YEVA

CLOUDS DRIFTED OVERHEAD, causing the light to dance over Yeva’s closed eyelids. The sun’s rays caressed her skin, warming her. The fragrant scent of wildflowers danced on the breeze. Birds chirped and their peaceful song lulled her down into the depths of sleep, though she tried to fight the effects.

A chilled wind like the night air brushed against her cheek and Yeva sucked in a breathless gasp. Her eyes snapped open and a conspiratorial smile formed. “Silas,” she breathed his name.

His power brushed up against hers, wrapping around her. The thrilling rush of his darkness and her light made her nerves sing. The power of finality, of void, of oblivion was so different, yet fit perfectly against her own.

Yeva sat up. The long grasses danced, swaying back and forth, but Silas was nowhere in sight. Rising to her full height, she turned in a circle scanning the area.

A sly smile spread across her lips. He was hiding and stretching his power to cover everything in sight to keep her from narrowing in on him.

Abruptly she turned to face the forest directly behind her and narrowed her gaze at the shadows. He loved to make her search for him, but he was predictable. Sticking to the shade of the trees. Finding him was never difficult.

She leaped into a run, heading for where she knew he awaited her. Even without her powers, she would know exactly where to find him. The trees wended, but she ran toward him as if he were a magnet, pulling her closer and closer.

Above, small rays of sunlight filtered through the thick, roof-like canopy created by the long arms of tree branches weaving through one another.

A branch snapped to her left and she spun on her heel, but Silas was not there. He was playing with her, trying to trick her and lead her in the wrong direction. One corner of her mouth lifted into a smirk as she continued on the path that would lead her to the old, gnarled tree.

The ancient oak loomed ahead. Yeva skidded to a halt and looked around. She’d expected to see him leaning against the rough trunk.

With quiet steps, she tiptoed around the back, expecting to see him. Yeva jumped out and stopped dead in her tracks, then straightened her spine.

He wasn’t there.

But he was always there.

She dropped her chin, disappointed. Could she have imagined it? It had been weeks since she’d last seen him and she missed him terribly.

It would be far too long since she felt the touch of his hand on her skin if her mind was playing tricks on her.

Yeva turned to leave only to have two strong arms gather her up from behind and pull her against a solid, muscled chest.

“Silas…” she whispered.

Silas’s hands slid down her sides and wrapped around her waist. The path of his fingers left a wake of desire sparking along her skin, even through her dress. He spun her, making her long red hair and the skirt of her dress flare out with the movement. She wrapped her arms around him then tightened her hold. Only then did her mind finally accept he wasn’t just a dream. Yeva nuzzled her cheek against him, breathing in the cool scent of sunset after a rainstorm.

He reached up and brushed the back of his fingers across her cheek and down her neck, gliding over her shoulder. With each caress, he left a trail of sparks glistening against her delicate skin. The shocks so light they tingled, leaving the lingering feel of his skin against hers.

Yeva laughed lightly, tilting her chin up to meet his stormy gray eyes. She pressed up on her toes, intending to place a kiss on his lips only to meet the velvety softness of rose petals.

“For you, my love,” he whispered.

She took the flower and inhaled the scent deeply. It was a strain he had created just for her. A mixture of red and a scarlet so dark it appeared black. A flower born of two realms; her living realm and Silas’s, where only the dead were able to tread. Though both naturally grew thorns, this mixture was completely void of them. It would last only a day before crumbling to ash, because even despite its unparalleled beauty, it was an impossible creation.

“It has been a while,” she said, soaking in the comfort of his arms.

“I know,” he said softly, as if she’d admonished him. “I am sorry.”

“Will you stay a while this time?” Yeva pulled away, just far enough to tilt her head back and look upon his face. He frowned and avoided meeting her gaze.

That was all she needed to see to know his answer, though he still spoke. “I am afraid I must leave soon. I know it was selfish of me, but I needed to see your face, if only for a brief moment.”

Yeva wanted to be upset, but she could feel the reluctance and regret in his words. Silas always stayed with her when she requested it, unless duty called.

“I understand,” she said, and meant it. “I suppose I must see to my Watchers as well.” Her heart thudded once, hard against her ribcage. Months before, she had lost a Watcher to a rogue Guardian. At first she had wanted justice. Revenge. Nivian and her family had as well.

But the Dark Guardian had been destroyed by his own actions. Silas had only calmed her by reminding her that there had been rogue Watchers in the past who had destroyed Guardians. An unfortunate and unavoidable thing. Though rare, it caused tension between the groups, and between the two of them. Tension that lingered even now.

She hated it. It felt as if the world were slowly creating a wall between her and Silas, brick by brick, pushing them apart.

“You are… going to create another Reaper?” she asked, hesitantly taking a step back.

Silas dropped his arms and frowned at the term Reaper. Yeva cringed slightly at realizing her mistake too late. He hated when she called them Reapers. They were Dark Guardians. Though she felt her term was more fitting for the destruction they wrought.

“Yes. I can feel the balance begin to shift. It is almost negligible but should be remedied before it increases. Life is expanding faster now. I will need another to help with the responsibilities.” He avoided using terms like killing, taking life forces, destroying.

His responsibilities grated against her heart. Perhaps because they were so far from her own. Yeva gave him a strained smile. How had she fallen for him, this man who was the shadow to her light, the cold to her warmth? He fascinated her nonetheless.

“Must you be in Mophar to create it?” she asked.

Silas tilted his head to the side, thoughtfully. “Would you like me here instead?” he offered.

Yeva nodded. She had watched him work on occasion. It was a different process than her own.

Silas took her hand in his and walked silently through the forest. Yeva trailed a step behind, studying his stern features.

His strong, sharp jawline, the cut of his cheekbones, the angle of his nose, and the fullness of his lips, which were too often pressed into a tight line. She took pleasure in being able to draw out a smile from him from time to time.

Her face warmed as she thought about what his lips made her feel. He was cool, dark… and yet he could nearly make her catch fire with a touch or the barest kiss.

Silas stopped abruptly in a small clearing. The trees leaned inward, making the canopy above at least three times as thick as the rest of the forest and letting no light through the spaces between their branches. The only thing allowing her to see was the soft glow of the light filtering from the small holes on the outer edges.

Yeva stopped just outside the reaches of darkness, leaning against a tree trunk. It vibrated with life as if to say, “I know you, life bringer…” It was the same way all living things responded to her touch.

Silas paused in the center of the shadow and removed his cloak, letting it fall to the forest floor at his feet, then he pushed his sleeves up to his elbows.

Deathly, pale skin stood out against the dark. She would have thought he would look sickly, but Gaia had gifted him and his creations with that quality of life, despite what their purpose was.

Golden hair spilled over his shoulders and down his back. Silas spread out his arms at his sides, fingers splayed, and rallied his power to him.

It awed her to see the dark glow. Midnight blue with whorls of deepest purple and flecks of blood red.

The ground beneath her feet groaned followed by the trees as they trembled and shuddered from the roots all the way up to their uppermost leaves.

Silas drew his hands into his core, his fingers weaving in deft motions from the countless times he had done this before. From where Yeva stood, it looked as though he were doing nothing more than weaving a ball of dark mist. For a long while, he continued, unwavering.

Nothing seemed to happen. Yeva shifted her weight from one foot to the other, her fingers taping lightly against the tree trunk. Then slowly, the life of the world began to pull toward him as if he were sucking its very essence away. The grasses and leaves on the ground changed to ash gray then black. It spread out in a perfect circle, increasing its diameter with every second.

Though, even knowing exactly where it would stop, Yeva still took an involuntary step back.

Black fog formed at Silas’s feet, spreading and growing, billowing out until it swallowed up all that lay within the small thicket. Closer and higher it moved, stopping its advance only inches from where she’d originally stood. Though it couldn’t harm her, she still feared the cold touch of the power as it created yet another agent of death.

The haze hit a barrier, invisible to the eye, and the tension that had wrapped around her spine, eased. The tree she had leaned against darkened to black as if charred by a long ago fire.

Silas was in the nucleus of that power. It seemed he needed to make more and more of his Guardians as of late, while her need for Watchers had become stagnant. A strange emotion bit at the center of her chest. It flickered and took root, tying her stomach into knots.

Then, in a blink, Silas’s dark power cleared, and the barrier fell with an icy whoosh of air. Silas was no longer alone. Before him kneeled the newest Dark Guardian.

“Rise, Evander,” Silas commanded.

Yeva took one step closer, ready for Silas to remember her presence. The smile she wore felt strained, but she was happy… wasn’t she? This creation meant the balance was once again on a more even keel.

“Yeva?” a female voice called before she could approach Silas. “Yeva?”

At the sound of her name, Yeva’s smile faded. She cut a glance in the direction of the Watcher’s voice. When she looked back to Silas, he was looking at her, his head cocked to the side and a look of amusement across his features. He left the Guardian where he stood and closed the distance between them.

“Are you needed elsewhere?” he asked.

Her frown deepened. “It’s just a Watcher,” she said with a pout.

Silas raised a brow at her tone. Then, half laughing, he wrapped his arms around her, nudging her cheek with his nose playfully. “Is it important?”

No, she wanted to say, but before she could answer, Nivian broke through the trees and into view. Yeva heaved a tired sigh and stepped out of Silas’s embrace to face the girl.

She eyed Nivian from head to toe. She was a strange one. Quiet. A bit of a loner. She would be alone all the time if it weren’t for her family and—

“Yeva?” Kain’s voice echoed not far behind. The hint of a smile returned, easing her irritation at being interrupted.

Yeva turned to Silas to take her leave, but he was no longer looking at her. Instead, he studied Nivian as she drew closer. Shadows darkened his eyes. Perhaps he recognized the strength of her powers, so much stronger than the average Watcher. Or maybe it was the oddness of them. It didn’t quite fit as it should have, much like a tunic two sizes too big.

While Yeva had expected her to go rogue long ago, she never did. Her personality was as steady as a quiet stream.

Kain’s voice called out again. Why Nivian couldn’t be more like him, she didn’t know.

Briefly, Yeva pondered if she could alter Nivian somehow, until whatever peculiarity hovered inside her was rightened.

It was odd, the connection she shared with Kain, and he’d always had a soft spot for her, compelling him to act protective of her. Almost as if he belonged near her.

“I will leave you to your duties. I must begin the induction process,” Silas murmured, letting her go. Then he leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. That familiar tingling shock lingered even after he had left.

Yeva stared after him into that now empty space he’d occupied only a moment ago, then she turned and walked toward her Watchers.