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EVANGELINE

T he air between us crackled, thick and charged, as if night itself held its breath while Fiona wove an especially complicated pattern with her fingers, her expression unreadable. A smothering warmth settled over me, and that quickly, the churning tempest inside me faded to nothing.

“So…you knew,” I said, trying not to sound too judgmental. “You knew about my magic. You knew about Rhiannon. And you knew Malachi’s role in all of it.”

Fiona exhaled slowly, her eyes searching mine as if gauging how much truth I could handle right now. Or how much she was willing to reveal. “Yes, Evangeline,” she said, her voice steady. “I knew everything.”

The admission knocked the breath from me. “A heads up would have been nice. Instead of me fumbling like an idiot.” My body tensed, despite my best attempts to control my temper. “Did you know I helped destroy the entire castle? My sister…people could have died that night, Fiona.”

“Firstly, you hated that castle, and secondly, everyone made it out safely, thanks to your sister. If I thought they wouldn’t, I would have intervened. I was there, remember?” Fiona threw up her hands, like I was being unreasonable.

“Look, the thing about the future…you can’t stop events from happening, because it will cause a chain reaction that might produce an even worse outcome. I had no choice but to let that night play out and do damage control.”

“And when Ravok took over Riordan? You recognized him, didn’t you?”

Her mouth thinned out. “Yes. And I didn’t see that coming. Something I’ve lost a lot of sleep over.”

“Why not at least give us…advice?” My voice rose, “Why would you let me believe I was powerless, when all along?—”

“ Because you weren’t ready ,” Fiona interrupted, her tone firm but not unkind. “You still aren’t, but we are far past the point of making choices.”

“I know I’m not ready. Ravok nearly killed me and Malachi with a snap of his fingers,” I hissed, my magic stirring beneath my skin, and despite Fiona’s block, the entire garden darkened at the edges, shadows pooling in the corners.

For a moment, I didn’t care.

I was tempted to show the entire world what I was.

Fiona watched that darkness grow, completely unfazed. “You have no idea what you're playing with, Evangeline. Magic like yours does not obey. This kind of power takes and twists and if you are not careful, it will consume you, like it did Rhiannon.”

Wait…what? Rhiannon’s magic—the same magic I now possessed and didn’t want—had consumed her? Was that how she died?

A burst of emotion curdled my magic into something jagged. I stepped closer, my breath coming faster. “Tell me everything you know about Rhiannon, Fiona. Why did my magic show me an exact version of her face when I thought of her?”

Fiona’s lips pressed into a rueful smile. “Because when you love someone, jealousy is a powerful thing.”

Love? My heart lurched at the word. “Jealousy?”

She nods, her expression softening with something almost like pity. “You envy Rhiannon and you resent her, because of Malachi. Because you’re a little bit in love with him.” There was no guile to her words, no judgement, like she was stating fact.

“I don’t—” I start, but the words died on my tongue. I did envy Rhiannon, my ancestor, whose blood sang in my veins. And…I was falling in love with Malachi, despite every argument I should have against it. I was jealous as hell, because she’d known Malachi first.

Because he…maybe loved her.

Maybe he’d whispered those same silky, convincing promises to her, told her how brave and strong and beautiful she was. Maybe… maybe I was only a cheap replacement .

The shadows swirled faster now, curling around me like smoke, and in them, demonic faces began to form—their eyes hollow, mouths stretched wide in silent screams. I shuddered, but I couldn’t look away, my own fear feeding the rising storm.

Fiona stepped closer, her fiery presence a stark contrast to the dark tempest unraveling around us. “Malachi kept Rhiannon safe from Ravok. He helped her escape, hid her, ensured she always remained one step ahead, a near-impossible feat. Without him, she would have died and your bloodline would have ended with her. But listen to me—they were never lovers, only friends. Without him, Evangeline, you wouldn’t exist.”

The words landed like a slap, bringing me to my senses. Malachi wasn’t her lover . He’d saved Rhiannon. He was the reason our bloodline endured.

And then, he’d saved me, by sacrificing himself, when he knew the cost.

My jealousy turned brittle as glass, then shattered apart into bone-melting relief, while all around me, shadows writhed like living wraiths, distorting into grotesque shapes until they solidified into one recognizable face.

A pair of familiar eyes stared out at me, and for a moment, I could barely breathe.

“What…what are you doing?” Fiona breathed, reeling back, her eyes bouncing between me and Malachi Draven, staring out of the roiling tempest, his face swollen and bruised, one eye blackened, his blond hair dark with blood.

“Stop this, Evangeline, you need to stop .”

I reached out my hand and drew my fingers down his broken cheek, his skin cool beneath my touch. “I’m coming to get you. Hang on, don’t give up.” All around us, the garden trembled, ground shuddering as my magic pulsed in a crescendo of energy.

Staring at my red-stained fingers, I ran my tongue over them, my system instantly hit with a jolt of raw, ancient power. I had Malachi’s blood on my fingers.

“Hold on. Just a little longer.”

Fiona’s eyes narrowed, then her hand darted out and grasped my wrist, yanking me back. “Enough, Evangeline, stop this.” I barely registered her words before a force slammed into me, iron bands locking around my ribs. The shadows vanished, snuffed out like candle flames, leaving behind only an achy emptiness.

My knees buckled, and I collapsed, my magic—completely gone.

“I saw him. I touched him.” I gazed up at her, my vision blurred with tears. “What did you do?”

“You used your magic—impossibly—to cross over into another plane. I stopped you before you hurt yourself,” she said, her face pale, but her voice gentler now. “It’s easy to get lost inside such terrible power, dragged in too deep, and if you allow yourself to be seduced, it will destroy you.”

I shook my head, my hands trembling as I pressed them against the ground. “I was there—I saw him?—”

“If you saw Malachi, then Ravok could see you. The connection goes both ways.” Fiona glanced at Crimson House, her expression pinched with fear. “Magic is born from emotion, Evangeline. Yours, particularly, is tied to the darkness within you and strong emotions create a conduit. Let’s hope Ravok wasn’t aware of you before I broke the connection.”

Fiona crouched down beside me and we both stared at my bloodstained fingers. “This is something I haven’t seen before,” she said soberly. “You have to learn to control yourself, Evie. And you have to learn fast.”

I nodded.

She was right. I could have stayed inside that cloud of darkness forever. There had been something so… alluring about that moment, I’d never wanted it to end.

“I can do that. Teach me everything I have to know.”

Malachi was bleeding. He was hurt. A sob rose in my throat, so raw and bitter I choked before I climbed to my feet. “Teach me. Now . We don’t have much time, and I have to know I can actually do something with this power, not just stand on the sidelines.”

Fiona’s expression softened. “I promised you I’d help.” She rose and offered me her hand. “And we are friends, after all. First, you have to learn control because my block isn’t keeping your magic fully contained.”

I swallowed hard. “Okay. How do I do that?”

“Find the center of your magic. Everything has a heart, and your power springs from darkness. Some a memory, or experience…”

“I have a box. A silver box with a lid.”

“Have you ever looked inside that box?” She asked softly. “There will be a trigger of some sort, a nexus where all your magic springs from. Find that, and you can begin to exert control.”

I shook my head, a tremor of fear turning my knees weak. “I’ve never looked inside. Just closed the lid to lock my magic down.”

“For this to work, you have to look inside. But beware of what you’ll find. Memories that birth darkness such as yours are dangerous.”

Fucking fabulous. I took a breath then dove through the layers of shifting shadows and opened the lid, already knowing what I’d find. I had enough darkness inside me to fuel my nightmares for an eternity, but there…at the heart of everything…

Was a beautiful blonde woman kneeling in a darkened street, her tearstained face turned toward me as she mouthed— I’m sorry as my father raised a sword high over her head, the deadly edge glinting.

I closed my eyes, tears pricking beneath the lids. “I’ve seen it. Now what?”

“Hold onto that pain, use those feelings to fuel your power, then shape your magic into something. Any shape will do, so long as you are the one controlling the form. It will resist, but darkness responds to pain.”

The shadows fought, slippery and thick as I molded them, formed them into something resembling a crooked sword. Sweat beading on my brow, I lifted the pitiful thing between us, forcing the dark flames to hold their shape for a few seconds before they broke apart.

“That’s a very good start.” Fiona’s eyes shone with hope. “Now let’s try that again.”