended stomach with one hand.

  The woman stopped a few steps away as her pale blue gaze washed over Emma and me. What might have started as a smile faded as she glanced quickly back to Harper. “What have you done?”

  “I’ve killed the Askaran Queen’s consort and kidnapped a princess,” he said, then gestured to each of us in turn. “Dana Evans, this is Princess Madelyn DeGray and her sister, Emmaline Gray.”

  Dana massaged her temples. “You never do things by half, do you?”

  He grimaced in response. “Where are Marcus and Clayton?”

  “They’ve gone on a recovery mission.” Her hand smoothed across her rounded belly. “I don’t expect them back for at least another week.”

  “Their timing is flawless, as usual.” Buried in the sharp words I heard respect, maybe affection.

  My head ached from the questions lobbying around my brain. Was no one else lost? Confused? Did no one else wonder how Harper had known to come here?

  I interrupted their casual banter. “I don’t understand. How do you know these people? Where is this colony?”

  Harper took a shaky step forward, trembling from exhaustion and still laboring under Emma’s unconscious weight.

  “I’ve brought you to the earthen realm.” He reached for me, but I stepped back a second time. “This colony is where our children are raised and our women are kept safe. It had to remain a secret.”

  The words burst from my lips. “Even from me?” Immediately, I wished they hadn’t.

  “Especially from you.”

  “Oh.” It was the best reply I could manufacture in response to the line he’d drawn between us. I cleared my throat and pretended interest in Dana.

  “So this is the earthen realm?” I took in her sleep-tousled appearance and the soft pink gown that fell just below her knees. “I’ve never seen a human outside of Rihos.” Dana shielded her stomach when she noticed it held my attention. “Are you breeders?”

  She chuckled and wiggled a finger in the air. The bright lights glinted from a small stone set in a band around her finger. “We marry here, hon. Nothing happens without full consent of both partners. We’re making families, trying to give our males the lives and peace they deserve.”

  Harper braced a hand on my shoulder as he spoke. “Forgive her. Maddie’s only left the summer castle a half dozen times in her life. She doesn’t know any better.”

  Heat rushed through my cheeks. I knew I was naïve, but to hear him say it…as if he were making excuses for a small child. I took a step back and wished the shadows could conceal me.

  “I had no idea.” Dana laid a hand over her heart. “I’ve never met an Askaran before. We’ve only heard stories from the men…and they aren’t pretty.”

  “No,” I agreed. “I don’t suppose they would be.”

  “Dana.” Harper shifted Emma from his shoulder and into his arms. “Do you have a room we can use?”

  “Oh, I don’t know where my mind has gone. Hormones I guess.” She waved us on, stepping into the shadows of a doorway. “Come on, I always keep the spare ready just in case.”

  He followed as far as the door before turning to locate me. “Are you coming?” He tucked Emma closer to squeeze through the narrow entrance.

  Standing in the grass, I was surrounded by an alien world in the center of a colony I’d never dreamed existed. Harper was my lifeline, the one thing left to me that still made sense.

  I nodded and tightened my robe to ward off the slight chill I hadn’t noticed in my confusion.

  Indoors, an overwhelming floral scent tickled my nose and made me sneeze. We walked through a gloomy hallway, and I ran my hands down either side of the textured walls to keep my balance. Our hostess led us into a small room occupied by a large canopied bed and filled with an assortment of simple but matching furniture.

  Patterned quilts lay folded in perfect stacks at the foot of the bed. Harper knocked them aside as he lowered Emma. She jerked awake when her back contacted the mattress, her unfocused eyes searching the room until they lit on me. Then her shoulders slumped and she sank into her pillow.

  Waving a hand, Emma called me over to her. I crawled onto the soft bed and straightened her robe to cover her better.

  “How do you feel?” I asked, relieved the swelling had gone down enough for her eyes to open and her lips to part on a pained exhale.

  “Like my face was trampled by horses…with razor blades embedded in their hooves.”

  Her admission ripped through me like a punch to my gut.

  “I should have done something, said something. I could have tried harder to stop them. I could have refused Archer’s offer outright.”

  Her arm wound around my hip. “If I hadn’t been so determined to prove I could take whatever Father threw at me, I would have saved myself.” She gave me a squeeze. “We escaped. Nothing else matters.” She looked up to Harper. “Are we safe here?”

  He nodded. “I’ll need to speak with Marcus. He’s the male in charge. Adjustments will have to be made, permissions granted, but the colony is well protected. If he chooses to offer you asylum, the queen won’t find you here.”

  “But she will try,” I said, certain of that at least.

  He tousled his hair with a careless hand, aiming a question at Dana. “How long did you say they would be gone?”

  “Another week at least.”

  That same hand smoothed down his face, which was creased by deep worry lines.

  “Perfect timing,” he muttered again. “We can’t risk Marcus or Clayton, or the others, and they’ll have no way of knowing what I’ve done until it’s too late.” His arms crossed over his chest. “I have to get word to them. They have to know what’s happened and that the stakes have been raised.”

  Dana turned to leave. “I’ll call Demetrius. He’s out of rotation this month, but he won’t mind making the trip to carry your message.” Her teeth worried her bottom lip. “I think we’d all sleep better knowing the others had been warned.”

  He caught her lightly by the elbow. “No, it’s my mess, and I’ll clean it up.” His troubled eyes sought mine. “I have to ask you to trust me. Can you do that?”

  I felt my eyes widen with the onset of dread. His voice had turned pleading, and it frightened me. “You know I trust you.”

  Already he looked relieved. “I know it’s a lot to ask, but I need to do this. Marcus and Clayton are…very important to me. I’d never forgive myself if they came to harm because of my impulsiveness.” He paused. “I’m asking you both to stay here for a few days. J
ust long enough for me to relay a message and come home.”

  Home, he said. As if it was the most natural thing in the world. Perhaps to him it was.

  “You’re leaving us.” I tried to keep level and calm instead of giving in to the churning fear consuming me at the thought of being left here alone without him. He might know and trust these strangers, but they were no one and nothing to me.

  “I’ll only be gone for a few days. When I come home, we’ll talk. I’ll answer any questions you have for me.”

  Emma’s fingers tightened on the limp fabric of my robe. I didn’t want to be left behind either, but what choice did we have?

  “You should go,” she said. “If our escape endangered the lives of others, then we’re not so selfish that we would keep you here to play nursemaid.”

  “She’s right,” I agreed. “You have to go. We’ll be fine until you get back.”

  He flashed us a grateful smile and rested his hand on Dana’s shoulder, turning serious as he spoke to us. “You are currently guests of the Evans Inn, which is Dana’s contribution to the colony. She also handles registration for all new colonists.” He turned to her. “Pull out the holdings’ log and let’s get them set up.”

  She held up her pointer to signal she needed a moment then stepped out into the hall. “Let me run over to the office. I’ll be right back.”

  Furniture scraped in the room next door as a chair slid over uncovered flooring.

  We were left alone with Harper, whose attention already seemed focused elsewhere. He pulled a scrap of leather from his pocket and wrapped it around his wrist. I recognized the bracelet I’d made him years earlier with each of our names worked into the beading. He often wore it for luck.

  He fumbled the hooked closure and, glancing up, his eyes met mine. His gaze softened. My lips compressed until they throbbed. It wasn’t pleasant, but neither were any of the words waiting to escape if my mouth were to open.

  “Don’t look at me that way. You don’t understand. There are so many more lives at stake besides our own. It wasn’t my place to make this decision. I would have—”

  “Found them.” Dana pushed back into the room, waving two thick stacks of paper housed between a pair of multicolored folders. She glanced between the three of us. “Should I wait outside?”