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4
EVANNA
“Anything?” My question mixed with the sound of Kingston’s steps as he entered my room, cutting off my anxious pacing.
Two nights had come and gone without affording me any respite. Both the guilt of not telling Brax the truth myself, and the look of hurt and betrayal in his eyes after realizing the man our people cursed every day was the same who had given his life to save him burned through me.
A mix of dread and frustration sharpened my guardian’s features before he shook his head. “I’ve roamed the entire area, from here until the mountain range entering the Greenlands, but there is no sign of Fire Fury or Braxton. I’m sorry, I was not able to find them.”
“They couldn’t have disappeared!” I protested, my anxiousness hindering all logic.
“Maybe they did,” Willow interrupted, pointing out the obvious. The one thing our people had mastered many years ago—flying invisible with a Dragon. One of the many things Khayden Skystorm had gifted to us before leaving us.
Nodding in recognition, I swallowed, realizing everything that it implied. If Braxton had chosen to go invisible, his reason was clear. He didn’t want us to find him. He didn’t want me anywhere near him.
Vines of ice slithered around my heart.
Willow’s delicate and warm hand curled around mine, bringing my attention back to her. My loyal but heartbroken Willow, who hadn’t dared leave my side since Braxton stormed out the door. Her eyes were still swollen and red as she looked at me.
“He didn’t leave because of you. He left because the grief he is feeling right now is stronger than anything else.” Blinking, she lowered her gaze from mine, her eyes glistening with shared pain. “I don’t excuse him defending the man who destroyed us from within, but I can’t deny I understand what he is feeling.”
Kingston’s shadow dwarfed us when he instinctively stepped closer to Willow, wanting to console her, but his hands fisted at his sides before he could reach for her. Instead, he focused his gaze on me. “Asher and Harper are preparing to lead the next search—”
“No,” I cut him off sharply, resolve whirling through my veins. “I’m going to look for Braxton myself.”
“Evanna, that is not a good idea. I—”
“I don’t want to hear it,” I warned in a clipped voice.
Whirling around, I pulled my riding outfit from the dresser and walked to the partition to swiftly change, ignoring Kingston’s protests. After a few minutes, I stepped out ready to put on my boots while a tempest of emotions crashed into my heart.
“Stop this, Evanna. Think clearly,” he begged. “In two weeks, you’ll be crowned queen, and our people need—"
“You have no say in this, Kingston. Not anymore,” I declared, forcing him to let go of what was left of that child he had always tried to protect. “I did as you asked. I waited. Dying inside because Brax was not here. Struggling to breathe because his pain cuts through me almost as strongly as it’s cutting through him. And still, I waited, letting you go after him instead. Drowning in guilt because he is right to want to defend his father’s memory, regardless of what we went through or what we think of him.”
Stopping in the middle of the space, I glanced once more at my best friend.
“The man was a hero to him, Willow. The Harbinger burned to death so his son and his wife could survive…”
My throat burned with each word, remembering Braxton’s story of that terrible night, but I swallowed, hardening myself so the tears wouldn’t fall… as I did every time something broke a part of me. Something I had learned to master since the day my parents died at Raithian’s hand.
“A queen has no time for tears… You need to be strong for our people now.”My aunt’s words echoed in my mind. They had become my mantra.
“You know your pain is also mine, Willow,” I continued, kneeling before her and gripping both of her hands in mine. “Your loss is part of me. But so is his. Braxton has every right to be upset… with me.” Lifting my gaze from my best friend to my guardian, I stood and walked towards him. “A full night and day have passed, Kingston, and here we are, seeing the moon give way to the sun once more, yet—”
“You should not be out there!” he thundered. “It is too dangerous, Evanna. The Warlock King must be livid after our encounter with him during the rescue, and he is most likely planning an attack,” he insisted, holding my arms anxiously. Both love and desperation shone in his eyes, willing me to see the danger. “He now knows where we are. It is only a matter of time before he comes for us. Braxton is an Elevated Warrior now; he can take care of himself, and he has Fire Fury to protect him. Please, let Asher and Harper lead the next search mission. I need you here. Safe.”
Sighing, I placed my hands on his chest, right over his massive heart, feeling it beat powerfully under my touch. People feared Kingston, and with good reason, but they just didn’t realize this was all he was. A walking, talking, massive heart. Everything he did, he did for love of me, of our people, of these lands. He loved so fiercely that it was where his courage and fight came from against all evil.
“I love him, Kingston,” I confessed simply, holding nothing back.
His eyes widened, and I wasn’t sure if the news truly caught him by surprise, or if he was just shocked to hear the words come from my mouth. I had vowed never to pair with anyone. Sworn to devote myself to freeing all Soulris and being their queen.
“He wanted to tell you himself. Man to man—whatever that means—so I’m sorry to take that away from both of you. But I do, I love him, and he loves me too. What I feel for Braxton is stronger than anything I ever thought love might be, or that I believed I could ever feel for someone else. He is everything, Kingston. Everything.”
Taking my hands in his, he brought them to his mouth to kiss them, and then cradled me against his chest tightly, like he didn’t want to let me go. Afraid he would lose that little girl he saw grow up. The child he had protected all these years.
“I want you to know we didn’t plan this,” I continued, resting my cheek on his warm chest. “There was no intention to deceive you or anyone else, it just… happened. When we met, it was as though our souls called for each other. As though we had always been connected, tied together by a bigger force, but we hadn’t met yet.”
