Natalya wasn’t sure how long she stayed like that. Sitting on the bed, holding onto Evie as she wept. Evie’s arms around her, her crying making Natalya’s heart break into pieces.
At first, she thought the tears came because Natalya had pushed her too much, but there was no fear in her. Only a sorrow so forceful Natalya couldn’t ignore it, and which echoed in her own body.
Until this point, most emotions Natalya sensed from Evie were either bright flares of terror or desire, or the muted feelings of someone who’d shut themselves off to the world because they were afraid it would hurt them otherwise. Just like when they’d first met, Natalya was breaking down all Evie’s defenses. But rather than cower like she had done, Evie let her barriers fall.
Natalya had only seen her cry like this once. In the office, when she finally realized she was safe.
“God, I’m such a mess,” Evie said after several minutes. She wiped her nose. “I don’t know where that came from.”
“You’ve been through a lot. A lot of things you didn’t want to think about or remember. You let it in, and it hurt.”
Natalya knew that pain herself. She’d kept it at bay for longer than Evie had hers. It was still at arm’s length.
Evie was opening herself up to fresh pain, and she trusted Natalya not to hurt her like she’d done the last time they were together. Leaving her alone, confused, and afraid she’d done something wrong.
Natalya silently vowed to never leave her with that kind of hurt again.
She moved behind Evie and pulled her close. She held her tightly as Evie relaxed into her arms. Evie was hurting. She needed assurance that someone would catch her if she fell apart.
“Do you want to talk?” Natalya ran her fingers over Evie’s arms, touching her scars. “About this?”
Slowly, Evie nodded. Natalya brushed her thumbs over the straight scars on Evie’s forearms. A pair of them, one on each wrist, running along her veins.
“What are these from?”
“Knife. Varro sometimes wanted to drink from a glass. They bled me from there.”
Natalya had to wait a moment before she could continue. She needed her voice to be unwavering.
She touched the small white scars on Evie’s fingers. “And these?”
“Hammer. I fought back, once. Stefano didn’t like that.” Evie’s bottom lip quivered. “Varro was furious. I couldn’t dance as well with broken fingers, so Stefano only used blades and whips after that. Varro’s orders.”
It took all of Natalya’s self-control to remain calm. She’d never wanted a being dead more than the King of the Heartlands.
“And your feet?” Natalya looked at the faint scars snaking up over Evie’s ankles. “Stefano too?”
“He liked chasing me. I wasn’t allowed to wear shoes, and running outside hurt my feet.” Evie’s voice lowered to be near inaudible. “Once, a guard let me out in the courtyard when it was still light out. He said he was a defector and that I needed to run, but it was just a game. Stefano thought it would be funny to catch me and punish me. He did it enough that eventually, I didn’t even try to run anymore.”
“That’s why you thought it was a test when we tried to make you leave?”
Evie started crying again. “I thought you would be like them, but worse. That’s what everyone said. When Varro talked about the Court of Chains, it was always with hate. He said you were dangerous.”
That surprised Natalya. The hate she understood. Chicago was part of the Heartlands territory before she and Aleksanderclaimed it. It had once been Varro’s. But the Chains weren’t big enough to seriously threaten him.
Evie took a shuddering breath. “You remember asking me about the Queens? About Varro meeting with them?”
“I do.”
“He wanted to wipe you out. He was trying to get them to help.” Evie let out a low laugh. A tragic sound. “He didn’t have much luck. Queen Zahra outright refused, and Queen Cecilia accepted so quickly it was obvious she was lying. She would have betrayed Varro as soon as she could.”
The words made Natalya frown. The Heartlands of the United States had become volatile after the Court of Chains set up in Chicago. So far, no Regents of any Court had been willing to move against the Chains. It would be a war lost on arrival. Even if a Regent managed to beat the Chains, it would leave them spent enough that someone could swoop in and take over their territory, now weak from war.
If Varro could convince another Regent to join him in the venture, that assurance would be lost.
“Any others he tried to use against the Chains?” Natalya asked.
“Some. Mostly vampires he sent to terrorize your borders. And then Dominic Fane too, and his bodyguard. She had slitted eyes, like yours, but they were red. Like when you’re angry.”
