48. Chapter Forty-Eight

Chapter Forty-Eight

Evelyn

E velyn shook her head. Thank the goddesses she sat, because she wasn’t sure her legs or wits could handle hearing more of Tovi’s tale. The small cabin was silent, so much so, one could hear the snow as it landed and blanketed the forest outside, a delicate chime.

“I can’t even begin to make sense of it.” She looked at Tovi, risking a bit of pain to see if she could find answers in her eyes. “But the Blood Goddess said ‘a land cast in red’ while that same phrase was etched next to my and Kade’s prophecy? How are the two related?”

The vampyr princess shrugged. “I only know the one stanza like the rest of you, the truest of unions between the third-borns. I have always believed the darkness meant her presence in our realm, not vampyrs themselves. But how these other lines comes into play, I haven’t the slightest idea. I am only certain about Riven’s motives.”

The team tensed, and a creep crawled up Evelyn’s spine. “Is it to bring back his wife and child?”

Tovi swallowed. “Yes.”

“Are you suggesting it has nothing to do with becoming king?” Eldrick asked.

“No,” Evelyn said, before Tovi could finish. “I encountered Riven enough to know he cares more about resurrecting what he lost. ”

Belle approached the table and laid out the letters Evelyn had found in the mysteriously wrecked room—the ones she hadn’t had a chance to read herself yet. Open against the wooden table, the words whispered to Evelyn’s curious mind.

“I read through them this morning,” she said. “I think they could help us.”

Evelyn pulled the letters closer to her, scanning the words. “How?”

“They’re love letters between a man named Odin and Matilda.”

“Matilda Moore?” Evelyn asked.

The werewolves and vampyrs blinked, but Linx said, “Matilda Moore is an infamous witch scholar.”

Evelyn nodded. “Witches study most of her texts and anthologies during school, but Belle found her personal journals in the Drystan Library. She had researched vampyrs extensively, but I’ve never seen this information formally printed before. Do these letters give any indication who Odin is?”

“Other than her lover, he was a guest at Drystan Castle.”

Everyone turned their attention back to Tovi.

“Does anyone by the name of Odin ring a bell?” Kade asked her.

Tovi shook her head. “No. Do the letters have a date?”

“Yes, 1894.”

Tovi leaned back in her chair, shaking her head slightly. “That was before the curse, and I wasn’t very present in court at that time. I was either running from a suitor or getting drunk and partying.”

Tovi had always been one to open a bottle of wine or drag Evelyn to some dimly lit bar in the Nūa, but she’d been poised and collected, even with a few glasses in her. Drunk and partying weren’t two words Evelyn would’ve associated with her once friend. She sank deeper into her seat, memories of laughter and late-night talks with Tovi blurred into lies. She fought the urge to clutch her stomach or throw up. So much of her past felt like a lie, she couldn’t help but feel sick.

“The letters also mention his sister, Opal, a few times. ”

“Opal?” Tovi asked.

She moved closer, and Evelyn’s body went taut. Tovi didn’t seem to notice as she peered at the letter over her shoulder—like so many times before when they’d pored over pamphlets, books, or newspapers. Her voice was too loud in Evelyn’s ear, too familiar and close to the sound of what Evelyn once associated with someone she loved like a sister.

“Opal was my younger brother’s lover. She was a witch if I recall correctly.”

“What happened to her?” Bétar asked.

“I’m not sure exactly, but it was believed she died the day the curse fell. Sven left and created his estate farther south, away from court. He’s never returned since. I think the memories are too difficult.”

“If Opal was a witch, it suggests so was Odin, Matilda’s lover. Does it indicate why they were guests in the castle?” Evelyn asked.

Linx shrugged. “Not directly. She mentions a few times his haunting thoughts and hopes he and his sister will find comfort in Drystan, away from the chaos of Nūa.”

“Hopes and thoughts?” Evelyn turned to Tovi. “Was Opal a seer by chance?”

Tovi shook her head. “If she was, my brother never mentioned it, but Sven has always been guarded, a recluse.”

“Why do you think she was a seer?” Kade asked, leaning across the table.

“The prophecy was scribbled into the floorboards of the room I found. I’m going to take a wild guess and assume the room was Odin’s, seeing his letters were found there. Haunting thoughts also suggest he saw things he didn’t want to see. I’ve only ever met one seer, and visions ailed her at uncontrollable times, leaving her withdrawn for days after what she saw.”

“Uzoma?” Tovi asked.

Evelyn nodded, a small smile breaking across her face at the name of her well-respected tutor, the one who’d shown her kindness. “Seers are rare amongst witches, and in most cases, they are in sets of twins or triplets. Uzoma, for example, has a twin sister. If Opal was a seer, there’s a chance her brother was, too.”

“Triplets?” Linx pushed the second letter towards Evelyn. “There’s a mention of another sister, Orla. From what Matilda writes, it seems she may have died.”

I pray to the Goddess you do not succumb to the same fate as your dear sister, Orla.

Evelyn had searched for this—a connection, a source, a starting point, something or someone to answer her tumbling questions. Back in Callum, she’d experienced the same when she recognized the missing body parts or on the Guard when she’d figured out the type of demon wreaking havoc on a village. She’d wondered what the scribblings in the room had been. A poem, a song, or—

A prophecy.

And Evelyn had a wild and frightening thought.

“What if Kade and I are one part of the prophecy?” she whispered.

Kade leaned over the table. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t think it’s a coincidence our prophecy was etched along with these other stanzas, and in the abandoned room of a haunted seer, I’m tempted to believe there is perhaps more to the prophecy than we believed.”

Tovi nodded. “Actually, that’s an interesting thought. The Blood Goddess said, ‘cast in red,’ right?”

Evelyn nodded.

Tovi pointed to some of Evelyn’s notes. “Land cast in red fills in the gaps of this one line.”

“Exactly,” Evelyn said. “Don’t we think it’s a little odd she whispered a line from the writings of a seer?”

Yen crossed her arms. “A land cast in red would also relate to a Blood Moon.”

“Aye,” Bétar muttered. “Has that effect some years.”

Evelyn was close to answers, and it excited her, energized her muscles and broadened her mind. While her heart raced, her body and magic begged to keep going and discover more. Recharged and light, an idea sparked.

She turned to Tovi. They were eye to eye, as if a vast distance of betrayal didn’t separate them.

“How much of a recluse is your brother?” she asked.

Tovi settled into the seat beside her. “Very. Why do you ask?”

“I wonder if he’d be open to a visit. Unless he’s on Riven’s side, perhaps he could supply some of the missing pieces in all of this. Maybe he remembers Opal’s or Odin’s visions.”

“Absolutely not,” Kade said.

The room fell still and silent—more so than when Tovi told her tale. Evelyn blinked, trying to understand Kade’s words or read his expression. It was stone, so different from his earlier warmth and tenderness.

“I’m sorry?” she asked.

“We head home. That is the plan.”

Evelyn laid her hand on the table, steadying her rising magic. It heated, riling with frustration. She’d finally gotten something , and Kade’s dismissal threatened to tug it out from under her.

“I’m not suggesting we don’t head home, but we should consider learning more about this. If there is more to the prophecy, it might help us defeat the darkness. After all, that should be our top priority.”

Evelyn wanted to return home more than anyone else, but her resolve to learn about their enemy, about the curse had actually grown steelier, stronger since she’d left the castle. Not only had she learned more about the Blood Goddess, but she also had a connection, someone who might know more about Matilda and this Odin and why she and Kade’s prophecy had been scribbled with other stanzas, lost behind paint. Reuniting with Kade, being at his side again, as well as having the promise of a team around her had given her the sense they could figure it out. She could get the answers to breaking the curse and return home with something of worth.

“She has a point,” Eldrick said.

“I agree,” Yen said, offering Evelyn a small smile. “Why not learn what we can while we're here?”

Kade peeled off the table. His shoulders straightened, and at first, Evelyn believed his relaxed demeanor suggested they’d gotten through to him, but his next words riled her more, her flame rising to the surface.

“Visiting Sven is out of the question. End of discussion.”

Evelyn reared back. This wasn’t the Kade she’d experienced in Callum—the partner she believed him to be—and hurt rocked through her.

“End of discussion? What happened to us being a team?”

Kade’s jaw ticked—she’d never seen him like this, so wound up he might combust.

“This is my team. I’m the commander—”

Evelyn rose from her chair, the screech of the legs drowning out his words. Tears pricked in her eyes as her nails bit into her palms. She couldn’t believe Kade was speaking to her this way. In front of everyone.

“Do I answer to you now? Is that how this works? I know we haven’t had a little formal chit chat about our titles, Commander , but I don’t take orders well. I also never expected you to be so dismissive.”

Evelyn.

He begged, no chastised her, using the mating bond. Rage shot through her. How dare he use something so special, so strong against her.

“Don’t , ” she said out loud. “We were partners in Callum, Kade.”

He searched her face and sighed. “Can everyone give us the room?”

“No. Absolutely not.” She flung his earlier words back at him. Fucking flames , she was hotter than the fire blazing in the corner. “I’m not some child you get to belittle behind closed doors. If you have something to say, say it . ”

Kade growled, raking his hand through the hairs falling loose from his bun. “You’re being reckless.”

“Excuse me?” Evelyn stumbled back.

“Exploring the castle? Visiting the fighting rings? Spying on Riven? You could’ve gotten yourself killed!”

“Riven needed me alive for the spell. I knew that wouldn’t happen.”

“Is that supposed to bring me comfort? You trusted the whims of a lunatic prince who’d dared to bind your magic. Again, reckless!”

“What was I supposed to do?” Evelyn shouted. “Sit around and wait for you to rescue me?”

“Yes! I told you I was coming. I promised.” Anguish rippled through her fated's golden stare.

Evelyn lowered her voice, hesitant. “Kade, if this is about me not trusting you or doubting you, I never did. I knew you were risking your life, all of you were.” She glanced at the rest of the team, even Tovi. “I couldn’t sit around and do nothing.”

Kade pinched the bridge of his nose. Evelyn waited. The silence in the room was thick, the team’s stares like pinpricks against her skin. She’d never imagined this. With Callum’s salty sea wind whirling around her at the docks, she’d thought they’d return home a team. She hadn’t expected things to change, for Kade to change. Even last night, huddled around the table, she had fallen into something that no longer existed—a partnership. But there was none. She was exposed, bare, alone in wanting damn answers for how to break the curse.

Finally, Kade placed both hands on his hips. His eyes landed on her, full of a warrior’s resolve. “Our mission was to get you back. We’ve done that. It’s now time we return home, out of enemy lands.”

“These lands have answers.”

Kade tapped the pile of papers and notes. “You got answers. This is more than we’ve ever had before. It’s time to go home, Ev. ”

She didn’t trust the plea in his tone or the use of her nickname. “It’s not enough.”

Evelyn hadn’t meant to say the words out loud, but the truth flew out of her. Kade assessed her, his body relaxing as if he finally understood—saw through her intentions and why she was desperate, so willing to do what needed to be done.

“Getting you home is enough,” he whispered. He turned his attention to the group. “We leave tomorrow at dawn. Rest and be ready to travel south.”

Please, Ev , he said through the bond.

Evelyn didn’t wait to hear more of Kade’s plans. She headed for the stairs, feeling his gaze lingering on her back as she retreated.

Anger drove her forward, but so did hurt.