Page 78 of Fated In Ruin
The weight of her fear settled on my shoulders, suffocating. “You were trying to stop that from happening. But then…it happened anyway.”
Fiona nodded. “He sees the future, there’s no way to outmaneuver him. I planned to teach you control, train you to be strong. Now…now we have to figure out how to stop him while he holds all the cards.”
I swallowed hard, my throat burning. “How…” I swallowed. “How is he going to use my blood to become this High Lord? Is there a ritual, or something else?”Oh God, don’t let there be something horrible.
Of course, there was something horrible, there wasalwayssomething horrible.
“We don’t know.” Fiona crossed her arms over her chest. “There would certainly have to be a ritual, and magic, and a spell of intention, mixed with your blood. Eldric is searching for an answer, and if I know my brother, he is close to finding one.”
Turning away, I stared over the moonlight flecked gardens, glancing up to where Blake still watched over me from above, arms crossed over his chest like my own personal sentinel.
I wished Malachi was here, with his soothing words and clever hands, and I was still soaking in that steaming bath. My magic had been so easy—so effortless—to control that day, like this dark power was an integral part of me. But Malachi was a prisoner, and if I wanted to save him, I had to figure out a way to do this on my own.
“So what now?”
Fiona’s voice was quiet, but firm. “Now, I’m locking your magic down, and then, you decide what you wish to become. The pawn or the sword, and I’ll remind you, pawns are always the first to get sacrificed.”
“Swords break,” I countered.
“But not before they draw blood. Now stop arguing and let me do this.”
33
EVANGELINE
The air between us crackled, thick and charged, as if night itself held its breath while Fiona wove an especially complicated pattern with her fingers, her expression unreadable. A smothering warmth settled over me, and that quickly, the churning tempest inside me faded to nothing.
“So…you knew,” I said, trying not to soundtoojudgmental. “You knew about my magic. You knew about Rhiannon. And you knew Malachi’s role in all of it.”
Fiona exhaled slowly, her eyes searching mine as if gauging how much truth I could handle right now. Or how much she was willing to reveal. “Yes, Evangeline,” she said, her voice steady. “I knew everything.”
The admission knocked the breath from me. “A heads up would have been nice. Instead of me fumbling like an idiot.” My body tensed, despite my best attempts to control my temper. “Did you know I helped destroy the entire castle? My sister…people could havediedthat night, Fiona.”
“Firstly, you hated that castle, and secondly, everyone made it out safely,thanksto your sister. If I thought they wouldn’t, I would have intervened. I was there, remember?” Fiona threw up her hands, like I was being unreasonable.
“Look, the thing about the future…you can’t stop events from happening, because it will cause a chain reaction that might produce an even worse outcome. I had no choice but to let that night play out and do damage control.”
“And when Ravok took over Riordan? You recognized him, didn’t you?”
Her mouth thinned out. “Yes. And I didn’t see that coming. Something I’ve lost a lot of sleep over.”
“Why not at least give us…advice?” My voice rose, “Why would you let me believe I was powerless, when all along?—”
“Because you weren’t ready,” Fiona interrupted, her tone firm but not unkind. “You still aren’t, but we are far past the point of making choices.”
“IknowI’m not ready. Ravok nearly killed me and Malachi with a snap of his fingers,” I hissed, my magic stirring beneath my skin, and despite Fiona’s block, the entire garden darkened at the edges, shadows pooling in the corners.
For a moment, I didn’t care.
I was tempted to show the entire world what I was.
Fiona watched that darkness grow, completely unfazed. “You have no idea what you're playing with, Evangeline. Magic like yours does not obey. This kind of power takes and twists and if you are not careful, it will consume you, like it did Rhiannon.”
Wait…what? Rhiannon’s magic—the same magic I now possessed and didn’t want—had consumed her? Was that how she died?
A burst of emotion curdled my magic into something jagged. I stepped closer, my breath coming faster. “Tell me everything you know about Rhiannon, Fiona. Why did my magic show me anexact version of her facewhen I thought of her?”
Fiona’s lips pressed into a rueful smile. “Because when you love someone, jealousy is a powerful thing.”
