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15

RIORDAN

E vangeline had been gone one day and the world was falling apart.

Day to day operations continued as planned, Nash whipped the new Knightsguard into perfect order, Angel was safe, and there had been no attacks or even threats, as the royal houses—most of them—fell into line.

But the air in Crimson House was ripe with tension, the sort that settled deep into bones and made every moment feel like doom lurked around the next corner. The sitting room, once a place of quiet reflection, felt more like a battle ground—except we weren’t fighting a war.

No, we were playing the waiting game, and it was fucking killing us.

Blake stood near the fireplace, his back to me, fists clenched so tight his knuckles had gone white. Shadows curled around him like restless wraiths, eating up the candlelight. I hadn’t taken my eyes off him for hours, his magic was so uncontrolled and volatile, a manifestation of his spiraling frustration.

“We shouldn’t have let her stay,” he growled, his razor-sharp voice a husk of sound. “Malachi is dangerous. More dangerous than you give him credit for.”

“We’ve been over this.” I exhaled slowly, forcing my own temper into check. “We didn’t let her do anything. Evangeline made her own choice. And we agreed to give her time to see this through.”

“You mean you two made a decision and left me the fuck out of it.” His shadows swelled, deepening the dim, cutting off the candles completely, until I couldn’t tell where the darkness ended and Blake began.

He spun to face me, and I paused at the wild gleam in his eyes. His inner demons were taking him over, pushing him toward violence. My friend was forever balanced on that thin edge, but right now, I wasn’t sure which way he would fall.

“She’s been gone too long and she didn’t check in,” he muttered, voice tight with barely checked rage. “We should be out there, getting her back. Not sitting here waiting for?—”

“For what? News?” I cut in. “For a sign she’s playing her role? That’s what we agreed to, Blake. And if we storm in there now, she’d never forgive either of us. Evangeline is well trained and she’s smart. If she needed help, she would call us. We have to let this ride a little longer, we just…have to.”

I was as worried as he was, but Evie had asked us to trust her.

She had a difficult time letting us into her life and then I’d nearly ruined the fragile bond we’d built between us. I couldn’t make the same mistake twice, and I wouldn’t let Blake make it, either.

“If we charge in there now, all we’re saying is we don’t think she can handle this herself.” I explained, “Even though this waiting around is killing me, just as much as it is you, we have to give her time, Blake.”

His jaw tightened. “She could already be dead.”

“Goddamn it, shut the fuck up.” My voice boomed against the walls. “ She’s not fucking dead .”

I dragged a hand through my hair, trying to get myself back under control. Blake was losing his shit, I had to keep it together. And Evie couldn’t be dead. I’d know . I’d feel it. “Malachi needs her, and he won’t harm her,” I said, more calmly. “That, I’m sure of.”

Blake’s magic surged, the shadows in the room stretching longer and I tensed, every instinct telling me to brace for an attack. Or something worse.

“Blake,” I said carefully, holding my ground. “You need to get a grip on yourself, anger isn’t helping.”

His breathing turned shallow, fingers twitching at his sides. For a moment, I thought he might lunge, that those demons would take over and he’d lose himself completely. But then, just as quickly as it had risen, he wrenched back control. The shadows in the room receded, slithering away like ink spilling backward into a bottle, the candles spluttering back to life.

“If anything happens to my mate, just know you are the one I’ll blame. We might be friends, but if I lose Evangeline over a decision you made, I will never forgive you.”

He turned away again, pressing his hands against the mantle, his shoulders rising and falling with slow, deliberate breaths. I rubbed my aching temples.

How many times had he dragged me back from the edge these past weeks? How many times had he tried to talk sense into me and not a single word had sunk in, because I’d been too far gone, drunk on power, caught up in Ravok’s possession?

The very least I owed my friend was the same amount of honesty.

“Evangeline is the most resilient, clever, determined female I’ve ever met, and while she is your mate, she is also very much her own person, Blake. Telling her no is like putting her in a cage, and I tried that once. It didn’t go well for either of us, even if it was for her own good.”

“Easy for you to fucking say, when she means more to me than she does to you.”

I stared at the rigid line of his shoulders, his fingers, gripping the mantle like he was holding on for dear life. Well, so the fuck was I.

“You know what? Fuck you and the high horse you rode in on. She might be your mate, but I love her as much as you do, and you can go fuck yourself for saying any different. You want to put your fists where your mouth is, I’ll beat the truth into you, since that’s the only way it will sink into your thick skull.”

He whipped around, mouth curving into a wicked grin, that scar pulling at one corner. “You want to fight, your Majesty ? I’ll kick your fucking royal ass.”

* * *

I barely had time to brace myself before Blake’s fist slammed into my jaw. Stars exploded in my vision, and I stumbled back, tasting blood. “You fuck. I didn’t mean in here .”

I waved at the maps and empty coffee cups and scattered reports on the table. Preparations for Ravok’s inevitable assault, plans Nash was outside implementing. Because while we fought each other, the real war was drawing closer.

I could feel we were running out of time.

“She needed us.” Blake’s voice was raw, half fury, half heartbreak. “And you let her face a monster alone.”

I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and studied the smear of blood. “Evie made her choice,” I ground out. “You think I liked letting her stay with that bastard? You think I didn’t want to…”

Blake came at me again. I ducked, barely avoiding the next punch, and drove my shoulder into his ribs, shoving him back and back, until we rammed something solid. The wood paneled walls shook, the entire room pulsed with our heavy breathing.

“You could have backed me up. Together, we could have stopped her.” He swung again, and like before, I wasn’t fast enough. His knuckles crashed into my cheek, snapping my head to the side. My vision blurred, pain burning sharp enough hot bile surged up my throat.

I shook my head, gritting my teeth. “She would have doubled down and you fucking know it. She’s too stubborn for her own good, but she can handle herself. If we don’t trust her Blake…this thing between us?” I searched his face and found no sign he was even listening.

“If you don’t give her some space and every bit of your trust, this isn’t going to fucking work. We’ll lose her. Is that what you want?”

“I was going to get her, bring her back, keep her safe,” he muttered, proof he hadn’t heard a single word. “You didn’t even fight for her, you gave up.”

“I didn’t give up, you idiot, I trusted her to know her own limits and gauge her situation. There’s a pretty big difference, if you stopped thinking like a mated male who’s lost his shit and started thinking like the male who taught me everything I know about strategy.”

Because Blake was a fucking pain in my ass and my temper was spiraling out of control, I threw the next punch, one he didn’t see coming and my fist connected solidly with his ribs, air and spit spewing from his mouth, but he didn’t go down.

Not a surprise. Blake was always tougher than he looked. We’d fought side by side too many times before and I knew his every move, just like he knew mine.

But this wasn’t a sparring match. This wasn’t practice.

This was weeks of love, regret, and rage boiling over.

“She needed us. If you had backed me up, she would have come home, I know she would have.” Blake’s voice cracked as he came at me again, and this time, I didn’t block, didn’t evade. This blow slammed deep into my stomach, nearly making me vomit.

I straightened up, bile burning my throat. Blake pulled back his elbow and hit me again, his knuckles cracking as they collided with my cheek, my teeth rattling from the blow.

“I’m not fighting you, Blake. Not today, and not over Evie.” I coughed, tasted blood. “So go ahead, pound me into dogmeat, if that makes you feel better.” I canted my head, practically daring him to strike again.

“Fuck you and your goddamn nobility, Riordan. In fact, fuck you altogether.”

This next blow was vicious, catching my chin and snapping my head back. If I was human, I’d be dead.

I staggered, but he caught my shirt and pulled me in close, our foreheads nearly colliding. His eyes were lined with tears, every ragged breath edged with heartbreak. “I love her and I can’t save her. I can’t fucking save her, Rohr . I’m fucking falling apart.”

I clasped the back of his head. “I know. But you have to find a way to get through this. If we drag her back before she’s ready to come home, Blake, she’ll never forgive us. She’ll resent us for taking away her choices and deep down, you know it too.”

“Goddamn you.” He shoved me away. “Don’t tell me what my own mate wants, when the bond is telling me she shouldn’t be alone.”

“Right now, you’re too deep into your emotions to think logically.” I folded my arms over my chest, my voice coming out hoarse, “I loved her enough to let her choose. You just wanted to cage her.”

Blake’s hands clenched at his sides. His chest heaved. “Well, I was right, because now she’s out there alone. Anything could be happening to her right now. She could be hurt. She could be…”

I didn’t answer. Because he was right.

Silence stretched between us, our combined guilt thick and inescapable. Blake wiped his mouth, probably biting back more words he wanted to hurl at me. My face burned from the sting of his punches, my bruised ribs throbbed, but none of that compared to the hollowness carving out a place inside my chest. Without another word, Blake walked away.

And I let him.

Because deep down, we both knew—this fight wasn’t about us.

It was about her.

And even if we didn’t lose Evangeline over this, our friendship might not survive.