Chapter 25

Evie

Barataria Preserve, Marrero, Louisiana

T he world was obscured by blue fire. Evie could feel the decay, the utter death in the miles of bayou around her, running through her veins, the same way she felt the quicksilver tug of the moon. Around her, she heard howling, felt the wind whipping past her as the trees flailed their branches wildly and the vines cracked like whips around her. Deep in her core, she felt an intense wrenching as deadly flora and fauna she had only ever seen in books spontaneously bloomed from the forest floor around them. She could hear screaming too, now that she thought about it. But none of it could touch her. It all felt removed. Distant.

A hand cupped the back of her neck, the touch instantly calming the madness inside of her and causing her to fall back into herself. She turned, only to see Cole’s eyes shimmering a mystical blue in his lean face. “Cole,” she whispered.

“Yeah, Angel,” he murmured as she wrapped herself around him once more, her arms locking behind his neck, his hands dropping to rest on her hips. The movement was so natural, so unbelievably familiar, that she found herself lulled into some sort of comfort, even though she was still wrecked inside. “What do you need?” She knew that voice, had heard it more days than not over the course of her life. Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine that not only was its owner real, but that he would be standing beside her looking at her like she was everything he had ever wanted.

She barely recognized her own voice, sultry as it was, when she responded. “I need you, Cole. I need you to get me out of here, away from here. Take me with you.”

“Are you sure?” He rested his forehead against hers as if they had all the time in the world. As if they weren’t surrounded by her coven, who had lied to her, blindly endangered her, for all of her life, who were readying for battle as the forest around them roared with Evie’s rage. “There’s no going back from this, baby. If you leave this forest with me, I’m not gonna be able to let you go. It’s gonna be you and me together. And there are still things I need to tell you that could… change how you see me. Us.”

Evie paused, considering everything he was saying and the subtext underlying it. “Have you lied to me?” He shook his head. “Are you going to kill me?” He shook his head again, violently this time, the blue magic in his eyes flaring with his response. “Once you’ve told me whatever you need to, are you going to hide anything else from me?” Another head shake. “Are you going to experiment on me without my knowledge and complete consent?” He hissed out the words, “absolutely fucking not,” in response to the final option as if the thought was so abhorrent to him he couldn’t bear not to respond verbally. “Then I am already safer and more cared for with you than I have ever been here.”

“And you’re sure?” He braced his thumb against her chin, tilting her face to his. “I need to hear you fucking say it.”

“I’m sure.” Her eyes slid shut in pleasure at his touch before opening again, taking in the growing excitement on his face. “Take me with you, Cole.”

He crushed his mouth to hers in a quick, possessive kiss. “I promise I will be everything you ever need me to be. You won’t regret this, mon ange .” Wrapping his arms around her waist, he picked her up easily and, with no thought to the witches surrounding them, strode quickly out of the circle, past the protective spell the elders had cast to keep other coven members from overhearing and the small groups of witches peering curiously at them.

Sandrine gawked at Evie and Cole and sprinted towards them. “Evie, where are you going?” Her forward progress was halted by Hesteia, who had followed them out of the circle and grabbed one of the younger witch’s thin arms to stall her run towards Evie. “Evie, no!” Sandrine cried pitifully, struggling against Hesteia’s grasp, while Cole walked them towards the edge of the clearing. “Evie, please don’t go!” Her final cry was punctuated by sobs and then a small gasp of pain as Hesteia dragged Sandrine backwards forcefully.

“No,” Evie snapped, her temper close to redlining once more, summoning a massive tree branch to swing at Hesteia’s head. The elder ducked just enough that the hit missed her, but her grip loosened enough that Sandrine was able to wriggle away and run towards Evie. “Don’t you touch her!”

Cole hadn’t stopped, looking down at her without slowing. “We’ll come back for her. We’ll come back for anybody, for everybody, that you want, but we need to get out of here. They’re not going to be distracted by your arboreal foot soldiers for much longer, and they aren’t going to want to let you leave now that you’ve shown a proclivity for the very magic and knowledge that the Council wanted out of you.”

Evie glanced over at Sandrine, who had just caught up to them as Cole paused at the cusp of the clearing. “Little sparrow,” she said, her lip trembling. “I have to go.”

Sandrine stared at her, tears rolling down her face. “Then let me come with you. I’ll be good, I promise.”

“I know you would, but now’s not the right time.” She cupped her sister’s cheek and pulled her close, kissing her forehead gently. Behind them, the trees raged, limbs lashing out and drawing the attention of the elders. But Cole was right; the distraction wouldn’t hold them forever. “I’ll—we’ll—come back for you. For now, keep your head down and be safe. The coven will take care of you the way they always have until we can get you.” Tears dripped down Sandrine’s face, and Evie’s heart ached at the sight. Her sister meant everything to her, and choosing to leave her home permanently, to leave her sister behind even temporarily for the man holding her and the foreign magic flooding her veins practically ripped her in two. “This isn’t forever, little sparrow.”

Sandrine’s gaze snapped back to hers, familiarity flashing in her eyes. “It’s just for now,” she finished, a watery grin splitting her face at the saying they broke out whenever Evie went exploring without her.

“We’ll come back for you,” Evie repeated, kissing Sandrine’s forehead again. “Go back to the elders for now, though. It’s alright.”

Sandrine stepped away, Evie’s hand falling from her face, and backed towards the elders, her eyes never leaving Evie’s. “I love you, Evie,” the little girl whimpered.

“I love you too, Sandrine,” she called just as her sister turned and walked back to the red witches’ living quarters, passing the elders by like they were nothing.

Cole kissed the top of her head, dragging her attention away from Sandrine’s retreating form. “We’ll come back for her, Angel, and we’ll take her with us if she wants to go. But now… ” Cole jerked his chin at the protective circle ringing the clearing. “When I tried to get in, I got tased. You got any tips on getting us out of here?”

A hysterical giggle threatened to spill from her lips as she prepared to leave her life—her family—behind. “They don’t care about who leaves, just about who’s getting in. And they wouldn’t have the time or power to extend the protections against us exiting, given all of—” she gestured around them at the forest that was still very much alive and raging to defend her. “—This.”