Page 95 of Soulbound Shadows: Part 1

I stayed kneeling on the ground for several long, quiet minutes. In the distance, I could hear Marcus speaking softly to the unconscious Evangeline, quiet ramblings about making sure Floyd gave her the pillows she preferred, and how she’d get all the pudding cups she wanted while she was resting up.

I was glad she was being cared for, but I had to admit that it didn’t help my mental state. Hearing someone else be fussed over by a parental figure wasn’t precisely what you wanted when you were preparing to commit patricide.

I held the spike dagger in my hands. Its weight was more familiar than I would have liked. The surface of the wood was glossy and smooth, and the point was very sharp. It would be as painless as such a thing could be. I rose to my feet and walked toward the tree line.

The pine tree was thick, and its weathered gray bark was sticky with sap and blood. The smell was intense, the astringent scent of the pine sap mixing sickeningly with the dark iron tang of gore. The dead leaves had been knocked free from the bushes where my father had fallen, leaving behind bare, twisted brambles.

The ground beneath the tree was bare.

My father was gone.

33

EVANGELINE

Iwoke up slowly, with the sort of tired but relieved feeling I usually got after a particularly nasty bout of flu. Light hit my closed eyelids, making everything a haze of glowing orangey-pink. I was sore, but in a weirdly satisfying way, like I’d done a challenging workout. My magic was flowing through me in a way I only felt when I was casting a particularly strong spell. Was this my new default? God, it was intoxicating. My chest felt warm and prickly. My fingers twitched on soft sheets.

Cool hands clasped around mine, and I smiled as I opened my eyes. “Gabriel,” I murmured.

He was perched in a chair next to the bed, leaning so far forward he was barely in the seat at all. His face was even paler than usual, and every muscle taut, but his eyes were impossibly soft as he looked down at me. We were in his bedroom, and I was propped up on a huge pile of pillows at the head of the bed.

“How do you feel?” he asked, squeezing my hand gently.

I frowned as I took stock. “I feel fine, actually. Good, even.”

“You had me worried,” he admitted. “What were you thinking, leaving like that?”

Irritation spiked up in me, and the prickly spot on my chest itched. “I was thinking that I could deal with it, and I was right. I took down those vampires without breaking a sweat.”

“And then you passed out,” Gabriel said. I knew he had a point, but my irritation was building, and him making logical, reasonable arguments didn’t help.

“I’m fine,” I snapped. I pushed myself up and away from the pillows, dropping his hand. He held it out still, ready to catch me if I flopped over, and I gave him a dry look, flicking the blankets aside and climbing to my feet. “See? Fine.” At some point, someone had changed me into a white T-shirt and a pair of sleep shorts. Bandages flexed on my chest as I moved.

A pinched look flickered across Gabriel’s face, but it disappeared as quickly as it had come. “Well.” He cleared his throat. “I’m sure the others will be very pleased to hear that. They’ve been worried about you.”

“How long was I out?”

“Just a few hours.”

“I’ve taken naps longer than that,” I said. “They shouldn’t have worried about me.”

“Evangeline, you just absorbed the magic of two incredibly powerful witches and fought off four vampires,” Gabriel said. The pinched look returned. “I think it’s understandable for them to be concerned.”

The prickling in my chest was turning into something spiky, growing and twisting through me. Did they have that little faith in me? I could handle it. I bit the thought down before it could leave my mouth.

“Come on,” I said. “Let’s let them know I’m back on my feet.”

We didn’t have to go far. The others were all gathered in the little sitting room area that was part of Gabriel’s suite. It was a surprisingly cozy scene. A fire crackled in the grate, and music drifted from a gramophone. Lissa had her feet kicked up in Vic’s lap, and the two of them were playing some sort of complicated card game with Marcus, which seemed to involve at least two decks of standard cards, a pile of colorful glass beads, and a tarot deck. Marcus set The Hermit on the coffee table next to Lissa’s queen of spades, and she scowled, taking three of the glass beads. On a low fainting couch, Isabella was curled up with a handheld video game console, and Theo was leaning over the armrest, pointing at the screen.

“So, this is where I keep my turnips, and this is where the little art forger guy turns up,” they were saying quietly while Isabella nodded appreciatively.

I cleared my throat, and all of them turned to me. Isabella grinned, Lissa cheered, Marcus beamed, Vic nodded at me, and even Theo gave me a relieved scowl.

“The conquering hero is back on her feet!” Lissa crowed, sweeping me into a hug and spinning me around. She was so casual and glamorous, it was easy to forget her vampiric strength, and I let out a startled squawk as her sudden bear hug lifted me off the floor.

“Go easy on Evangeline,” Gabriel said warmly, clapping Lissa on the shoulder. She set me down gently. “She only just woke up.”

“I’m fine,” I said sharply. Then again, more evenly, “I’m fine, seriously. Just a little sore.”

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