“Volst, I call upon you. Please, I beseech you, help me.” At first, nothing. Just the sounds of the fighting wolves and the running water. My hands tremble as I clutch them tighter,reaching out with my magic. Feeling the strand of thread Evander tied around my finger. I can’t let something happen to him—not before I tell him what he means to me. “Please, Volst, Gruvun, anyone.Please.”
The current stops completely. I peel one lid open and then the other. The water looks the same as normal. Except, it is unnaturally still.
“Volst?” I whisper.
A ripple thrums against me, its source unseen.
“Help him. Please, save Evander.”
The stream diverts, flowing through the air as a geyser. A fist of water plows straight into Bardulf, knocking him against a tree and pinning him there with one mighty wave. Then the water seeps back into the stream, flowing like nothing happened.
Bardulf doesn’t move.
“Is he…” I stand to try and spot the rise and fall of his chest. Did I just kill a man? The thought shakes me to my core and I begin to tremble all over.
Evander rushes over, changing into his human form on the way. My cloak is on his shoulders and he quickly unties it, placing it upon me. Fastening the clasp into place.
“Are you all right?” he asks hastily.
“You…” I look Evander up and down: he’s covered in bruises and cuts. Deep gashes line his shoulders where Bardulf pounced into him. “You’re hurt.”
“Oh, this?” Evander smiles. It’s forced and doesn’t reach his eyes. I can see him hiding winces with every movement. “It’s nothing. I’ve had much worse.”
“We need to tend to those wounds. And Bardulf?—”
The man in question jolts back to life. In the process of rolling onto his side, he changes from his wolf form back to his human one, coughing up water. Sputtering.
“It’ll take more than that to kill the bastard, unfortunately,” Evander says darkly, his words ripe with anger.
“Evander,” I whisper quickly as Bardulf is still composing himself. “He saw us.”
“What?” Evander fixates solely on me.
“He saw us,” I repeat, making sure to emphasize every word. “Together. He knows.”
“She’s right.” Bardulf heard anyway, despite my efforts to be quiet and speak while he was distracted. “I saw everything.” He twists onto his other side to face us, slowly sitting. “I give you credit, Evander, I didn’t think you had it in you. Going against Conri like that when you’ve always been such a loyal cur on the outside. You think just because you are graced with some of the king’s charm as his knight, you can steal his bitch?”
“Call her that one more time,” Evander threatens, hands balled into fists so tight the massive muscles in his arms bulge.
“King’s charm…” I repeat softly, my brows knitting. It’s been so many days since I last felt myself slipping under Conri’s aura that I had almost forgotten about it.
“Oh, you don’t know?” Bardulf’s attention lands solely on me. A smirk slides across his lips. “He didn’t tell you, did he? Of course he didn’t.”
“Enough,” Evander snaps.
“We knights make our oath to the wolf king and, sure, he takes our ability to have children. But for our loyalty, we don’t come up empty-handed. No…we might not be able to have children, but we’re not denied the pleasures of partners. In fact, it’s made easier. Our oaths make us an extension of the wolf king and so we gain part of his powers.”
“I said enough!” Evander roars, charging toward Bardulf.
“Let him speak!” I snap. Evander stops in his tracks. My heart is hammering, but no longer out of fear that I killed a manor of what Bardulf is going to do. I’m drawing my cloak around me as if I can defend myself from this truth.
Bardulf howls with laughter. “You dog, she didn’t know. Yes, Faelyn. Your protector, darling knight has been using powers he’s kept hidden from you to lure you into his bed.”
CHAPTER 32
I dragmy gaze to Evander, meeting his eyes. “Is it true?” The words are nothing more than a trembling whisper. Fear for what the answer might be nearly silences them completely.
“Faelyn, it…” The pause is unbearable.
