Chapter 66

Evelyn

I sat on the edge of the cot in my tent, knees drawn up to my chest. My hands were shaking in the cool night air, but it wasn’t because they were chilled. They hadn’t stopped shaking since I’d left Jesse in the patch of forest with the fireflies.

The lantern hanging from the center tent pole flickered gently, casting shadows that looked far too much like claws reaching for me. All the walls seemed to be closing in.

He knew. Jesse knew.

He had known for a long time—maybe since the beginning—and yet he’d never said a word until tonight. All the while, he had been biding his time, holding the secret to his chest like a hand of cards, ready to play them at the right moment.

Well, now he certainly had. And he knew what most didn’t. That I was the Princess. The King's daughter.

He hadn’t said it aloud, but the implication had been as sharp as any blade. The secret I’d tried so hard to bury, the identity I’d walked away from, was now in Jesse’s hands. So much power had been transferred to him with that one sliver of knowledge.

And if he’d known this whole time, how long before someone else found out? How long before he used it? Now that I was aware that he knew, it was like a ticking bomb, logging away the hours, minutes, seconds until he wielded the secret to hurt me most.

The worst part wasn’t that I feared for myself; it was the knowledge that my name came with consequences beyond me. It wasn’t just a title. It was leverage. It was war bait. And I wouldn’t be the only one hurt by its reveal.

Wow, I had really gotten myself into a mess.

To make matters worse, there was a rustle outside of my tent that I was only distantly aware of in my panic. I jumped when the tent flap shifted suddenly, then stilled as a familiar figure slipped in like a shadow.

“Logan?” My voice came out thinner than I’d intended.

His chest rose and fell in quick, silent breaths. “Evelyn.” My name was a breath on his lips, disbelieving and awed. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“What are you doing here?” I asked, heart still pounding. I stood and pressed my shaky hands to my sides.“If Jesse catches you—”

“I had to see you,” he said quietly. “I needed to know you were okay.”

I looked away. “Define ‘okay.’ I suppose I’m alive, aren’t I?”

He stepped closer. His gaze was all warmth. Though he and Jesse shared the same eye color, there was a softness to Logan’s gaze that Jesse utterly lacked. But even that look couldn’t put me at ease just then.

“I can get you out,” Logan said, voice low and fierce. “Right now. Tonight. I have Alex waiting near the western edge of the camp. You just have to come with me.”

“How did you even get in here?” I wondered aloud.

He winced. It was a slight movement, there and gone, but I hadn’t missed it. “I asked for outside help.”

“From who?” I pressed.

“Emma,” he finally answered.

I reeled back. “How can you still trust her?”

“She got me here, didn’t she? Her directions brought me to you.”

I scoffed. “I won’t even ask the price you paid for that bargain.”

Admittedly, something in me recoiled at the thought of Emma helping. That her instructions had brought him to me. That he had gone to her when he was desperate. And still, I wasn’t entirely convinced that her help hadn’t been the result of some elaborate, long-game trap.

“It doesn’t matter,” Logan said. “No price would have been too much to get you out. So come with me. We will have time to argue about this later.”

The offer cut straight through me. It was so tempting. And yet it was also impossible.

If I left then, Jesse would suspect that I was running from the truth he had just revealed to me. He would tell anyone who would listen as his retaliation. I couldn’t imagine the violence he would invoke as revenge as well. The threat of Jesse’s wrath did more to keep me complacent as his prisoner than chains or cages ever could.

“I can’t,” I said, shaking my head. My eyes were brimming with tears as the realization dawned on me. There was no true escape from this if I wanted to protect my secret and the ones I loved.

“Why not?” he demanded. “He’s using you as a pawn, Evelyn. You think staying makes any difference?”

“If I run, he’ll destroy everything we’ve tried to rebuild,” I snapped, louder than I meant to. “He’ll say I betrayed the peace talks. He’ll spread rumors about me that make even Emma’s look tame. And who knows what he would do to you or Alex to get back at me. No, Logan, I wish I could. But I can’t leave with you.”

Logan stared at me like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He blinked for a few moments, stunned.

“You’re saying you’d rather stay here, with him, than come home with me?”

“I’m saying I can’t afford to leave.” I swallowed hard. “Not yet. The timing isn’t right. It isn’t safe.”

He turned away, running a hand through his hair as he began to pace. “You can’t stay here, though. I don’t trust him. You’re going to get hurt.”

When I spoke again, it was in a gentler voice, even as tears strained and threatened to fall. “I’ll find a way out of this, Logan. But it has to be on the right terms. If I leave now, it will all have been for nothing.”

Logan thought of it for a minute, then began chuckling and shaking his head.

“You don’t have to be strong all the time,” he said, not looking at me.

I smiled sadly. “I don’t know how to be anything else.”

Silence stretched between us, heavy and unresolved.

Finally, he nodded. “This is your decision, ultimately. You are the one who will have to suffer the consequences. Though I’m sure the king and the prince will not be so thrilled to hear it.”

“Tell them it was my choice.”

“Oh, believe me, I will,” he said. “I’d rather not take the blame for this.”

“Tell him to finalize peace talks with Jesse and come back for me,” I said.

“We’re going to get you out, Evelyn. The right way. I’ll be back with a plan.”

He put his forehead to mine for a beat, his breath mingling with my exhales. And then pulled away and tore back the tent flap. Wind rushed in behind him, biting at my skin even though the air was still far from cold.

The second he was gone, the silence resumed. But as quiet settled back over the night, my wolf stirred.

It wasn’t a howl or a growl or anything solid, even. It was just a tug. A soft ache bloomed in my chest that reached for him like a thread drawn taut. Like part of me knew I’d just let something go that I might never get back.

My fingers curled into the blanket at my side as I sat back down on the cot. I had chosen duty.

Again.

But for the first time in a long time, I was sure I’d made the right choice. And when I looked down at my hands, I found that they were finally steady.