Evelyn Morley was not herself. As delighted as she was to have Balfour home, it wasn’t necessarily a good sign. And that was only confirmed when he shared that Feiyan was in pain. Feiyan is in pain. Feiyan is not okay. The thought bounced around her skull, violently, leaving a headache as it impacted against her temples. 

Like always, after every tense meeting, Eve went towards the gardens, knowing she shouldn’t bother Balfour unless he sought her out. Questions later. Right now, she needed the steadiness of her flowers and plants around her and the comfort of their whispers.

Angry grey clouds crawled across the sky, swallowing the sun. The heavy heat of a storm was low in the air, tight with a tension desperate to snap into place. A drizzle, light enough that she could ignore it and sit cross-legged in the grass and under the protection of a thick canopy of trees, eyes closing, sinking into memories and worries.

The rain came stronger and when she opened her eyes again, after what seemed like a while, she registered the way her clothes were clinging to her skin and her hair was slick. Blinking against the drops, her head tilted up, a gasp at the attack on her face escaping her. There was no ignoring it any longer, even if she hadn’t had the chance to calm the racing of her heart. She reached out, pressing her hand into the dirt. Close. A hum of magic poured out from her veins and into the earth, closing the petals of the delicate flowers against the storm.

Only... they didn’t listen. She could feel the resistance of her garden, fighting against her and Evelyn recoiled back as if she had been slapped. Instead of closing, everything started to grow. “No. Stop. Stop.” A muscle in her jaw jumped, eyebrows tight together, as she willed her garden to do her bidding, memories of before she had control of her magic blinding her, panic a tumour in her chest she couldn’t breathe around. The garden ignored her still and she jumped away from the tree to her feet, feel the bark moving around her, the roots starting to make the earth rise as the tree shot towards the violent sky.

“Stop. Stop. STOP. Fuck, fuck, shit, fuck, shit, fuck. Stop, stop, stop.” She swirled around on the spot, watching her garden go from beautiful and neat to wild and untamed. “KIAN––” Evelyn shouted, because he was the one person that always made her feel safe and she had learned to control her powers by his side. 

“KIAN! SOMEBODY! PLEASE!”