Chapter 16

CHAPTER16

Icould hardly concentrate as Thalia threw another kick my way. Evren and Sorin sat at the sides watching us. The two of them had just finished sparring and sweat dripped down Evren’s bare chest.

Every time my gaze wandered in his direction, Thalia would land another blow.

“Ow!” I hissed as she hit my left thigh.

“Pay attention.” Thalia laughed. “If you’re distracted by him half naked, I would hate to see you in a real battle.”

Evren chuckled, and I straightened my spine.

“I am not distracted by him.”

“You could’ve fooled me.” Thalia gave me a look that was a challenge.

“Shut up, and just go again.”

Thalia smiled before correcting her stance. She watched me, looking for a weakness, before her legs shot out to the right. This time, I was able to block her and land my own kick to her stomach.

She grunted before grinning. “Good.” She rubbed her hand across her abdomen. “That was much better.”

“Add your power!” Evren called out, and my gaze met his. “She needs to work on controlling her power when there are other things to concentrate on as well.”

I hated his words even though he was right. I hated how easily he could pick up my flaws.

“Don’t you two have something better to do?” I didn’t look at either of them as they snickered at my question.

“And miss this? I wouldn’t dare.” I could practically hear the smile in Evren’s voice.

“Again.” Thalia nodded at me once, and I could see the unspoken words in her eyes. Show them exactly what you’re made of.

I nodded back at her as I widened my stance just like she taught me to. Sparring with Thalia was difficult. I had to feel her magic rather than see it. I tried to clear my mind, not think of Evren sitting at the side watching me, as I tried to concentrate on nothing but her.

A blast of her magic shot out, aiming directly for my chest, and I raised my hands and hit it with my own magic before it could make contact. Black smoke poured from my fingers, but I didn’t have time to celebrate. Another shot of her magic came at me from the left, and I blocked it once more.

She smiled at me as she took a deep breath, but then I could feel her magic again surging stronger than before. I pivoted on my heel just as I realized it wasn’t coming from her, and I shot my own magic out toward Evren and stopped his in its tracks. Sweat dripped down my temples as he grinned.

“Good. You’re getting much better at detecting magic.” There was a gleam in Evren’s eyes as he held my gaze.

“I didn’t realize you were going to be stabbing me in the back with yours.”

“In the real world, no one’s going to care if you’re looking at them or if you’re ready.” He pushed to his feet and dusted off his trousers. “You have to train yourself to be ready for whatever comes your way.”

I nodded because I knew he was right. “Your magic is easier to detect than Thalia’s.”

The smile that took over his face was wicked, and my stomach tightened as I looked upon him. “That’s because you’re my mate.” He took a few steps closer to me. “Our magic is linked, so you will be able to feel my magic much easier than anyone else’s.”

“How else is our magic linked?”

“I don’t know.” He took another step closer and black smoke trailed from his fingers. “It is legend that mates could pull power from one another in time of need, that you could take from me or I could pull from you, but I’ve never seen it done. Mates are rare, and mates with magic that is linked so intricately as ours is even rarer.”

“So what does that mean?” My heart hammered in my chest as I watched his magic, and my own surged inside of me begging to feel him.

“It means that we will have to figure this out as we go.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Mates have always been more powerful together, and their marriage only strengthens that power. We will figure out what we’re capable of based on the decisions that we make.”

“You mean if I agree to marry?” I put my hands on my hips even as the words that just passed my lips thrilled me.

Evren’s gaze fell upon them, and his smile never left his face. “That’s exactly what I mean, princess. Legend says you will determine the fate of this world, but you will determine far more than that.”

“That she will.” Jorah pushed through the door, and Thalia took off in his direction. She ran toward him, jumping straight into his arms, and he caught her with a large smile on his face.

“You’re back.” Thalia seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, and Jorah tightened his arms around her.

I looked at Sorin, and a smile formed on his lips even as his shoulders tightened.

Thalia squeezed him again before dropping back to her feet and running her hands over his face and down his chest.

“You have word?” Evren asked, and Jorah simply held up a black scroll with a gold seal.

“Queen Kaida clearly knows more than we thought. Her men hand-delivered this to us this morning. Right where we were meant to be spying on the kingdom.”

Evren stepped forward and grabbed the parchment from Jorah’s hand, and I watched him as he unrolled it and looked over it. His hands gripped the sides so tightly that the parchment crinkled in his fingers, and I could feel his power surge and surge as his eyes scanned over the words.

“What is it?” Sorin stood and moved to Evren’s side. “Fuck.” Sorin looked at me, but all I could concentrate on was Evren. His magic felt stronger than I had ever felt before. It was pure and unfiltered, and it felt like rage.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, and Evren’s gaze flew to me. They were darker than they had seemed only moments before.

“It’s from Gavril.” The parchment crumpled in his hands.

“And?” My chest tightened, and I was desperate for him to just tell me what was going on.

“And he’s sent me an official invitation to his wedding?”

“His wedding?” I looked back and forth between him and Sorin. “To whom?”

“My mate.” He practically spat the words. “He fucking dares to send me an invitation to his supposed wedding with you.”

“This is nothing more than a taunt.” Thalia moved close to Evren and read the invitation over his shoulder. “He’s trying to get under your skin.”

“This is a threat.” Evren stared directly at me, and I could feel his anger as if it was a living, breathing thing. “He thinks that he’s going to take Adara back.”

“We won’t allow that to happen,” Jorah promised, and the certainty in his voice begged me to believe him. “We won’t let him close to her.”

Evren wasn’t listening to them, though. His attention was solely on me. “His name is next to yours.” Black smoke trickled from his fingers, and I knew he was no longer in control of himself. “He requests the honor of my presence at the marriage of their crowned prince and the Starblessed who was promised.”

“I need a moment,” I said quietly, and Evren shook his head.

“Fuck no.”

But I wasn’t talking to him, and I looked past him to look at his friends. “I need a moment with my mate,” I said it more firmly, and the three of them looked to Evren before looking back at me.

“Okay.” Thalia nodded before grabbing Jorah’s hand. “Let’s give them some space.”

I waited as all three of them left the small courtyard that had felt more like home to me than almost anywhere else. My hands trembled as Evren stared at me. Neither his anger nor his magic had calmed, and I could feel them reaching for me as if I was the only thing capable of settling them.

“That invitation means nothing.”

His gaze darkened at my words and his fingers dug harder into the invitation. “You think threatening my mate is nothing?”

“I think that his threats don’t matter. I am your mate, and I am here with you in the Blood kingdom.” I motioned my hand toward the parchment. “What can that little piece of parchment do?”

“It will instill fear.” He stepped closer to me, and a chill ran down the markings along my spine. “When news of this spreads, it will instill fear in my people and in so many people who remain in the fae kingdom. They will fear war and the possibility that Gavril could gain power over both kingdoms.”

“The fae kingdom doesn’t support Gavril?”

“Those people have never supported Gavril or his mother. They have seen their cruelty, and most don’t care that your betrothal will strengthen their kingdom. Gavril needs no more power at his fingertips.”

“Then don’t give it to him.”

“What?” He looked furious as he searched my face, and I realized that this was about so much more than Gavril’s power. Gavril had threatened his mate. He had threatened me. “How do you suppose I do that?”

“We send an invitation of our own.” I straightened my spine and tried to keep my voice from shaking.

He went stock-still as he stared at me. “An invitation?”

“Yes.” I nodded and tried to keep my nerves from rushing through me. “I’m obviously not marrying Gavril, and he just wants to make people believe that. Give them the truth and send an invitation for our own.”

“But you and I aren’t getting married.”

“Aren’t we?” I cocked my head and studied him. “You asked for my hand, did you not?”

“Yes.” He watched me carefully. “And you turned me down. Several times.”

“And I change my mind.”

“Not like this.” He shook his head, and I could see the indecision running through him. “I don’t want you to say yes because of this.”

“It’s not—”

“It isn’t an option,” he cut me off, and my power surged inside of me. He was really and truly angry, but there was also so much worry in his eyes. This was a threat he was taking seriously. “We will figure something else out.”

“I won the bet.”

“What?” He ran his hand over the back of his head as he stared back down at the invitation. With every flick of his gaze, I could feel his power soaring higher.

“Last night you said that if I won then you owed me. Whatever I chose, it would be mine.”

Evren’s gaze snapped to mine, but he didn’t say a word.

“This is what I want. This is what you owe me.” I crossed my arms and hoped he realized just how serious I was. “I want to marry you.”

“Adara,” he sighed my name as he shook his head.

“You said that you didn’t want to force me to do anything. You didn’t want to take my choice, so don’t.” My breaths rushed in and out of me. “This is my choice, Evren, and I choose you.”

He watched me for a long moment before stepping closer to me ever so carefully. His anger hadn’t softened, but there was also desire flowing along his power. His hunger was stifling and almost choked out the rage that coursed through him.

“This isn’t a game, princess.”

“I never said it was.” My own anger spiked. “You are my mate, and I am yours. I choose to marry you, Evren. This was what you wanted before. Why do you not want me now?”

He surged forward, his body slamming into mine, and the invitation was lost on the ground behind him. “Never say that again.” His fingers trailed over my face before cupping my cheeks.

I stared up at him with ragged breaths passing my lips and waited for his next words.

“I will always want you, Adara. I have since the moment I met you.” His gaze ran over the length of my face. “But I don’t want to force a decision out of you because of my brother. That invitation doesn’t mean you need to decide anything.”

“Yes. It does.” I nodded with my head still in his hands. “You and I both know it.”

He closed his eyes as he bit down on his bottom lip, and I could feel his emotions warring in his powers. It was still so out of control, and I didn’t think he realized how much he was allowing me.

“I want to marry you, Evren. I want to be by your side. We will do this together.”

His mouth came down against mine, softly and unsure, and his lips traced over mine as if they were trying to memorize the curve. “I am yours, Adara.”

“And I am yours.”

My chest tightened as the words passed through my lips, and I didn’t know the power that they held.

“I need you,” he murmured against my lips and started backing us up toward the palace wall.

“Shouldn’t we tell the others our plan?” My chest felt tight and my stomach churned. I wasn’t second-guessing my decisions, but I wasn’t sure I was ready for this. This intimacy that Evren was staring at me with.

“No.” He shook his head, and his hands hit the stone wall right before my back hit them. “I just need you.”

He moved his hands over me, caressing and wandering, and he didn’t stop until he held my face and forced me to look up at him. “You are mine, and I will worship you until my last breath is stolen from my body.”

“Evren,” I whispered his name and tried to look away from him, but he refused to let me go.

“I am devoted to you, princess.” He lowered his hand down my neck until he pressed it against my chest. “To your mind, your body.”

“And to your people,” I reminded him. “Our marriage will strengthen your kingdom and ensure safety for your people.”

“Our people, our kingdom.” His other hand pushed in my hair, and he gripped the roots and forced me to look back up at him.

I nodded even as my heart raced, and I wasn’t sure how I felt.

“Kiss me, princess,” he demanded of me. There was no asking, no hesitancy from him, and there wasn’t a single part of me that was capable of denying him.

He leaned forward to close the space between us, but his attention caught on my chest, and he stiffened against me. He lifted his hand to my neck, and his finger dipped beneath the chain of my necklace and lifted it.

I slammed my hand down over his, trying to stop him, but he had already seen it.

“Where did you get this?”

“I’m sorry.” I scrambled and put my hand over the small moon. I hadn’t thought about it when I slipped it over my head this morning. It had been tucked inside my shirt while I sparred, and no one had noticed. Not until now. “I’ll give it back.”

I started to lift it off me, but his hands stopped my own.

“Where did you get it?”

“Your room.” I pulled my attention away from him as a blush crept up my neck. “I found it on your desk while you were gone. It had my name on it.”

He didn’t say anything. He just stared down at the gold chain that lay against my skin.

“I’m sorry, Evren. I know I shouldn’t have taken it.” I shook my head and once again tried to move, but he wouldn’t let me.

“Do you know what that is?” His gaze finally met mine, and nausea rolled through me.

“No.” I shook my head. “I saw it, and I don’t know. I felt drawn to it somehow.”

Evren was quiet for a long moment, and my anxiety soared with every moment of his silence.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

“That belonged to your father.”

“What?” I pushed my hands against his chest and shot my power into him and pushed him away.

“It’s your father’s,” Evren repeated himself, but his words didn’t make sense. None of it did.

I pressed my hands against my own chest, against where the pendant laid, and I could feel the slight buzz of it beneath my skin.

“You’re lying.” I shook my head. “Why would you lie to me about this?”

“Queen Kaida gave it to Gavril to give to you as a gift. It was one more way for them to use you, to manipulate you. He was going to gift it to you on your wedding night.” Evren’s anger surged along with his uncertainty.

“And how do you have it? Why do you have my father’s pendant?” There was so much accusation in my voice. Accusation that I didn’t understand, but I also couldn’t let go of.

“I stole it. The night Gavril fed from you, the night we left, I stole it from his room before we disappeared under the night sky.”

“And what? You are just going to use it against me as well?”

Evren stepped back as if my words harmed him, but I couldn’t stop. This pendant belonged to my father. I could feel it in my bones that it was the truth, but I also knew that Evren’s family only had it because it was taken from him against his will.

It was taken from him when they killed my father.

“Do you really think so little of me?” He ran his hands through his hair. “Do you really think that I could be capable of hurting you in such a way?”

I shook my head as I clung to the pendant and thought after thought raced through my mind. Thoughts of my father, thoughts about me. I could do nothing but race over everything that I had once thought I was sure of, but doubt had become my biggest enemy.

Because when I stared ahead at my mate, doubt raced through every part of me.

“I stole the necklace to take their power away. I stole you to take their power away.” Evren stepped forward, and I watched him carefully. “It was foolish of me to do so, princess. To go to my brother’s room and steal something from him that I knew he would miss. He knew that I took it. The queen knew, and it was a risk I shouldn’t have taken. But I took it for you.”

I tried to swallow down my emotions as my fingers burned against the pendant. “Why didn’t you give it to me? Why would you wait?”

“Because you didn’t trust me.” Evren ran his hand down his chest, and I could see the plea in his eyes for me to believe him. “You didn’t trust me, and I didn’t want you to think that I would ever use such a thing against you. My father and his queen have taken everything from you. This is the only thing I could get back.” He shook his head as he stared at me. “I didn’t want you to ever think that I would use it against you to force your hand into marrying me. I left it on my desk with your name on it in case anything was to happen to me while I was gone. I still wanted you to have it.”

“No more secrets.” My hands trembled as I straightened my spine and tried to force myself not to look weak. “I have agreed to this marriage, but there can be no more secrets.”

“Of course.” Evren’s hand tightened in his shirt. “Of course, princess. Anything you want.”

“Why did my father wear this pendant?” I fingered the crescent moon as I asked.

“I don’t know, but Queen Kaida was adamant that she could use it to sway you. She was adamant that Gavril could use it against you if he had to.”

“I can feel it.” I looked up at him, and he was still watching me. “That was how I found it on your desk. I could feel its power.”

“I can too.” Evren reached forward and laid his hand upon mine. “Which makes me believe that the queen knew as well. I’m worried that she knows things that we don’t.”

“Things about my father?” Desperate. I felt so hopelessly desperate for his answer.

“Things about him. Things about you. I don’t know.” His hand tightened against mine, and I could feel his fear trembling through him.

I didn’t know my father. I hardly knew any details of his life other than the sacrifice he made for me. I pressed my hand against the pendant as the agony of wishing I did hit me.

“We should tell the others our plan.”

Evren’s gaze met mine, and his eyes darkened as he clenched his jaw. He wanted me alone, just him and me, but our reality was too dire for that.

Everything that was happening was far more than just the two of us.

It always had been.

“You’re right.” He nodded and slipped my hand in his. “We should discuss our next move.”

He hesitated for a long moment with my hand in his. If it could have been this, just him and me, things would have been so much different.

It would have been more than I could have ever dreamed.

“Let’s go.” He pulled me forward, and I held my hand in his while my other still clutched the pendant on my neck.