Page 128 of Fated In Ruin
Ravok was somewhere inside, and so was Malachi.
“Spread out. Secure the perimeter,” Nash ordered in a hushed voice, sending his Knightsguard moving silently into the trees.
Fiona stepped forward, her eyes glowing faintly in the darkness as she studied the steep mountainside leading up to where the castle was perched precariously on a jutting sliver of rock. “There,” she murmured, pointing to a section of crumbling outer wall. “That's your entry point. The wards are weakest there.”
“And Malachi?” Riordan turned to me.
“He's inside already. Underground.” My eyes flew open. “He's not alone.”
Blake swore colorfully. “Of course, he had to play the hero. Couldn't wait for backup.”
I didn’t bother telling him Malachi hadn’twantedbackup on his nobler-than-thou mission, nor did he expect any. But here we were, whether he liked it or not.
“We need to move.” Eldric’s gaze was pinned on the castle. “We’re being watched. Fiona, how long to breach the wards?”
The witch frowned in concentration. “Two minutes. Like I suspected, the magic is old, powerful but simple enough to break. I could rip straight through them, but that would raise an alarm.”
“A minute is all we need,” Riordan said, checking his weapons like everyone else, one last time. Silver blades, iron spikes to neutralize magic, Rutger 40 mils, because why stab when you could shoot? Of course, every bullet contained silver nitrate, turning them into little missiles of death.
“Evangeline stays with me,” Riordan said, in a tone that invited no argument. “She can track Malachi, which makes her our most valuable asset and the most likely target if Ravok senses our presence.”
I wanted to protest—I hadn't come all this way to be protected—but his logic was sound.
Our magic was back to full strength, but to finish him off, Blake had suggested, it would take all three of us, our magicks united, honed into a singular weapon. Too bad we hadn’t had time for a test run, but the theory was sound.
Fiona approached the ward, a barely visible net of light that had protected this place for centuries. Impressive, really, given it looked frailer than a spider’s web. She dragged her finger down the barrier, leaving a trail of fire in its wake, the shadows around us twisting unnaturally.
“When I say move,” she whispered, “youmove. Don't stop until you're through.”
I felt the exact moment she pierced the wards—the air before us rippled, revealing a tear in the spiderweb, tattered edges floating like ghosts—but past that opening appeared to be nothing but empty space.
“Now,” Fiona hissed.
We moved as one, covering the ten feet between us and that gaping nothingness in seconds. Nash's soldiers were already in position around the perimeter, blending into the rocky terrain. Fiona held the tear open, which was growing worrisomely smaller with each passing second.
“Hurry,” she urged. “I can’t hold this open forever.”
Blake went through first, then Riordan, gripping my elbow. Eldric practically crashed into me, shoving me through as the opening snapped shut behind us, Fiona remaining on the other side. The sensation of crossing over was odd, but not painful, moment of resistance, biting cold, then sudden release.
“Well, that was close,” Eldric hissed in my ear. “I thought you were going to leave me behind.”
“Of course, we weren’t,” I whispered back, even though Blake slanted him a look that might as well have said,yes we were, asshole.
We found ourselves in what must once have been a courtyard, now overgrown with vegetation that seemed wrong somehow—too dark, too grotesque, as if rooted in some invisible evil. The castle's keep loomed above us, a broken tooth against the night sky.
I scrubbed my frozen arms. “Why can’t magic ever be warm and fuzzy?” I complained. “Why does it always have to be mean and bitey?”
“Mine likes to play nice.” Blake’s lips brushed my ear. “And even when it’s mean and bitey, you never complain.”
I batted him away. “That’s because…” I rolled my eyes. “Now is not the time,” I scolded. “We need to get serious here.”
“The stakes are high,” Blake agreed with a wicked grin and another long nuzzle at my throat, “but with you, it’salwaysthe time, Evie.”
“Stop fucking around, Blake. Give us a report, Silver,” Riordan instructed. “Where are we going?”
I reached out and out and…Malachi was deep inside the mountain itself, but…there was no apparent way inside.
“He’s right in front of us, but there’s no way to just…go get him, is there?” I waved my hands, incapable of explaining. “I mean, can’t you just…fly us inside the mountain?”
