Reveca only smiled as she grabbed her bag and turned to leave.
Once the door was closed behind her she listened all around her making sure she was all alone in the house. Then as she crept up the steps to the third floor she wrote a note.
When she opened King’s door she breathed in the lingering scent of him. She felt an ache in the center of her chest. An old wound threatening to open once more.
She buried it deep, kept her wits about her as she laid the note on his bed. It only had two words: River bend.
She left as quickly as possible before she could talk herself out of anything.
Chapter Three
Slow steps is what she took as she descended the stairs once more. It was more than the emotion that was halting her. She was writing yet another note, more of a list actually.
Right as she reached the bottom floor, Bastion stepped inside. The summer heat was coating him in sweat, making the dirt of the Boneyard along with the grease from the garage linger on his body.
Reveca looked him over nice and slow, seeing his mother in his eyes. Seeing generations of knowledge that she had laid upon her young son. She saw Bastion’s bravery, his aggression and the will to manage it all.
“You had a run in with Blackwater,” Reveca said, meeting his eyes once more.
Bastion didn’t reply in any way. He wasn’t being an ass, he was looking deep into her eyes, as if he could read her perfectly. The same way his mother had always done.
“Why do I get the impression, or rather why is my gut telling me you expected to have one?” Reveca asked.
Bastion’s stare went to the bag that Reveca had across her shoulder. The one with the weapons inside. He breathed in deliberately, surely sensing what she was hiding.
“Maybe because I told you I had gotten into trouble in school a lot, was home schooled for the last bit.”
“That would be the obvious answer.”
“You sound like Mom,” Bastion said with a sullen smile.
Reveca grinned weakly. “You know, most in the coven saw her gift as pointless. The generation that bore us, those before, never wanted to live in the moment. They wanted to see as far as possible into the future, into the unknown.” Reveca let her stare linger on him for a moment before she spoke again. “They thought that she was short sighted and half blind. That the few hundred years glimpse into the future she saw was pointless. Something they all would see in their lifetime anyways. They were more interested in knowing where their legacy would lead them.”
“She may have mentioned that,” Bastion said.
“I disagreed. Generations to come build on what is done today, in the moment we live in. If someone has the curse of seeing a few steps before any path. Then we should heed their words more so, for they see the building blocks of tomorrow, and the knowledge to protect their own and guide even if it means putting them in harm’s way for a short time.”
Bastion looked away from her.
“She left you in Gaither knowing you’d land here. She knew your father was coming for you, that we all would.”
Bastion pressed his lips together, trying to fight off emotion.
“Your path, all your fights, each time you have crossed the mortals, that has led you here. I would guess it would be the reason your mother let you fight, didn’t hinder the beast within that she understands better than those who live with it.”
“Right.”
“Are you ready for your role, ready to fall into sync with us?”
Bastion nodded slowly. “I’ve done everything she told me to thus far, Reveca. I don’t plan on stopping now.”
Reveca breathed in, knowing that all of this she was living through had played out in Evanthe’s mind already. That she had done her part and now it was Reveca’s turn.
Reveca handed him the list. “I know you know your role more clearly than I do. But if this plays out the way I see it, when you’re here, I need you to aid Gwinn.”
“Gwinn,” he said, surely thinking the last place he wanted to be was hip to hip with a witchling. He wanted to be on his bike, with his dad, and next time maybe he would be.
“You both have strong energy, a natural gift, but you have been schooled far longer than she has. At least you remember each of your lessons. She’s part of this now, too, and I have taught her how to call and send. Her nerves may get the best of her, though, and that’s where you come in. Where your energy, knowledge, and calm will aid her and allow her to help us all.”
Reveca watched him read the list and then look up at her in question.
“Each is in my garden. I trust your mother taught you the proper way to harvest.”
“She did.” He furrowed his brow. “Why am I harvesting?”
“Vengeance. Gwinn doesn’t have it and the intent needs to be laid when the herbs are pulled. Justifiable vengeance.”
“You have it,” he countered.
“And I’m a busy woman,” Reveca said as she went to move past him. She stopped before she pulled the front door open. “Control your beast when the battle begins. Do not land yourself where you should not be. Do not leave Gwinn alone. Ever.”
Bastion nodded once.
“Tell King I left something for him in his room.”
“You leaving with those?” he asked, looking at her bag.
“You know I am.”
Bastion nearly smiled. “Still freaks me out when she’s right, though. When it happens as she said it would.”
“Yeah, me, too,” Reveca admitted before she made her way out.
Her strides to her bike were quick and on point. Clearly letting everyone know that she had no time to stop, talk, and worry. Just act. And that’s what she was doing.
She had already loaded her saddlebags and was astride her bike when King appeared at her side.
“You can’t do that,” Reveca said, looking to the lot to see if anyone saw him move that fast. “Mortals.”
“What happened?” he asked.
“Nothing. Mission complete.”
“Then why do you look like you’re running from something?”
She met his stare—easier said than done—and saw there was concern there. “I’m not. I have things to do.”
“Avoiding your home, that’s what you mean.”
A tight smile came to her as she dipped her head. “I’m pissed at Talon, yes. Embarrassed, somewhat, but that has nothing to do with what I’m doing now.”
“Which is?”
“What I always do. Set what’s wrong right.”
His eyes fell somewhere deep in hers. “Did your nature help you?”
She looked up at him and smiled. “It was a calm. Helped me see that things happened for a reason, and I might not understand it today but I know it’s best.”
“You think it’s best for you and him to be apart right now? When those lawmen are closing in every second? When you need to be at his side to guide your family?”
“It is best for us, yes.” She sighed. “When you ignore something for too long it always comes to light in a way that you don’t want it to.”
There was doubt in his stare.
She reached for his chest, let her hand run down it, and sucked in a deep breath as she felt the hum of him. The pull of his energy. “I left something for you in your room.”
“What’s going on with you, Reveca?”
“Nothing. I’m righting wrongs and finishing things that I started long ago.” She met his gaze once more, felt the nerves in her stomach rock the foundation she was clinging to. “That’s going to guide me forward.”
“Okay,” he whispered.
“I’ll see you later,” she said as she fired her bike to life.
She was out of the lot and made it past the Boneyard before she passed the boys, Talon in the lead.
In her mirror she watched him nod, then Thrash and Steele break away from the pack and turn to follow her.
Reveca cursed under her breath. The last thing she needed was a tail. They had the
ir own business to tend to and if she and Talon weren’t going through their shit, they would be doing it and not babysitting.
She twisted her throttle and hauled ass. She might have better luck losing them if it wasn’t Thrash chasing her. He had no boundaries in his skill as a rider.
Outmaneuvering them, turning down streets before they could, was her only hope, and she did just that. She barreled down sleepy streets, cut through a few yards, a sidewalk or two, then across a field, finally finding the highway she wanted.
Every other second she looked back, wondering if they had tracked her. So far, they hadn’t.
When she reached the road the little white church of Reverend Bradshaw’s was on, she pulled off to the side and waited. She closed her eyes and breathed in, hard to do because she felt adrenaline coursing through her. Finally, she tracked them and felt them far away, searching for her in a different direction. They weren’t mad, just frustrated.
Reveca let out a soothing breath, then started her bike again and made her way to the white church.
Once there she parked off to the side so no passersby would notice her ride. She even asked the moss to shade her bike more so, and carefully it extended. Almost completely hiding the bike.
The day had aged. The sun wasn’t long from setting but it looked far darker around the church, nestled beneath trees that had seen more life than the old building itself.
From outside Reveca heard innocent voices singing. She breathed in the serenity of the sound, the purity of it, and stepped forward.
Inside, most of the lights were out. Only the stage lights were gleaming, shining on the children’s choir. The director was before them and Reverend Bradshaw was at the piano.
Reveca sat down on the back pew in the darkness and watched. Listened. She thought a lot as she waited, telling herself to be strong, that somewhere somehow it would all make sense.
She told herself to be grateful for little moments. It was all she had of her first love. It made what they had all the more the precious. Stronger.
“This is an odd meeting place,” she heard a deep voice next to her say.
She glanced to her side, feeling a pang in her heart. It was the waves of power she felt, the supremacy. It was his eyes. It was the fact that he reminded her of what had taken her Kenson and would now take her King.
“I suppose you were right when you said River could find you instantly,” Reveca said to Dagen as she looked forward once more. “You’ll have to teach me how she does that.”
When Reveca heard him breathe a smile she glanced to her side at him once more. “If I teach that to you King will surely kill me, and I plan to fight at his side again one day.”
Reveca lifted her brow, understanding what he was saying. If River could pull this Escort to her side with a thought then they were bound by lust, lovers for a moment in time who would answer the desire each time it rose in the other. “How has Jamison not killed you yet?” Reveca asked seriously.
Jamison may come off as cool and calm, but that was not always the case with his girls. He was downright fierce about protecting them.
Dagen grinned. “River is a woman, and Jamison has spoken to us at length about our relationship. We all have an understanding.”
Reveca didn’t care to elaborate on the point. She didn’t have room to understand anything new now. She was too focused. “River is the reason I’m trusting you now.”
Dagen lifted a brow. “I know she’s amazing but you have spent less than two hours with her. How would that earn a trust I have?”
“She’s born of my coven. We never let anyone close to us unless we feel the fates have blessed it. Condoned it. We only bring people into our life that bring balance, who further deepen the mark we wish to leave upon this earth.”
Dagen smiled slightly. “I haven’t met anyone from your coven that I do not have the deepest respect for. Even without the charge laid at my feet I would still defend them if it were within my power.”
Reveca was sure King had given him that charge. The honor in his tone said as much.
“I heard you were making headway with your followers.”
Dagan’s stare questioned her. “He senses so?”
King did say as much the one morning they talked, but apparently Revelin had sensed it as well, at least Crass led Reveca to believe that was so.
One nod from Reveca.
“It’s going to be a long road, but we’ll get there,” Dagen said with a proud glint in his eyes.
“Five years ago, where were you then?”
Dagen grinned. “Having the time of my life in this dimension. It’s one of the largest, easy to blend in. Building cars, racing and just being free. So free, that sometimes I’d forget we were in a cold war. That when we weren’t doing our thing in the mortal world we were stealing souls Revelin aimed to corrupt, and getting more and more to follow us each day.”
Reveca looked down. “And if you could go back to then what would you do differently?”
Dagen sighed. “I’d drive for one. It was sad to see him trash that car.” He glanced to Reveca. “And I’d keep driving. I’d avoid this city, and move on, another dimension. Anything to avoid losing him.”
“That’s where it all changed? Him feeling the birth of his assassin then accidently wrecking the car?”
Dagen nodded.
Reveca swallowed before she spoke, then breathed in so the tears would not fall. “I’ve freed him.”
Dagen sat up in the pew, confusion in his eyes.
“Not entirely, but close enough. As long as the Lord of Death Crass reigns he will have his hooks in King, but I have made it to where King’s boundaries are wide. All dimensions, all of death…no Realm.”
She looked at him. “You understand, no Realm. You cannot go that close to your sovereign. If you do he will not only sense you, but Crass will know, and we’ll never get King out of his grips again.”
“Why do I get the feeling that King isn’t ready to be freed?”
“Because you’re a smart man.”
Dagan moved his head side to side.
“Listen to me,” Reveca said. “I know this man. You may have spent ages at his side but I knew him from the first moment we were side by side. He never repeats what he deems a mistake.” She bit her lip. “Fighting, leaving me before, he sees it as just that. I know he does.”
Dagen leaned forward, balanced his elbows on his knees, and looked back at Reveca. “I do know him, Reveca, and you’re right about the mistakes, but he never repeats them because he has a better path laid out. One that will lead him to victory one way or another.”
“Never distract a man before battle,” Reveca said so quietly the words barely came out.
Dagen lifted a brow.
“If I took my memory away, and the memory of his last battle which landed him with Crass, then the King I give you is the one you had five years ago. You and him, side by side, with your people behind you. Only now you have no curse to contend with, you know how to grow. You tell me if that would hurt or hinder you.”
“It’s not me I’m worried about.”
Reveca looked down, then slowly up at the choir. “When it’s over, we will all be where we want to be. I asked you a question.”
Serious was the only way to explain his expression. “There would be no stopping us. Because of the curse, we didn’t bring on as many new Escorts as we could have, didn’t stop Revelin from making more, stealing as many from him. We didn’t want to make it worse, create a different kind of evil. Knowing how to feed and not harm, leave bliss in our wake—it would make us unstoppable.”
“You can keep him safe. You can keep him out of The Realm, lurk in these dimensions.”
“Five years ago I probably could have.” He grinned. “I meant it. I see him looking back at me in your eyes. He’s not going to let go.”
Reveca looked to the front of the church. “I’m going to take care of it. He won’t know me, any of this, and your only job is to not let
him in The Realm and to help him build his armies.”
“You have the power to do that?”
Reveca had to smirk. No, not alone she didn’t, but the spell she was going to use was not only empowered by Jamison, but the entire coven. Their intent was to wake and then blind Gwinn with it, but it was going to work for King now.
“You’re going to have to give him the spell. I’ll tell you what to say, what to get him to swallow. That will be what wakes him.”
“Wakes him from what?”
Reveca didn’t answer at first. It was hard to think about. Not how she was going to cast the spell. That was overdue, no doubt there. It was the end that was hurting her.
“He’ll be asleep, a deep one. You’ll need to come for him, carry him far from here.” She looked to his side. “It would be best for you to reenact the past the way you said. Drive, and keep driving.”
Dagen didn’t say a word.
“I need you to vow this to me. Vow that you will come for him when I call and carry him away. You will wake him from this spell, never speak of me, of this city, and you will protect him. You will build your armies and your strategies and you will not rest until you are certain Revelin will fall and each of you will live on.”
She stared at him, waiting for his reply.
“I vow it.”
“I assume you understand that you just made a vow to an immoral witch born of the Dominarum Coven. Breaking it will curse you until your final days.”
“I understand.”
“I need a way to call you,” she said, nodding to his shirt. “I don’t want to wake River tonight.”
“Tonight?”
Reveca nodded. “Stay near the city, listen for my call.”
Dagen ripped the rim of his shirt, just a small piece, and handed it to her, doubt filling his eyes.
Balance. King had always told Dagen that in any war, only make a move that you could balance, one that you were prepared to endure in turn. Dagen wasn’t so sure if he could handle someone doing this to him one day, ripping away the only thing that completed him, blinding him to it all over again.
“Why are you doing this? Tell me that much at least,” he said in a gruff voice, knowing that even if he didn’t agree to it, this witch was still going to let King go anyway. She was determined it needed to occur. He knew so because when King was determined, downright unswayable, he had that same look in his eyes. One that was already grieving.