Kenna
The willow tree wasn’t touched during the battle. I’m not sure how I would have felt if we’d walked up and found it destroyed. Some of the tension in my chest eases as Evander parts the curtain of branches and ushers me inside the shaded haven of our youth.
My gaze sweeps over the cool, shady clearing before I turn to my mate and finally let out a deep breath. It seems like I’ve been holding it since I woke up this morning.
“What do we do?”
Evander paces with his hands tucked in his pockets, his brow pinched in thought. “You and Brie will go to Veiled Valley, immediately.”
“But–”
“It’s the best option other than sending you both to Maatua,” he cuts in.
I rest my back against the tree trunk, crossing my arms under my breasts. “I won’t just run away and let others fight my battles. I’ve spent my entire life doing that!”
“We have to think about Brie now,” he says, meeting my eyes. “And our future children.”
“Future children?” I murmur, furrowing my brows. “It’s a little early to be thinking like that, isn’t it?”
“It’s a little early to have a newborn under our care after being mated for only a few days, but that’s our reality, and we have to be realistic. We can send Brie away, if you’d prefer.”
“No!”
“Even to be with your family in Maatua? Gabriel might be able to jump, but not that far. I’d bet my life on it.”
“She was born alone in this world, and I won’t put her in that position again.” My heart squeezes tight as Evander edges toward me. “This isn’t fair to her.”
“If the Draven Coven is keeping women like cattle and willing to risk battle to keep them, and the children, under lock and key, then we need to do something, Kenna.”
Everything hurts. My head pounds as Evander sinks into the grass, stretching out his legs. His shoulders slump. It’s a rare moment, I realize. He is so practiced in the art of wearing masks, just like me. But for a second, he lets that mask slip, showing me his real emotions.
He’s stressed. Tried, anxious, and on the verge of breaking.
Just like me.
“If I go away, what will you do?”
“That’s not up to me. Your mother’s return means my mission in Crescent Falls might not be going forward. It depends on whatever information she relays to your dad.”
“So you’ll let my parents dictate our next move?”
“They’re your parents, but they're my king and queen. If the Allied Kingdoms are facing a long, drawn out war with the Dravens, then we need to be prepared to be separated for a while.”
This wasn’t supposed to happen. Just a few weeks ago, I was in Crescent Falls looking for my mate while the timer ran out on my freedom. Evander was also on a timer, counting his days in the Ghosts, and preparing to rule beside me in Veiled Valley.
We were going to be together again regardless of our feelings.
Now….
“I can’t lose you.” My heart shatters as his emerald eyes lock on mine. Grief courses through my body, making me feel weak and sick to my stomach. “Not now. Not ever. I can’t–we haven’t had enough time.”
“You’re not going to lose me.” He moves to his knees as I walk toward him.
“Promise me,” I demand, kneeling in front of him. He takes my hand, tracing the lines on my palm.
I have a long love line. It stretches across the surface of my hand, strong and steady.
Some say it’s the silliest kind of magic. Even wise, old witches in the coven don’t also put stock in the ancient art of tea leaves and palm reading.
But I’ve kept that hope in my back pocket for years now…. Hope that I’d find my mate and get a lifetime with him.
My mate is a warrior, though.
His touch moves from my hand to my forearm. His fingers glide over my skin, bunching up my sleeves. “I love you. Whatever happens next, know that I’ll return to you.”
Tears sting my eyes. “I want you whole,” I whisper, sniffling. “Not in a casket.”
A soft smile brushes over his mouth. “They’d have to catch me to kill me, Kenna.”
He takes me into his arms, nestling me against his chest.
We sit there for a long time–long enough that I start to feel prickling in my legs from lack of use and the obvious, gnawing hunger from missing breakfast.
I feel a slight tickle deep in my brain that’s wholly familiar.
“I’m being summoned,” I tell him, my eyes closed, and my entire body relaxed in his touch.
“Damn. I was just thinking about how much I’d like to lay you down in the grass and see what you look like with just the sun on your skin.”
Heat blossoms throughout my body as he absently strokes down my side. “I’m sure they want to see you, too.”
He groans softly as I untangle myself from him. “I’m going to go get Brie and introduce her to my mom,” he says.
“Maybe… do you think our moms know what happened… between us?” I find it hard to believe that my dad, given his freak-out over Evander and I being mates and acting on our bond, told my mom anything about it.
“Well,” Evander says, standing and dusting off his pants., “they’re about to find out, aren’t they?”
I sigh, my stomach in knots. “Maybe we shouldn’t say anything.”
“Us being mates is the least of their problems. Come on.” He takes my hand, pulling me after him.
We walk back to the castle together, neither of us saying much. My brain is wrapped in anxiety that slithers over my body like a snake. Evander notices, tugging me to a stop in one of the narrow corridors on the first floor of the castle, near my mom’s office. “We’re going out tonight,” he says.
“What?” I laugh. “Like, out to dinner?”
He leans down, brushing his words over the top of my ear, “You need to shift, Kenna. You need to stretch those powers. You’re burning out. You’re wound so tight, and I can sense the tension in your body right now, in your powers. I’m going to take you out, into the woods, along the ridges and in the valleys we used to run in as children, and you’re going to shift with me.”
He presses a kiss to my temple and starts to pull away, but I grab his shirt, yanking him back to me.
His soft chuckle ignites a fresh wave of desire as he pins me against the wall and kisses me tenderly.
I melt in his arms. For a single second, nothing else matters but this, but then someone softly clears their throat.
My cheeks flame as Evander sighs, turning to face his dad.
Great.
“Evander,” Granger says like he’s holding back either a laugh or a groan. “King Ryatt would like to speak to you.”
“Of course, he would,” Evander grumbles, running his fingers through his hair. “His office, I assume?”
Granger nods, but his eyes, so like his son’s, slide to mine.
Evander lets me go and walks away without another word. I linger in the hallway, rocking on my heels.
How embarrassing. We have absolutely no privacy, even in this enormous castle. Suddenly, going to Veiled Valley as soon as possible is exactly what I want.
Granger steps toward me with his hands tucked behind his back. He bows his head slightly, looking more than a little uncomfortable, but says, “Congratulations. I am honored to have you in our family, Kenna.”
“Oh, thanks,” I whisper, surprised. “You’re–you’re not mad?”
“No, of course not. Amanda and I are delighted. It was the best news to come home to after everything that happened.”
A weight lifts off my shoulders. “Good. Good… so my mom knows?”
“Of course.” If Granger were capable of laughing, I’m sure he would be. He looks incredibly serious as he says, “Your dad is the only person opposed.”
“Great, well… where is my mom?” I shift uncomfortably from foot to foot.
Granger watches me for a moment, unsure if he should say what’s obviously on his mind, but eventually motions me to follow him.
“She’s resting. She and Amanda refused to see a healer, rest, or eat before telling us what happened. She’s in here. ”
“I don’t want to bother her,” I say, halting my progress down the hallway leading to my parents’ private rooms. “I–I should be helping the other healers, anyway–”
“Our warriors are starting to move people out of the castle and back into homes in the city. The wounded are being moved in a few days, once the hospital roof is mended. I assure you, there isn’t much for you to do right now other than see your mom.”
“Okay….”
I continue to follow him but wring my hands. I’m not sure I even want to know what happened. Would I have ever put myself in her position? Sacrificed myself for my kingdom, allowing myself to get kidnapped and taken into the lair of the enemy?
I like to think I would, but my mom is… everything I’m not. Strong, brave, and capable.
And all the while, I’ve been here, healing the wounded and rolling in the sheets with my mate.
I try to swallow past the lump in my throat but find it impossible as I reach her door and softly knock. Granger walks away as a maid opens the door and ushers me in.
“Is she asleep?” I ask.
“No, although King Ryatt would like her to be. She’s writing letters.”
“Letters?” I make a face, confused, and follow the maid through the sitting room to the bedroom door, which she promptly opens for me.
Mom sits at her desk, her head bent as she scribbles. She turns to look at me, a wave of relief washing over her tight expression. “Oh, thank the Goddess you’re in one piece.” She rises and runs to me, hugging me tight enough that I wince. “How are you? What happened during the Rite? How did you escape?”
“I–well, Evander was there–”
“I know.” She sighs heavily as she steps away motioning for me to sit on the edge of the bed as she sinks back into her desk chair. Her room is decorated tastefully if not minimally. A mural of the night sky stretches across the ceiling, outlined by roping trim of muted silver. The walls are a deep red that makes the cream colored carpet seem slightly out of place, but it’s a cozy room.
I cross my legs, picking my nails while she scribbles something else on an insanely high stack of paper. “Your dad said Evander found you in the old temple and got you out shortly after the attack began.
“Evander believed the Mystics were… working against us.” I leave out the rest. She would know Evander and I performed the Rite. I’m sure Dad assumes we did, given that he found us in bed together after the battle.
“He was correct,” she murmurs. “A few, at least. I dealt with it this morning. The outliers are dead or fled. We’re missing at least one mystic right now.”
“I’m sorry this happened, Mom.”
“It’ll be fine. My captivity was… enlightening.”
I wait for her to tell me about it, but she continues scribbling on those papers. “What are you doing?”
“Writing to your uncle,” she says under her breath.
“Why not use the mirror?”
She sighs, tapping her pen on the edge of her desk. “We don’t know what Gabriel is fully capable of yet, if he’s able to intercept our magic and spy, you know? So, your dad and I decided that we’ll be sending correspondence to Isaac through your grandparents in Maatua.”
“Then the borders are officially shut down?”
“Yes, they are.” Her voice is edged like a fine blade. She’s holding something back, some deeply rooted anger I’m actively trying to make sense of.
She’s stressed. We all are.
I don’t want to add to that, so I do what I do best.
Deflect.
Even if it means I’m about to rock her world.
“Evander and I are mates.”
She looks at me over her shoulder with a smile. “Oh, I know. Trust me. Your dad about lost his mind.” She chuckles, her eyes shining with joy. “I’m happy, sweetheart. So happy–”
“And we have a baby.”
Mom’s mouth pops open, her brow pinching tight. “You what?”