Chapter 20

Evie

Barataria Preserve, Marrero, Louisiana

A fter an uneventful journey in the car the strange man called for her, which dropped her at the foot of the preserve by the visitor center, she had lit through the trees rapidly, driven by an overwhelming need to confront her coven. Was she Evangeline Dyeus? Had the elders taken her from a loving family? The trees and vines she was running past, sensing her inner turmoil, bent towards her, extending themselves in her direction, gently stroking any part of her they could reach in an effort to soothe her.

Once she arrived at the clearing, she drew the inverted symbols needed to lift the protection spell and walked into absolute chaos. Her jaw dropped as she glanced around, taking in the devastation around her. Trees were toppled across the clearing. Conical piles of sand filled with boiling water were scattered around the area, and cracks fissured from where she stood, extending beyond where she could see.

“Evie!” A slight figure raced towards her, slamming into her with so much force that Evie stumbled to the side, barely catching herself before she fell. “Where have you been?” The question trailed off as Sandrine burst into tears.

Evie wrapped her arms around Sandrine. “Please don’t cry, little sparrow, I’m here now.” Her eyes tracked the clearing, catching sight of the small group of witches gathered around the fire.

One woman popped her head up from the group gathered around the fire, squinting at where Sandrine and Evie stood. “Evie?” she called, rushing towards them. “Evie, darling?”

“Hi, Chloe,” Evie greeted the witch who had raised her in a soft voice.

“We were so worried about you!” Chloe gave Evie a quick hug, pressing a motherly kiss to her forehead. “Where were you?”

Evie paused, her mouth not quite able to form the words to describe everything that had happened in the last day. All she could think was that there was a strong likelihood that Chloe—the hedge witch who had raised her, the elder who had trained her in lunar magic as best she could, the maternal figure who cared for her when she was ill—had lied to her. And not just a small lie. A massive one that spanned her entire life if the file on Cole’s desk was to be believed. “I was just exploring,” was what Evie chose to say instead. “What happened here?”

Sandrine pulled her head from Evie’s chest, giving her older coven sister a confused gaze, at the same time Chloe shot her a strange look. “The earthquakes, Evie.”

Evie shook her head. “Earthquakes? As in plural, more than one?”

Hesteia and Thea walked up to them. “The three earthquakes over the last day, love,” Thea responded, rubbing her hand over Sandrine’s back soothingly. “You didn’t feel them?”

Evie thought back to the moment she saw Cole, that first kiss where she had felt like one or both of them was shaking. Assuming that was an earthquake, that accounted for one. When were the other two? “No, I didn’t know. When did they happen?”

Hesteia’s mouth was pursed, her eyes calculating as they locked on Evie. “Two were before sunup, not too far apart. The third happened a few hours after the sun rose.”

Evie froze in shock. If the first earthquake happened when she and Cole kissed that first time and the second occurred not long after that… Not long after that had been the driveway. She flushed, the memory of Cole’s low voice growling in her ear and his fingers rubbing over her, plunging inside her, sending a spark of arousal through her body. And a few hours after sun up, she had been in Cole’s bed, wrapped in his arms. No earthquakes since they had parted ways. What if… no, that was too absurd to even think about. She was forcing connections where there weren’t any to be made. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here,” she said, dropping a light kiss on top of Sandrine’s hair and giving her sister one last hard squeeze before dropping her arms. “How can I help now that I am, though?”

“We’ve cleaned up much of the damage already.” Hesteia waved a hand at the felled trees. “And unless you feel up to reseeding the damaged trees, I don’t think we have anything for you to do.” With a single authoritative gesture, she herded the small group that had gathered around them towards the eating area where the rest of the coven was slowly gathering at the long tables. “But we do have dinner ready for all of you so if you’re hungry, now’s the time.”

Evie trailed behind Hesteia and the others, staring blindly across the clearing. Not a day ago, she had raised a completely devastated section of the forest, bringing hundreds of dead plants and long dormant flora back to glorious life. At the time, though, she had so much magic coursing through her veins that it felt like her skin couldn’t contain all of it. How much of that could she attribute to Cole’s presence?

A gentle hand touched her elbow, and she jumped, glancing wildly where the touch came from. Chloe stood next to her, tears running down her narrow face. “I was so worried about you, Evie. I thought something might have happened.”

Something did happen. It just wasn’t death or physical injury. It was emotional damage. Mental. Evie took the bowl of warm stew that Thea brought her, nodding her thanks at the witch, before turning her attention back to Chloe. “I’m fine. I didn’t even notice the earthquakes.” She shuffled her feet awkwardly. “Chloe, would you mind if we went back to the house? I have something I need to talk to you about.”

“Of course, Evie.” Chloe nodded, accepting her own bowl from Thea with a smile. “You’re always welcome at home.”

Evie followed Chloe to her small home nestled in between two dwarf palmettos, where the walls—such as they were—were composed of small saplings and vines. It was a prime location because the moon shone down perfectly and directly onto the house. It was also where Evie had grown up. She glanced at the small room she had lived in for much of her life; it looked exactly the same as it had before she moved to her own house in the forest canopy. Chloe hadn’t changed a thing since she left, claiming that she wanted Evie to always feel welcome.

“Sit down, Evie darling.” Chloe dropped into one of the two chairs in the main area, resting her bowl on her lap. “It has been too long since you’ve been home.”

Evie lowered herself into the other chair, perched at the edge of the seat. Her mind raced as she tried to figure out the right time to demands answers as to whether her whole life had been a lie. It didn’t feel like dinner conversation.

“How was your explor—” Chloe began.

Screw polite dinner conversation. “Tell me again how you found me,” Evie interrupted her.

Chloe shifted backwards in a movement that almost looked like a flinch. Her skin paled just a bit, but then she straightened. “What do you mean?”

“That night you found me when I was little.” Evie placed her elbows on her knees and leaned forward, her bowl sitting forgotten on the ground beside her. “Tell me again what happened.”

“Beyond the fact that we found you, it was just like any other night.” Chloe’s smile was beatific, but Evie noticed that it was frayed around the edges, not actually reaching her eyes. “Why do you ask?”

Chewing on the inside of her cheek, Evie observed the woman who was like a mother to her. “So there was nothing out of the ordinary then?”

Chloe blanched, but she held on to her smile. Barely. “No. Just a beautiful little witch who became part of the heart and soul of our coven.”

“So… there was nobody else with me?” Evie pressed. “No man shouting for his daughter, no woman carrying a toddler into the preserve? Nothing like that?” Based on the news clippings from the folder, she was guessing that was what had happened. Now was the time for Chloe to correct her. Offer an explanation.

Instead, Chloe’s face fell, and she looked at her adoptive daughter with a distinct look of guilt and fear and burst into tears.

That was all the answer Evie needed. “You… lied to me?” Her voice wavered. “You took me from my family?”

“No!” Chloe cried, emotion thick in her voice now that the truth was coming out. “We would never do that! We found you at the edge of the forest. Just like we did all of your sisters!”

“Are you saying I was… abandoned?” Evie shook her head. “That doesn’t make sense. I’ve seen the news clippings. I had parents! My father was looking for me that night.”

Chloe’s face darkened. “You weren’t alone.”

“What does that even mean? If I wasn’t abandoned but I wasn’t alone, how did you not take me? Those are mutually exclusive things.” The world was creeping in around Evie, her thoughts muddy. She needed to breathe, but her heart was beating too quickly, her lungs struggling to work, enough so that she couldn’t get in the air she needed.

Chloe was opening her mouth to respond when the world blew apart. Around them, Chloe’s tree-sheltered home shook; screams echoed through the forest. For the first time in the Barataria Coven’s recorded history, the lights that lit their forest home went dark, going from the pale color they usually held to a deep blood-red scarlet. The color symbolized an attack. War. That was almost scarier than the explosion. Almost.

Shoving herself out of her chair, Chloe raced out of the house into the clearing, calling behind her, “Evie, come on!”

Feeling like she was struggling through molasses, Evie followed, barely able to reconcile the little Chloe had shared about her history with what she had thought. to be true. In a matter of minutes, the entire foundation of her life was destroyed. And now, it appeared that the coven’s home itself may be destroyed as well. Her fingers trembled at the idea that every constant in her life was about to be stripped away, but, as she walked into the clearing, Evie felt his magic. Felt him. The most constant part of her life standing right in front of her.

The minute she saw Cole, her chest pulsed with familiarity. He was hers: the man who had haunted her throughout her life, the only one who knew her.

His eyes, lit radiant blue, traced the clearing, catching sight of her almost as soon as she walked out into the open air. A dark, fiery crown graced his head and magic poured from him, sending shivers down her spine. Behind him, she could see the tattered edges of the protective barrier behind him; he had punched through it like it was nothing. As she neared him, she felt more than heard the low-pitched growl rolling from his chest.

“Come here, little witch,” Cole rumbled, his voice distorted.

Evie took three steps towards him before her body checked in with her brain that going to him was actually a good idea. Once she starting thinking again, she came to a screeching halt, but it was too late. She was already in arm’s reach of the dark god before her, and he didn't seem willing to be separated from her for any longer.

Cole snatched her into his arms, pulling her feet fully off the ground. A satisfied huff emerged from his mouth as he nuzzled into her neck. “Don’t run from me again, Angel,” he breathed into her ear. “I’ll always fucking find you, no matter what. You’ll never be free of me.” His arms suddenly tensed around her, and he started snarling again.

“Back off,” Evie snapped. “It’s probably a bad idea to try and come any closer.” Cole’s snarl intensified, and she threw up a shield, biting back a laugh when she heard a yelp as somebody came into contact with the invisible wall blocking them from the coven. Although she could hear whispers around them, she turned her attention back to the man holding her, who was still glaring over her shoulder. “Cole.”

Cole drew back, his gaze fixing on her face. The intensity of his magic was slowly fading the longer he held her and, with it, the overwhelming dark energy that she could feel between her thighs. Now he just sounded tired, concern replacing the dangerous expression he was wearing when he first entered. “You left. You put yourself in danger. Why the fuck would you do that?”

“I had to—” Her voice caught as she remembered the conversation his untimely and destructive entrance had interrupted. “Oh gods, I had to talk to my mother.” A surge of pain and no small amount of anger struck her heart. “The woman who raised me. Chloe. I don’t know what the fuck to call her, but I found something in your desk, and I needed to talk to her about it.”

His brow furrowed. “Why didn’t you wait for me? I would have brought you back to talk to her. Evie, I need to be with you. I need to stay with you.”

“Why didn’t I wait for you,” she repeated his question back to him as a statement, her irritation with him flaring suddenly back to life. “For starters, you abducted me. You were the one who actually had the information that made me come back. You warded your house against me leaving!” As she listed his various missteps, her voice increased in volume until she finally shouted, “Should I go on? Why the fuck should I have trusted you, Cole?”

To his credit, he did actually look ashamed, his shoulders slumping forward, his head tilting down until his forehead rested against hers. “I’m sorry, Evie. For all of it. I never meant to take away your free will. Or your freedom.”

Well. It was hard to stay angry at him when he apologized. Harder still when he was clutching her to his chest like he would die before letting her go. “Fine. That’s… well, thank you. For the apology. But why did you have any of that stuff about that girl—me, I guess—in your study?”

A wince crossed his handsome face. “I think we need to talk about that somewhere else. You know. When your family isn’t staring at us?” They both glanced up and around, finally taking in her coven.

The members had taken defensive positions around the barrier spell Evie had cast. At their attention, Hesteia stepped forward, fire ringing her arms, the flames licking up to her shoulders. “Who are you?” she demanded.

Evie maintained the barrier on the off-chance that Cole lost his temper again.

Cole inhaled then breathed out slowly, the air of his exhale whispering against her cheek. “My name is Cole Aidoneus,” he responded authoritatively, and Evie couldn’t help but imagine that this was what he sounded like in a courtroom. A small streak of desire—never far when Cole was around—throbbed through her veins, and she pressed closer to him.

Hesteia scowled, her face illuminated by the fire surrounding her, looking every inch the powerful red witch she was. “What do you want, Cole Aidoneus? Why are you here? The witches have done no wrong to you, and you’ve threatened our home and one of our sisters in a short time.”

Cole's arms tightened around her. A signal. Even before Evie saw his eyes narrow in rage, she knew that was the wrong thing for the coven elder to say. His voice was ice cold fury when he spoke. “Correct on one of three counts, putain . I threatened your home because your protective spells were hiding my witch from me, which I consider to be a wrong done to me by the witches. But I would never hurt Evie. She’s mine to defend. Mine to protect. And I will never let anything happen to her.” He tilted his head down to Evie, lowering his voice so only she could hear his next words. “You know that, right?”

“In theory, yes. But you said we need to talk about why you had that folder, and I think we need to do that before I can fully believe that you want to protect and defend me.” She pushed at his chest. “But before we do that, I need to talk to Chloe and the coven elders. I need to understand where I came from before I can go anywhere else with you.” And, with a wave of her hands, she lowered the barrier blocking the other witches from coming near them.