Page 14

Sliding into my bed for the night, I blew out a breath. There was nothing else I could do at this moment while Rebecca looked into her contacts. I would reach out to Zane soon, but not yet.

Call me old fashioned, but I didn’t want to taint the feel of Blake’s and Luke’s hands on me. A bath was one thing. Being with someone else so soon after was another. And the things I planned on doing to Zane would definitely mix the experiences.

I wanted to remember every single moment of my time with each of my mages, individually.

In an ideal world, I wouldn’t be here hiding away with Rebecca. I’d be curled up laughing with everyone over the latest drama or eating dinner. Or, better yet, curled up between the twins after our love making session.

I knew it was for the best and yet, I felt lonely. Lonely in the way that I felt when my mother died. My father had already been taken from me, so after she was taken, I had felt like nothing and no one in that world cared about me.

Thankfully, my mother had helped me learn what I could from one of the better mages who didn’t look down on me for being half human, Katana, the elderly mage who lived down the street from us. She used to watch me while Mother went to work in the market shop stall.

When my powers began to manifest, Katana helped me. I learned potions and spells at a young age that most grown mages couldn’t even fathom.

I was sure that Katana was once a great mage. Every time I’d asked her about it, she’d laugh and pat my head. “Oh, little bird, I’m just an old woman now. All my great days are behind me. But I see many great days in your future.”

When my mother died, it was Katana that took me in. We moved away from my little village deep into the forest where she continued to teach me every spell and potion she knew until, one day, I was a grown woman and could make my own way in the world.

Katana died about the time that I had gained the king’s attention. By then, I’d let my rage at the mages consume me. I closed myself off to Katana’s warnings about letting my vengeance consume me.

“The path to revenge is a lonely one. One day, you'll wake up and have gotten exactly what you wanted, only to realize it didn’t change anything at all.”

My eyes closed as I bathed in the memory of her words. Katana was right. In the end, I’d been alone and nothing had changed. I hadn’t gotten justice for my mother and the mages now ruled the world.

My heart sank and briefly I wondered if there really was nothing I could do but put my trust in Adam.

My mind settled at the thought of him, my magic sweeping me up and out of my body. It passed through Rebecca’s house and out the window and then I was flying across the woods and town until I found myself inside Adam’s office.

My heart swelled at the sight of Zane, leaning back against the window sill. His eyes down on one of those black squares, his fingers moving across the surface.

He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and squinted his eyes. There were still dark circles under his eyes, but he looked better than before.

Curiously, Luke and Blake were missing from this meeting. Only Adam and Gage stood next to the desk, pouring over some paperwork I’d need to be closer to see.

I was hesitant to get closer to Adam right now. He represented everything I hated and, to top it off, he was still engaged to Rebecca. I wanted to yell and throw things at him. Demand he tell me why she was better than me.

Was it because I was part human? Did that hurt his Arch Mage image to be seen with me?

If that had been the case, wouldn’t it have hurt him when I’d first shown up with him? Everyone knew I was staying with him. So, it was okay for him to take care of me, but not okay for him to be with me?

I shook my head, clearing my head of the rampage my thoughts had taken. I couldn’t answer those questions now, and thinking about them would only make me mad.

My mind took me here for a reason. I should use this time to see what I can find out. Maybe I could learn what Adam planned to do after my ultimatum.

“We need to up our security magic,” Adam directed his words toward Zane. “I don’t want to get any more surprise visits from Eva.”

Zane lifted his head, his brows pinched together. “You want to keep Eva out?”

Adam shifted slightly from the desk to look at Zane. “I want Eva here as much as the rest of you.”

Gage snorted.

Though he couldn’t see me, I shot him a glare.

Adam continued as if he hadn’t heard the Sentinel. “But you have to admit she’s unpredictable right now. She showed up in my office today and threatened me.”

“She threatened you?” Zane’s eyes widened. “Are you sure? She seemed fine when she came by to talk to me.”

I wanted to talk to him to tell him my side of things. Unfortunately, incorporeal as I was, I wasn’t able to do anything but to listen in.

“She talked to you, too?” Gage shot an accusatory look at Zane that made my insides boil. “Did she visit everyone but me?”

“What do you mean?” Adam frowned. “She’s only visited Zane and me.”

Gage gestured around the room. “The twins have been holed up in their rooms since they came back from their trails. Even Luke has been suspiciously quiet. That motormouth is usually an unending stream of information we didn’t ask for. Isn’t that strange to you?”

“That doesn’t mean they saw Eva today,” Adam pointed out, leaning against his desk.

“Doesn’t it?” Gage quirked a brow. Though his lower face was covered, I could still tell he was frowning. “If she visited both of you, the likelihood that she saw the twins isn’t implausible. She and Luke were close.”

“I wonder why they didn’t tell us about it.” Adam crossed his arms over his chest and sighed. “I just wish I knew what was going through her head right now.”

Zane dragged a hand down his braid. “When she came to me, she wanted to know how I handle my demon. I really felt like she was trying to get herself and her magic under control. Are you sure she threatened you?”

Adam’s foot tapped incessantly against the floor. “Not at first. She was agitated from the beginning. Aggressive. Not like herself.”

“What did she want?” Gage’s eyes zeroed in on Adam’s face.

“Eva wanted to know what I was going to do about the humans' treatment now that I was Arch Mage.” He shoved his hands into his pockets and ducked his head. “When I tried to explain to her that it took time to make change, she suddenly started in on me about being engaged to Rebecca.”

“I don’t blame her,” Gage scoffed. “Even we don’t understand that shit.”

Adam narrowed his eyes on him. “It was a necessary evil. I’ll break it off when the time is right. Just not right now.”

“So you think...” Zane cocked his head to the side, studying Adam. “She was jealous?”

My lips twisted to the side, my eyes boring into Adam, daring him to say it.

“I should be happy, I guess.” Adam pulled at the long bits of hair on his head. “She cares enough to get mad that I’m engaged to Rebecca. It pains me that I hurt her, but I couldn’t very well tell her I couldn’t be with her because she’s human.”

“But is she?”

My eyes jerked to Gage with everyone else.

“Is she even human?” Gage continued. “She smells like a human, but you have to admit she doesn’t act like one. She has magic. The books literally say she was the queen to King Midas, the king who had a mysterious mage at his beck and call. How do we know she wasn’t that mage?”

My teeth ground at the mention of my ex-husband. The ass never gave me credit for everything I’d done for him. Anyone with a lick of magic knew that old bastard didn’t have a magical bone in his body. He relied on the mages around him to get him ahead and make him look good. Me included.

“Maybe she’s both?” Zane offered with a shrug. “It’s not unheard of. Even now it's more taboo. Back then they probably didn’t have every mage written down like we do now. But still, I don’t understand how she threatened you. Are you sure you didn’t misunderstand her jealousy?”

Adam locked eyes with him. “I think I know a threat when I hear one. She told me I had a week to fix the human situation or she would do it for me. This was after she almost blew up the office with some kind of...”

He shook his head. “I don’t know. It seemed like she was having some kind of internal struggle and then, all of a sudden, she was... different. It was almost like I was talking to a completely different person.”

“Do you think the queen took over?” Zane pulled his glasses off his face, cleaning them off with a bit of cloth from his pocket.

Took over? I laughed to myself. No, the queen did not take over. We finally agreed on something, and that was that you all were being too slow to do what was right.

“I don’t know. But still, I’d like to get a heads up the next time she shows up. Just to be on the safe side. We don’t know what we are dealing with when it comes to her right now. I want to help her as much as you do, but have you stopped to ask yourself, maybe she doesn’t want our help?”

“Then we make her,” Gage shot back.

If I could throw a fireball at Gage right then, I would have. The nerve of him, thinking he could just make me come back and let them take over everything. I didn’t need help. I’d already figured it all out on my own. It was them that needed help. Starting with getting more information on the council members.

“Very well.” Zane sighed with displeasure on his face. “As long as it's just to let you know when she’s coming and not to hurt her.”

I peered over Zane’s shoulder watching as he made the lines of magic on his tablet tighter together.

“I would never,” Adam claimed, placing a hand on his chest. “There is nothing I want more in this world than to have Eva safe and here with us.”

I stared Adam down, his words causing my jaw to clench. Liar.

Adam’s head jerked up as if he’d heard me. I didn’t wait around to find out, letting my magic sweep me back out of the house and into my body. I rolled over on the bed, curling my legs to my chest as my eyes burned with tears.

He wanted nothing more than to keep me safe? I would believe that the moment he stepped down from being Arch Mage.

Adam had made it clear being Arch Mage was more important than anything else in his life. Including me.