But she didn’t want to be anything more than the Daimon and Eve they used to be—children who had died the day the war began. Seeing the life he’d lived here gave her relief as much as it gave her pain.
He was able to be happy without her, she realized. So why hadn’t she been able to do the same?
“Have a safe flight,” she said breathlessly, stepping away. She rushed past the Riders without a word, even as they called out.
Daimon had a life here without her—hadn’t suffered the way she had. It only proved to her how one-sided her feelings had always been.
Resolved, she swallowed her emotions for him down for what she hoped was the final time.
Twenty-Six
Evelina
With the AlphaFleet’s wounds finally healed, Evelina and Brielle finally decided to address the fluke of Essence with the arrow. They looped Gloriana in, spending the next few days trying to recreate the magic. Brielle filled Daimon in, and he lingered near their training and watched them at a distance.
Brielle held up a wooden rod and Gloriana coached her from the sidelines.
“Now!” Gloriana shouted. “Shield!”
The wooden rod was tossed at Evelina. She squinted and yanked on her Essence. The wood neared quickly but slammed into an invisible wall before it could hit her. It bounced off and clamored to the ground.
Gloriana cheered and clapped her hands. “I’ve never seen a lightwielder make a shield before.”
Brielle’s eyes gleamed with pride. “I know we’ve said that we should keep the healers further from battle, but we may not need to if Evelina can harness this power,” she said, turning to Daimon. “With a little more training, she could protect herself in a fight, perhaps even the Rider she flies with. We could take her on patrols and practice in the sky.”
Daimon looked at Evelina, weighing the possibility, then shook his head. “Keep training.”
So they did. As Evelina’s ability to deflect became more consistent, they brought in other Riders to stand beside her. Instead of throwing the wooden rod at her, they tested to see if she could deflect the rod from the person by her side. It took a little adjusting, but after a few more days, it started to click.
Brielle cast a glance at Daimon after another successful lesson—one of Evelina’s best. She managed to stop a ferrum blade from striking a training dummy beside her, becoming regimented enough in her skill that she didn’t need to rely on the emotional instinct of protecting herself or another fae.
Brielle put her hands on her hips and shouted to Daimon, who was watching from a few paces away. “You’re holding her back, Commander! Imagine what she could do in the skies!”
They broke off, walking back toward the cabins and closer to Daimon. She assumed he would say no like he always did, that it was out of the question to risk another healer—a princess, at that.
“We could start with short patrols and see how it goes,” he said slowly, surprising her. “And continue training whenever possible.”
Her heart raced at the idea of going back to battle. It thrilled her as much as it terrified her. Still, she had to learn how to harness her gift. The more power she used, the faster it drained her. She would have to use it sparingly as she worked to hold the shield longer and longer.
“Evelina, you should ride with Daimon on patrols,” Brielle suggested, leading their path back to Alpha Fleet’s cabin, where the wyverns’ wings were beating in anticipation of their Riders. Keir, Brielle, and Daimon usually took the night patrol after training. “If you can shield the Rider you’re with, even temporarily, the commander would make the most sense.”
“Brielle—”
“It’s the wisest strategy.”
Evelina knew it was. She looked at Daimon, her heart racing for a new reason. “I’ll do it.”
His brows flicked up in surprise, but he nodded his head. “Then why don’t we start now?”
Zephyr landed behind him, along with Codax and Vero. Keir and Brielle mounted their beasts. Daimon gestured for Evelina to get on first. This time, when she grabbed the side rope and hoisted herself up, her movements were far smoother.
She beamed atop Zephyr, thankful she didn’t embarrass herself. Daimon swung himself up gracefully, positioning himself behind her. Her cheeks warmed as his chest pressed snugly against her back, the saddle meant for one person rather than two.
“Wings up, Z,” Daimon commanded.
They took the skies, soaring through the clouds for the rest of the day. They stayed silent, but for once, it was a comfortable silence. She couldn’t help but feel every inch of where his body touched hers. She watched the trees blur beneath them, her eyes roaming the ground for rebels.
The next day, they did the same thing. And the next after that. She still never joined them in any active skirmishes or warnings, but they repeated the patrol pattern until the short patrols slowly turned into longer ones. Zephyr grew accustomed to Evelina, so it made sense for her to ride with Daimon each time. Soon, they were talking a little more each day.
