Chapter 57: Conflict Between Brothers
Evaline:
Sleep refused to greet me even as midnight passed.
I kept tossing and turning under the blanket. My body was exhausted but my mind refused to rest. Thoughts of Draven - the feel of his lips, the intensity in his eyes, the way my whole body betrayed me - kept spiraling like a storm I couldn’t outrun. I must have finally drifted off at some point because the next thing I knew, I wasn’t in my room anymore.
I was in a forest.
It was bathed in silver moonlight. The trees were glowing like ancient guardians. Mist was swirling around my ankles, cool but comforting. The leaves rustled with a sound like whispers, and there was a pull inside my chest. Gentle...coaxing... like something was calling me.
Or someone.
I turned slowly and the fabric of a white dress I didn’t remember wearing brushed against my legs. My bare feet made no sound against the mossy ground, and though I was alone, I didn’t feel afraid.
"Eva," a voice called out. It was deep, smooth, and hauntingly familiar.
My heart skipped a beat. I quickly turned again and found him.
Oscar.
He was standing at the edge of the clearing, dressed in black. Shadows were clinging to him like a second skin, but his eyes - Goddess, those eyes were glowing with a golden touch to original emerald. They locked onto mine, and I felt it again. The pull. The ache. The impossible bond neither of us wanted but couldn’t deny.