One
Avalon
“Ihope the Goddess knows what she’s doing, because I’ll never give you up, Avalon Halhed.” Vox’s lips were so close to mine that I got lost in the declaration.
Something niggled in the back of my brain, an anxiety beating in my chest. Something was wrong, but it wasn’t Vox. I wholeheartedly agreed with his statement. He was mine, and I’d fight fate itself to keep him.
I looked over at Lierick, who was frowning. “Do you feel it too?” he asked, and I nodded. Braxus whined loudly, which was all I needed to know.
We’d been here before.
“Get the book!” I told Lierick, and he sprinted out of the room.
“What’s happening?” Vox demanded, and Hayle sat up on the bed, frowning at Braxus and Alucius as they said… something to him.
“We’ve been here before. I’ve reset time. I don’t know why.”
Hayle shook his head. “The hounds don’t know either, but it was bad. That’s all they can tell me. Whatever happened was catastrophic, but they don’t know the details.”
Braxus whined again, so I squatted down in front of him. He licked at my face, and I scratched his ears. As Alucius paced, I reached out to stroke a reassuring hand down her coat. “It’ll be okay. We’ll fix it.”
Lierick reappeared in the room, holdingA Future History of Ebrus. I felt Vox’s power settle over my skin, silencing this conversation from prying ears. Grabbing the book, I skimmed the pages as I read about my future. A future that would never come to pass now.
In its wake, there was only rage. “Fucking Eugene.He is adeadman.”
I passed the book to Hayle, and Vox read over his shoulder. By the end, his body was vibrating with anger.
“I should have gone further back,” I said to Lierick. “We could have stopped him from hearing the conversation at all. Maybe asked Hayle’s dad to take off thetalthat prevented Vox’s soundproofing. So many better options.”
Hayle shook his head. “My father would never take histalsoff in front of a Vylan. No offense.”
Vox raised an eyebrow. “Your father is a smart man. No offense taken.” He looked at me. “This was your anchor point. We’ll work with it.” He leaned forward and kissed me softly. “I don’t regret not losing this moment.”
I flushed pink. “Me either.”
Hayle cracked his knuckles. “Now that’s settled, I vote we find that slimy little fucker and make him talk. And then silence him forever.” Gone was my affable Soul Tie, and in his place was the Heir to the Third Line—the fierce warrior, bred for battle. Protective to an almost rabid level.
May the Goddess have mercy on Eugene’s soul, because Hayle Taeme certainly wouldn’t.
And neither would I.
Despite the fact that Eugene was slated for death, I still felt a guilt deep in my soul about what had happened in a past that no longer existed. My cockiness had gotten a lot of people killed, friends and enemies alike. People I respected and loathed. The worry that we would be too late again—that this was a history destined to repeat over and over again, like my mother’s death—was a constant shadow dogging my steps.
It didn’t help that Eugene was nearly impossible to find. If it had just been me, I wouldn’t have stood a chance. However, no one hid from the Third Line; the Baron had proved that. Even when you thought you’d been hidden for several generations, the Third Line always knew.
It would’ve been terrifying, if I wasn’t in love with their favorite son.
The fact that every creature with a heartbeat was a potential spy meant we were able to find Eugene quickly, despite the fact he was holed up down by the cove, probably waiting for the small boat that was currently speeding across the horizon. He was dressed in traditional Eighth Line garb, and if I hadn’t known it was him, I wouldn’t have looked twice.
He was wedged in a crevice between the large stones bordering the rocky inlet, and I realized this was the very hidden cove we’d arranged with Zier Tarrin to anchor in when needed to funnel aid to the west. The irony.
But there was no outcropping that could hide Eugene Rovan. There was no shadow he could slip into, no barren hellscape that he could wander where we wouldn’t find him. I stayed a little back, watching as Hayle, Vox, and Lierick circled their prey.
Too late, Eugene realized he was surrounded, and he shot to his feet. Vox gave him a cold smile. “I wouldn’t bother, Eugene.”
Eugene was already summoning the storm, but it would be too slow. The Fourth Line didn’t really have great offensive magic. Not like Vox, who could steal the air from your lungs and suffocate you in an instant. Or boil the water in your blood. Or freeze it to ice. Honestly, his power was terrifying.
Luckily—or perhaps unluckily, if you were Eugene—we needed to know what he’d said, and to whom.
