Page 57 of Blue Embers
“Reading about you after you won the race, I thought you’d be a lot bigger,” I said, swallowing a bite of food. Everly looked my way, her stormy-grey eyes vibrant against the ashy purple of her hair. “Then again, your presence seems to add a few inches.”
Everly rolled her eyes. “I’m not short. You’re just tall. You a fashion model or something?”
I almost choked on my food and laughed. “No. I’m just a person who likes history.”
“Right. I’m kidding. Killian said you were the curator at the museum. Sorry about your friend, by the way. And about your sister.”
I bit my tongue, trying not to react too much to the mention of my sister and Ben as it was once again brought back to my attention. Honestly, I didn’t want to think about them at the moment. I really just needed to catch my breath.
“So what about you and the Archon?” I asked, turning the attention somewhere else.
Everly pinched the bridge of her nose as if annoyed. “Long story. He killed my adopted father, who killed his brother, Valerio. Draven decided to be an asshole and take his anger out on me, but things got complicated and I seduced him into loving me instead.”
I raised my brows, unsure how I was supposed to interpret her explanation. Looking at me, Everly smiled, like she was waiting for me to get the joke.
“I’m guessing there’s a lot more to it than that,” I said, taking a drink of water.
“Like I said,” she said. “It’s a long story.”
“But you love each other?”
“Very much,” she confirmed.
“Did you love him before or after he marked you?”
Everly paused for a moment, watching me as I took another bite of my sandwich.
“You’re wondering about you and Killian, aren’t you?” she asked. Unable to admit to anything, I remained silent. “I’m not the best person to talk to about that. My situation with Draven is so different than yours.”
“I’m not really looking for Killian’s love,” I said in a low voice, hoping his Draak ears wouldn’t hear me from the other room. “Well...I don’t know. I’m just overwhelmed I guess.”
“You’re handling it a lot better than I did,” Everly scoffed. “I tried to kill myself the first night after Draven marked me.”
“Sorry, what?”
She laughed, shaking her head like it was actually funny.
“Listen, Killian did what he did to save your life. I don’t know the man all that well, but maybe just let things unfold for a while and see where it all leads. Even with the mark, nothing is set in stone.”
I soaked in those words for a while, slowly working on finishing my sandwich. When Keera and the small boy came back into the house, both covered in snow, I greeted her with a smile and set my plate aside. The boy shook out his black hair, throwing little, white flakes of snow across the wood floor, and then walked around to the sandwich supplies.
“I want one,” he said, stretching on his toes to peer over the edge of the counter.
“Yeah?” Everly teased him. “Make one, little man.”
Keera chuckled at the boy as he worked his hardest to reach what he could on the counter. Finally, Everly stepped in, following his polite direction as she made him a meal.
“He your son?” I asked Keera, who stepped up beside me.
She nodded. “His name’s Ronan,” she said.
“And your husband?”
“The other Blue. Lukan. He and Draven have been friends for a long time.” She turned briefly to the other room where the men appeared to be wrapping up their meeting. “They’ll all be hungry pretty soon. I’ll make real food in a couple hours.”
“Sandwiches are real food, Keera,” Everly defended.
“For kids, Everly.”
