16. Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

Evelyn

E velyn didn’t sleep.

After Belle left, she poured over Matilda’s words, entrapped by the scholar’s findings. The journal splayed open in her bent knees pulled close to her chest, she sank deeper into the feathery pillows of the bed as she fell further into the history of vampyr. A candle on the nightstand flickered light across the old pages. Sleep clung to her aching eyes by the time a skirt of wax had bunched against the brass candelabra.

Matilda’s notes ended three-fourths of the way through the book, the remaining empty pages taunting Evelyn. She shut the book with a long exhale, the sound slamming like the truth.

Vampyrs had not always been cursed.

Matilda’s notes had been weaved with facts, accounts, and observations. Vampyrs ate food for vitamins and sustenance. Blood was treated as a delicacy, and usually only between a vampyr and someone they respected. A lover or a friend. Vampyr or not. When sex got involved, how they craved and needed blood got murky.

Vampyrs were, similar to faeries, immortal. They could have children, but like witches, it took years, sometimes decades to conceive. Usually, a mated pair had the best chances. They, too, called it mates, like werewolves, but from what Evelyn gathered, it was similar to fateds.

Those turned remained their age at the time the vampyr venom touched their veins while those who were born vampyrs stopped aging around thirty years. The Verenas were filthy rich, which explained Tovi’s high-end fashion and ability to pose as a wealthy merchant, but vampyrs in general possessed money and extravagance. With a hidden underground for trade, a land with patches of vibrant, nutrient-dense soil, and a coastline with a current leading to the southern continents, Drystan possessed many riches.

The most interesting of all, vampyrs once walked in the sunlight.

Fascination gripped Evelyn, and she hadn’t found anything related to darkness, demons, or the Void once throughout Matilda’s journal, confirming the curse had happened after her time here.

And after the king’s passing.

An eagerness flushed through her, as if she’d chipped away at something bigger. It could shed light on how to defeat the vampyr, or the curse for that matter. With so many scholars studying the prophecy, information like this would be vital.

Evelyn sighed, resting the journal on her nightstand. She needed sleep, a moment to rest. Wear and tear gripped her muscles, and her mind spun. So much information, and yet so little on how to stop Riven. Why did he think allowing vampyrs to walk in sunlight was the solution?

Her heart ached and yearned for Kade. Fucking flames , tears stung at the edge of her eyes. Those amber eyes of his, always believing in her. His kind touch, a gentle kiss to her temple. Kade was always calm, collected. He’d remind her to believe, and she did.

The rain had stopped, the night eerie still compared to the wild day. Outside, the moon shone high beyond a veil of gray. Unlike the sun, which glowed silver, the moon gleamed a pearly hue. Her heart swelled with her love for Kade, and she pushed under the covers. She inhaled and exhaled, thought of his promise to come for her, and let his words and phantom touch calm her to rest.

As sleep eclipsed Evelyn, voices murmured outside her door, and the distinct clatter of boots against stone echoed down the hall. Her eyes popped open. Her magic surfaced. Something lay in the air, thick and cold.

The lock clicked, and her door eased open. She sprang from her bed, bare feet hitting the cold floor as she jolted awake. But no one stood on the other side, only the shadows from the flickering sconces framing her door.

Was it her guard or Tala?

Unsure and uneasy, she stepped forward as her magic rose to the surface. Her fire obeyed, so in sync with her now, so a part of her, it weaved strongly and tightly to her soul and will, hot and fiery and ready for a fight.

“Evelyn.”

Her name was like breath on the wind, so slight she barely heard it.

“Evelyn.”

A female voice whispered her name. Movement flashed in the hall—a blur of white snowy hair. Evelyn’s heart skipped. Fucking flames , she recognized that hair.

“Tovi!” she hissed.

Riven’s sister, her best friend, had found her. Evelyn reached the door frame, her unease warring with relief. Her mind raced. Riven made it crystal clear he and Tovi were enemies, but why would Tovi help her? Could she be trusted?

Another blur passed through the hall, and Tovi stilled, lurking in the center of the hallway. Jade eyes glinted in the dim lighting, and her hair shined like the moon, the only features Evelyn could make out at this distance.

Her guards were gone.

“Tovi, what are you doing?” Evelyn asked.

“We don’t have time. Trust me.”

Trust her ?

Was she out of her mind? Had she forgotten she’d lied all this time? Because Evelyn hadn’t, the wound of betrayal was still fresh and raw on her heart. But before she could argue and call out her friend’s lies, Tovi zipped past again.

“We must hurry. Follow me!”

Tovi dashed down the hall, her frame thinner than Evelyn remembered. Shadows danced on the dark stones of the castle walls, swallowing Tovi.

Evelyn teetered foot to foot. Her scalp prickled, the hairs on her arms rising. Tovi’s betrayal rooted her in place as did Kade’s promise. Though she didn’t enjoy sitting around, locked away in her tower, her instinct screamed something wasn’t right.

“What are you waiting for?” Tovi hissed.

Evelyn spun, her once friend’s words tickling the shell of her ear, as if she’d snuck up behind her in the shadows.

“I don’t trust you.” Admitting the truth aloud was like swallowing shards of glass. It hurt worse than Evelyn had imagined it would, the pain ripping her heart out of its steady rhythm. She hadn’t fully processed Tovi’s lies, their fake friendship, and being forced to do so now ached.

“Why?” The question echoed in the hallway, its speaker out of sight in the shadows.

“Show yourself!” Evelyn whispered. “Are you that much of a coward you won’t face me?”

Silence echoed.

“Come on now.” Ahead, Tovi emerged from the darkness of the hall. The hood of her cloak—black, a color her friend never wore—cast her face in shadow. “Don’t you want to see your wolf?”

An edge, a slight reediness rang in her tone, unlike Tovi’s usually chiming one. Evelyn stepped back. The tone alone made her magic flighty, but her friend’s word choice set off alarm bells in the back of her mind. Never had Tovi referred to Kade as a wolf. Huntsman. Betrothed. Valiant commander.

But never wolf .

Tovi tilted her head in that same way Riven did, like a cat ready to pounce. A slippery creep crawled up Evelyn’s spine, slinking up one vertebra at a time. Her instinct snapped into the defense.

In a blink, Tovi appeared a breath away from her, toe to toe, jade eyes burrowing into Evelyn’s silver ones. Except, this wasn’t Tovi. Her face was gaunter with hollow cheeks, her thinner lips curved into a sneer. This vampyr shared a likeness with Tovi as if they were sisters.

Evelyn didn’t have time to think about it further as the vampyr pushed against her chest. She lost her footing from the force, but her muscles quivered for a fight, and heat flushed over her, righting her posture. She flared out her hands and ignited her fingertips. The extra light cast the female vampyr in an orange hue, illuminating her frail frame, razor talons, and unruly hair. She wore a fitted dress in gray and a black velvet cape, an onyx broach clasped at the center.

Most definitely, undoubtedly not Tovi. She’d never be caught with her hair so untamed and wearing such dark, drab colors. Not in a hundred years. That much, Evelyn knew.

“Who the fuck are you?” she spat.

The vampyr flashed her thin needle-like fangs in a wicked smile and pounced. She swiped her razor hands at Evelyn as if she wielded a blade. Evelyn lifted an arm to block the vampyr’s claws.

The bruising clash of forearm against forearm ricocheted her backward. She ignored the pain and threw her flame. The vampyr dodged it, and the ball of fire blasted into the wall behind her, dissipating and leaving a scorched mark in the stone.

The vampyr attempted to move around her and catch Evelyn from behind, but Evelyn was faster, twisting and grasping the vampyr’s wrist mid-swing. Her flaming hand seared pale flesh, and the vampyr filled the air with a shrill screech. With her other hand, she hit Evelyn across the face.

Pain assaulted the bones of Evelyn’s nose. Her eyes watered, and her bottom lip stung. Warm liquid traveled over her upper lip while another trailed down her chin. She prayed to the Goddess her nose wasn’t broken while a single finger to her lip told her that was split.

“Your blood smells like sunshine.” The vampyr clutched her wrist, the smell of burnt flesh permeating the hall as her skin fused itself back together. “Do you taste as sweet?”

The fierce likeness to Tovi frightened Eveyln—clearly they were related, confirming her best friend had withheld so much from her. But that voice. The malice. They were also so different.

The female vampyr charged, but something flashed in front of Evelyn and stood between her and the attacker. Tall, lean, and with long blonde hair swaying behind him, Riven shielded her from the approaching vampyr.

“Stand down, Visha.”

Visha.

His command rumbled down the hall like some beast at the end of a cave.

The female vampyr stopped and rolled her eyes as if she were a child told playtime was over. She gave Riven a forced smile with narrowed eyes. “I only planned to bite a little.”

Plenty of retorts sat heavy on Evelyn’s tongue, but the tension radiating off Riven’s taut shoulders made her clamp her mouth shut.

“I gave you an order that Miss Carson was off-limits.” His words and anger echoed off the stone.

“You’re no fun anymore, brother.” Visha peered over his shoulder, her hate and lust-filled eyes drilling into Evelyn. She wanted to pounce, but her shoulders relaxed inch by slow inch. She’d not disobeyed her brother’s orders.

Brother.

Evelyn sucked in a breath, looking between Visha and Riven. The vampyrs declaration only solidified what she’d guessed. The likeness to Tovi—the same snowy hair, the otherworldly green eyes, lithe frames. Tovi had a sister. Another secret. Evelyn bristled, hurt and betrayal turning her rigid .

“She never mentioned me, did she?” Visha crossed one arm over her chest and propped her other arm on its elbow, flicking her wrist back as if she couldn’t be bothered by her furious brother or Evelyn’s flame, still dancing at her fingertips.

This was the enemy Evelyn envisioned. The vicious stare, as if a demon of pure evil lingered in Visha’s blood. She was not a scáth or caillte . Evelyn’s magic sensed the curse, the wrongness prickling the air while that kernel of darkness Belle had mentioned was present in every twitch, movement, and crease of her lips, reminding Evelyn of the White Lady.

“Always so embarrassed of her other siblings.” Her voice came out shrill, scraping across the surrounding stone. “She barely acknowledges Sven exists.”

“Sven does that to himself,” Riven muttered.

“Wait.” Evelyn shook her head, taking a step forward. “There’s another brother?”

The question burst out of her. Resentment clouded her judgment. On the one hand, Tovi’s never-ending betrayal made her want to shrink away into the hall, for the castle’s darkness to overtake her and swallow her away from Visha’s wide, triumphant smile. While the other part of her raged for answers.

“Extinguish your flame,” Riven said, not moving an inch.

Evelyn gritted her teeth, ignoring him. She kept her sights on Visha. Why had she attacked Evelyn when Riven needed her blood? Why risk it?

“Miss Carson, Ingrid shared your lovely sister Blair’s address a few days ago. Am I wrong?”

Evelyn seethed, exhaling through her nose.

“Extinguish your flame now or your sister pays the price,” Riven said.

Evelyn drew back her magic, the flames weaving and wavering out of sight and back into her being. The loss of extra light blanketed the hall in more darkness.

“Isn’t that a good little pet you—”

“I’m no one’s pet!” Evelyn charged, but Riven held out his arm. Vampyr strength held her back .

“She’s our prisoner, Visha, one we need alive!” the prince shouted.

“For a spell that might not even work.” Visha rolled her eyes. “She’s a waste of a good time. Throw her into the rings and let our court have a good laugh. That’s how you treat a prisoner. Not by pampering them.”

A spell that might not even work. Fucking flames. Another person who doubted Riven’s plans. Evelyn assessed Riven from the corner of her eye. He’d gone tauter than before, his fangs jutting over his bottom lip in a snarl.

“Visha, leave,” he commanded.

She harrumphed, jutting her lip into a dramatic pout. “At least punish her for hurting me. Little bitch.”

“You attacked me!” Evelyn pushed, but Riven’s arm didn’t budge.

“And you fell for my little trick, thinking I was Tovi. That was your first mistake. Your second was thinking she’d ever come for you. She won’t. All my sister cares about is herself. Don’t ever forget it.” Visha spun and disappeared, her clattering boots in sync with Evelyn’s hammering heart as the darkness swallowed her whole.

Visha’s words felt like salt in her already festering wound. She hadn’t trusted Tovi’s intention earlier, but she had for a moment believed she’d come.

In the stretching silence, Riven headed down the hall. Evelyn followed, her sister’s well-being fresh on her mind. The moments ticked by with the clattering steps of Riven’s boots and the slapping of Evelyn’s bare feet. The static between them extended in the hall until it felt as if the walls were closing in on Evelyn. She could feel the phantom scrape of the stone prickling her skin.

“You tried to escape.” Riven’s words came down like a gauntlet as he entered her room and stopped at the seating area.

“Your sister tricked me.”

Riven shook his head, his jade eyes meeting hers. “Tricked or not, you still tried to leave!” He outstretched his hands and gestured around the room. “After extending some grace, providing you with comfort— ”

“Grace?” Evelyn hissed. “I am your prisoner. Do you truly think a grand room and meals negates my reality?”

Riven prowled towards her. Evelyn’s spine stayed straight and strong. She drove every ounce of hatred she had for him into her stare.

“You should be more grateful. You deserve a dungeon like Visha implied. But I am trying to keep you alive.”

Evelyn hadn’t seen Riven in weeks, and time had worn the prince. He still possessed his slinking, arrogant walk, but dark circles rimmed his eyes. Not hunger. Wariness. Fatigue. Something had rattled him, and Evelyn, far too curious, couldn't help but try and get answers out of him.

“A spell only you and the White Lady thought might work. You’re risking the entire continent.”

In a blink, Riven vanished and then he stood in front of her. His strong, lithe hand grasped her throat and squeezed, forcing Evelyn to look him straight in the eye. Malice spoiled the jade color.

“Tell me, Miss Carson, what would you risk for the ones you love?” he hissed.

Evelyn couldn’t answer, struggling to breath. Riven’s grip didn’t lighten, his vampyr strength crushing her airway. White dots bubbled and popped in her vision while her heart slowed. Thump. Thump… Thump. She clawed at Riven’s hand. Images of Kade flashed through her mind. His kind, golden eyes were such a beautiful sight amid so much pain.

“Because there are no limits, no extent I wouldn’t go. I would do anything . Even if it destroyed this world.”

With one final squeeze, Riven released her, thrusting her away from him. Evelyn grasped her throat, smoothing her hands over her skin like it might rush air back into her. She glanced at Riven. She trusted his words, felt them because she too understood them. Knew them like her own. Because she’d do the same. She’d burn the world for Kade. For the one she loved the most, she’d burn it all.

The air in Evelyn’s room began to move, twisting and collecting into a circle by the door. Through it, the hall shimmered, morphing into a new place, a different place. Ingrid stood at the center of a room, one hand outstretched as she drew the circle with her magic.

A danu .

Evelyn had seen her sister Blair create them from time to time, a rather powerful ability one with a wind brotannas possessed—to travel from place to place by drawing fractures in the wind. They took considerable energy. The more miles between places, the more draining, and a witch couldn’t create a portal to a place she’d never been. The witch’s creed was a good rule to follow. Their eyes must’ve drank it in, their head full of memories, heart beating with familiarity, while their hands must’ve touched the ground.

Ingrid seemed unfazed, the danu within the castle a simple feat. She stepped into Evelyn’s room and the circle snapped shut, the view of the hall returning. A black silk nightgown draped around her, as her narrowed stare landed on Prince Riven.

“We’re trying to keep her alive, remember?”

“That’s Tala’s task.” He hurried towards the door like a cat prowling its territory. “See that it’s done.”

Riven vanished into the hall, not even his boots sounding his exit.

Ingrid’s bob had a slight curl, and a velvet headband bushed the dark strands out of her face. Sleep clung to her dark eyes. She too had bare feet and a flush blossomed on her cheeks, as if she’d rushed here from bed.

“You’re a fool,” she whispered through clenched teeth.

“Are insults your only way of communicating?” Evelyn crossed her arms and raised a brow.

“For someone who’s a prisoner, you’re far too bold.”

“Then throw me in the dungeons and be done with it.”

Ingrid’s eyes flashed with surprise. “Do you have any idea what vampyr court is like? Placing you in the dungeons is a death sentence. Here, you’re safe and you’ll make it until the end of the spell.”

“And when will that be?” Evelyn dared to hope Ingrid would slip the truth .

But the witch shook her head. “That’s none of your concern.”

She held out her hand. The red pendant of a necklace dropped like a noose as it extended to its full length. It swung side to side, ticking to the inevitable.

Evelyn tried to dampen her fear, but her words came out thick as she whispered, “What is that?”

She recognized the red jewel—a bloodstone like Tala’s and the Verena twins’. Yet, the dark metal encasing the stone was different. Strong. Powerful. Wrong. The dark magic twined into the jewelry screeched and grated against Evelyn’s flame.

“The bracelets were going to kill you, so I made something else. It’ll bind your magic but won’t have the same fatal effects.”

“ No. I’m not wearing that!” Evelyn stepped back, retreating from the darkness. Panic washed over her. Having her flame back the last few days had been her only reprieve since getting captured. She tried to grasp the mating bond with Kade, tried to warn him they’d lose connection again.

Kade. Can you hear me?

Nothing. Silence and miles rang between them. Evelyn stretched the makings of her heart, sent her love, not her words down the bond.

“You are a prisoner.” Ingrid shook the necklace. “This is your shackle.”

Kade didn’t answer down the bond. The emptiness between their souls was worse than the promise of losing her magic. She had to warn him, make sure he understood.

Evelyn shook her head. “I’m a fellow witch. How could you do this to me? Binding is an atrocity.”

Ingrid chuckled. “You demand witch camaraderie, but where was that two years ago when you ran from your betrothal?”

Evelyn gritted her teeth. Ingrid didn’t deserve the truth of why she ran like Belle did. Her energy was spent better elsewhere.

Kade!

Moonlight caressed her, a cold and warm touch all at once .

Evelyn. What is it? Are you alright?

Ingrid stepped closer, the dark magic of the necklace whispering and pricking against Evelyn’s skin and breaking her contact with Kade. She recoiled at the witch’s ability to hold the dark magic, confirming how far the witch herself had played with the wicked.

Evelyn!

Ingrid charged, inching so close her breath mingled with Evelyn’s. Dark eyes drilled into her.

“I threatened your sister, but trust that Riven meant what he said. He will stop at nothing. Nothing, Evelyn. If he must scour the entire continent to find your wolf, he will. When he does, he’ll make you watch as he kills him. It won’t be slow. It won’t be merciful. Before he is done, you may as well be dead, too. Put the necklace on. ”

Ingrid’s tone grated against Evelyn’s bones while the threat to Kade’s life dug its irony talon’s into her heart and twisted. What would she do for the ones she loved? The earlier question steeled her resolve.

Anything. No matter the risk. No matter the pain. No matter if she lost a piece of herself in the process.

Kade, I’m alright, she lied down the bond.

What’s wrong, love? Tell me. Talk to me. Kade’s voice was frantic. Pained.

Evelyn shut her eyes, her breathing shuddering out of her.

But you won’t be able to reach me. My magic will be bound again.

A growl echoed in her mind.

It’s alright. I’m alright. And I’m going to learn all I can, Kade. I love you.

What? No. Evelyn, listen to me. Stay put. I’m coming—

Evelyn grabbed the necklace. The dark magic against her skin instantly severed the connection with Kade, like a knife sliced through her mind. Her knees weakened, the pain winding down to her heart and cutting the tendons like tiny scissors shearing away. Sweat built at her temples, but Evelyn refused to fall and let the effects of the necklace weaken her resolve .

They may have made her a prisoner, locked her in a tower. They may have threatened the ones she loved and robbed her of her magic. But they could not snuff the fiery rage to defeat them. It coursed and fueled Evelyn’s every breath, thought, and action even as she placed the necklace on, even as the sickly, oozy dark magic entrapped hers. More than ever, she understood the lengths Riven would go. She’d do anything for Kade, anything to keep him safe.

Even if it meant risking her own life in the process.