But longing for something wasn’t going to get him anywhere, and the wait had gone on long enough. Indiana had had their fun, coming at them again and again until they were nothing but caged animals, trapped for slaughter.
If Castor wasn’t willing to face him head-on, Bass was left with only one option. He’d sneaked onto their lands before, and he’d do it again. Only this time, he’d be leaving with Castor’s head.
Chapter 20
Eva
Sitting in a corner alone, Eva watched what could only be described as organized chaos exploded around her. Not long after the first howl had spurred everyone into action, another softer, more distant howl cut through the air. For a beat, everyone froze, even the children, who seemed far less affected than she’d expected, tilted their head as if to listen.
Sitting straighter, Eva waited for someone to explain what the howl had meant, but after the initial pause, no one seemed to react, and the chaos renewed again.
She felt useless and very much human surrounded by a foreign people she’d never belong too. Eva would be lying if there wasn’t a small part of her that wished to belong—to call this place home and fit into the world her brother had so easily adapted to. She thought of John and his fearless expression as he’d raced ahead, ready to defend his home. The way he’d shared a glance with Bass as if they both agreed he’d give his life to save Katalina’s. She was jealous of Katalina in away. She was important, needed, vital enough to have a line of warriors ready to lay down their lives in order for her to live. Yet Eva didn’t think Katalina needed a line of men to protect her. She was brave, confident, seemingly unafraid of death.
“How are you holding up?” her father asked as he handed her a cup of tea and took a seat next to her.
Eva sipped the drink as she mulled over his question, but it wasn’t her state of mind that was intriguing her but his. “How are you not freaking out about this? Zac’s out there ready to fight people who want to kill us. Kill us, Dad!”
“I’ve already spoken to someone, Eva. He’s fine. All his friends are doing the same, and Logan’s with them.”
“And that makes it all right? Logan nearly died not that long ago. Do you know that?” Eva could not get her head around his calm. He’d already lost a wife, and now his son was in mortal danger. They all were in danger.
With a sigh, her father rubbed at his face, the anxiety showing through the obvious façade he’d been putting on. “What am I supposed to do, Ev, march out there and make a scene, demand Zac returns when you know he’ll refuse? Your brother wants to fit into this world so badly, Eva, and for him to do that, I need to let him go.”
“Fitting in isn’t worth his life, Dad.”
Twisting in his seat, her father studied her, and the pain and pressure of the last six months seemed to stretch and grow between them, stealing any spark of hope. “I’m doing the best I can, Evaline. Do you want to hear that my heart is hammering with fear? That I don’t sleep at night because I miss your mother so much and I wonder what she’ll think of the decisions I’ve made? Every day he walks out the door, I want to call him back and whisk him away. Whisk you both away, but where would we go? Back to a life that is so broken it hurts to breathe? Do we just pretend nothing has changed and hope like hell your brother doesn’t lose his temper at school and kill someone? Because I’ve seen teenagers argue here, Eva, and when they’ve finished, they walk away with blood dripping from claw marks and bruises over eyes, and yet they laugh and makeup like it’s nothing. To them, the wound which would put us in hospital heals in three days. So yes, Eva, I am freaking out. I’ve been freaking out since the moment your mother became sick, and I’ll probably keep freaking out until the day I die, but in the meantime, I’m trying to do what’s best for your brother. And maybe that’s not what’s best for you. Maybe you are the only one of us who can go back to the human world and live a normal life, but Zac can’t, and I can’t leave him, no matter how awful I feel for neglecting you.”
“You’re not neglecting me, Dad,” she answered, taking his hand. “And you’re doing better than you’ve given yourself credit for. I’m sorry. I’m not coping well and am taking it out on you…. I just feel so useless here, Dad. I don’t know where I fit in. You’ve come along and given them homes, Zac’s one of them, and me… what have I done?”
Reaching forward, her father brushed a lock of hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear, making Eva feel like a little girl. “Eva, the one thing I do like about this place is the fact you don’t have to do anything to be welcomed. Everyone is important from the strongest to the weakest, the only person who is judging you, is yourself.”
His words haunted her long after they’d left his mouth, circling her like wailing ghosts. Getting to her feet, Eva needed to escape the noise and bustle of a world she struggled to comprehend.
“I’m going to get some air,” she told her father. “I’ll stay close though.”
No one stopped her as she walked down the
