Page 22 of The Runaway Duchess
Damien smirked, relieved to see that at least some form of spark existed in the man.
“If you had deigned to come to my first wedding, you would have known that my bride ran away from me the first time,” Damien replied. “You missed a devil of a ceremony, old friend. I have never been to one like it.”
A chuckle left Evander’s lips, but the sound was hollow.
“And who was the lucky woman who was able to escape you for at least a little while?” he asked.
Apprehension moved through Damien as he looked down at his hands and rubbed them together. He had sent notice of the wedding to Evander, but had left outwhomhe was marrying on purpose. He had hoped that the mystery would pique enoughinterest to draw Evander out of his solitude; alas, it had not.
“I am taking your cousin Caroline as my bride,” Damien answered, drawing his eyes back up to Evander’s.
His black brows furrowed, and he leaned forward in his chair.
“You are marrying sweet little Caroline?” Evander asked.
Damien nodded, his mouth set in a grim line as he waited for Evander’s disapproval.
“She is far too sweet for you,” Evander said, that spark of life in him finally growing. “The things you have done… Who you are…”
“Who I am will keep her safe,” Damien said, cutting him off.
“Safe? Safety is an illusion.” Evander’s retort came out so quickly that it caused a hitch in Damien’s breath.
He lowered his head as he pinched the bridge of his nose, squeezing his eyes shut as memories of the night Evander was taken erupted despite his attempts to keep them locked away.
“We had promised to keep each other safe, remember?” Evander hoarsely whispered. “You and Adrian both.”
Guilt rose swiftly through Damien, drowning him with the force of a tidal wave.
“I know,” Damien croaked.
There had been no pertinent reason as to why he and Adrian had chosen to stay at White’s instead of meeting Evander at the gaming hell as planned that night. They were young, drunk, and having too much fun laughing about something that Damien had long since forgotten.
Evander had been the strongest of all three of them at the time, and there had been no sense of danger leading up to his disappearance. Or at least that was what they had thought. They had not known that their enemies would stalk Evander and wait for his moment to capture him.
“You have no idea,” Damien said, drawing in a shaky breath as his hands clenched tighter. “No idea of the lengths Adrian and I went to try to find you. What we did to try to fix our mistake.” He shook his head, clenching his hands tighter until his knuckles turned white. Knuckles that no matter how much he cleaned, would forever remain stained with blood.
“We went to great lengths,” he repeated after a moment. “Not just Adrian and me. Caroline and Elara searched too, despite your brother’s warnings.”
“And it was their search that found me,” Evander murmured.
“Exactly,” Damien said, his head shooting up as he fixed his friend with an intense stare. “Elarafoundyou, Evander. You came back to your family. Alive.”
Evander let out a weak laugh as he swept a hand down his withered, weakened form.
“Alive?” he rasped, and Damien’s stomach clenched. His friend leaned forward, swaying so suddenly that Damien reached for him, fearing he would fall.
“Do you see what has become of me?” Evander hoarsely yelled. “Have you any idea of the horrors I have been put through? I thought that if I could just survive somehow, I would be able to have my life back, but now I understand.”
“Understand what, Evander?” Damien asked.
“That even though I am alive, I am as good as dead!” Evander erupted, pain making his blue eyes shine in the firelight as his lips curled into a sneer.
“Come back with us,” Damien urged. “Come be with your family. Let them help you!”
Evander’s eyes widened as his brows rose high.
“You think they can help with this?”Evander demanded, waving a hand toward his own emaciated body. “No one can help me. I have become a monster.”
