3. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Kade

K ade’s protector instinct warred within him, and power —the same oddity he’d experienced at the docks—surged like the tidal pull of the moon.

His breathing hitched. Stars above , what was happening to him? He flexed and fisted his hands, trying to shake the power as if it were pesky raindrops. The light from his hands flickered a few times until it dissipated, sucking back into his core. His wolf didn’t howl, wrestle, or retreat.

Interesting.

But Kade shook away his curiosities along with his unease and refocused on Tovi.

“Evelyn’s safety isn’t a bartering chip,” he growled.

Tovi’s eyes darted over him, lingering on his hands. Her lips pursed until she shook her head, silently deciding something. “I don’t ask this lightly, Kade.” Poised, Tovi set her shoulders back straight, but didn’t lessen her grip on the dagger. “As you know, vampyrs are cursed—a thirst for blood, the inability to walk in sunlight—but not all of us perceive our innate darkness the same. There’s two schools of thought. Fight it or embrace it. I, for one, see myself for what I am—cursed. My brother, on the other hand, sees the darkness as a gift. But my brother is a saint compared to some. They marvel at the darkness, crave wickedness, and are simply evil. Because my brother and I regard darkness differently, we are enemies. Siblings thrust into a political feud.”

Questions tumbled one after the other through Kade’s mind. His perception of the vampyrs had already been altered with Tovi’s appearance and ability to walk in the sunlight. He was still trying to wrap his head around the bloodstone. She’d mentioned they were rare, but how many vampyrs walked amongst werewolves and witches, right under their noses? More unsettling, there was a royal family of sorts, which made him increasingly curious. He’d only ever been taught about one royal figure amongst the vampyrs, but that foe hadn’t surfaced in decades.

Kade’s brows pinched. “Your father, the king, why doesn’t he deal with this divide between you and your brother?”

Tovi blinked and sipped her wine. “He doesn’t interfere… which is why I try my best to keep tabs on my brother myself. I don’t trust Riven. Ever since you and Evelyn were born, my brother has grown increasingly… secretive. Months ago, tensions had been escalating in Drystan court. Circumstances were getting worse. Then, out of nowhere, he left Drystan for Callum. Those close to him claimed he’d left for business-related matters, but I was suspicious.”

Callum. The town they’d recently left, the town Kade and Evelyn had only arrived in a few months earlier, and where they’d fallen for one another. His blood ran cold, and any words he’d been about to say evaporated on his tongue as he waited for Tovi to continue.

“I followed him months ago to keep an eye on him. But Riven was slippery. From all I’d witnessed, he was here on business, building rapport with those in Torren. Our homeland relies heavily on imports. Trading relationships are vital.” She sighed. “Then the first murder happened.”

A creep crawled up Kade’s spine, like the sensation something stalked him. Between Evelyn’s capture and all of this new information about vampyrs, he’d forgotten about the murders, one of the reasons he’d remained in Callum in the first place.

“While you and Evelyn worked together, I did my own investigating, worried my brother was involved, but Riven’s only connection to the murders was McKenna, a young woman who’d briefly been his lover.” Tovi paused, pain flashing in her eyes for the briefest moment. “I had begun to dismiss the notion Riven was involved entirely until Evelyn mentioned a spell and her bloodline.”

Stars above… Bit by bit, piece by piece, everything clicked together. The body parts. Evelyn’s bloodline. Kade had feared she played a larger role in everything, but he’d let that go after killing the White Lady. He hadn’t lingered on the dark witch’s dying screams, ones that cried out to a dark prince. Kade ran one hand through his hair while the other palmed his breastbone to calm his rapid heart.

“Your brother’s the missing piece in the murders. Fuck. ”

Tovi didn’t deny his claim, her lips set in a thin line. She was far too calm, far too calculated, and Kade hated it.

His wolf surged against his skin on a wave of heat. “You suspected your brother all along and said nothing . Why?”

Her face settled into a neutral expression. “I didn’t have sufficient evidence that outweighed the dangers of revealing who I am.”

Kade growled. “But you were Evelyn’s best friend!”

Tovi’s nostrils flared. “You’re her betrothed, and yet I don’t recall you rushing to tell her the truth about your identity. Weeks you let her think you were nothing but a stranger to her.”

“Careful.” Kade seethed, his wolf raging inside him. “Weeks are very different from years.”

“Well, as someone else who cares for Evelyn, you know how difficult it is to face the fact you might lose her once you’re honest. You may not believe me, but Evelyn is my best friend. Bloody hel, she’s like a sister to me—so yes, I lied because I didn’t want to ruin our friendship.” Tovi sucked in a breath, eyes flashing with more pain. She gave her head a slight shake, pinching her brows and staring absently into the table as if the grooves of the wood held answers.

“Why not come forward after Aster’s death at least? You knew how that destroyed Evelyn.” He didn’t miss Tovi’s wince. Good. So many things could’ve gone differently.

Tovi hissed, a sound that reminded Kade of the sort of growl a werewolf would make when annoyed. “I’m pretty sure when a kelpie dragged Evelyn into Lake Glenn, it would’ve been an opportune time for you to shift into a werewolf. We can’t exactly undo the past, can we?”

Kade gritted his teeth. Frustration rippled through him, but she was right. There was no sense sifting through the past. “Fine,” he said. “You don’t like how—”

“On the contrary,” Tovi held up a hand. “I think the way you and Evelyn fell for one another is the way it was supposed to happen. I hadn’t seen Evelyn happy in… a long while. Even before her parents died. She’s always so worried about being good enough, failing to see how amazing and capable she is. I’m happy she met Cyrus Skender first and… you’re far better than the Nūa papers described.”

Kade studied Tovi’s face, his muscles easing slightly. He almost— almost —believed her to be sincere. “You act as though you care about her.”

“I do.” Her tone and demeanor rang true, but Kade couldn’t look past his mate’s lingering absence and Tovi’s part in it all.

“Do you know Riven’s reasons for capturing Evelyn?”

“To finish what the White Lady started,” Tovi whispered. “It’s a spell to allow vampyrs to walk in the sunlight.”

Kade shook his head, fighting his wolf howling in his blood. “Evelyn and I destroyed that spell.”

“Not entirely. Somehow, someway, my brother was able to salvage it. He now has the last piece.” Tovi paused, as if bracing herself. “It’s Evelyn’s blood.”

Blood .

Kade’s own turned to ice, freezing him in place. Moons . He thought losing Evelyn on those docks, watching her fade into the horizon had been the most horrifying, grim moment of his existence, and yet the possibility of her death, Riven’s need for her blood rooted him in horrific numbness.

Anger and fear battled that numbness, making it difficult to speak. “W-why…” He shook his head, growled. “Why would Riven do this?” The words exploded all at once. “What does he gain?”

Tovi hesitated. “Riven cares about impressing the worst of the worst in court. What better way to win favor by giving them what they miss most? Light .”

Kade shook his head. “I don’t understand. Wouldn’t you want that for your people, too?”

Tovi reared back. “At the expense of Evelyn’s well-being? No. Even if we walk in sunlight, we’d still be cursed. The more we feed our rather predatorial urges, the more wicked the darkness grows. What do you know about scáths?”

Kade almost rolled his eyes. Why was she wasting his time? “Newly-turned vampyrs, blood thirsty, reckless. Monsters.”

“That may be what everyone thinks, but everyone is wrong. We call them caillte . The lost. Not newly turned vampyrs riddled so deeply with darkness there’s no undoing it. That is the threat facing our homeland if my brother succeeds.”

Kade tensed. Distrust coursed through him. Tovi’s words challenged years of training and fighting against an enemy he now knew he never truly understood. “If your brother is so secretive, how do you know his intentions?” he asked—no, demanded—because he didn’t want to accept any of this. He thought Evelyn had been captured because she was Daughter of the Goddess. The vampyrs feared her, feared her union with Kade. She’d always be at risk with her title, but he hadn’t anticipated something this grave.

Tovi stared out the small window of the cabin. “I… heard Riven tell Evelyn his plans for her. ”

Kade’s heart thumped. Once. Twice. Like a wolf stalking his prey, he didn’t move, didn’t twitch as he whispered, “Heard?”

“This morning, I woke in a box, buried in some field outside of Callum. When it occurred to me Evelyn may be in danger, I ran to look for her. Unfortunately, my brother already had her in his clutches.”

Kade charged. “You’re telling me you witnessed Evelyn get captured. Allowed it?”

Tovi flinched, jade eyes shuttering and snowy blonde hair shaking dirt onto the floor. “I had no other choice—”

“You did, and you chose to fail her!” Panic tore through Kade, the power from earlier surged forward. His vision tunneled in and out, the sensation worse than the lean of the ship. He braced his hand on the bunk beside him. Smoke rose from under his glowing palm. Moons , not again. He cursed, retreating from the bunk and leaving behind a scorched handprint on the mahogany wood, but his hand had returned to normal—no light in sight. Kade blinked, regaining his focus.

“What the bloody hel is that?” Tovi stared at him with brows drawn together.

“I don’t know,” Kade said, sweat prickling at his brow.

She pointed at his face. “Your eyes also glowed a pearly blue, like your hand.”

The energy threatened to push again, but Kade fisted his clammy hands, holding it at bay with all his might. Evelyn had been captured and now this.

Later.

“We’re talking about Evelyn, not me. You let her get captured, remember?”

Tovi shot him a scathing look, eyes sharp as daggers. “Riven threatened your life, and she surrendered to protect you.”

Kade stumbled back. “What?”

“Riven would’ve done it. Your life was at risk, Kade. Evelyn didn’t hesitate, not for a second. I think she, too, realized the odds were against us.”

His brave mate—she’d protected him. A third-born, thick and through, Evelyn had surrendered to keep him safe. He shut his eyes. The faintest regret washed over him. If he had gone with Evelyn, she wouldn’t have been alone against Riven. The past pulled him back.

No—he wouldn’t waste time thinking on it, not when he needed to keep moving forward, start planning how he would get Evelyn back. Nothing else mattered. Not even his resentment toward Tovi and her lies. If Riven was taking Evelyn to Drystan, Kade did in fact need the vampyr princess. No werewolf had crossed the Void—the desolate, dark, mist-filled divide between Drystan and Sorin—successfully, at least not in the histories he’d been told.

What felt like a lifetime ago, Kade’d stood on the docks in Morrow, resentful of setting foot on a godforsaken boat. But he’d done it, he had stuck to the task at hand, swallowing his warring emotions and fear of open water. It had only been one step and then another up the ramp. His mission then had been to find Evelyn and bring her home, and his efforts had paid off—weeks later he’d found her.

Kade understood the power of moving forward and not looking back. It had gotten him through the months after his mother died. The past had no place in the present. It weighed him down. He didn’t want to forget what Tovi had done, but he needed a way into Drystan, the first step in getting Evelyn back.

“You swear to get me across the Void and to Drystan Castle?”

Tovi nodded. “Yes.”

Kade took on the familiar posture of a determined warrior. Resolve washed over him. “Alright. You’ll be our guide. I suggest you rest up. We have three weeks before we reach Nūa, and during that time, I want you to teach me everything about your land. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need some fresh air.”

He headed towards the door, eager to get out of the belly of the ship and smell the breeze. Anything to calm his wild, restless wolf. Maxie leaped off the bunk and joined him. She weaved between his legs, a faint purr vibrating through his ankles.

“You’ll need to get a handle on the new power, too,” Tovi said .

Kade stopped, the wood of the door groaning from his grip. He didn’t enjoy being reminded he had something else to deal with. Evelyn’s capture, the newness regarding vampyrs— stars above , his father’s death, too.

“Worry about getting us to Drystan castle, vampyr.” He slammed the door and the echoing bang covered up any reply Tovi might have made.