56. Chapter Fifty-Six

Chapter Fifty-Six

Kade

A nguish tore Kade’s soul in two.

He spun around, and the intense fear that washed over him brought him to his knees. He shifted out of his werewolf form. His bones snapped, his muscles stretched, and the growl and roar that unleashed from him was half man, half wolf.

Yards away, Evelyn screamed. Her back arched against the snow. Her hands had curled at her sides and sweat trickled down her brow. She was hurting, and Kade felt the pain like his own. What in the stars above was happening to her?

“Get to her!” Eldrick cried. “I can handle them.”

He swung his axes at a vampyr. Metal clanged against metal as Kade raced towards his mate. The Gray Fenris fought around him. Arrows flew. Bétar howled. Pink hair and buckled leathers worked in sync in Kade’s peripheral. Black talons swiped as Tovi tried to make her way to Evelyn, too.

Everything else around Kade became mute aside from her anguish-filled screams.

Sword at the ready, he aimed to cut down the witch leering over her. He swiped down. Metal rang as he hit something hard, the force ricocheting through his arm. Kade held true, gritting his teeth against the strength of another. He roared as his attacker pushed him back, separating him from Evelyn. The tall, slender figure obscured his view of her, the Verena green of the sibling Kade had learned to hate.

Riven.

The prince peered down his nose at Kade. A fresh burn glistened and blistered across his face, right eye clamped shut. A snarl thundered out of him, and he attacked. Fast and fluid, Riven moved as one with his sword. Kade met him blow for blow. Left, right. Backward, forward. The two danced with blades, both with the strength of the night.

Except the power of the moon— that had been the energy building inside of Kade. The light he yielded was of his god. It swelled in him like the strong, unbending power of gravity, pulling the tides.

Riven lost his footing over a fallen vampyr, and Kade backhanded the hilt of his sword into the prince’s jaw. Bone crunched and blood sprayed across the snow. Riven wiped his split lip and smirked, red painting his fangs.

“You played into my plan so easily, it wasn’t even fun.” Riven twirled and brought his sword down. Kade deflected, the swords screeching as they ran against one another. “A measly letter about your sick father dying, and you believed it without a second thought.”

It was Kade’s turn to lose his footing. His heart skipped. Raced. Sweat quickened at his brow. Riven stepped in front of him and charged. A second almost too late, Kade sidestepped and countered. He and Riven roared at each other, nose-to-nose, while the prince’s eyes danced with delight.

Kade growled, body tensing. He refused to let Riven win. He gripped his sword tighter. His chest rose and fell, his heart beating for Evelyn.

He pushed Riven back. His new power rose to the surface, building and building inside his chest. His strength only angered Riven, and the prince hissed as he drove his heels into the ground and held .

Their swords crossed. Both of them shook. Kade’s muscles screamed in agony, his boots sliding against the snow.

Riven sneered, his words like a knife to his heart. “You don’t deserve her. She sacrificed herself to keep you safe—”

Metal echoed as Kade silenced his words with a shoulder-shaking blow. The prince rose, laughing.

“And you’re about to lose her all over again.”

Kade lost his focus. A slight truth rang in Riven’s words, and he faltered. The fraction of a moment was enough time for Riven to turn his sword downward and knock Kade’s out of his hand. A blast of air hit him at the side, and Kade skidded across the snow.

He panted, his heart skipping and racing. He turned. Evelyn reached for him. Her skin had gone ashen. The silver in her eyes dimmed.

“Kade,” she breathed. Her eyelids fluttered, and she passed out.

Pain and turmoil filled her one word, and Kade bolted. The distance between them tugged at Kade’s soul. His anger and fear reached his inner wolf, and he shifted as he ran. His strides grew longer, his footing in the snow firmer. His arms pumped at his sides, claws cutting through the air. Another blast of dark wind boomed between them, throwing Kade off course.

The branches of pine trees blew in the wind, snow whipping into funnels shy of Evelyn’s unconscious body. Tucked between the trees, the air whirled in a continuous circle, brimming with magic. Through it, Sven’s estate no longer existed, but a different place, as if it were a doorway. With walls of gray stone and at the center, waiting, Prince Riven stood with his arms behind his back.

Patient. Stoic. Inside a dungeon.

Kade’s mind lost all thought and reason.

The drumming of his heart beat to the build of his mounting power. His vision tunneled. Time slowed. Sounds echoed and warped. Vampyrs entered the forest from the castle, focused on Evelyn. Kade roared. On his periphery, Todd flanked his left. Bétar and Yen, in their werewolf forms, weren’t far behind. Arrows soared overhead, aimed at Riven and his guards.

The prince held Kade’s gaze.

You’re about to lose her all over again.

“Kade, wait!”

His team shouted his name, but he didn’t listen. Didn’t care. Turned on her side in the snow, Evelyn was serene against the white, but the streaks of red from tears and blood splattered on her hands and leathers painted a different story.

Someone joined his side, but his focus never left Evelyn. One step closer to her. His mantra built the in tempo of his power. The pressure overtook reasoning. He couldn’t think, couldn’t grasp this newness, this chaos inside him. It pulled and pulled, like the gravity of the moon. His emotions ebbed and flowed like a wave, until they receded farther and farther from the shore of control.

Kade lost his hold on his power.

A sonic boom emitted from him. The light of day sucked from the sky and traveled to the light emitting from his being. It stretched far beyond the estate, past the trees, and over the snow in a pearly blue. His power rumbled like a beast on the prowl, and the ground shook. When he blinked, pressure pushed against his chest as he clutched it. It felt empty there, like he’d emptied himself , hollowed himself out. Exhaustion gripped him.

But he was paces away from Evelyn. She groaned awake, fumbling to right herself. Kade crawled to her, catching Evelyn as her arms gave out. She fell against his chest, clutching him as sobs wrecked through her.

“Evelyn.” Tears thickened his words. “You’re alright. You’re safe.”

The danu had closed, and Riven was gone. Vampyrs still fought behind them, the screech of talons against iron still close.

“No!” someone cried.

Kade and Evelyn scrambled, their breaths hitching. Yen, Bétar, and Linx bent over someone. The rest, Eldrick, Tovi, and continued fighting.

“Todd! Todd! ” Linx’s frantic words punched Kade in the gut.

They ran to them, and Kade collapsed to his knees. A single gash ran hip to shoulder on Todd’s side, like a giant blade had opened his weapon master’s torso. Pearly blue magic smoldered from the wound. Kade’s stomach roiled, and Evelyn grabbed his arm for strength. Guilt crept up his spine. He had done this.

Yennifer’s hands covered her mouth, tears streaming down her face while Bétar’s usually ruddy cheeks had gone white as sheets.

Linx applied pressure wherever she could, blood seeping through her fingers. “Somebody get my bag! Please!”

“Linx,” Kade breathed.

“No!” his healer hissed. “You don’t get to make orders right now. You did this!”

“Linx.” Yennifer dropped to her haunches, grabbing Linx’s shaking shoulders. “It’s alright. You can heal him.”

Could she? Everyone’s silence mirrored Kade’s terrible thought. Todd’s usually tanned skin had paled a shade close to death. And the gash. It was deep. So much blood.

“I have it!” Belle rushed over and fell to the ground. She sifted through Linx’s satchel, thrusting ointments and oils through her search. “Yarrow root?”

“The greenest jar.” Belle passed it to her, and Linx’s hands shook as she tried to open it. She sprinkled the dried herb over Todd, but it was no use. Blood soaked the ointment like a sponge, giving it no time to take effect.

“Fuck,” Linx hissed. “We’ll have to cauterize it, but we don’t have time to build a fire. Evelyn, will you help?”

Kade turned to her, but her bottom lip trembled. Tears streamed down her face.

“I… I can’t,” she whispered.

He grabbed her hand. “You might cause him pain, but this will save him.”

She shook her head, tears so heavy her words came out thick. “No, you don’t understand. I can’t .”

Evelyn opened her fist. She’d been clutching her hand, bloody half-moon cuts from her fingers stained her palm. Steaming against her skin, the bloodstone necklace reflected orange, no longer red. The black metal setting was gone. Kade’s magic pulsed, recognizing what ebbed and flowed within the gem. His heart cracked and sank to the depths of his gut.

“Evelyn, what have you done?” he asked.