Page 68 of Fated In Ruin
“More like being sucked down into a giant whirlpool meant to drown me.”
Angel’s lips parted, but she stayed silent. I saw the questions in her eyes, the ones she was waiting for me to answer.
“I guess it started when he let me see his memories.” My voice shook, and I hated how raw I sounded. “Not just glimpses. He wanted me to see my past.” I nodded to the books. “Our bloodline goes back to one of those covens, and he was there. He knew our ancestors. Somehow, Malachi’s part of our history, but I don’t know how. I need you to…”
I really needed to talk to Fiona. Make her tell me everything she knew.
Malachi repeating the mistakes of the past…Ravok had been hunting for Rhiannon, and Malachi…had he protected her? Clearly, they’d been friends…even lovers.
My gut tightened at the idea and I told myself to calm the fuck down.
But the truth was so obvious now that I’d taken a step back. I’d seen his memories and the only way he could have possibly shown me those three particular events was if he’d been present at each one.
“Tell me everything you’ve discovered about necromancy and the covens. I need to know how the magic works, how it’s passed down from witch to witch, anything you’ve found, no matter how insignificant.”
“Do you care about him?” Angel asked, instead. “Malachi? Do you want to escape the whirlpool, Evie? Or do you want to get sucked in?”
“I…” He’d been so gentle, so caring, so…focusedon me. There hadn’t been a single thing he’d hidden from me, and yes, if I was honest, I wanted more.
I wanted to watch the arrogant, cold vampire come undone in my hands. I wanted to reach behind the mask and uncover the male hiding there. The one with a heart that beat only for me, whose very soul seemed to call outfor me.
“I thought—” I inhaled sharply, forcing myself to say it. “I thought that night meant something.”
Bex murmured softly, “But now you’re not so sure.”
I clenched my fists, nails digging into my palms. “What if it was all a charade? What if he seduced me, and this was another one of his lies?” The thought burned like acid, especially after I’d trusted him. Because against all logic, against all reason, Ihadtrusted Malachi. I had let myself believe what we had was real.
“And yet, you still want to save him,” Angel murmured, every word full of judgment. “Enough to convince Riordan and Blake to help you.” Her blue eyes narrowed down to slits. “After youcheatedon them.”
“I know.” I stared down at my hands. “I know I’m asking too much after I betrayed them, and I’m not expecting anyone to understand or even forgive me for what I did. I could give you a hundred reasons why I feel a connection to Malachi, but in the end…in the end, I’m owning my decision.” I swallowed, then lifted my gaze to hers. “For good or bad, I care for him, Angel, and I’m not leaving him there to die.”
The room was quiet for a moment, save for the crackling of the fire. Then Bex sighed, reaching for a book. “The only coven with a documented incidence of necromancy was the Bloodmoon Coven, though there was no name attached to the records.”
Angel and I traded a glance.
“But Bloodmoon witches could channel any kind of darkness, including residual lifeforces of the dead, gather strength from the shadows, or even harness the remnants of a civilization's sins, which are usually tied to bloody events, like battlefields, or places where great evils took place.”
I tensed,remnants of sins…where great evils took place.
Or those who committed great evil.
“The coven excelled in curses, though, especially anything to do with black magic, and their powers tended to be darker. At their strongest, some could open doors to realms that should never be walked by mortals, but all of this came at the cost of losing one’s soul.”
Yes, Malachi had issued a similar, gruesome warning.
“What else do you know about harnessing sins, specifically?” I asked. “How can sin be attached to the ground?”
“Oh. I just read about this.” Bex scrambled off the bed and sorted through the books. “Here,” she leafed through until her finger stopped on a page. “Thus do the lands hold memory, Sin, once anchored in the living, does not remain idle. The maligned essence of grave misdeeds seeps into the material realm, and those who pass through such tainted lands often feel an unseen, inexplicable weight upon their souls. To tread upon sin-anchored ground is to walk upon the very history of suffering, and those who understand this may wield great power—for destruction or for redemption.” She risked a quick glance at me.
“Let this be both warning and wisdom: the sins of the past do not fade with time. They remain bound to the bones of the earth, waiting to be reckoned with by those who dare raise them from their sleep.”
Was that what I was doing? Raising sins from their sleep? Malachi said I was bringing Ravok’s sins to life, but what if my abilities went even deeper? What if my magic somehow activated theessenceof sin, and gave it form?
The Silverwood Compound was certainly steeped in centuries of sin and blood, and Malachi’s castle… I shuddered at the thought. His hands were rarely clean of wrongdoing.
But was this something I could harness? A weapon I could wield against Ravok?
“Well, that sounds perfectly ominous,” I said airily, as if my mind wasn’t churning out end of the world scenarios, one after another.
