Chapter 22
Bran dropped into a seat at the back of Evangeline’s shop. He half-hoped she wouldn’t show up, except he wanted to see her without that devastated look.
He felt like a fool for immediately hating Jay, but the bastard made her uneasy. Evangeline was too confident and smart to let him get under her skin, so he searched for any reason to take the bastard down. She may hate Jay, but she didn’t blame him. And she never said a bad word about him, but her tension was all Bran needed to push him against Jay.
He scrubbed his face, waiting on Nate. He needed to talk to the dumbass and make sure he actually got Savon under him. Maybe if Evangeline saw Nate happy with his mate, she could give him a damned chance.
Fuck, she’d been mated before.
Evangeline placed his almond cappuccino in front of him and took the seat opposite. “Still hate me?” There was a vulnerability he’d only seen the night before.
“Didn’t hate you then, don’t hate you now.” He leaned forward, taking the cup with a smile. “Yeah, I was frustrated, mostly with myself because I assumed the worst without cause.”
“That’s my fault. I didn’t realize you were so drawn to me. You’ve hidden it so well for years, I just assumed what I felt was one-sided.”
“I was married, Evangeline. I loved Margaret.” He looked out the window. “Maybe we weren’t soul mates, but she was my everything. The mate bond loomed in the background, but I’m loyal. I ignored it.”
“You never would have acted on us if you hadn’t lost her, would you?”
He shook his head. “I wasn’t a werewolf then. The draw to you was easier to ignore. Besides, you’ve stayed away from here most of that time. And now you avoid me, unless Nate is with me. Thought you weren’t interested.”
“Margaret was my friend. I wouldn’t betray her like that.”
“Where does that leave us, Evangeline?”
“I don’t know, Bran. You were able to ignore it for so long, maybe it’s not meant to be.”
“You’ve been distancing yourself ever since she died. Not me. Is it because I’m part Sylvan?”
Her eyes flashed to his. “I didn’t say that.”
“No, but you’re thinking it.”
Nate strode over, and Evangeline stood and walked away while Bran stared after her.
“What’s going on?” Nate asked as he took her place.
“Shit, trying to move on from my dead wife, but Evangeline is afraid of something. Maybe what I am.”
“Give her time.”
“Been giving her time.” He pushed his fingers through his hair. “Tell me you’re mated now.”
Nate nodded. “Yeah. And I need you to keep an eye on Savon today. As much as you can. She’s antsy after finding some letters your parents left. I don’t trust her to stay put and stay out of trouble.”
“She is a big girl, Nate. I found the spot Nikolai attacked her. Looks like the meatstick was used as a battering ram to take down trees. She can handle herself.”
“That fucker nearly raped her. I’m not taking chances. Can you keep an eye on her, or do I need to find someone else to do it?”
“I’ll do as much as she’ll allow me. But, Nate, she’s going to kick me out to paint. I have every intention to go over there and talk to her. I need to apologize for all the secrets, but fuck, she didn’t make it easy to tell her.”
“Yeah. Tell me about it.” Nate leaned forward. “Please, go to her this morning. Maybe you can set her mind at ease.”
“I’ll do my damnedest.” He rubbed a hand over his eyes. “Any trouble last night?”
“Nope. None. Though, that might be in part because Clay is down for the count, and I’m beginning to think he’s really taking orders from Canagan instead of Jay.”
“Probably. Now go. I need to get to Savon’s before she tries to step out.”
* * * *
The shout of, “Savon!” burst through her trance.
Savon was in her groove, dancing while painting, totally focused on the image in her mind. She spun around to find Bran standing there with a couple teas and a bag of pastries. Clearly irritated, but he still wore a smirk.
“Been there long?” Savon asked.
He nodded to the stereo, and she turned it down.
“Sorry, I get to that space and it’s hard to break out of it until I’m finished.” She glanced at the painting and smiled. “But I can finish this later. Won’t be hard to remember the emotion that invoked it.”
“Is that Nikolai?”
She lifted a shoulder. “Bastard pissed me off. Seemed fitting.”
“You’ve made him into a demon,” Bran protested.
“No, just dark through and through. Maybe he wasn’t always. I hope he wasn’t.” Her face scrunched up. “Shit, can we not?”
“Yeah, sure. Come downstairs, have a drink, something to eat, then you can go back to painting after we talk, all right?”
She set the brush aside and started for the door.
Bran pinched the bridge of his nose when he realized she was wearing Nate’s tank top and if she turned to the side he got a view he didn’t want. “Just put something on that covers all of that.” He motioned at the side-boob he really didn’t want to see on his sister.
She glanced down and grinned. “He left it on the floor. I put it on before coming in here.”
“Not asking, don’t want to know. I’m happy you two are mated, but I really don’t want any details.”
Laughing, she detoured to the bedroom while he headed downstairs. Dressed in jeans and a tank, she found Bran sitting at the dining room table.
“Good to see you smiling.”
“Yeah, well, it’s about time. Thanks for convincing me to move back, but you’re still in deep shit. Why the hell didn’t you tell me about your father?”
He rubbed a hand over his face. “Would rather Dad be my father than Killian. He’s a fucking bastard. But I didn’t find out until two years ago when he changed me. Not like you’ve been around much the last two years.”
“Sorry. Look, I was thinking. And this is going to sound crazy.”
“Hmm?” Bran asked, his head tipped, his brow pinched.
“I’ve seen Ms. Murdock take people out of this realm and store them until she could bring them back and set things right. I wonder if that’s what she did.”
“Why wouldn’t she tell you?”
“She never tells anyone everything. And yeah, it’s obnoxious, but I get it. I hold onto shit too tight myself. I don’t let people in. I hold them back until I trust them, and even then, I don’t let them all the way in.”
“Will you let Nate in?”
“He was the exception in the past—now, I’m not sure.” She glanced away, running her finger over the top of the cup. “I’m trying, but I feel pretty fucking stupid at this point. I was the one who ran from him, repeatedly. But I was scared to death he’d shatter me. I was already cracked and broken.”
“Why?”
“Found out I was pregnant two weeks after I left.”
His eyes nearly rolled out of his head. “What happened to the baby?”
She shook her head. “Lost her. I didn’t want to lose her. I planned to keep her. I wanted a piece of Nate. But it wasn’t meant to be. So yeah, I was broken and I almost didn’t come back from that. It’s not that I wanted to shut down, but I couldn’t cope when I knew he was out there and not coming.”
“He tried,” Bran whispered, moving to put his arms around her. “God, he wanted to, but Killian would have killed you.”
“Would have tried. Shit, when I lost her, all hell broke loose. I couldn’t control my abilities. The spirits wreaked havoc on my apartment. One wrong word and they would start throwing stuff until I got some control. And because I stripped the control other sorcerers had to their familiars, no one would help me. They were all afraid. And if there were animals nearby, things got crazier. I was such a mess I stayed away. You remember how Dad used to warn me about listening to the voices?” She laughed bitterly. “After the miscarriage there were more.” She nodded to the box on the table. “Mom wanted to tell me everything. Dad didn’t. I think he was glad I went away. He didn’t know how to help me because my ability muted his own. He’d never encountered that because until I came along, he was the strongest. So, I had to figure it all out on my own. My friends helped, but they didn’t know how to train me. And when I lose my temper, bad shit happens. I’m still a time bomb waiting to go off, but now I could go nuclear.” She snorted.
“I’m here for you. I can help with the animals. At least I can try. I’m no expert. At least Mom showed me how to use my talents.”
“I guess Dad thought it was easier to lock mine up than train me because I’m too powerful.” She shook her head. “He always told me not to listen to the voices, but those voices have saved my ass more times than I care to count. And I don’t use them like I’ve seen him do. I don’t welcome them in and give them power. Some of them are demons, and I’m very careful. But it doesn’t help that all my knowledge came from books.”
He squeezed her hand. “Let me show you the part I know. The sorceress stuff, I got nothing.”
She leaned back and smiled. “Thank you. And I wish I had listened to you a lot sooner.”
“Honestly, until Killian was gone, I didn’t want you and Nate together because I was scared to death I’d lose you too.”
“I’m tougher than I look.”
“Sav, Nikolai is a dark mage. He could drain you dry. And after the mess I found back in the woods, he may only be after revenge now.”
“Explains a lot, but it’s not as simple as him draining me. He’d have to get to me first, and he’s got to go through a bunch of entities and beasts to do that. He can’t sneak up on me.”
“He did, though,” Bran countered.
“No, I hid instead of stopping to fight or continuing to run. I let him come to me. And he didn’t do much to me.”
“Your arms were a mess, Sav. Can’t tell me that didn’t hurt.”
She nodded. “I did worse. I didn’t know how far to push to kill him. For whatever reason, he didn’t attempt to drain me. But he could take energy from another Other.”
“Let’s hope it has something to do with Dad’s magic in your veins.”
She shook her head. “Don’t want to think about Nikolai for now.”
Bran sat back and took a donut before sliding the other to her. “Still like these?”
She peeked inside and her eyes lit up. “Love them.”
“I need to get to work, but I’ll bring you lunch, and we can talk more.”
“Thank you, Bran. And I’m sorry I couldn’t hear you before.”
“Yeah, well, you’re here now, and we’re going to figure all this shit out.” He hopped up, bent to hug her, and hurried out the door.
Savon glanced up the stairs and decided she needed some fresh air. And yeah, it might be best to call someone, anyone, but she was going out on her own.