37. Evan

37

EVAN

T he temple bustled with activity, the cacophonous din of voices grating on Evan's enhanced hunter's hearing. He looked around the cavernous space, waiting for the moment that Cato's magic failed and he'd be recognized, but no one even offered him a second glance.

Evan had never been one for prayer, even after meeting the gods, but he said a sort of prayer now. Perhaps it was more of a wish—that Vincent wouldn't even think of the fact that the temple was outside the castle wards and reachable by the gods, especially Goddess Aurelia for whom the temple was built.

Xander entered through the rear doors and the temple quieted as he cut down the aisle.

Evan told himself that if their plan worked, he'd finally be able to stop expecting the worst, but at times it felt he'd permanently stepped into the role of pessimist when Xander had taken the one of optimist. Being blessedly bored would be a nice change of pace, though it would take Evan a while to acclimate.

His gaze connected with Xander's across the room and his friend offered a half-smile .

"I like the gray hair, old man," he said so low that only Evan would hear.

"A disguise you'd never be able to pull off. You're much too vain," Evan countered. He was relieved for the break in tension.

Trying to corral a team of newly trained priestess warriors into the temple in a way that felt natural was a challenge. Trained spies were one thing, but these women lacked the instinct to hold still and pretend not to pay attention. They all kept looking around for each other, which he'd initially worried about. Luckily, men wrote off women who were whispering with their friends as gossips. They wouldn't make anything of the corsages of white roses on each of the women's wrists, marking them as allies.

Evan wore the same type of rose pinned to his tunic, as did Xander, Cato, Cal, Reese, and Chris, who were all similarly disguised thanks to Cato's help. Evan fixed his gaze on the god. He was still waiting for the last-second double-cross, but since Rainer and Eloise's engagement ball, he'd seemed strangely stoic and focused on their goal, even stepping in to train some of the priestesses.

To Vincent's guards, it appeared that a bunch of brainless women were all a-titter about the nuptials of the handsome and famous Rainer McKay. But Evan could see how the women flitted about the room, positioning themselves for an advantage as each of their targets took their seats of honor.

One thing went right when, in Vincent's attempt to torture Cecilia, he'd sent her to speak with Eloise. Cecilia had managed to memorize a copy of the temple seating arrangements in Eloise's suite. Thanks to Raven Whitewind and Cecilia, Evan knew both who and where to strike and had strategically placed their small army of women around the temple within arm's reach of the traitors.

It was hard to get used to everyone having a different face, but Evan had studied people long enough to recognize their gaits and mannerisms.

His gaze coasted casually up to the loft at the back of the temple where Maren and Jessamin were positioned with bows. Though he didn't catch a glimpse of either of them, there was a white rose sitting on the railing, indicating that they were in place.

He exhaled heavily as Sylvie sauntered over to him.

"Take a breath, Ev. We are ready and we have surprise on our side," she whispered.

She wove her arm through his and he led her to their seats toward the back of the temple. He was on edge being so far away from Xander, who stood at the front of the aisle talking to Mika, who was disguised as the temple's head priestess.

Mika had come such a long way from when she and Evan first met. She had sharpened her deepest wound into a deadly weapon and was focused solely on revenge. While her skill comforted him, he was a bit worried about how her anger might threaten her judgment in the moment. She'd promised she would be close enough to help defend Xander if something went wrong. She wouldn't have a weapon on her, but they'd hidden several different weapons on the altar, under certain pews, and even in some of the flower arrangements.

Cecilia appeared at the front of the temple and was immediately greeted by Xander. Side by side, Evan could see how much weight the two of them had lost being cut off from their magic. Both had dark circles under their eyes and a heaviness in their gaits. The sight of two of the most powerful people he knew looking so worn down was startling and stoked his anxiety into full force. He'd never realized how vital magic was to witches until he saw them look so lost without it.

Then Xander whispered something and Cecilia tipped her head back and laughed and the knot of anxiety in Evan's chest unwound. His friend had become better at not flirting with his former wife, but he could tell by the mischievous glint in Xander's eye that he'd said something inappropriate. Cecilia smacked his arm playfully.

The duo still made a formidable team and Evan had seen them both fight enough without magic to know what they were capable of. Beyond that, they thought so much alike that Cecilia was uniquely equipped to read Xander's reckless impulses. On top of her protection, Isla would also be at the very front of the room and she was perhaps the most fearsome warrior there. His best friend had a knack for surrounding himself with women who were as beautiful as they were deadly.

"This is always the worst part for you, isn't it?" Sylvie whispered.

Evan nodded. "The best-laid plans always have flaws. It's impossible to anticipate every single thing. Humans are too unpredictable, not to mention the fact that Cato is holding disguises for a lot of us at once."

They both glanced at the trickster god, who stood at the back of the temple handing out flowers to attendees based on their intentions. Red for those who were on Vincent's side and white for those on Xander's. It made Evan's skin crawl to trust Cato with such a monumental task, especially one where he could so easily ruin them.

But Cato was clearly contrite and it seemed he did have boundaries that could be crossed. He was also one of their only real assets, presenting the opportunity to tell the difference between friend and foe beyond what intel they'd collected. The god could still read intentions, so when he said, "Gods bless the king," he could ascertain the attendees' reactions and hand them the appropriate rose.

This plan was bound to be a bloodbath already and Evan didn't want to kill anyone they didn't have to. War was messy, but if he could avoid any unnecessary loss of life, he would do it.

Though most of the guards and noblemen normally would have turned down flowers, it was considered a terrible offense to turn down hospitality from a god, so despite their obvious discomfort, no one dared offend the trickster by doing anything but wear their rose prominently.

"He looks pretty relaxed for working hard," Sylvie mentioned.

"We'll see how he looks once this place is full."

As it stood, about two-thirds of the temple was occupied, the first few rows reserved for the most important folks still vacant.

Evan gave Sylvie's arm a squeeze. "Syl, I'm not stupid enough to ask you to run and hide now or even if things go wrong, but I—" He swallowed hard. "I know you are your own woman, but I cannot live with you being hurt as you have before, so if this goes wrong?—"

"Don't even think of asking me to leave you," she said, her whisper harsh in his ear.

"I'm not. I'm asking you to get as many of the women out as possible and keep them safe. It's an impossibly unfair thing to ask, but I cannot think of that for you or Cece, or any of these women we've trained who have already endured so much. Use your magic. Use whatever you have to, but get out and I swear I will get back to you."

She turned to face him head-on. "You think I would not protect you in the same way? That it wouldn't break me to think of you tortured the way Rainer has been?"

"Of course I know it would hurt. I just also know that you're much stronger than me and that the one thing in this world that might truly make me a traitor is you being hurt, Sylvie. If Vincent had you, there is nothing I wouldn't do to keep you safe. I will get on my knees now and beg if I have to."

Her eyes shimmered with tears. "You cannot ask me to walk away from you."

"And yet, I must."

She looked away, her eyes passing over the women scattered throughout the temple. "For you, I will do that, but I will never stop trying to get you back after that."

Evan smiled. "That's fair."

He glanced around the room, looking for the groom, but Rainer was nowhere to be found. It was still early.

The ceremony was just under an hour away, but Evan was practically vibrating with nerves. All he could do now was wait and there was no worse task for a warrior. All he could do was worry that their timing would be off, or Vincent's guard patrols would be larger than they expected and easily overwhelmed their untrained allies, or that one of his friends would be killed. He took a breath and sat beside Sylvie, his palm itching for a weapon, anxiety twisting every muscle in his body tight as a bowstring as he waited for the wedding and their last stand to begin.