59. Chapter Fifty-Nine

Chapter Fifty-Nine

Evelyn

E velyn found Tovi sitting alone in a bustling tavern Kade had called the Shield-maiden.

She’d hesitated for a moment, tucked out of sight by the entrance. Werewolf warriors mingled as froth dripped over the rims of their mugs. A few cheered as they played a game she’d never seen before with stones and bones in the corner. Others hollered and hummed as a man, tall like Kade and burly like Bétar, played a stout, bulbous guitar. He sang of shield-maidens and the wonders of winter.

Circling her finger around the edge of her own mug, Tovi paid it all no mind, her jade eyes lost in thought.

Evelyn’s heart—now absent her magic entirely—hammered inside her chest. It gaped open, the wound still fresh and bruised. Her magic sat, twisting and turning inside the bloodstone around her neck. She hadn’t taken it off since they’d left Sven’s estate, too nervous to do so. She couldn’t help but worry that if she let it go, she’d lose it forever.

She wasn’t sure she hadn’t already lost it forever.

Reckless.

The moment she’d ripped her flame—her magic, a piece of her soul—out of her body, she’d regretted it. She’d realized then and there, broken in the snow, she’d made a grave mistake. Worse than the one she made two years ago. Both mistakes were similar in a way—she couldn’t go backwards and undo what she’d done.

Evelyn inhaled, mustering the courage to face Tovi, and made her way to friend’s side.

“Is that beer?” she asked. “Never thought I’d see the day. Always thought you preferred wine.”

Tovi’s head shot up. Her red, swollen eyes grew wide. She’d been crying, a rare thing for her friend. Goddess , the sight of Tovi hurting only reminded Evelyn of the many times Tovi had been there for her. Lies aside, she couldn’t forget that Tovi had always had her back. Through every heartache, loss, and laugh. She still felt Tovi’s arms around her when she’d sobbed after losing her parents, could still remember Tovi’s open, understanding eyes as she listed her worries about Mirella and Blair. The urge to drag Tovi into the biggest, tightest hug overcame her, but she refrained, blinking back into the present.

“What are you doing here?” Tovi asked.

Evelyn rummaged under her cloak and slid a bottle of red wine across the table. “Found this stashed in Kade’s cottage.”

Tovi peered between her and the bottle, not saying a word. Evelyn tingled with nerves, throat growing thick. Did Tovi not want to talk? Evelyn had been rather difficult to navigate the last week, so she didn’t blame Tovi for her hesitancy, but Evelyn had already made her decision.

“Look, I know a bottle of wine won’t fix what happened, but I think we should talk,” she said. “And I figured we could try over a glass.”

Tovi smiled with no teeth, but the twinkle in her eye made Evelyn’s heart skip.

“I’d like that.”

It took some convincing to secure a corkscrew and suitable glasses, but when Evelyn introduced herself to Lucy, the owner shifted her tone and even offered them the “usual” spot for the Gray Fenris team, tucked back from the rowdiness .

At first, they drank in silence. The ripe currants and black pepper shot straight to Evelyn’s knees. She’d imagined the conversation on the walk over here, letting the evening air fuel her muster. Yet now, sitting across from Tovi, the alcohol left her dizzy, and all the words she came up with turned her palms sweaty.

“I’m—”

Both of them spoke at the same time. Evelyn smiled, sheepish, and Tovi forced a laugh.

“Let me go first,” Tovi said, pulling her hair to the side, “since I owe you an apology.” She inhaled. “I’m sorry I never told you. I have my reasons, but out loud, they’re shitty excuses. I should’ve found a way, but not saying anything, waiting for the prophecy seemed easier. I never imagined Riven would try and take you. I knew he was up to something, I… never thought he’d strike like that.”

“Why not tell me in Callum?” Evelyn said. Their reunion. Chats over dinner. Visits to the Runaway Radish. The murders had been steeped with mystery and familiarity, and Evelyn couldn’t forget the many opportunities Tovi had ignored in those weeks. “You had to have had your suspicions about Riven.”

“I did, but he’s clever. Nothing ever traced back to him except McKenna’s death. I knew they’d been lovers, but that sort of subject between my brother and I is a tense one. I am the reason his wife and child died, and I witnessed a similar pain in him after McKenna. I couldn’t bring myself to discuss something that hit so close to home.” She swallowed. “You were also happy, Evelyn. For once in years, you weren’t faking it.”

The wine floated thick on Evelyn’s tongue. She had been happy in Callum. Despite the murders, she’d begun to make a life—a home, a job, and a relationship that changed her forever. The smell of rain still awakened her muscles, a deep-seated reminder of the new beginning she’d created there. The days following when she discovered who Kade was swam through her mind. Tovi’s tenderness and honesty. She remembered her friend caring —suffocating the apartment with it .

“Did you know who Kade was?” she asked.

Tovi sipped her wine. “Not at first. Blair’s necklace worked, so I couldn’t even smell he was a werewolf. But when he took an obvious interest in you, I grew suspicious, and then when he started looking at you like he was falling for you, it was his eyes that gave him away.”

“Nadia’s eyes,” Evelyn said.

Tovi nodded. “Yes. The moment I realized it, I don’t know. I couldn’t make my decision, and then you figured out who he was on your own. You were in love, and I kept coming back to the prophecy, thinking that perhaps this was it. Once you told me he was your fated, I knew it was you and him.”

And then Aster had died. Evelyn’s heart grew heavy. Her sweet bubbly friend. Tovi had been there for her then, too. At her side during the burial. The time had been hasty and chaotic, and she didn’t blame Tovi for not telling her then—it hadn’t been the right time.

“Did you befriend me because of the prophecy?” Evelyn sank into her seat, trying to ignore the sting at the corner of her eyes.

Tovi gripped the table, eyes downcast. “Yes and no. I never intended for us to become friends. Nadia feared for your life because Riven knew what your blood could do, and so I bought a place in Nūa, enrolled in some of the classes and kept tabs on you. That was it. And then one day we sat next to each other, and I noticed everyone staring at you. I’ve been there, the center of unwanted attention, and I had to say something. And then…” Tovi shook her head.

“We became friends.”

“Yes,” Tovi said. “None of it was a lie, and I think because it was so real, the harder it was to tell you. I was afraid that once you knew I was a vampyr, I’d lose you.”

Evelyn swallowed, wiping away a tear. She’d feared that the most, and to finally hear it aloud as well as the truth in Tovi’s words, a weightlessness overcame her. “What about now?” she whispered. Another worry, another fear.

“Now? ”

Evelyn shrugged. “Well, I know who you are, the truth of vampyrs and the curse. You don’t need to keep tabs on me anymore. You don’t need to…” She trailed off, the words stalling on her tongue. Saying them aloud seemed to make them too real.

“I love you like a sister, Evelyn,” Tovi said. “I hurt you, and I’ll never forgive myself if I lose you as a friend, but that is ultimately your decision, and I’ll respect it either way.”

A breath shuddered out of Evelyn, her chest cracking. She’d made her decision long before she found Tovi at the Shield-maiden. She’d made it, lying in the snow, with the ache of another mistake rocking through her—she’d understood then what held her back. Shame was a brick wall, and regret was the chain that tied her to it.

“I forgive you.”

Tovi straightened and blinked, eyes wide. “What?”

Evelyn leaned back. “I put my magic in the bloodstone.”

“I know.”

“While I was Riven’s captive, I wanted to find something, do something that showed my sisters I’ve changed. When I saw them, I didn’t want them to see the girl that ran away two years ago. Maybe if I did something good enough, brave enough, it’d be like I never left. I put the magic inside the bloodstone so Riven didn’t have the light for the spell, but my desperation to do anything drove me too far.”

“We’ll get it back, Evelyn. You will. If anyone can, it is you.”

She smiled, fingers lingering over her pendant. “I plan to. After I gave it up, though, I realized it wasn’t about my sisters at all, it was about me. I didn’t have the ability to forgive you, not until now because I couldn’t even forgive myself. Yes, you lied to me and made mistakes, but our mistakes and past don’t define us. I thought I could undo mine. I didn’t think you could undo our years of friendship, but the notion held me back from forgiving you. ”

Tovi tilted her head, a sheen coating her eyes. “You made the best decision at the time, Ev.”

Evelyn nodded. “I believe that. I think our present efforts matter, of course, but even the harshest sacrifice doesn’t change that I ran. I accepted what you did, and now I don’t want to lose you as a friend. I can’t. I—”

Tovi moved closer in the booth, grasping Evelyn’s hands. “You won’t. Thank you for forgiving me. I, too, realized efforts matter, but acceptance is equally important. Because sometimes efforts aren’t enough.”

“What do you mean?” Evelyn moved closer, and it felt like old times. Seated on her couch, bottle of wine open, talking late into the night. Though, she’d never seen her friend so distant, so sad. Something wormed in her belly, knowing it had nothing to do with them.

“If this is about your efforts in getting me back, they were enough. I’m sorry for being hurtful—”

“I love him.”

Evelyn reared back. It was perhaps the most vulnerable and honest Tovi had ever been, and pain laced all three words. She’d suspected her friend had feelings for Kade’s brother. That had been a shock all on its own. But the fact it went so deep rooted Evelyn in her chair—she wasn’t going anywhere. She’d sit right there and support her friend like she had for years.

“What happened?”

Tovi exhaled. “He witnessed me touched by the curse. It was only a brief moment, but it was enough to see what I’d always feared.”

A stone dropped in Evelyn’s gut. It was jarring to remember the curse lived in all the vampyrs, even her friend.

“You’re more than a vampyr, Tovi.”

“I know that now. I didn’t try to get you back to gain forgiveness, but a part of me hoped you’d notice my efforts, judge them for what they were, and I hoped the same for Eldrick. But I’m exhausted from trying to show everything I am.” She laid a hand over her heart. “I know who I am and why I do the things I do, and that’s enough.”

Evelyn swallowed, words thickening in her throat. She’d recklessly placed her magic into the bloodstone. A foolish, rash idea. She too had wanted to be seen, affirmed for her efforts. In the end, it hadn’t been worth it, not when she had her reasons for leaving two years ago in the first place. She accepted those reasons and her decision. She’d found forgiveness, enough grace to do so, but not before she cut herself open and ripped something away.

Yet, at her friend’s words, warmth trickled through her. She clamped her eyes shut. Evelyn meant what she said—she planned to place her magic back where it belonged, and despite that missing part of her, her heart thumped.

With hope.

She peered at Tovi, sipping her wine. “Have you told him?”

Tovi scoffed and grabbed her own glass. “Goddess, no. But it doesn’t matter. I have to focus on securing an alliance with the werewolves.”

“That doesn’t mean you can’t talk to him.”

Tovi stared into the maroon in her glass. “What’s the point? In the end, I am the Princess of Drystan, and he is the next in line alpha of the Drengr pack. Nothing can come of it. Besides, there are far more important matters. Bringing vampyrs and werewolves together is merely one small feat.”

Evelyn sipped her wine. Her eyes grew heavy. Tovi was right, in a way. She hated seeing her friend hurt, but Riven might strike again. At least, they’d evaded the Blood Moon, but there was still an entire prophecy to understand, and a curse left to break. Tiredness clung to Evelyn’s bones. They still had so much left ahead.

She reached for Tovi’s hand. “Whatever comes next, we’re in this together.”

Her friend clasped her hand. “Together.”