Page 176 of Devoured

Emotion wells in my chest. Up my throat. In my eyes. I try to clear it, but I can’t. “You don’t have to—”

“We know,” Evie says. “We’re saying this because we want to say it.” Her throat bobs, and her gaze slides to the floor. “You know how we each have an emotional tether to our powers? One source for all our strength?”

I nod, because I’m not sure I can bring myself to speak.

A small and vulnerable whisper, “Mine came from love.” A sad, deprecating sort of laugh reverberates through Evie. “It sounds so cliché, doesn’t it? When they all died, I thought I would never be able to use my gifts again. That’s why I couldn’t make you more sleepless draughts. I tried. I kept trying. But I ruined a dozen batches. I went through my ingredients too quickly. I even charred some to ash. I felt so empty.”

“And now?”

She exhales, and I feel her breath all the way across the room. “I’ve been getting stronger. Slowly but surely.” And then, as if she can’t take another second of vulnerability, she leaps up, onto her feet. She strolls toward her luggage, testing the zipper. “So you can come with me. Or you can stay with Portia. But you have a home with either of us. With both of us.”

Portia throws an arm over my shoulder. She leans her head against my arm. And it’s so warm, the emptiness inside my own chest lessens. It begins to heal.

I can’t keep the tears from my voice. “You know, it almost sounds like you meant to say, ‘Because of you two. I’m stronger because of you two’.”

Evie glowers at me. “I will stab you again. Don’t test me.”

“You couldn’t if you tried.”

She glares at the ceiling with a huff, but she says, “Yeah, you’re probably right.” And she reaches for the handle of her luggage, gripping it tight as her knuckles pale.

“I’m not going to be able to do any of this without you,” I tell her softly. Then, to Portia, “I’m not going to be able to do any of this without either of you. I don’t—I don’t know where I belong. I don’t know how to move on from this yet.”

Portia’s nails bite into the skin of my arm. She holds me as if she doesn’t want to let me go. “I think it might be best for you to see a bit of the world, Vanessa Hart. There is so much life ahead of you, and you’ve been trapped here for so long. This court needs to be cleaned up. Even if I’m not regent one day, my father will expect me to stay and aid the faeries. There are good political alliances to be forged here. And you”—her voice cracks—“you need to recover. You need to grow away from this.”

Evie grins at me, but her gaze waters. Though there is no rain to hide her tears, she still lets one fall. “She’s right, you know. You’ve survived so much, Vanessa. It’s okay if you’re not okay yet. But you need to let yourself grieve all of it. You have to take care of yourself. Potentially in Korea. With me.”

I pull away from Portia. I look at them both.

Go with Evie? I shake my head. Can I really do that? Fly across the world and live in Castle Lee?

I lost so much in such a small amount of time. I haven’t seen anything but these four walls in six months. I’ve been trapped—and now I’m free.

What would Celeste do? I don’t even have to ask myself that. I already know.

“Are you sure?” I breathe. “What if I annoy you? What if… if you start to hate me again—”

“I could never hate you,” Evie says. “I would’ve lost myself entirely if it wasn’t for you. You have become my anchor these past few months. Yeah, we’ll annoy each other. We’ll bicker. But I’m never going to abandon you. We’re… friends now.”

“Best friends,” Portia agrees.

Evie looks her in the eye. “Best friends.” She purses her lips, fighting more tears. “When Nettie died, I thought I would spend the rest of my life alone. But you both showed up, and you saved me in ways you’ll never know.”

“Me—me too,” I say.

I can’t manage much else through my shallow breaths. Celeste and Nettie are somewhere together. Around us or in the afterlife or just as pieces in our hearts. They’re somewhere happy that we’ve found each other.

“Evie, are you sure?” I repeat, questioning the words even as they pass my lips. What the hell am I doing?

I’ve never even been on a plane before. I’ve never gone anywhere. I’ve never seen anything but the beach and my house and my school.

“Positive.” Evie glances down at her luggage and smiles. “Although, we’ll have to buy you a suitcase. I have zero room left in mine.”

“Obviously,” Portia says. “It looks like you stuffed a dead body in there.”

“Stars, no.” Evie huffs a laugh. “I did steal my pillow. And a bathrobe. And the curtains that were in my old room before Cora could set them on fire.”

“And you realize you’re going to a castle?” Portia asks. “You’re going to have a hundred curtains and an entire team of Weavers at your beck and call.”