Chapter 113

Evelyn

The council room buzzed with tension as I took my seat, my hands clenched in my lap. Ever since the murder, my muscles had been coiled tight. I was so stressed and angry that every exhale felt like the breath of a dragon, fiery and poised to hurt.

The air was buzzing as the chaos from outside bled into the palace and through the room. Whispers from the streets below had already reached even the thick stone walls. So many people were speculating about what had happened and why.

And that’s why the council had been called by my father: to find out just that.

At the head of the room, the Alpha King called the meeting to order, his voice steady but grim. All eyes swiveled to him, where he stood, proud and stoic despite all that had happened.

“Obviously, the events in the town square today did not play out as expected,” he began. “None of us could have predicted a vigilante assassin would take the royal execution into their own hands. Frankly, what occurred was unacceptable. We must find who is responsible, interrogate them, and make an example out of them where we can.”

With that, he turned to me. “As I was being escorted to safety, my daughter took matters into her own hands as well. Evelyn, please tell us what happened.”

I could tell that he was not pleased with the spontaneous risk I had taken. But because of me, we had our first and only thread to pull on and unravel the mystery.

I swallowed hard, smoothing my skirts as I let my gaze sweep over the room. “After Emma was murdered, I saw the person who threw the knife. They were in the crowd and conveniently cloaked to make identifying them difficult. I chased after them but was unsuccessful in capturing them. However, I did notice one distinguishing feature. They have one arm.”

The room went silent as they let the information sink in. A few exchanged curious, questioning looks. It was an identifying feature that no one could place. No one but Logan.

His voice cut through the tension, low and strained. “It’s likely Scott. When Emma captured me, I shared a cell with him. He was abused and punished for not killing me. One of his punishments was that they took his arm.”

Logan straightened. “Scott has the motive and the recklessness to do it. Think about it. He has nothing left to lose.” His jaw was tight, and his hands balled into fists at his sides.

Not for the first time, I wondered what Logan had suffered at Emma’s command. The idea that she had been drugging him and abusing his body… It horrified me. I was relieved all over again at the thought of Emma being dead. Good riddance.

Alex slammed his hand on the table, his face twisted with determination. “Then we have no time to waste! We must immediately arrest him. He cannot leave the city!”

I nodded, my voice firm. “I agree. He must be found and held accountable for what he did.”

And who knew what he had yet to do? Seeing what Scott was capable of and what he could survive was jarring. Logan was right, he had nothing left to lose. And a man who had nothing left to lose would do anything to seek out his revenge.

The Alpha King’s face hardened. “Lock down the city. Every exit, every alley. No one leaves without my approval. And anyone found with one arm should be brought to the palace immediately. He could be in a disguise, and I am not going to risk him slipping through our fingers.”

It took everyone a beat to stir into movement. It was as though everyone around the council room table was dumbfounded. How were we here again? Now, we had another enemy to defeat. It felt like for each one that was conquered and dealt with, another promptly sprang up.

Eventually, the council dispersed in a flurry of orders and chaos, the urgency of the situation pulling everyone in every direction. I stayed behind, trying to organize my thoughts, my pulse still racing from the events of the last few hours.

It felt so surreal. I should have been awash in relief right now, and instead, I was filled with dread. Emma had been my greatest adversary for so long that I hadn’t even fathomed what life might be like without her. Yet even now that she was gone, she still haunted me. The monster she had made was left behind to stir up trouble in her wake.

A shadow fell over me, and of course, I knew who it was before I even looked up.

But when I did, I met Logan’s eyes quickly. His expression was raw and distressed. For a moment, we simply stood there, the noise of the chamber fading into a dull hum as people filed out.

“Evelyn…” he started, his voice unsteady. “You followed him.”

I raised my chin. “I did.”

“You shouldn’t have,” he said. “He could have killed you.”

“Are you seriously still worried about that? After all we’ve gone through?”

“I’ll never stop worrying about you, Evelyn,” he said softly.

I couldn’t ignore the effect those words had on me. They shivered up my spine. But I refused to return them. Not yet. Everything was still so raw. So many things needed to get done before we could comfortably ease back into each other.

“I will always want you to be safe,” he continued. “And I’ll do everything in my power to ensure that happens.”

“I know,” I said quietly.

“It should have been me chasing him,” he said, shaking his head to himself.

“You were helping people flee,” I pointed out.

“Still, the idea of you throwing yourself into harm's way…” He shook his head again. “I— I need you to know… I love you. And I’m going to keep telling you that until it sinks in.”

My throat tightened. I wanted to answer him. I wanted to tell him I loved him, too. But the words lodged in my throat, heavy and dangerous. Instead, I took a step back, forcing myself to keep my voice level.

“It’s never been an issue of whether you believed in us,” I said. “I’ve always known that you had on some level. But I need to be certain too. And to do that, I need time to process everything, Logan. Everything that’s happened. Too much is still going on to make this a priority.”

His eyes darkened with a shadow of desperation, but he nodded. I knew he would never force anything on me, just as I knew this was agonizing for him to endure.

“You’ll always be my priority, Evelyn. So I’ll wait,” he said softly. “No matter how long it takes.”

I turned away, biting my tongue against the impulse to tell him the truth, to reach out and bridge the gap between us. To kiss him like we had kissed that night in my office, so full of passion and life.

Instead, I left the chamber, my mind spinning with strategy, vengeance, and the knowledge that my heart was as hopelessly tangled with Logan’s as it had ever been.

But for now, I had work to do.