Chapter 185: Blood, Wrath, and the Wild
The wilderness heat pressed down like a heavy hand, thick with the scent of eucalyptus and wet earth. Eva's sprained ankle throbbed in dull pulses, but she bit her lip, focusing instead on the warm weight of Aristea's hand in hers. They had made it through the night. They had survived — hidden away like frightened creatures in a makeshift cave that reeked of moss and animal musk.
Aristea had gone scouting before dawn and brought back foraged fruit: bush plums, lilly pilly berries, and a few gumnuts. Eva had identified the edible ones from what she remembered, surprised again by the strange instinctive knowledge that came unbidden — as if part of her knew this land despite never setting foot in it before. That eerie knowing, the one that sometimes made Seraphina study her in silence, had surfaced again.
Eva had warned her: no fire. No hunting. No noise. They were still being pursued, of that she had no doubt.
But neither of them expected the moment to come so soon.
The snap of a twig outside the cave was the only warning they had. Aristea had barely risen from where she was sorting through the fruit when a shadow fell over them. Then came the voice — gruff, filled with tension.
"There you are, you brats."
One of the kidnappers, dirt - streaked and furious, shoved through the hanging foliage, his boots stomping with purpose. Behind him were two more, all three armed. Eva's stomach plummeted. They hadn't been careful enough. They had underestimated the chaos.
"You little pests think you can run?" the lead man growled. "You know how much trouble you've caused?"
Eva instinctively shielded Aristea, but he stepped closer — too close — and without warning, slapped Eva across the face. Her head snapped to the side, and she tasted blood.
Aristea froze.
The world held its breath.
Then came the silence before the storm.
The next few seconds blurred into violence.
Aristea's eyes darkened, a storm raging inside her as she saw the brutal slap against Eva's face. No words escaped her lips — there was no need. Her body moved on instinct, fierce and unrelenting. A low growl bubbled deep in her throat, raw and animalistic.
With a flash of silver, she seized one of the daggers Eva had salvaged from the backpack. Her movements were a blur — quick, precise, deadly. She lunged forward with a primal cry, a sound that tore through bone and reason alike. The blade sliced clean across the first man's throat before he could even blink, and blood erupted in a violent spray.
The second man's hand darted toward his pistol, but Aristea was already there, faster than lightning. She twisted sharply, driving her knee into his side with bone - crushing force. The blade followed without hesitation, plunging mercilessly into his gut. His eyes went wide in shock as he crumpled, gurgling on his own blood.
The third man turned and fled, desperation etched on his face.
But he didn't get far.
Aristea surged after him, her every muscle taut and burning with fury. She tackled him to the ground with brutal strength, knocking the wind out of him. Without a pause, she snatched his weapon and slammed the butt of the gun into his temple, silencing him instantly.
Three bodies. Three corpses.
Blood pooled across the cave floor, thick and sticky, staining everything it touched. It clung to Aristea's hands like ink, dark and permanent. Her chest heaved, breaths ragged and heavy with the adrenaline of the fight. Trembling, she slowly turned and locked eyes with Eva — no words spoken, but the ferocity in her gaze said it all.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, her voice raw. "Now you see what I am."
Eva stared at her, her cheek still burning from the slap, her lip swollen, her pulse racing. But she didn't recoil. She stepped forward, past the blood, past the corpses, and pulled Aristea into her arms.
"Thank you," Eva murmured, pressing her face into Aristea's shoulder. "You're not a monster. You saved me. You're amazing."
Aristea stood stiff for a second, as if the words didn't compute. Then she melted, arms tightening around Eva's waist, her chin dipping into her shoulder.
"I'd do it again," she said softly.
"I know," Eva replied, her voice steady.
"Thank you," Eva murmured, pressing her face into Aristea's shoulder. Then, softly, she lifted her head and brushed a gentle kiss against Aristea's lips. "Thank you… for everything."
Aristea's eyes sparkled with mischief as she caught Eva's lips again, deeper this time, her hands framing Eva's face. She leaned in close, her breath warm against Eva's ear.
"I'd do it all over again for you, my huntress," she whispered, before capturing Eva's lips once more in a fierce, tender kiss.
Eva's heart fluttered, the warmth of the moment a sharp contrast to the cold blood around them.
They had no time to mourn or panic.
Aristea checked the bodies swiftly and found what they needed: a satellite phone tucked into one of the men's jacket pockets. Blood coated the casing. Eva took it with a shaking hand and wiped it clean on her dress.
She remembered what her papa had told her. A number burned into her mind since childhood. The Lioré emergency line. No questions asked. Full military - grade response.
Her fingers moved automatically.
It rang once. Then connected.
"Identify," came a cold, accented voice.
"Evangeline Claire Maxwell – Lioré. Clearance 9. Priority black," she answered.
There was a beat of silence. Then, "Coordinates."
Eva glanced at the screen. The GPS was still functioning.
She read them out.
"Estimated pickup?"
"Thirty minutes. Hold position. You are not to be harmed. Do not engage. We are en route."
"Copy," she whispered.
As she hung up, her eyes drifted to the bodies again. They couldn't be found like this. She didn't want anyone — especially not her papa — to see what Aristea had done.
Not because she was ashamed.
But because she wanted to protect her.
"We have to… clean this," Eva said. "We need to make it look like something else killed them. Something wild. This area… it's full of dingoes and ferals. I saw paw prints near the stream."
Aristea frowned. "What are you thinking?"
Eva crouched, smeared some blood outside the cave, dragged one of the bodies slightly toward the entrance. She took a few pieces of the fruit they hadn't eaten and scattered them. "Help me. We'll make it look like they were dragged out and mauled."
Aristea obeyed without question. She even bit her own arm lightly to leave a tooth mark on one of the hands, as horrifying as it was. Eva didn't flinch. Her eyes were calculating, her mind cold.
"You're not soft at all," Aristea murmured when they finished.
"I can't afford to be," Eva replied.
Aristea smiled, a strange glimmer in her gaze. "That's my little goddess. I knew it the moment I saw you. You're not someone to coddle. You're someone to walk beside."
Eva blinked, tilting her head. "What?"
"Nothing," Aristea replied, her smile widening slightly. "Just thinking that this was worth it."
"What was?"
"Being here," Aristea said cryptically. "Even like this. Reborn. Even though I don't have my true form yet."
Eva looked at her, confused but too exhausted to question it.
"Do you believe in fate, Eva?" Aristea asked quietly.
Eva nodded, watching the trees sway. "I do now."
They sat together near the cave entrance, hand in hand, the tension still thick but not unbearable.
The sound of a helicopter roared through the sky minutes later.
Rescue had come.
But something had changed between them — something permanent. Eva had seen what Aristea could do. Aristea had seen who Eva really was beneath the soft dresses and polite smiles.
There was no fear.
Only a shared truth that bound them deeper than before.
They were no longer just heirs.
They were survivors.