He shoved a hand through his hair, leaving it standing on end. “I—Evie, you and I were fighting, and I felt all this hatred.” Caelan blew out a breath and growled. “I needed?—”
The Lord couldn’t form a complete sentence. “She was there, and you weren’t, and I wanted the release. That’s all it was.”
“Oh,” Evie said. “A wham, bam, thank you ma’am, then. No biggie.”
A hopeful light appeared in his eyes, and he reached for that false lifeline not realizing it was a venomous snake ready to ensnare him.
You idiot.
“Yes,” he breathed. “That’s all. Convenience, Evie. It will never happen again. I never would have done such a thing if Lugh hadn’t made me see Rachel in a different light. I hate her. I’ve always hated her.”
“I see,” Evie said. “You didn’t want her. You wanted me.”
“Exactly.”
Rachel’s form shimmered away, leaving Evie standing there. From the way she jerked, she’d forgotten she’d lose her clothes during the shift. I shrugged off my jacket and strode over, draping it over her shoulders.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“You,” Caelan snarled at me. “I bet you’re loving this.”
What I’d love was to punch him repeatedly in his smug face. “If you think I’m loving seeing Evie’s heart break, you don’t know me at all.”
A muscle in his jaw ticked. “This is between Evie and me. You can leave.”
Evie reached out, wrapping her fingers around my forearm.
Caelan’s teeth pulled away from his lips. “Is this how it is?”
“You’ve always seen whatever you wanted to, rather than the truth. Evie and I have always been friends. If she wants me here, I’ll stay with her.”
Caelan crossed his arms over his chest. “Evie. Come back to Joy Springs. Let’s talk.”
“I have nothing to say to you.” But we both heard the tremor in her voice.
His eyes softened. “I know what I did was heinous, unforgivable even. But we can try to work through this. You and I have been through too much to walk away from each other.”
“And our children?”
“We will deal with it when it happens.”
I felt the moment they sundered, the second Evie let go. Underneath our feet, the earth rumbled with her anger. Magic shimmered around her body, watermelon tourmaline with hints of crimson curling through the air.
“Our children are not anit.” Hair the color of night floated around her head, a crimson spark ringing her azure eyes.
“I didn’t mean that.” Caelan swallowed hard and looked to me as if I would help. “Evie, you have to believe I would love whatever children we brought into the world.”
“LEAVE.” Her voice was a dark command.
His jaw took on a stubborn tilt. “No.”
I glanced at Evie, seeing the barely suppressed rage in her slender form, then at Caelan. “I’d do what she asks,” I said softly.
“Oh, youwouldwant me to leave,” Caelan snapped, eyes flashing gold. “This is perfect for you.”
Evie shifted in a heartbeat, into a jet-black thing of teeth and claws, and sailed through my wards.
I barked a laugh. “Told you so.”
