Page 69

Evelina

Evelina wrapped a protective hand around her swollen belly. “She’s kicking!”

Senna spun around, eyes wide. He sprinted over to Evelina and placed his hands on her stomach. His face fell. “It always stops by the time I get here.”

“Just give her a second,” Evelina said with a laugh.

“How are you so confident it’s a her ?” He raised a brow.

“Because a mother knows.” Evelina smiled.

The baby kicked swiftly against her stomach. It felt like an Aegis soldier practicing their swings against her insides.

Senna’s eyes widened and he gasped. A smile spread across his face as she kicked again.

“Told you to just be patient,” Evelina whispered. “Gloriana says she’ll be here any day now, so she’s getting restless.”

He kissed her forehead and tucked her blankets tightly over her. “With the Harvest Moon tonight, we are surely blessed,” he whispered. “It’s no coincidence our heir will be born so close to the most sacred night of the year.”

She smiled and gave him a peck on the cheek as she always did before he returned to his own chambers.

It took her well into the night to finally fall asleep. The baby was always in the worst position, pressing on her bladder, kicking against her organs, or begging for her to get up and eat something.

Evelina was happier, more hopeful. But her thoughts were still plagued with the desire to find Moros. She wanted a safe kingdom for her child and her people. She wanted to break the curse and reunite the Valon Empire. But she had to find Moros first. He had cast the curse, had stoked the rebellion into a fully-fledged war, leading them deeper into darkness. The war never felt truly over, not with the cold darkness she could still feel lurking deep within the land.

She opened her eyes, confused to find herself on a sandy shore instead of her bed. She was alone. Cliffs surrounded her on the right, the wild seas of the Andronicus on her left.

A cold breeze swept across her skin.

Her hand fell to her stomach, finding her belly as round as it was in the waking realm. It felt like each step she took was unusually slow, like wading through mud. Her breathing quickened and she began to panic. She had never been so lucid in her sleep—she was Woodland, not Nocturna. She had no magic when it came to dreams.

She spun in a circle, trying to get her bearings. It still felt like she was dreaming, only she didn’t know how she came to be so aware. Up ahead, moonlight shined down on an opening in the cliffside. Its entrance wasn’t on the sand, but in the sea. Her feet were drawn to it, moving before she could stop herself. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end and her heart pounded. Her magic flared in answer, her shield snapping into place as if it sensed danger ahead.

There was a darkness in that cave that she hadn’t felt in a long time. Her palm burned and she hissed, looking down, seeing the mark of the soulbonded that she only found in her sleep. It flared pale white, radiating a soft glow.

She took a step back and slammed into something solid. Something moving. She spun around, coming face to face with the stranger.

But it was no stranger—it was someone she never thought she would see again.

This really was a dream.

He wasn’t the same as the last time she had seen him. Instead of wearing his Rider leathers, he was in all black. His eyes were dark, his nostrils flaring. And his face… He was staring at Evelina as if she were a ghost. His chest heaved.

“Daimon?” she gasped. She took a step toward him, pulled in as though by a gravitational force, and his gaze dropped down to her stomach. His eyes widened.

“Eve,” he whispered. She drew in a sharp breath.

“ Daimon ?” she said again, wondering if perhaps this was a nightmare, her pain coming to haunt her. “You’re here.” She could see his body began to tremble, just as hers did. “You’re in my dream?” she whispered, still in disbelief.

He nodded slowly. His eyes fell to her stomach again.

“Are you—” Her voice broke. She didn’t know how to ask it. Are you okay? Are you still…you?

“Your light found a way to bring you here,” he said quietly. He lifted his hand, palm outward. “And my shadows can only roam freely beneath the Harvest Moon.”

She stilled, her questions abating. The Harvest Moon. When Eurydice’s light shined on every corner of the realm.

Silence stretched between them. She wrapped a hand around her stomach and rubbed circles over it out of habit. She wanted to run to him, to pull him in close and be reminded of what it felt like to be in his arms.

But she didn’t run to him. She could barely remember to breathe.

There was an emptiness in his eyes that hadn’t been there before. Even as he eyed her stomach, they were distant.

She followed his gaze, an apology in her eyes. “I?—”

“You have every right to move on.” His voice was flat— neutral. He took a step back, redirecting his focus. “Your light brought you here for a reason, just as my shadows did. There’s a darkness here that needs to be destroyed.” His eyes lacked their old warmth, instead full of bloodlust.

Evelina’s heart was torn, half of her needing to figure out what he meant by that, and the other half desperate to speak with him about how she hadn’t moved on. Not fully. A piece of her would always belong to him, the man who became the Lord of Shadows to save an empire that wrote him off as a deserter.

“Senna and I did try to move on. For a time, we did,” she finally said, her voice soft.

Daimon clenched his jaw, and a flicker of pain flashed through his eyes.

If this was the only time she was going to see him, she would give him the truth. One last time.

“But our hearts already belonged to another,” she continued. “We both lost our Rider during the war.” She took a small step forward and his eyes widened.

“Senna—”

“And Keir,” she finished quietly. “He didn’t talk about it much, just as I couldn’t bring myself to talk about you.”

She could see his mind racing, trying to piece together his old friend’s hidden feelings.

“Keir was always a private person,” he gritted out, his voice thick with pain.

Evelina felt her own pain stab at her chest, the loss of Keir as fresh as the day he died. She never imagined her life turning out this way all those years ago. Being married to Senna, being queen. Losing Daimon…

Daimon cleared his throat. “Thank you for telling me.”

She wanted to tell him so much more.

“I never thought I’d see you again,” she whispered.

Daimon’s bottom lip trembled and he looked away. Unable to stop herself, she walked to him and closed the space separating them. He looked down at her, his eyes suddenly giving way to emotions so clear that it startled her.

“It’s really good to see you,” he whispered.

She threw her arms around him—as best she could with her pregnancy at full-term. He bent down and buried his face in her neck.

They stayed like that for several breaths, holding each other and listening to the bugs sing.

She couldn’t believe he was here, that he was real. That he felt just as he did in the waking realm, smelled just as she remembered. It was like experiencing euphoria and heartbreak at the same time. Like holding on to the sun, only to know she’d lose it when the night came. She didn’t want to let go.

Daimon moved first, slowly peeling himself away from her and taking a step back.

“Daimon—”

He vanished. Evelina whirled around, finding herself entirely alone.