Evie's Knight (46 page)

Calvin’s chest tightened as he realized she was starting the chant, the ritual that would bind them together, permanently, if he followed her command.

“In darkness now is where you live.” She grabbed his other hand and wrapped his dampened palm around the fist holding the dagger. His hands shook.

“This dagger you’ll push through your heart.” She tilted his chin toward the sky, wrapped her bony hands over his, and lifted the blade high over his chest. She stepped away from him then, but her eager eyes held his. “Then you and I shall never part,” she cried dramatically.

Calvin gulped, tried to steady his breath as he searched for a way out. 

“Do it now,” she ordered in a fevered tone.

Trickles of sweat trailed along the sides of his face, down the back of his neck.

“Do it,” Jocelyn demanded again, louder this time. “We won’t be together if you don’t, Winston.” Tears streamed down her cheeks, followed the trail of veins in her face. Yet beyond the flood of tears, he saw something in the dark pool of her eyes. He saw her anguish reflected there and had pity for her. For the sorry creature she was.

He took his gaze off her, conscious of how quickly, how fiercely he’d been sucked in before. He couldn’t let it happen again. Desperate to act before he lost control, he eyed the strange night sky above him, sensing it wasn’t real. She had to have brought him into her world.

“Show me that you love me,” she screamed.

Suddenly Calvin saw a bright flash, a strange neon image. In it, was a lifeless body…his own. It was just a mind blink, gone as quickly as it came. Again he tried to concentrate, but was disrupted by another mind flash, a new ugly image of him using the blade on himself. This time, along with the image, Calvin felt an unwelcome longing–the fleeting desire to make the images real. He fought it with visions of Evie. Her triumphant smile at the batting cages, the warmth of her in his arms.

Jocelyn with the dagger came to mind next. Tastes of her bitter sorrow.

He replaced them with memories of Evie on Christmas night. The whispering of his love for her. The way she repeated it.
I love you, too
.

Flashes of his suicide came then. The dagger, firm within his grasp. His desire to thrust it through his heart, end the sorrow.

Her
sorrow.

Not his.

Each one of Jocelyn’s thoughts was thick with restless desire, lust, and unquenchable need.

All thoughts of Evie offered love–patient and pure.

He envisioned the life they might have if he conquered, their future, children and all.

He
would
conquer. He had to get back to Evie.

He glared at Jocelyn as he fought her invasion, tuned into the growing sound of his own mind, putting her attempts to shame. It was all about Evie. His love for her. Keeping her safe. Keeping her near.

Jocelyn began to pace angrily. “My love,” she moaned. “After
all
I’ve done for you, Winston. After
all
I have given.” Her rage showed itself in strange ways. The veins beneath her thin sheet of skin turned from green to dark purple, almost black. He could still hear faint sounds of her coaxing voice, working desperately to persuade him.

The world around them started to change, the dark sky transforming into a shallow roof of soil. Calvin looked up to see the darkened dirt just inches from his head. Roots and twigs wove in winding patterns above him and along the sides as well. They were surrounded by dirt, buried and trapped within a cave of earthy soil.

The crazed creature before him continued to rant, stomping now, cursing. Causing the earth to shake as specks of dirt fell into his eyes. He blinked, shaking his head and noticed more dirt and small pebbles tumble loose, fall like rain.

Jocelyn paid no attention. Back and forth she paced, angrily stomping each white, bony foot deeper into the ground. “What will you make me do, Winston? What will you make me do?”

Calvin cringed from the screeching sound of her cry. He couldn’t resist the urge to cover his ears and recoil. More pieces of earth peppered his back as she continued to tantrum, groan, and cry.

The ground shifted beneath them, and a deep crack broke across the earthy roof above. He’d be buried alive. He searched around him, desperate to find a way out. There had to be a way out.

“Hey, Jocelyn!” The deep voice was familiar. Parker’s voice. Calvin turned to see his brother standing behind him. “Latch onto the pendant, Cal,” he muttered under his breath. “I’ll take you both.”

Calvin barely had time to think about what his brother meant.
Latch onto the pendant?
Parker was going to try to teleport him out, as well. That had to be it. The soil roof rumbled above him. Calvin thrust himself off the altar, dove straight for Jocelyn. He wrapped his hand around the pendant as they collided with the ground.

Heavy mounds of soil crashed in as the roof and walls collapsed. Calvin pressed his lids closed, groaning beneath the load, and prayed that Parker’s plan would work.

Chapter Forty-seven

Evie rubbed her thumb over the pendant as she waited, grateful she’d been able to get back into the cave on her own. She eyed the freshly carved room before her–Jocelyn’s chamber–consumed by thoughts of endless waiting, the idea that she may never hear from Calvin again. Or Parker. What if they never showed? How would she move on? There was no way she could. And Jack. What would she say to their father, Jack?

It felt like hours had passed since she found the pendant, and her vivid imagination had nearly gotten the best of her. She couldn’t fathom lasting another hour. There was no way. She fell to her knees, glaring at the empty hole once more, willing Calvin to come.

Her gaze shifted to the massive scrapes on her wrists. They reminded her of their long journey. Of everything they’d been through up to that point. It couldn’t have all been for nothing.

A stifled moan sounded from the empty cavern as a burst of commotion kicked up the dirt. Evie jolted back.  There, rolling across the ground before her, was a jumbled cluster of bodies. She did a quick count. One, two, three.

Pure elation brought his name to her lips, “Calvin!” She uttered his name once more as she rushed toward the heap of dirt-covered limbs, but hedged once she caught sight of Jocelyn amongst them.

Calvin and Parker climbed to their feet, looking disoriented and beat. Jocelyn lay on the ground, looking determined and angry. In less than a blink, she jumped to her feet and charged toward Evie with a wild snarl.

“She lives,” Jocelyn screamed, darting through the air. “She lives!”

Evie’s heart leapt to her throat, stifling a scream as she backed away from Jocelyn’s boney, reaching fingers.

Calvin dove across the room and tackled Jocelyn to the dirt with a grunt. “She lives, alright.” He grabbed her hands and pinned them behind her back. “And you’re not going to touch her.”

Parker rushed to his side, gripped one of Jocelyn’s forearms while Calvin grabbed the other. Together, they dragged the screaming witch back to the center of the room as Jocelyn thrashed and kicked, scowling at Evie through the shadows. A smeared layer of dirt coated her mean, vicious-looking face. Her round head held a bulbous nose, a miniature chin, and deep, black eyes that pierced Evie with dread and fear.

“You betrayed me, Winston,” she hissed, turning on Calvin with her teeth bared. She stretched until her sharp, yellowed teeth hovered over his knuckles.

Evie gasped. “Calvin, watch out.”

As Calvin yanked his hand back, Jocelyn pulled her arm free from his grasp and reached for his neck. Four overgrown fingernails dug deep, red gouges from his throat to his chest. He grabbed her arm once more, forced it behind her as they reached the center of the room, or tomb, as Calvin would have it.

The stringy, white substance pulled away from the wall, moving toward Jocelyn while she flailed and screamed. The living web coated her form as Parker and Calvin backed out of the space.

For a moment, Evie thought her eyes were deceiving her, because they walked right through the webbed cage as if it didn’t exist at all. The silvery mass of stretching thread recognized only Jocelyn. It molded to her, clung to her, knew her. It would eternally keep her, spirit and all.

Calvin wrapped a strong, protective arm around Evie as he and Parker stood by her side. Jocelyn moaned and thrashed, but already, the stringy creation had enveloped her. Every inch of her skin, each strand of her hair–smothered. She fought beneath it with full, reaching movements. Extended hands and out-stretched fingers, snuggly covered in the white thread.

As the strands built up like a caterpillar’s cocoon, her movements changed. Instead of reaching toward them, Jocelyn sprawled her arms out to her sides, as if trying to fill the entire cell with her presence. The action, along with the strained, almost flapping movement of her arms, created what looked like wings. The white surface appearing feather-like somehow. Suddenly her neck grew taller, prouder as something strange appeared. Evie leaned forward slightly, shaking her head, wondering if she was seeing correctly, or if she’d only imagined it. What looked like a small, delicate beak had formed in the center of her face, which was now lost somewhere behind the mysterious form.

Finally, as the creation silenced the sound of her cries, Jocelyn’s weakened movements stopped altogether, the powerful bands thwarting even the slightest budge.

Just as Evie saw beauty in the bird-like statue, the webbed coating began to change from soft, wispy white, to slick, reflective black. It was as if a gallon of ebony paint had been poured over the figure. It started at the top of her head, and spread in a smooth, fluid motion until the dark coating covered her face, neck, and shoulders. The once stringy material transforming into a shiny black substance that seemed to harden like a shell before their eyes. Smooth and thorough, the ghostly effect oozed down the length of her body, covering her wing-like arms. And then her legs. All the way down to her feet.

She looked like a black bird now–a raven with broken wings–never to fly again. A crackling sound, like the angry crash of thunder, echoed down the length of the hall, bouncing off the cave walls, the great force causing the lanterns to flicker.

The silence that followed was so entirely thorough, that Evie didn’t dare breathe, for fear she might undo the impossible feat she’d just witnessed.

She blinked twice before noticing something hidden in the image before her. There, reflected in the shiny body of the mass, stood three figures, huddled closely together, each watching in awe. The sight confirmed what she already knew: it was over.  

Gripped with emotion, Evie wrapped her arms around Calvin, letting herself fall into his comforting embrace. Heavy loads of pent-up pressure, every dose of built-up fear seeped from her body in that final, heightened breath. Muscles weak, mind beat, tears gushed down her cheeks. Her body shook as she sobbed, moved by joy and relief.

Calvin tightened his arms around her and soothed her with the deep tone of his voice. “We did it,” he said. “It’s over.” His fingers ran gently through her damp hair.

They had actually done it. As Calvin said, it was really over.

“Hey, I’m feeling left out here,” Parker said.

Evie smiled, pulled an arm free from Calvin and reached out to include his brother.

Parker joined the huddle, wrapping his arms around the couple. “That was wicked,” he said.

Evie nodded, wiping at her tears with a shaky hand. “Yeah, it was.”

Calvin brought his fist to the center. “I’ve got something for you, Parker.” He opened his hand to reveal Parker’s necklace–
his
amulet. Evie smiled as Parker reached for it.

“Yes! I’m so glad you remembered this. Thanks, man. Means a lot.”

Calvin nodded. “Thank you,” he said. “For stepping up the way you did.” He shook his head, thoughtful. “That was close.”

“Yep, it was.” Parker patted his back before breaking from their circle. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

Calvin turned to Evie, the look of triumph in his eyes. A gentle smile pulled at the corners of his lips. “I love you,” he mouthed.

She mouthed the words back to him, kissed his cheeks, and slipped her fingers through his. “Come on.”

They paused, looking inside the cave once more. The crazed creature that had threatened to take the man she loved now stood trapped before her. The woman who had defied death so many years ago and plagued the Knight men ever since would never return.

Outside, a warm, cranberry glow lit up the evening. Though it had dipped just beyond the valley, the sun’s reaching light drenched the sky, coating the grounds as well with a beautiful rose-colored haze.

“Fiona,” Parker shouted.

Evie lifted her head in time to see Fiona slide off a nearby rock and leap into Parker’s open arms. Tears streamed down her face. “You did it, Parker. I knew you could.” She pressed kisses to his cheeks. Parker wrapped his arms around her, pressing his lips to hers.

“Wow.” Evie couldn’t hide her surprise. She looked at Calvin to see him wearing a mischievous smile. 

“I can’t wait any longer,” he said.

“For what?”

He pulled her as he stepped back. “Come here.”

Evie did as he asked, following his lead to the warm, slated side of the mountain. He turned her back to it, gently pressing her against the unyielding mass. The warmth of the rock felt nice; she’d been shivering from their final trip through the waterfall, and the evening was cooling fast. But when Calvin neared her, she wasn’t sure which felt better. The solid wall of heat from behind, or the cool, moist skin of Calvin’s bare chest. She sucked in a jagged breath. 

He moved in closer. “Evie, I’m dying to kiss you,” he whispered, letting his lips land gently along her brow. His fingers brushed over her lips as he spoke into her ear. “Finally, I can kiss you unrestrained.” He pressed his lips below her lobe. “Without guilt,” another kiss, “or fear,” he added, kissing her neck. “Just my lips on yours.”

Goose bumps rose on her skin as he slipped his hand behind her neck, pressed his mouth, ever so gently, to the base of her throat. His lips were slightly warmer than his damp chest and hands, but they were still cool against the warmed hollow of her neck.