14. Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

Kade

M axie sat atop a center table in the Shield-maiden. She cleaned one of her paws, calm and unbothered by onlooking werewolves who shook in their boots. Despite their tattooed muscles and beaded warrior braids, they gave her a wide berth, avoiding her table—the best table in all the tavern with eight seats. Some had even sacrificed a chair, standing with backs to the walls, one eye on their companions, the other on Maxie. Her red fur shined a deeper orange under the firelights of Shield-maiden’s, and the tufts of her ears appeared like golden tinsel. The crowd was quiet, watchful of her, one hand holding a cup of ale and the other hovering shy of their axes or swords.

The sight of Maxie warmed Kade’s heart, but it did nothing to subside the mounting pressure in his chest. Frustration, anger, worry, all of it wrestled within him like a raging mountain storm during the hottest months. Like the winds and rain and electricity, it all stalled against the mountain range and sat, staying put until it ran its course and emptied its fury upon the lands. But unlike those storms, the energy manifesting in Kade had no end in sight.

It didn’t lessen, it grew .

A sigh shuddered out of him, and at the shaky sound, Maxie peered up. She greeted him with a loud meow. Commotion echoed in the tavern. Chairs scraped against the floor. Metal screeched as it was unsheathed. Mugs slammed against tables. Maxie puffed out her chest, eyes half-slits. Kade managed a smile and sauntered past her, assured she’d be fine.

Tucked behind the bar, unseen unless one rounded the column of carved redwood tree the size of four huddled men, was an area Kade and the Gray Fenris had dubbed their spot in the tavern. Drengr-navy drapes, velvet and thick, added another layer of privacy. Tucked away from other pack members, the cozy dimly lit spot gave them room to enjoy an ale or two in peace, without the watchful eye of curious werewolves.

Kade’s hand hovered over the curtains, and he sucked in a breath. The color and material reminded him of Evelyn’s cloak. He swallowed, craving her in his arms, wishing he could weave his fingers through her obsidian hair. Kiss the pink blush on her cheeks. Or gaze deeply into the silver of her eyes.

He would . No matter what he faced and despite his brother’s frustrating decision.

Kade snuffed the energy in his chest, yet again, to no avail. Hours. He had hours to plan with his team before they headed north, without their guide. They had no minute to spare. Voices murmured beyond the curtains. Someone clucked their tongue, another giggled. One moved, boots skidding across the floor followed by a sudden “ oof. ”

“What was that for?” a male voice hissed.

Before anyone could answer, Kade parted the curtains.

The music and murmurs of the Shield-maiden faded as his team saw him. Two beats passed, and they erupted out of their seats. All of them barreled into him, forming one massive hug. A sense of calm and lightness settled over Kade as he held his friends for the first time in over a year, and for a moment, the pressing energy in his chest subsided, and he allowed himself a calming exhale .

“I can’t breathe!” someone yelped and wiggled against Kade’s torso. A pink bun popped through the pile of them, then another. “Let me out!”

Everyone laughed as they parted, and Linx, the mage healer of the team gasped for air. Far shorter than the rest, Linx stood below their chests at a proud five foot—no taller, no shorter. Well, aside from the two buns of pink hair twisted on either side of her head, offering a few inches of extra height. Her yellow, catlike eyes sized him up.

“I see you’re sporting a bun, too?” She gestured towards his head, raising a brow at Todd, the team’s weapon master. “See, I’m trendy!”

Todd groaned, as did his leathers as he fell into a worn, quilt-patched armchair. “I’d hardly call buns a trend, Linx. Besides, I don’t see an inch of pink on Kade.”

The mage healer rolled her eyes. “You’re jealous of my fashion sense. You don’t have a lick of it, dagger boy.” She waved to blades of all sorts that had been strapped to his physique like accessories.

He scoffed, flicking his dark hair out of his eyes. “I have style. It’s less subtle.”

“I hardly call ‘stabby’ a style.”

Everyone chuckled. Bétar, Kade’s second-in-command, sat on the curved leather booth on the west wall. He wiggled his red-as-dawn brows at the team’s archer, Yennifer, who bumped her shoulder into his. She flashed him a wide, radiant smile, and the mountain of a man melted in his seat. The two had mated two summers ago, and their love for one another was warmer than the lit fireplace nestled into the corner.

Kade had missed this—the teasing amongst friends and the natural camaraderie. He grappled with a pang of loss. Evelyn would fit well with the team and even better at his side, his equal to lead. Yet, he’d been gone over a year, and it felt good to be home, surrounded by his friends.

“I’m happy to see you all,” he said.

Bétar smiled, wide and toothy. “Likewise, Commander. You’ve been missed.”

Todd stretched, crossing his arms behind his head. “Well, I for one haven’t missed the ungodly hour you liked us waking up at. It’s been nice to sleep in once in a while.”

Kade leaned across the table, unable to fight the smirk twitching on his lips. “When did you ever adhere to my start times in the first place?”

“Seventy percent is passing.” Todd winked.

All of them groaned, but Kade laughed, allowing it to bubble out despite the anxious energy tingling through him. The reunion was a much-needed distraction.

“I chose my pink for the occasion, Kade. Happy your home, but I also chose it for your vampyr friend. Easy for her to spot.”

“Aye.” Bétar nodded. “Easy indeed, but this Tovi Verena you mentioned never showed.”

Kade sighed, removing his cloak and sword. He crossed his arms and leaned against a wooden beam. His body, tired and worn, needed purpose, but his insides were too frenzied to sit. “Eldrick came across her before she had the chance to connect with you all.”

His team went rigid. Yennifer paused her work sharpening an arrowhead. Her lake-blue eyes flashed with concern as she peered up at him.

“Is she alive?”

Kade nodded. “For now. He threw her into the dungeons, intent on learning more about his enemy.”

Bétar shook his head. “Does he understand we need her?”

Todd rested his elbows on his knees, tanned skin paling. “No one has ever made it across the Void successfully. She was our best chance.”

“I know.” Kade gritted his teeth. Why did his brother refuse to see reason?

The issue was his brother thought he was seeing reason. Facts, data, logic. Kade understood the importance of a level head, but sometimes his brother became stubborn. He’d never imagined Eldrick risking Kade’s life or his team’s in the process .

“We could break her out.” Linx nibbled her lip, wheels turning underneath her colorful hair. “Lorkan created some new wicked weapons for me. I’ve been dying to try them.”

Kade shut his eyes and dropped his head back in a grimace. What Linx lacked in shifting and size, she made up for in cleverer ways.

“ Moons , don’t tell me it’s more explosives,” Kade said.

His brother, scholarly and scientifically inclined, enjoyed making weapons for all his teammates, but especially for Linx, who had a knack for blowing things up—a talent that got the Gray Fenris in trouble over the years.

“It is!” Her eyes danced with mischief.

“We can’t blow up Lār.” Todd rolled his black-as-night eyes.

“He’s right,” Kade said. “We can’t fight against our own, and we also don’t have time to figure out a plan to break her out.”

Bétar tapped the table. “We read your letter front to back. Are you sure there’s no indication of when Riven will perform the spell?”

Kade shook his head, words like glass in his throat. He’d debriefed his team in an extensive letter he’d sent days ago. He kept assuring himself, as did Tovi, if Riven had succeeded, they’d know. Fear was as cold as ice in his throat. The spell needed Evelyn’s blood, but they didn’t know how much, either. A drop from her sliced palm or… Kade clenched his jaw, staring into the grooves of the floorboard. He refused to think of the worst or any of the unknowns.

One foot in front of the other.

Kade, at least, empathized with his brother when it came to making difficult choices. He’d recognized Eldrick’s pained stare—the safety of the pack versus Evelyn. He hoped his father or brother had the sense not to execute vampyr royalty, enemy or not.

“Since we have no indication of when Riven plans to use the spell, we have to act quickly.”

The team nodded, deliberate and curt.

Bétar clapped. “It’s good to have our commander—”

Something nudged the back of Kade’s legs, a familiar plush softness, while the rest of his team stared on in horror.

“What in the stars above!” Todd said.

One of his small knives flew through the air, embedding into the wooden floor between Kade’s boots—inches from Maxie.

“Todd!” Kade roared.

Maxie hissed, weaving through Kade’s legs and settling between them. She cast a slitted stare towards his weapon master, who had proceeded to stand atop his chair, a second knife at the ready.

Fear coursed through Kade, and his mounting worry shattered his control. His power unleashed. Light burst out of him, pearly and bluish, like a pulsing disc. Everyone ducked. Bétar shielded Yennifer, and Todd dragged Linx out of her chair to hunker with him. Even Maxie dashed underneath the table, Kade’s power reflecting off her yellow eyes.

He threw out his arms, stumbling from the post he’d been leaning on. Burnt flesh and wool clotted the air—he’d scorched his biceps with his own hands. They wavered bright to dim to nothing, but the light, his power, didn’t go out. It was sucked back inward. Kade’s heart raced. This newness, this other, he didn’t want it. It left him off balance, unsure of himself. Something he couldn’t afford as he tried to get Evelyn back.

“Well… that’s new,” Todd whispered.

Kade blinked. He’d forgotten his team had even been there, his power taking away all his focus. Stars above, this really wasn’t the reunion he’d envisioned. Kade ran his hands through his hair, taking a deliberate step back from everyone.

His mouth went dry, but he said, “Is everyone alright?”

Yen shook her head, blue eyes narrowed. “Are you alright?”

He nodded, but it felt like a lie and everyone’s hesitant stares said they knew it, too.

“Does that demon belong to you, then? ”

Rattled and wide-eyed, the lot of them whirled their attention to Lucy as she rounded the corner, a piled-high tray in hand.

“You mean Maxie?” Kade asked.

“Wait, it has a name?” Todd said. He and Linx stood, gathered around the table.

“ It happens to be Evelyn’s familiar,” Kade said.

Linx gasped. “But how are they apart? Mages have familiars, too, and they don’t ever leave each other’s side.”

Kade swallowed, bending over and picking Maxie up. She curled into his arms and rested against his chest. The Gray Fenris and Lucy cringed. A small sigh escaped Maxie, though, and she shut her eyes in contempt, tail swinging behind her.

“That’s because it’s a matter of the heart, right?” Lucy asked. She placed platters of pulled pork, lemon-steamed trout, and roasted greens onto the table. Fresh, meaty, and filling. The scents of his homeland’s cooking eased Kade’s tautness. “I reckon she’s faring fine with her witch’s other half, the mirror to her soul, so to speak.”

Intrigued, Kade tilted his head away from the food and back to Lucy.

Yennifer nodded. “That makes sense, seeing as you’re mates.”

“Ah, mate or not, that”—Lucy pointed at Maxie—“is a demon. Scared half my patrons away tonight. Worse than if a vampyr had walked into my tavern.”

They all stilled, not meeting one another’s eyes. The irony that a vampyr had entered her establishment wasn’t lost on them.

“Sorry, auntie,” Todd said, helping her with the rest of the food. Two baskets of buttered biscuits with blueberry preserve followed. “If we’d known what she was, we’d have lured her away.”

“I mentioned Maxie in my letter,” Kade said, exasperated.

“Did you?” Bétar humphed .

“Missed that detail,” Todd said.

Kade leveled an annoyed stare at his teammates and held Maxie tighter .

Lucy laid her hand on Todd’s shoulder, her gaze softening as his did in return. Todd’s mother had died at the Void, and her sister, Lucy, had taken Todd in and raised him like a son. Her tavern was more than a tavern for the Gray Fenris. It was a second home.

She gently squeezed his shoulder. “No ales for you all tonight. You’ll need your rest and energy. Come by in the morn, and I’ll send you off with some provisions.”

The team thanked her as she left, and an awkward quiet fell amongst them.

Linx, usually the brightest of the group, had paled. “Kade, that is a power unlike any other werewolf, or mage or witch even.”

“But Kade is the Son of the God,” Yen said.

Bétar cleared his throat. “Could it have surfaced because you found your mate, the Daughter of the Goddess?”

“I…” Kade paused. With everything in the last few weeks, he hadn’t considered why the energy had formed. He had, though, considered Linx’s concern. Werewolves didn’t cast magic or wield power. Their magic was rooted in abilities. Shifting, tracking, healing. Sometimes heightened senses or strength. He himself had a tracking ability connected to time and emotions, common in protectors and third-borns. Yennifer had keener and crisper sight—she never missed a target with her arrows. Bétar could lift ten times his strength, and Todd moved so fast, it was as if he could gracefully bend and twist like water. Yet no one, not even in the histories written about Finton, the first Son of the God, did a werewolf possess such power. It unnerved Kade.

“Kade’s bond with Evelyn might actually be the cause,” a new voice said from the doorway, “seeing as it happened the first time at the docks when Evelyn was captured.”

For the second time that night, the Gray Fenris team whirled towards a newcomer .

Tovi Verena, washed and dressed in traveling leathers stood at the wavering curtains. Her white snowy hair fell softly, as if she’d run here and stopped abruptly.

A moment later, a flustered, angered Eldrick burst through the curtains. “You maddening woman. I told you to wait!”

Tovi rolled her eyes, not sparing Eldrick a glance.

“ You’re the vampyr princess?” Linx asked.

Biscuit tumbled out of Todd’s mouth as he said, “You’re far too pretty to be a vampyr.”

Tovi raised a brow and smirked, flashing a fang.

Bétar crossed his arms. “You’ve seen Kade’s light power, too?”

Kade bristled and Maxie squirmed against his chest.

“Yes—”

“What light power?” Eldrick asked, his voice stern and unbending. His green gaze collided with Kade’s. “Is that why your eyes glowed earlier?”

“It’s nothing,” Kade said.

“Nothing?” Bétar repeated.

Kade ignored his stare. They didn’t have time for this. Navigating, learning more about his new… magic? Kade blinked rapidly to clear his head. He’d deal with it later—it seemed the least of his worries when Evelyn wasn’t at his side, a prisoner in the north, enduring gods knew what.

“We have more pressing matters. For starters, why are you both here?” Kade spoke without breaking eye contact with his brother. They’d never been so at odds, not even when he’d decided to leave and find Evelyn.

“Your brother finally decided to come to his senses,” Tovi said and sauntered farther into the room.

Someone choked on their food, perhaps Bétar, and another spit out their drink, spluttering as they caught their breath. Todd by the sounds of the dramatics. Even Linx, the brashest of them all, stood with her mouth in a definitive O .

“Oh, I think I might like you,” Yennifer said. She tossed her long wheat-colored braid across her shoulder, a playful smile brightening her face.

Gods save him.

“You agreed to be allies, then?” Kade asked.

“Not quite,” Eldrick said. “The princess and I have come to a different agreement.” He looked at Tovi. Again, she paid him no mind, making herself a plate of biscuits and preserves. “She and I will join you to get Evelyn back. I’m sorry for being an ass earlier.”

“Thank you, Eldrick,” Kade said. An understanding passed between the two brothers as they clasped hands. The reunion they’d both wanted, the brotherly bond restored. “Think nothing of being an ass,” Kade said, “but know I will tease you relentlessly now that you’re joining us.”

Eldrick exhaled. “I deserve it. Now, what exactly is the plan?”

Kade turned to his archer. “Do you have a map, Yen?”

The Gray Fenris, Eldrick, and Tovi gathered closer as Yennifer rummaged in her satchel. She retrieved a parchment, the fold lines paper-thin and brittle as she opened and splayed it over the table. On the map, the Void was depicted with clouds of fog and mist. North of it, Drystan’s topography was a mystery.

Kade pointed to a center section of the Void, not too far from the great river running down the center of Sorin. “Like we predicted before, Tovi confirmed there is indeed a canyon pass located here.”

“You don’t say,” Bétar said.

Before Kade’d left, they’d been searching for a way through the Void. No witch or werewolf had successfully tracked across it, but they’d sought to be the first. Through it, they’d enter enemy territory and attack at the source.

Tovi nodded, analyzing the map. “It can be dangerous, but for a group our size it’s a good option.”

“What are our other options?” Eldrick asked, eyeing her across the table.

Tovi waved a hand in the air. “Pirates, but that’s rather expensive. ”

“And risky,” Kade said. “Riven will suspect one of us—Tovi or me—to break Evelyn out of the castle.”

“Yes,” Tovi said, “but I doubt he’ll suspect a bunch of werewolves working with a vampyr. We need to make sure he doesn’t learn that we’re working together or that we’ve made it into Drystan.”

Kade nodded. “Surprise will be our advantage.”

He and Tovi had discussed at length the best way to get across the Void, into Drystan, and head north towards the castle. They hadn’t yet figured out how to infiltrate it, but getting there was the first step.

“What about demons?” Eldrick asked. “They’re more concentrated at the Void, right?”

Tovi hesitated and swallowed. “Yes—but as a vampyr, darkness is already in me. Darkness is attracted to light, hence why demons cross into Sorin, I’ll throw them off within your company. Not foolproof, but a pack of madras won’t hunt us.”

Kade shuddered. He’d fought plenty of madras, the demon equivalent of a wolf, with his team, but as they ran usually in packs, he’d rather not encounter them during their journey.

“Is that why witches and werewolves haven’t been able to cross the Void before?” Yennifer asked. “The light in us?”

“It does play a factor for sure,” Tovi said. “But the Void is simply a dangerous place. Even vampyrs stay clear of it, terrified they’ll become caillte that close to the darkness.”

“ Caillte ? Lost?” Eldrick said, translating the word.

“Yes,” Kade said. “It’s what we call scáths.”

“But you crossed the Void and so did your brother,” Yen said with her brow raised.

Tovi nodded. “We both have bloodstones. The magic within the stone is a sort of cloak, hiding us from the darkness in a way. Its why my people in Drystan can’t leave. They’d perish through the Void like you all, but for different reasons.”

“Our light is like a beacon whereas they’ll fall to darkness, become it, then?” Linx asked.

“Yes,” Kade said. “But we have fought our share of demons before. We can handle the Void.”

“Aye.” Bétar nodded. As the team listened intently, tension released from Kade’s muscles, and he fell back into his commander role. This. Standing in their secluded room at Shield-maiden’s, peering at Yen’s worn map, static prickling with the promise of their next mission—Kade not only missed this, he needed it, welcomed the ease of purpose flowing from his next steps forward.

“Is there an option without demons, though?” Todd asked. He spun a dagger, the sharp point embedded on the table.

Tovi exhaled. “Well, that would be the pirate option, smuggling us through the underground, but again, expensive.” She ran her finger up the mountain range and to the spot on the map. “The canyon pass is also quicker. We could get there in a day or two, right? Getting access to the underground might take some time, possibly a week.”

The team glanced at each other, committal nods jumping from one to the other. It appeared, they had a plan.

Evelyn.

Kade sent her name down the bond, even if she couldn’t hear him, he hoped her soul felt it, knew his commitment to her.

I’m coming for you.