Page 44

Evander

S creaming against the binds does nothing but make my throat burn.

My voice is muted, and the shadows seem to stretch further over my face and body the more I fight them.

It doesn’t stop me from trying though, and I yank and thrash, attempting to free myself even just a little, straining every muscle in my body to do so.

When the vines ensnaring my arms and legs finally begin to crawl backward and the darkness withdraws from my mouth, I swiftly break myself away. I watch as the magic fades into the shadows of the room, gone as abruptly as it appeared.

My arms and legs are covered in bloodied scratches, purple bruising already blossoming across my skin. But I straighten my body against the pain, fumbling as I button my trousers and throw a tunic over my head.

Bria must be outside the camp by now. Otherwise, I would still be caged in shadows.

I know enough about that gift to understand it has a range at which she can control it, which only serves to make me more frantic, knowing she is already ahead of me as I fumble with my armor and weapons.

Grabbing my cloak and crossbow, I stalk to the door before stopping short, my hand resting on the knob.

Something calls me back toward the dresser.

My mother’s ring sits on top, a gold band of intertwining vines that blooms with black obsidian flowers.

Before she was ripped away from me when we first arrived in the capital, she had pressed it into my hand, whispering that it would protect me.

I had no idea what kind of old-world magic she spoke of when doing so, but I trusted her.

And we need all the protection we can get.

I shove it deep into my pocket and take off at a jog down the hall, careful not to disrupt the sleeping commanders.

My fist hits the last door in a rough knock, and I listen for a moment.

Hearing nothing within, I swing the door wide. I have no time to wait.

Quinn jolts up in bed at the sound, his sword already in hand. My lip curls up at the sight. Always a warrior. This is why I need him and no one else tonight.

He registers quickly that there’s no threat, realizing it’s only me in his doorway, and rubs a hand down his face.

He takes in my face, my stance, my body armed to the teeth and his eyes dart to the form beside him.

A mess of brown curls peeks out from behind Quinn.

The girl from the pub is tucked beneath the quilts of his bed.

Quinn stealthily creeps out of the bed and over to me, yanking pants on as he walks, remaining quiet to not wake the sleeping girl.

I’m at his room in the middle of the night, dressed like I’m ready for battle.

He knows something is going down. And we don’t need anyone else in the camp getting word of it.

“She’s gone, Quinn,” I whisper, distraught and grabbing a fistful of my own hair. Agony rips through me when the words finally leave my mouth, reality setting in like a fucking brick to the face.

Quinn’s eyes flash open, and his mouth sets in a hard line.

We need her to defeat Braddock and restore the whole of Azudora, to restore balance to the world.

She’s supposed to save us all. And not only that, but she’s also one of his closest friends.

Hearing those words hurts him nearly as much as it hurts me to utter them.

“Where?” he forces the word out but he’s already moving, silently gathering his clothing that lay in a heap on the floor and dressing. Quinn checks the girl once more to ensure she’s still sleeping and snags his weapons.

“To the capital. She said Nimai is there,” I push the words past the lump in my throat, working to swallow over it, my eyes searing.

The questions start the second we make it far enough away from the inn that he’s sure he won’t wake anyone.

I welcome the interrogation though, it gives me a point to focus on, instead of worrying what my father will do when he gets ahold of Bria.

They have searched for her. For years. They won’t kill her right away.

It will be far worse. And she is heading straight for them.

“How long?” he asks.

“She’s probably a half hour or so ahead of us now,” I respond, and Quinn’s face betrays his worry that we won’t catch her in time.

“What the fuck, Ev!” he exclaims. “How is she that far ahead of you?”

“She-she shackled me with her fucking shadows!” I throw up my hands.

How else can I explain what she did? Without experiencing it, I never would have believed a thing like that was possible.

From what I knew, she could form them into nightmare creatures, I saw as much last night.

But apparently, she can also make them into whatever the hell she desires, if tonight was any indication.

Pride swells inside at the notion that she’s grown so powerful, but I stamp it out.

I can’t be too proud since her actions have made it that much harder for me to protect her.

We reach the stables and Quinn starts tacking his horse but halts, taking in what I said.

“She what?”

I let out a long exhalation, fighting the urge to punch him as I tighten my saddle. We need to leave, and he clearly thinks I did nothing to try and stop her.

“You know she has gifts, Quinn. You know she can manipulate the shadows. We’ve just never witnessed her really do it.

What we’ve seen pales in comparison to what I saw her do tonight,” I continue.

“She trapped my arms and legs in these vines, these shackles made of darkness. I tried but I couldn’t free myself.

It wasn’t until she dropped the magic that I was able to come to you.

” I pull the reins of the horse to lead it out into the night.

Chill air hits my skin and I turn to Quinn, sliding up the arms of the tunic to reveal the torn skin drying with blood and bands of purple and blue. Quinn silently takes in the marks.

“She’s so much stronger than we realized, Quinn.” My voice breaks. “She has no idea what they are going to do to her.”

We race on our mounts toward the same road I’m sure Bria took. The hair on the back of my neck prickles and I scan the area as we leave. That odd sensation that someone is watching us keeps niggling at the back of my brain, but I see no one.

The camp is still asleep and the guards on duty pay us no mind, only nodding as we ride past and out of the camp.The two of us have ridden out together at all kinds of hours. No one will balk at us leaving in the dead of night. Nor will they dare question two commanders.

But Bria got past them, and I can’t help but wonder how.

The guards know she is high up in the rebel forces and close to Helara.

But they remain unaware of who she really is, and even without that knowledge they would have stopped her.

Should have stopped her. If for no other reason than to inquire as to where she was going. Unless she used her magic.

We speed up as we exit the foothills after descending from the mountain camp.

The road opens down here, allowing the two of us to ride side by side once we are free of the mountain range.

The sky yields as well, a swell of sparkling stars strewn about a mass of midnight black, peppered between the giant trees.

The moon issues forth a glow that seems to light the way toward her, nearly full but not quite yet.

Quinn brings his mount closer to mine and I hear his voice rise over the thunder of hooves and the wind whipping against my face.

“Why does she think Nimai is in Easthallow?”

“It’s her visions. She had another tonight and she saw Nimai with my father. She saw the dungeons, Quinn. She said Nimai isn’t safe.”

I had told Quinn of the dungeons when I escaped the capital and my father, had recounted the evil I saw there and what they did to those with magic in the depths of Castle Eccleston— what I did to those people in the damp dark underbelly of that castle.

Quinn and Helara are the only two who know the full extent of my time there, though Bria and Ash know most of it.

Quinn’s eyes dart to me for a moment then back to the road ahead, focusing as we race through the forest of evergreens. I can hear the tightness in his jaw as my words register and he pieces together the evening.

“How did you know, though? You left the pub. You left her there with Silas.”

The boy’s name still makes my stomach knot, despite my understanding of their connection and what happened tonight between Bria and me.

I debate on lying to my friend, for a moment.

But even in the dead of night, I know Quinn will detect it.

The man has an eerie knack for picking up on lies.

Probably one of the reasons he’s so terrifying.

“I did leave, but she came to see me. We were together when it happened, she was in my room.” I spare Quinn any details of our encounter, not ready to face his rage just yet.

Tension from Quinn’s body ripples across the empty space between us.

“And why in the fuck was Bria still in your room in the middle of the fucking night?” he yells.

“It’s none of your fucking business, Quinn,” I spear back, my tone sharp and cutting off any further conversation about what transpired between us. Or so I think.

Quinn scoffs. “Like hell it isn’t! When you left the pub, she tried to go after you, and I told her to stop.

I thought she listened.” He’s shaking his head now, the moonlight glinting off his ebony hair, unbound and whipping around his face in the wind.

“Why don’t either of you ever listen?” he exclaims, frustration flowing through his words.

My blood is boiling now. Why does everyone presume they can tell her what to do? She never asked for this and yet everyone feels the need, the right , to control her.

“Because she doesn’t have to listen to you, or Helara for that matter. She’s a gods damned person, not just your fucking prophecy. She feels immensely, she has wants and needs and dreams...” My words cut off when the reality of them sinks into my chest and settles with a heavy weight.

Tonight had proven it to me—that she doesn’t want this but was born into it and is doing everything in her power to see it through. But it torments her. She’d said she wanted to live, and I know she means more than just that one moment with me.

“No. You’re not pulling that card, not now. This has more to do with your needs than hers.”

The harshness of his comment sends me reeling.

“If you have such a problem with it, why did you let me come here? You’ve known that I care for her.

You’ve known since we were children.” I’m trying my best not to scream as I fume, not wanting to attract any unwanted attention as we ride through territory that does not belong to us.

“I thought the horrors you witnessed, that you took part in, would have made you understand her worth. That she is untouchable.”

My teeth clench. How dare he insinuate I don’t know her worth. I know more than anyone how precious she is, how fucking incredible. And I know better than anyone that she is untouchable. I’ll kill any man who tries.

“You have no idea her worth,” I seethe, staring across the mass of black at Quinn. “Or how untouchable she truly is.” I urge the horse forward, done with the conversation.