Page 36

Bria

W anting Evander to be happy and having to witness it are two very different things.

I’ll be gone soon though, and will no longer have to sit on the sidelines and watch as some silly, indiscreet girl shoves her breasts at him and caresses the inside of his thigh.

I grip my lips together to keep from showing my true feelings and attempt to brush it off instead.

Ev saw my reaction to the girl and was attempting to explain.

But there’s nothing to explain to me. He isn’t mine .

He owes me nothing. One kiss doesn’t mean he’s tied to me in any way.

I’m contemplating how to make that more clear to him because his gaze is heavy, weighing on me, when a pulse strikes low in my belly.

That energy center within me coils then unfurls, like a cat waking up from a long slumber. I search and scan the area behind Evander to see what could be doing this, what could be around that would pull and tug at me like this. And then I see him.

Silas. He’s standing behind Evander, his eyes glued to me. That icy blue stare makes me shudder, but not in fear. No. It’s because he sees me, sees into my soul, and I can feel it in the way he looks at me.

I can do nothing but stare, enthralled as he brushes past Evander without a sideways glance and comes to stand in front of me, effectively stepping between Ev and me. He grabs my hand, pressing his fingers into mine, concern gripping his features.

“Are you hurt? What happened?” he asks, lifting a hand to brush my cheek, ensuring I’m alright. His fingers are warm, unnaturally warm, heated like my own get when my magic is flowing.

I’m still not sure how any of this works.

Cato had explained little about this to either of us before he left.

I knew those with magic would be drawn to my sister and me.

That they would be connected to us through their gifts.

That there would be a loyalty there, and a link, almost binding us together.

Those with powers can become bound to the descendants of Lilith and Kiara because we have the blood of the gods.

And they would go to their graves defending us.

But he had said the connection between Silas and I was strong, something he noticed when I pulled energy from him.

He sensed my emotions yesterday and now, when I'm fighting overwhelming anger and jealousy, he registered something was wrong and came to me.

“I-I’m fine,” I lie, looking at him while he holds my hand in his own. My eyes flick to Evander without thinking, then quickly back to Silas. Though the glance is fleeting, I see the rage blooming in Evander’s eyes, the seething look he sets on Silas.

Silas also notices the shift in my attention and turns to look at Ev, as if he were just noticing him, despite passing the man when he entered the room.

His eyes narrow on Ev and his jaw hardens, clearly discerning where my emotional storm is coming from.

But the last thing I need is for Silas to open those feelings up to Evander, for Ev to understand what I feel for him.

No, that is better left unsaid after tonight.

Thinking fast, I pull Silas by the hand, breaking his hardened gaze on Evander.

I tug him toward Ash, whose eyes are wide, brows raised in wonder at the odd interaction she just beheld.

I imagine it’s quite intriguing for Ash to witness the magical link between us, especially when I struggled so hard to convey it.

The glance I spare back to Evander proves to tighten my chest further, twisting my heart as he stares at my hand—the hand that is still wrapped around Silas’s, his fingers now intertwined with mine.

I register the heat rising into his face once again, but not from embarrassment this time.

This time it’s fury that fills him, given away by the tight line of his jaw, the flexing muscles that twitch in his neck.

When he lifts those eyes from our hands to me, I want to drop Silas’s hand and run to him, begging for forgiveness.

But I hold my ground. I’ve done nothing wrong , I remind myself.

He grits his teeth and begins to speak. “Quinn mentioned you two were...connected,” he seethes, the words lashing out at me like a slap.

I take a steadying breath and release Silas’s hand as I turn my body to fully face Evander.

“Yes, it’s complicated,” I start, prepared to explain it to him, but not here with so many eyes on us.

So many ears that might be listening. The others in the camp don’t know of my gifts or connection to the prophecy.

And having Silas and Evander make a scene right now is not going to help with keeping that secret for long.

The harsh scoff that escapes his lips wounds me, digging that hurt deeper.

“It doesn’t look too complicated from here.” His lips raise in a sneer as he watches us, a cold look he’s never cast at me before this moment.

Silas moves behind me, placing a hand on my lower back, and Evander’s eyes track the movement.

His hand is warm as his fingers press into the light fabric of the tunic.

I feel my energy pulsing from his magic, from his touch.

Not only could I strengthen him, but he can strengthen me, just with his presence.

Cato said as much, and even without pulling the magical energy from him, I can feel it.

I half expect Ev to throw a dagger from his bandolier at Silas when he touches my back. His eyes bulge, and his nostrils flare with the too-familiar gesture he initiates. Despite my need to explain, to make him understand, I’m wary of the crowd and remain silent.

“Ev.” Quinn is standing a few feet away now, having made his way across the crowded room to us. He’s been watching the entire interaction and must have had a similar thought to my own. None of us needs to attract any unwanted attention. Not when we are so close to fulfilling the prophecy.

Evander’s shoulders tense as he hears his friend speak from behind him, his whole body visibly straining against the fury building in his blood. And when Quinn reaches out to touch his shoulder, Evander shakes him off, shoving through the warrior toward the door.

Quinn focuses back on me from where he stands. He takes in my stance and Silas’s behind me, then blows out a loud breath and shakes his head. I make a move to step forward, to follow Ev, but Quinn steps in front of me, blocking my path to the door.

“Don’t,” he warns, looking down at me from his immense height. “You need to let him cool off.”

Quinn leaves me then, stalking back to the table with the girls and sitting down next to the curly-haired one.

The one who was all over him when we entered the pub.

The other sets a glare on me and I stare back, feeling the heat of flames sparking in my eyes.

Silas's hand presses into my back as he slides closer.

My eyes stay fixed on the girl, heat churning, flooding my senses and threatening to pour out of me.

She shudders, a visible shockwave running through her body before she casts her eyes quickly down, averting her gaze from the intensity of mine.

"You need to calm down before someone notices. What’s wrong now?” Silas questions with concern.

"Nothing." The lie is obvious, but I don’t care. Silas will recognize it’s a lie no matter what I do or say right now. He can feel the anger swirling through me.

Quinn turns to narrows his eyes at me, his lips forming a tight, straight line, silently telling me to back off when he sees the reaction of the girl across the table from him.

The curly-haired one resumes her groping of him, running her hands down his chest and staring at him while she giggles.

Even as he turns back to his date, I can tell he’s displeased with my reaction, and clearly bothered by Silas.

But not the way Ev had been. There was hurt behind that rage.

And I am all too aware that I was the source of that hurt—the exact pain I’d tried to avoid this whole time with anyone, but especially with him.

It was why I’d avoided him for days when I’d sensed my feelings for him were growing.

And now, he hadn’t taken the time to understand. He had just judged what he saw.

Though, to be fair to him, I know what Silas and I look like to the unknowing.

More like lovers than friends. Something in my body is drawn to him as he is to me.

I feel as though he is a part of me, and perhaps he is now that we are connected.

The link that formed when he allowed me to take his energy was powerful.

And that conversation is not one I am willing to have in the pub, with all these ears and eyes tuned in to us.

Silas is close to me still, the warmth from his hand spreading along my back and easing the tension that has coiled within my muscles.

“When you’re in pain, or angry like this.

..something happens,” he says behind me, his breath warm across my neck.

He’s confirming the assumptions I already have as to why he showed up in the pub in the first place.

“I get—” He stops without finishing the sentence.

But I already know what he was about to say.

“Visions,” I whisper, turning to face him.

His hand slowly falls from my back when I spin toward him, so close I can feel his breath on my face now as he sighs heavily.

He feels so familiar to me, and his presence is comforting, reassuring.

By the look on his face, I know he feels the same.

He smiles at me, his pale blue eyes glowing.

He has the faintest dimples on each side of his face.

They make him look even more handsome, more genuine and beautiful.

“Yes,” he agrees. “I can feel your anger, your pain. And I can see where you are if I focus hard enough.”