Page 57

Once Quinn feels the area is safe enough for him to make camp, we sit and eat.

I perch myself on a large root with Evander beside me and Quinn across from us, leaning his back against the gilded bark of a tree.

Rayna packed plenty of foods fit for travel: jars of salted nuts and dried meats, some hard cheeses, and crusted bread.

But she had also given Quinn containers of ripe spring berries that burst with sweetness.

Quinn reaches into the bag and brings out a small package wrapped in paper. He hands the package over to me and I respond with raised brows. What could he possibly have grabbed before we left the inn?

“Just open it,” he mutters, irritation in his voice.

Carefully, I unfold the paper, my fingers aching a bit with the motion. My fingers and wrist are healing quickly but some pain lingers. The smell hits me first. Vanilla and butter mixed with the tart scent of blueberries. Scones .

I let loose a small laugh and meet Quinn’s eyes.

The side of his lip turns up. He remembered they’re my favorite.

In our years at the camp, Ash tried to make them as best she could for me, tried to mimic her mother’s recipe.

But we rarely had all the necessary ingredients, and enough to spare for a more indulgent item like this.

“Thank you,” I say, picking up one of the small pastries and taking a bite.

I let out an embarrassing moan when I taste how buttery and flakey it is, delicious with the sweet and slightly sour burst of the blueberries.

They taste so much like the ones Ash’s mother made for me when we were younger, though hers were filled with chocolate.

She knew I had always preferred chocolate to fruit.

Quinn waves his hand as if to suggest it was nothing. But it wasn’t nothing. I’m lucky to have the foreboding warrior as my friend.

“I just figured you should have something you love in case it’s your last meal.”

Evander shoots him a glare, but I choke out a rough laugh.

A full laugh that makes my body shake and my heart warm over.

The morbid fact is it could be my last meal.

I very well could find myself in a damp, dark dungeon within the next hour and not in a luxurious bed.

We are betting on Aamon having a use for me.

And we are placing our lives on the line for this bet.

When we finish eating, Quinn shifts the conversation back to strategy.

“You can’t linger when you are in there. You need to find out where Nimai is as soon as possible. And once you find her, you need to get her out.”His face is all hard lines, his hazel eyes serious.

We both nod in agreement. He had gone over the details of what we needed to do numerous times with us during the ride here.

I needed to save my energy, not use magic at all while I was within the walls of the castle.

I would need to cloak the three of us on the way out and Quinn didn’t want anyone to see my gifts.

If they found out more about my abilities, they would find a way to control me.

Quinn looks at Evander and his gaze softens on his best friend, his brother by choice.

“You need to prepare yourself for him. This is not the time for vengeance.”

“I’m aware,” Evander replies, but I can see the tension in his shoulders and the set of his jaw.

Quinn keeps on, a note of urgency in his voice. “Take his orders, do as he says, and make yourself the picture-perfect son. You’ve returned to him to serve his righteous god and you’ve brought him the one person he’s hunted for years.”

Evander drags a hand through his hair and sighs heavily.“I get it. I’ll be fine.”

Quinn scoffs. “I highly doubt that.” His eyes slice to me. “Bria, you need to keep an eye on him. Rein him in if you see him breaking.” His gaze burns with the same fury I feel when I think of Aamon. There is no love lost between Quinn and Evander’s father.

“Whatever you feel for Aamon, know that Ev feels it worse. And the bloodlust you both have for him, for any of them, can wait for battle.” He uses a hand to push off the base of the tree, pulling himself up to his full height.

“Keep the necklaces visible, keep your heads down, and stay the fuck out of trouble. Please.”

The pleading in his voice makes my throat tight, and he stretches his hand out toward me. I take it and let him gently tug me to stand. Still holding my hand, he grasps it tightly, and gazes at me. His hand is rough, like Ev’s, like my own, and the callouses scratch at my skin.

“Bria,” he starts, and the heartache in his eyes makes me want to sob. He’s saying goodbye. And not just a normal goodbye that he would offer if we were to see each other in a few days. He too fears something may happen inside the walls of the castle, and that we may never speak again.

Unable to meet the sorrowful gaze he sets on me, I pull him into an embrace, wrapping my arms as far as they will go around his thick chest. He folds me into his arms, and I feel the soft kiss he plants on the top of my head.

He whispers into my hair as I hold tight to his body, not wanting to let him go.

“I’ll see you soon,” he says, and he pulls back from the embrace.

Tears sting the back of my eyes, knowing he hopes those words will turn out true as much as I do.

When he moves toward Evander, they clasp hands and pull into one another roughly.

I cast my eyes away, wanting both to give them privacy and keep myself from crying.

I stare at the trees instead, taking in the magnificent gold, now turning to a sea of sparkling stars with the glittering moonlight.

The men exchange a few muffled words and Evander moves behind me shortly after, placing his hand on the small of my back.

And when I turn back to Quinn, he’s already by the horses.

Knowing Quinn as well as I do, I see the gesture for what it is.

He said his goodbyes. He won’t linger now.

And neither will we. So, I allow Evander to steer me toward the edge of the forest. He grasps my hand and leads me through the thick trees.

We only walk for a short time before the gilded trees thin to reveal the massive stone walls that rise up around Easthallow.

The walls are enormous but not as sturdy as I imagine they once were, with bits crumbling, leaving the structure jagged and foreboding.

Evander stops at the tree line, tugging my hand back to stop me before I step out of cover.

He shoves his other hand deep in his pocket, fishing around for something.

I arch a brow in response, waiting patiently for whatever he’s doing.

The smile that he throws back at me melts my heart, that left dimple pulling at his cheek.

And when he drags his hand out of his pocket, I see a glint of crystals in the moonlight.

“Bria,” he whispers, taking a step closer and moving into my space.

My breathing stalls in my throat when I see what it is he’s holding. It’s a ring. Delicate golden vines twist into an elaborate band that blooms with flowers of black crystal. He holds my left hand gently and I let him slide the ring into place, admiring the dark flowers embedded within it.

“It was my mother’s ring,” he explains while I stare at my hand, still resting in his. “The black tourmaline is said to protect. She gave it to me before...” He trails off, either not able or not willing to finish that sentence.

I lift my eyes from the ring to meet his gaze.

“It’s gorgeous,” I say, and I mean it. It may be the most stunning ring I’ve ever seen. Handcrafted perfection.

He smiles again and pulls my hands around his waist before placing his own on the back of my head. I have to lift my chin to keep my eyes on his. The gold within them warms me and I hold tight, content to have this brief moment to ourselves.

“I’d hoped to give it to you one day,” he admits, a bit sheepishly.

My heart hammers in my chest in response to his words. My mind is spinning. Quinn said he had loved me since we were children and now here he is giving me his mother’s ring and admitting his feelings, right as we are possibly about to go to our deaths.

“I just didn’t imagine it would happen like this. His eyes darken before he leans down and places a soft kiss across my lips.

“Are you ready?” he asks, the whisper floating across my mouth, his face still hovering a breath above mine.

“Yes,” I reply, pressing my lips back into him.

The ring is part of the role we need to play, and I understand that.

But what he said means much more to me right now.

He planned to give me this ring, his mother’s ring.

And that knowledge makes me ache inside.

I want to live, to get the chance to make a life with him.

He planned it, knowing that I would die.

And not die old in my bed but young, long before I could love him properly or give him children.

But now, I’m determined not to die within the walls of this castle.

I will not die here, not now. I will get more time with him, even if it ends shortly thereafter.

He pulls back from the kiss and holds my wrists gently in his hands. Evander presses a kiss to each of my palms before he grasps my left hand in his, locking our fingers together. I feel the weight of the ring where it rests on my finger and a smile flits across my lips.

We push through the last few feet of the Gilded Forest and Castle Eccleston rises, an ominous sight blinding my view. It rips the happiness from my body like it is tearing my own heart from my chest.

We’re here.