Chapter 33

Evangeline

“ANALI, WHY AM I treated so differently from the other children?” Evangeline pointed at the window, where a cluster of young kids played outside. “Why can’t I play, too?” She was told she was the same age as them, yet Anali never allowed her to do the same things. She was always stuck inside this house with its plain walls and plain rooms, empty of life. “It’s our temporary home,” Anali had once told her. “This won’t last forever.”

The Caster woman looked down at Evangeline and patted her head gently. “Because you are my special little girl.”  

Evangeline frowned. “You always say that.” 

Anali leaned down until they were the same height. “Evangeline, sometimes people fear things they don’t understand. Fear changes people, makes them do hurtful things. I don’t want you to get hurt.” 

Evangeline’s chest ached, and she felt she knew all too well what Anali meant by that. She would always be different. “Do you fear me, Anali?” 

Anali smiled. “There are scarier things in this world, my dear.” 

 

 

“Evangeline, come here. I have someone I’d like you to meet.” 

Evangeline lingered in the doorway. Anali had opened the windows in the house, a warm breeze carrying through its empty halls. A rare occasion, since the curtains were usually drawn, the house dark and foreboding. 

“Don’t be shy. He won’t hurt you.” Anali put out her hand, beckoning her forward. 

Evangeline hesitantly stepped forward. The young boy, perched next to Anali on the brown chaise, gazed at her with haunting green eyes. Evangeline glanced down. He had the same marking on his hand, like her. 

“Evangeline, I’d like you to meet Jaden, your new friend. He’s just like you.” Anali patted the spot next to her. 

Evangeline came over and sat beside Anali and the strange boy. 

“I’m afraid I won’t always be here to keep you two safe.” Anali reached out and took both of their hands in hers. They were marred, Evangeline knew, from the various experiments she was always doing, cooped up in the forbidden room at the back of the house for long periods of time. She had never confessed to Anali that she heard all of her crazy mumblings, knowing her “gifts” weren’t normal. “I need you two to promise me you’ll look out for each other and protect each other.”

Evangeline reached up to cup Anali’s face. “Anali, why are you crying?”  

She smiled despite her black bangs covering the clouded expression she wore, creases forming around her eyes. “Promise me you’ll always stay by each other’s side. This world is too cruel to endure alone.” 

Jaden and Evangeline looked at each other. For the first time in a long time, she felt herself smiling. She had finally found someone she could play with, and she wouldn’t have to feel so alone.

They spoke together. “I promise.” 

Evangeline woke with a gasp, bringing in treacherous winter air that needled down her warm throat. Darkness and bare trees surrounded her, snow clinging to her fur coat and leather boots, as if she had been lying on the ground for some time. For one delirious moment, she couldn’t remember where she was or what had happened. Then it all came back to her. Lani, Council member Aimee and the Casters, Xilo’s betrayal, and her . . . she . . .

From the glow of the stars, she held up her hands as if they weren’t her own. The brown gloves were ripped and covered in dark splatters that she knew were blood. The rest of her attire didn’t fare better, dark scarlet staining in drops along the brown-and-white fur of her coat’s collar, down to the larger, darker splotches that would have blended in with dark trousers and boots if she hadn’t smelled it. It still clung to her nose, all her senses stirring that . . . thing inside her. But it didn’t awaken, leaving her blissfully with her own thoughts.

Her lips felt crusted over, and she swiped at them, her sleeve coming back with dried blood. Her eyes stretched into saucers, remembering the feel of her teeth piercing that Caster’s neck, the warmth of it as it drizzled down her throat. She turned and vomited. Its red contents made her hurl more until her insides felt empty and her body was shaking.

Rising to her feet, she tried to gather some sense of direction. She couldn’t have wandered that far from the city. What in the fiery blazes had happened to her? Had she gone insane and blacked out? Pressing her knuckles to her temple, she tried to remember, but all she got was the overwhelming rage and that awful hunger. Did she kill those Casters? Aimee? That seemed unlikely, but then again, the way she had moved, the dizzying speed at which she kept up with the Casters and their magic . . .

No human could have been able to do that.

The thought left her feeling more alone than when she had faced Lani’s dead, white face. Lani . . .

Evangeline marched toward the city’s lights, the monstrously tall walls looming higher than the trees running next to it. Even in the dark, Castle Peak’s protection against the surrounding wilderness stood out like Barto’s atrociously yellow pants the first time she’d seen him. The massive gray-and-white speckled stones layered together, defending the castle and its city for centuries. It looked the same as it had back then when she and Jaden . . . She shook her head at the odd thought, focusing on the perimeter and any signs of disturbance across the snow-covered grounds. She had to get back to Lani and give her a proper burial. She refused to let her wither away, abandoned out in the woods.

Tears burned her eyes, her throat scratchy, but she fixed her gaze ahead. She recognized the familiar lay of the land, the pockets of snow where a fight had broken out.

And the grotesque amount of blood darkening the ground.

Evangeline turned away at the sight, searching for Lani, or even Taryn and Ed, or any of the other Nytes. Aside from the obvious signs of battle, there was no evidence of any bodies. She was surprised the guards hadn’t stumbled upon this, or hadn’t spotted the scene from atop the spearing towers lining the city’s perimeter. Then again, if Aimee was involved, there was no telling what they did to keep their encounter private.

A branch sticking out of the ground caught her eye. It was two hand-lengths wide and came up to her waist. It looked sturdy, far sturdier than the surrounding bare twigs that swayed in the gentle wind. Tied to it was a scrap of cloth, plain dark material double-knotted around it, and etched into the material was a name.

Delani Thorp.

Evangeline sank to her knees in front of it, touching the carved name as if it were Lani herself. Who had taken the time to bury her? It couldn’t have been Aimee or the other Casters, right? Her hands brushed the snow beneath the marker before she bowed her head, the occasional gust of wind covering her muffled cries.

 

 

Pinks and oranges streaked the sky, the sounds of people stirring awake and the clicking of wagons and horse hooves on stone carrying from beyond the walls. Evangeline knew she was close to its entrance, the massive iron enforced gates that stretched as tall as the walls. Or at least she should be after trekking for what felt like an hour now. Sore didn’t begin to cover what she felt like. It was as if she had been swept up in a turbulent current, her bones smashing into every boulder on the way down the river before being dropped off a waterfall. Not that she’d ever seen one aside from the small streams of water that ran through the city’s cobblestone pathways before plunging into the sewers below.

The familiar line of guards, their silver-plated armor dull in the wall’s shadow, stood on either side of the closed gates. Five on each side, with three sets of pairs to patrol the walls at all times. She knew because she had memorized their patterns before making her escape the first time she’d left the castle city. Swords hung at their sides, and a mixture of wings, tails, and both floppy and pointed furred ears were her best indicator at telling them apart. When she took another step, the floppy-eared Rathan’s eyes darted her way before a flurry of swords reached for her.

Evangeline tossed back her hood, knowing she looked ghastly. She’d been crying for the remainder of the night, most likely leaving her eyes rimmed red with a permanent hollow expression. She’d tried to wipe the blood from her mouth the best she could, if only to be rid of the smell of blood so close to her nose, bringing back the nausea in waves, but she was still coated in it. And while a terrifying thread of doubt told her she may not be human—something she really didn’t want to dwell on—on the outside, she was. And she was without a Nyte escort, beyond the walls.

As the guards came closer, a myriad of hushed voices rushed her.

“Is that a human? I can’t tell.”

“She’s covered in blood.”

“What in the Gods—”

From between their outstretched weapons, a Nyte shoved forward, white-furred ears shooting up from the sides of his helmet.

“Halt!” he shouted in a brusque tone, the steel tip of his sword inches from her throat. “Tell me why I shouldn’t kill you on the spot, human. It is against Peredian law to be without a Nyte escort beyond your district.”

Evangeline’s hands were steady as she raised them in a sign of surrender. Her heart didn’t beat faster, nor did her body itch to run as far as she could in the opposite direction. It was as if all emotion had been drained. She carefully removed the glove from her marked hand, showcasing it to the guards. “His Highness, Prince Sehn, has requested my presence, and I seem to have gotten quite lost.” A smile teased her lips, suddenly finding the situation humorous. “And maybe, sir, I’m not entirely human. You ever think of that?”