Page 41 of Fated In Ruin
But no matter how many times I ran through the possibilities, the answer was always the same:there is no path where she survives this unscathed.
No scenario where she did not face him alone, magic to magic. My hands curled into fists. The very idea of her getting that close to Ravok was unbearable.
Because this was Evangeline.
I had been damned long before I ever laid eyes on her, but the moment I did, I knew damnation had a new name. It wasn’t the iron chains of my Maker, or the blood debt I could never repay, or even the monstrous existence I had carved out for myself in this soulless species.
No, my curse washer.
I’d heard that prophecy with my own ears, had replayed the words a thousand times over and yes, up until the first time I’d seen Evangeline at Tyrell’s auction, I’d never even once entertained the idea the prophecy might pertain…to me.
“When silver wood rises and angels…”
Ever since the moment that prophecy was first spoken into the world, ever since the fates of Ravok and the Bloodmoon Coven and Caine and even myself had been bound together, it was a known fact that prophecy pertained to Caine alone.
Until Ravok decided the words somehow applied to him and his perverse version of the future.
And here I was, making the same mistake, grasping at the illusion of greatness like a dying man grasped at life.
But the way she walked into my world, fierce and stubborn, spine steel-straight even when she should have been afraid. The way she looked at me—not with fear, but with challenge, as if daring me to be more than the wreck I was. The way she spoke my name when I was dying, like I wasn’t some ruined creature unworthy of her presence.
I’d convinced myself she was mine, yet I had no business loving her.
But I did.
I had loved Evangeline since before she was even born.
But the first moment I’d seen her was like being struck by a bolt of lightning, and I’d been running from the truth ever since. Love was a foolish, hopeless thing. Evangeline would never belong to me. I did notdeserveanyone as good as her. She was light, and I was shadow. She was warmth, and I was cold, dead ruin.
But gods help me, I would tear this world apart to keep her safe.
I’d given my word once before, the only other heart-oath I’d ever sworn, one that transcended even Ravok’s, and I meant to keep my promise this time.
Even if that meant stepping aside. Even if it meant giving her to someone who could actually beenough.Someone who would treasure her and treat her like the queen she was born to be.
Which meant letting her go.
The thought had my throat tightening, my mind spinning in endless, maddening circles. I closed my eyes, steeling myself. Chances were, the prophecy was bullshit. Ravok was our biggest threat, and once he was gone and this was over, I would honor the promise she’d made me swear.
I would leave these shores and never see Evangeline Silverwood again.
Because even though these past hours had been the best of my life, Ihadto give her up.
For her sake.
* * *
I didn’t knowhow long I sat there, the silence gnawing at the edges of my memories.
Outside, the wind picked up, clawing against the windows like a living thing, rattling the iron-bound windows as a squall whipped off the ocean. I barely noticed, too lost in this endless loop of worry and the euphoric after effects of drinking from Evie.
Her blood healed me, remade me, and now all I wanted was her.
When she’d prowled toward me, lust written all over her face, ready to pin me down and take me, I’d almost let her. I almost let the moment play out, just for the sheer pleasure I knew I’d find at her hands. Her mouth. Her pussy. I groaned and pitched forward, burying my head in my hands.
The sweet smell of her arousal had nearly made me spill, right there, with her lips on my throat and my cock trapped between us, but I’d managed to pull myself together in time. Only because after desire faded, she would have regretted our coupling.
And somehow, I could survive her hate, but to have her think of us with shame…
