“Have you lost your damn mind? What do you think the Queen would do if she saw you sneaking about with Zoe? Besides, there’s no way she’d let you go.”
“She’s already given me permission to leave, Eva.” His voice quieted some but it was still commanding, defiant even.
Eva’s eyes narrowed suspiciously at her brother. “How?”
Evan expelled his breath, showing just how exasperated he was. “She released me.” He paused for a moment as his words settled in. Zoe saw that Eva looked hurt, as though Evan had purposely betrayed her. His gaze turned to Zoe finally, an imploring expression strained on his face. “I can take you home. You didn’t ask for any of this and it’s much safer for you in Gaia.”
“Technically this is her home, Evan. She’s of the original family. Gaia was just a temporary solution.” Eva looked to her brother and then to Zoe. She was a woman sure of her words and her purpose, not once wavering in her protests to Evan.
“Gaia is all she’s ever known,” he argued back.
“Her blood is Terra blood. She would be our Queen if the Stratons had never displaced her family from the Crown. She has more of a right to that title than Kyra, who for all we know isn’t even a Straton.”
“We don’t know that she isn’t and to even suggest it puts all our lives at risk,” he countered, his face growing in anger and frustration.
“Have you forgotten what they did to us, Evander?” she yelled. “They killed our mother and father, the King’s mother and father, nearly Zoe’s entire family, and who knows how many others? Since the day Thea sent Zoe away she’s been planning for her return. We all have a role in this, Zoe especially.”
Evan cursed under his breath. He ignored Eva’s stare and walked straight towards Zoe, crouching down in front of her in the chair. “You don’t have to do this. I can take you home today and it will be as if it never happened. If that’s what you want.”
She could tell by the intensity of his voice that he wanted her to agree with him, to take her away from Terra, to live as though the trip had been nothing but misstep. Eva, on the other hand, was crestfallen, sure she would be defeated by Evan.
“What will happen to me if I go with you?” she asked, looking up at Eva.
From the corner of her eye she saw Evan frowning, his face growing dark at the slightest suggestion she might stay.
“I don’t know for sure. The King seemed to think that you would remember who you are and that you would know what to do once you did.”
Zoe looked back to Evan. It was apparent that he wanted nothing other than her safety, for her to live her own life in the only home she’d come to know.
“What about you? What happens with us if I go back?” He took a hold of her hand, his thumb gently grazing over her fingers as it had done once before. Her heartbeat increased at his touch.
“What do you want to happen?” He was so close and his stare so intense she could barely stand to look back at him. Her breath caught in her throat. Was it an invitation for her to ask him anything?
“Would you stay?” Her eyes widened infinitesimally in anticipation of his response. She could barely believe she’d had the courage to ask at all. She saw what she thought was a hopeful gleam in his eye, a yet unspoken promise.
“Yes,” he answered after a long pause.
Briefly she wondered what it would be like to have him around all the time. Would she show him around the home she grew up in, or he the world around them one destination at a time? Would they come to know each other better, become best friends and fall in love? Would she come to know him intimately, sharing her heart and body with him completely? Could he give up the only home he had ever known just to keep her safe?
Her hand moved from his and she stood, Evan rising with her. They were both were staring at her, awaiting her response. She cast her eyes downward, trying to gather any strength she could find in the momentary absence of their imposing glares.
“I can’t. I’m sorry.” She took a deep breath and after a moment looked up briefly to Eva, then to Evan. “A week ago I was content to die, ready and willing to take and end my own life. Maybe it wasn’t coincidence that you caught me, Evan. There’s an entire side to my life story that I’m only just hearing and if I go back, even if it’s with you by my side, I’d still be going back to the same life I’d tried to end.” She watched as his face hardened, the hope in his eyes vanishing into defeat. She turned her attention to Eva, who herself looked dumbstruck by what she’d heard. “It’s not just my life that was affected by the Stratons, but yours as well. I’ll go wherever you want me to go. Who knows? Maybe there is a life for me to remember.”