Page 60 of Fated for Flames

Lia gasped.

His gaze softened slightly as he looked at me. “Evelyn,” he replied, his voice carrying a note of warmth that eased some of my tension.

I turned to Lia, who was watching our exchange with thinly veiled surprise. “Hi, Lia.”

“Evelyn,” she replied with false sweetness, her smile faltering for a second.

Rafe moved his hand from her shoulder and turned his full attention to me.

“Evelyn,” he began, his tone serious. “May I have a word with you in private?”

“Of course,” I replied.

Ignoring Lia, we walked a safe distance away from the others.

Once we were far enough, Rafe turned to me, his face serious.

“She’s the one,” he said. His voice was steady, but I could hear the undercurrent of tension. “She’s benefiting from the siphoning of your magic.”

Obviously, his words didn’t shock me.

“You don’t seem surprised,” he observed.

I shook my head. “I figured it was her.” Rubbing the back of my neck, I looked at him with a glimmer of hope. “Did you sense any dark magic? Perhaps she’s being manipulated.”

He sighed grimly. “No. I’m sorry Evelyn.” Then his gaze softened. “I saw you from above and stopped to invite you over for dinner next Sunday. Lucien and I thought it’d be nice.”

I smiled. This was most likely all his doing. I couldn’t imagine Lucien would be happy about entertaining me for dinner.

“I’d love to join you on Sunday, thank you.”

“We’ll talk about it then,” he said before he waved and shot up in the sky.

As I walked back to my friends, the world around me blurred.

It was confirmed. Lia was the one benefiting from the siphoning of my magic. I’d suspected as much but I didn’t want to believe it. Having it confirmed by Rafe…It felt like a punch in the gut.

The Lia I’d known, the Lia I’d loved, was supposed to be on my side. We were supposed to be a team, inseparable.

She’d betrayed me. And for what? My power?

I would have given her anything. She knew that. If she’d asked for my power, I would have handed it over without a second thought. Because that was what you did when you loved someone. That was what you did for family. You gave them everything, even if it left you with nothing.

And now? Now I was left with a hollow feeling in my chest.

Even in the face of her betrayal, I had continued to fight for her love, but ultimately, she stood as the enemy. Perhaps she had been oblivious once, but since her return from the coven, since encountering that magic-siphoning book, her awareness was undeniable. She was stealing my magic knowingly, willfully.

How could she do this to me, after everything?

All I could feel was this overwhelming sadness, a mourning for a friendship that had been nothing more than an illusion. A part of me hated myself for feeling this way, for letting myself hold on to a sliver of hope, for being so vulnerable, so naive…again.

Yet another part of me found comfort in these feelings, this grief, this sadness. It was a reminder that I wasn’t like them. I wasn’t a monster. I was capable of love, of trust, of forgiveness. Even though those feelings had been taken advantage of, twisted into something ugly and cruel, they were still a part of me. They were still good.

And in the end, that was what mattered most.

Finally, I could let Lia go.

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