Page 70 of Vathia
He holds his hand out. “I’m Evander Huxley, Jesper’s brother even if he wishes I wasn’t.”
My eyes widen comically large. Brother? I go to take his hand but Jesper is at his throat before I can even blink.
“You don’t have the right to touch my mate. Not while I’m still pissed at you,” he growls, pressing the knife closer against his throat.
Evander’s gaze matches my own as it bounces between us. “Mate? Jesper, that’s wonderful! Congratulations!” he states, still smiling even with the knife against his throat like this is a regular occurrence.
“Jesper,” Killian snaps.
Jesper sighs, releasing his brother and moving back to my side, but he doesn’t put the blade away. I’m distracted by the twirling blade for a second before I turn my attention back to his brother.
“It’s nice to meet you, Evander. I’m Ravina Solace,” I respond, with a tip of my head.
“It’s going to be great having a sister-by-mating. Jesper needs someone to keep him in line.” He laughs.
Jesper grunts beside me, mumbling something vulgar under his breath.
Evander continues. “These males are part of my crew. Dante Fennix: Skuggi.” He gestures to the male with long black hair and tattoos.
Then he points to the largest of them. This male has long, silver-white hair that is tipped with turquoise that matches the shade of his eyes. Piercings cover his ears, brows and lip, but my eyes catch on the deep scar that starts under his right nostril going through his lips to his chin. “This is Cormac Vadim: Vopn Fö. Last, but not least, is Thorne Dulaney: Elemi.”
Thorne dips his head politely but his eyes don’t leave the female who is with them. He clears his throat and jerks his chin towards her.
Evander winces. “Oh right, and our newest member, Talyn’s one and only sister: Cynder Craven.”
Cynder and I take each other in with assessing eyes. She seems vaguely familiar but that’s probably because she’s Talyn’s younger sister. Her hair is long and blonde with slight waves while her pink eyes glow with rebellion, most likely from her and her brother’s heated exchange.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you all. I’m assuming you’re here to help, so you might as well join us for this meeting.” I smile at Cynder, letting her know she’s welcome here, even if her brother is being a giant dragon turd right now.
Hesitancy enters her gaze, but her lip twitches slightly as she nods.
When I turn around to get out of the clearing and head back into the heart of camp, I see Mel and Ember whispering about something before they glance at me with fear and nervousness.
Something happened at Phixmery and I brace myself for whatever news they are about to share with me, especially with the daunting words from her note:prepare yourselves.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
MY STUBBORN, IRRESPONSIBLE SISTER. That female is going to be the death of me. And those males. I thought Evander had more common sense in that dense fucking skull of his. What in the fates were they thinking bringing her here? She has no battle experience. No combat training. She was raised to be nothing but a wallflower—even if I tried to teach or help her, my father would beat me and would have her starved for days on end. It was better to distance myself and play a part to keep her safe. Evander and his crew had two jobs: bring her to Vathia and keep her safe.
Now, she wants to what? Explore? Have a sense of adventure during a time in our realm that’s more dangerous than ever? Fucking fates. If it was my choice, her and Ravina would be locked away somewhere safe until this war was over.
Of course, I can’t do anything about Ravina. I keep sticking both feet and every other limb in my mouth when it comes to her. Not to mention the others want to keep her close. At least she has training and my brothers-by-bonding will keep her safe, giving her the tools she needs to survive this mess.
Cynder, on the other hand, only has me. Although it didn’t escape my notice how Evander’s crew was watching her. I don’t like that one bit.
Ravina sits at the head of the table, Killian and Jesper on one side of her and Aemon on the other, leaving space for me. Other high-ranking warriors have been told to wait outside while her friends debrief and give us a rundown on what happened, but I know without a doubt that they returned without the stone.
“Alright,” Ravina starts, clasping her hands softly and placing them on the table. “What happened? Did you retrieve the… item?”
Ember blows out a breath and shakes her head. “No. Once we were able to secure a way into the castle and get to the door we came across a small problem. The door was locked. We tried everything to open it, including magick. It took us longer than we thought to try to crack it; we stayed underground in the training area you made last year while we kept attempting to open it. One night though, someone tripped the alarm we rigged. Roz illusioned us to become invisible and we watched as a few males, one of them being your father,” she jerks her head in my direction, “swiped blood across the door and it unlocked. He went in and came out within moments.”
“My father?” I confirm.
Her yellow gaze meets mine and nods before continuing. “Once it was safe for us to approach, we realized he left the door slightly open. There was nothing left inside the room.”
My attention darts to Ravina whose face is as pale as the snow on the peaks of the Elskan Mountains.
“No,” she whispers, licking her lips before straightening her shoulders. A regal mask drops over her face, one I’ve noticed her donning more and more often since we’ve been here. One I remember her mother wearing often when she would be dealing with our fathers. “Anything else?” she asks her group of friends—friends I’m glad she had when we didn’t know who walked the castle halls of Phixmery.
