Beside him, Zephyr’s jaw locks tight, the muscle ticking as his entire body goes rigid. A low, almost inaudible growl rumbles from his throat. Fury radiates from him in palpable waves, dark and consuming. His carefully maintained mask cracks. His fists curl at his sides, knuckles white, and his chest rises with sharp, shallow breaths. The thought of someone trying to take Evangeline from us—maybe even from him—makes rage boil in his veins, hot and unrelenting.
It almost suffocates me with its intensity. He meets my gaze, and I silently ask if he’s okay. Clearly he’s not, but I need to know he won’t let the rage consume him and frighten Evangeline more than she already is. His curt nod is all the validation I need.
I turn to Jameson, unable to hide my surprise. “Jameson…how?” It’s not the question I meant to ask, but it’s all that came out.
Jameson offers me a respectable bow before speaking. When he rises again, his golden eyes meet mine. “Queen Evangeline saved me.”
Shock and confusion ripples through my system as Istare down at Evangeline. “You rescued him from the Nephilim?”
“What? No.” She shakes her head adamantly. “I didn’t save him from the Nephilim. I could barely save myself. And I’m not even certain I healed him. It could have?—”
“Oh, for the love of berries and twigs,” Finnick interrupts, jumping from Zephyr’s shoulder to land on Evangeline’s head. From this vantage point, he can look me in the eyes. “Eva is being modest. As we all know, Jameson was severely ill when we last left him. Like death’s door, no offense.” He shoots an apologetic look at Jameson, who only nods in agreement. “Eva fed him her meal, and now he’s up, using his magic to save us, and no longer has the cursed veins.”
“It could be a coincidence,” Evangeline says quickly, but her tone lacks conviction. It would be too much of a coincidence.
“Is that true? Are you healed?” I study Jameson, really letting myself see him. His pale complexion shows no signs of the curse running through his veins. There’s a flush to his cheeks that makes him appear healthy, and although I sense his magic is weak, it’s still there.
Jameson nods. “I am. There’s no other explanation for why I’m better. I’ve been in this hospital for nearly a month. Perhaps more—time runs together after so many days. But it was shortly after the queen left and I finished her meal that I started feeling better. At first, I thought it was a cruel joke, a sliver of hope that would be taken from me the moment I woke up. But when I did wake, my body felt like my own. The hunger pains weren’tpresent, and the vile curse didn’t flood my veins. I have no other explanation for my recovery other than her meal.”
“And there’s more,” a new voice comes from behind me. My mother steps into view, her eyes fixed on Evangeline with a look of awe and respect—like she’s a goddess sent to save us. Which is exactly what my mate is. “There are others who no longer show any signs of the curse, whereas just a few days ago, their lives were slipping through our fingers. And they all have one thing in common.”
I know what she’s going to say before she even says it. My mother closes the distance between herself and Evangeline before taking my mate’s hands in hers. “Evangeline, my dear, you healed them. You healed all of them.”
Chapter 25
Evangeline
The evidence has been staring me in the face for the last two days now, and yet I can’t quite believe it. Healed? By me? Or more accurately, by my food. I’ve always wanted my cooking and recipes to change lives, but I never thought of what that would actually look like, and I never thought it would mean literally.
“Humans once held magic here,” Lady Thalia explains as we walk side by side to the kitchen. We’ve spent the last two days nursing the injured, while Zephyr and Niko have been studying Jameson and the other fae who have mysteriously been healed after eating my food. These last two days, I’ve seen little of them, but I don’t take it personally. They want answers just as much as I do.
“What kind of magic?” I ask as she loops her arm through mine. Lady Thalia is a steady presence, grounding me to the now. The noise in my head silences for just a moment.
“It varied,” she explains. “And depended upon their kingdom. Many humans served as a powerful force to their mates, strengthening them and their kingdoms. They could heal the gravely injured and sense threats. Many people believed humans were the heart of this world. When our access to your world was taken from us, Mescos wept. It hasn’t been the same since.”
“How do you know all this?” I ask as we round the corner, heading down the hallway toward the kitchen. It’s been a few days since I’ve cooked anything—understandable, given the chaos and my injured shoulder that’s finally feeling better—so now Niko, Zephyr, and I have agreed it’s time I try again. We need to find out if what happened to Jameson and the other healed fae was just a fluke or something I’ll be able to produce again.
“I had the pleasure of humans living with us when I was a child. We knew the Mescos where humans lived beside us. The peace that settled over the land. Many wish to get back to a time like before. Could you imagine it, dear? Restoring the portal to your world? It would be phenomenal.”
My eyes widen, never having thought of that possibility before. I could see Grym Hollow again, except…that thought no longer holds the same appeal as it did when I first arrived. Maybe I’m getting used to this battle-stricken world. “You think it can be done? If we defeat the Nephilim?”
Lady Thalia exhales slowly, the sound barely more than a whisper as her shoulders droop. Her gaze lingers on the empty courtyard beyond the window, eyes glassy with a sadness she doesn’t speak aloud. The corners ofher mouth pull downward, and for a moment, she looks as though the weight of the world has settled on her chest.
“I don’t know,” she admits after a moment. “But I do know I want to see Mescos without Nephilim threatening our way of life. If that is all this war accomplishes, ending the Nephilim, then I will be happy.”
She squeezes my arm, but something in her tone says she wants more than that. My stomach churns with pent-up anxiety, knowing I’m one of only a few people who could make that happen for her and the rest of the fae in the kingdom. It falls upon my shoulders, threatening to pull me down. But outwardly, I stand with my head held high, doing everything I can to look like I know what I’m doing.
When we reach the kitchen, I’m surprised to find we aren’t alone, and my heart lurches at the sight of him, freshly showered, from the looks of his still-damp hair. He’s only wearing black pants, exposing the expanse of his muscular chest. It’s as if he left the shower and immediately made his way to the kitchen.
Niko’s inviting gaze meets mine, and we are locked in an intense stare, making me forget everything and everyone around us. His pupils dilate as he takes me in, reminding me of the way he looked at me during our bonding ceremony. How was that just two days ago? It feels like a lifetime ago. He hasn’t so much as kissed me since then, and I find myself craving his lips. This connection simmering between us is burning quickly and feels right. Inevitable.
“Evangeline,” he says my name with reverence, hissmile sending warm shivers down my spine. I’m as good as putty in his hands.
“Why are you here?” I don’t mean for the words to sound accusatory, but he’s been busy these last few days. This morning, he mentioned that he and Zephyr needed to check with the forest people—friends of Finnick’s—about Nephilim activity. “Shouldn’t you be with Zephyr?”
“Zephyr is more than capable of taking care of himself. Besides, I haven’t been the most attentive husband, and I plan on remedying that.”
Heat creeps up my cheeks. “It’s not your fault. You’ve been busy. Hell, we’ve all been busy with the Nephilim and the cursed fae.”
