Page 56 of Fated In Ruin
He roared in pain, but when the air between us cleared, he was still upright, his face a mess of gashes and blisters
Rubbing his sternum, though, so at least I’d left a mark.
Where are you?I thought desperately to Malachi.He can’t stand the sun. We need to get rid of all these shadows and let the light kill him for us.
“Come get me, asshole.” Ravok’s lips peeled back as he growled at me like an animal. I took one bracing breath and dropped my controls, a wall of fire consuming me, then peered out at Ravok through a wall of dark flame.
“That will cost you, witch.”
A different kind of darkness exploded from him, not the shadows above us, blocking the sun, but something solid and crushing, slamming into me like a brick wall, sending me careening into Malachi, who barely had time to catch me.
He wrapped us in a cloak of shimmering glamour, and I smelled…blood?
I reached up, gripping his arm…he was bleeding.All over.
“What happened? Where have you been?” I checked his other arm, his face…he wascoveredin gashes, even deeper than those I’d inflicted on Ravok. “We have to get rid of these shadows.”
“It’s too late for that, Vicious.” Malachi’s gaze bounced from my face to the monster calling up another cloud of pure black, and his arms tightened, his body curling protectively around me. “I’m going to give you something and I want you to…”
Breath exploded from my lungs as Ravok’s magic slammed into us again, something in my spine gave way, a vertebra, maybe.
We flew through the air, ten feet, twenty…thirty. Malachi wrapped me tighter into his arms and crushed me firm against his chest before his body tensed, bracing for impact.
He somehow spun us so he’d take the brunt of the collusion and even so, pain lanced through me when we crashed on the dew-slicked stone. Skin shredded and bone shattered as we skidded over grass and rock, my ribs burning with every desperate breath until we finally stopped.
Tangled up in Malachi’s embrace, seconds passed before I could even open my eyes.
We were both alive, but that was where the good news ended.
Malachi had taken all the damage, slumped against the wall, blood dripping from his nose, eyes dark with pain. I carefully extricated myself and swallowed at the sheer amount of blood he was losing.
He’d never get us out of here.
We were trapped and somehow, Ravok had grown even stronger, so much magic whirling around us, the entire yard was engulfed in a fume of rancid smelling smoke, completely blocking the sun. The pain was so intense I couldn’t force my flames to do anything, blood dribbling from my nose; my broken hand wouldn’t work.
“Well, that fucking hurt.” Malachi’s grip on me loosened, thumbs rubbing over my skin before his hands dropped away, searching my face as if there were a million things he wanted to tell me.
“He’s too strong. Stronger than he’s ever been before. I don’t know how he recovered in two days, but this is over, Vicious.” His voice shook slightly, air rattling in his chest with every pained breath. “Over.”
He dropped a chain over my head, and something warm and round and heavy dropped between my breasts. “Promise me,” Malachi murmured, “you’ll get far away from here. There’s a clan in Ireland, ask for Brendan Thorne, he’s an old friend. He’ll know how to keep you and Angel safe.”
I could barely lift my hand to poke his chest. “We’re not finished here…why are you giving up?”
“Because I’ve made many terrible mistakes in my life…but you will not be one of them.”
His gaze lifted over my head, his mouth thinning out at whatever he saw.
“I never deserved you, Evangeline. I’ll buy you as much time as I can so you can warn the others. Maybe, with some luck, you’ll all have a chance.” He slid two fingers down the chain and pulled up the small, glowing globe that only moments ago been around my father’s neck and spoke two words?—
“Crimson House.”
My eyes widened as his lips brushed across mine, the barest touch, regret dampening the fire in his eyes. The temperature around us plummeted, his beautiful, doomed face turning into a smear as my breath was snatched from my lungs and I dematerialized.
Without him.
25
EVANGELINE
