Page 85 of Fated In Ruin
I’m not going to hurt you, but you can’t kill them. A feral growl rumbled down the bond and I rolled my eyes.Fine, then. I’m not letting you go until you’re thinking clearly.
“That’s impressive,” Fiona muttered. “You’ve been holding out on me, Evangeline.”
“Impressive is right,” Eldric said, with more enthusiasm than his sister. “For a second there, I thought I was about to see the fight of the century.” He lowered his voice. “You could always let him go and see what happens. My money’s on Marten.”
“Stop goading him,” I hissed. “I don’t even know how I’m doing this.” I kept my magic carefully tangled around my struggling mate as Malachi and Virgil limped across the ward.
“Clearly, your instincts took over. An interesting development,” Fiona said breezily, sealing the ward back together with a wave of her hand. “You can release Blake now; his jealous rage has faded and he’s back in control.”
Indeed, my mate—his eyes back to warm brown—scowled at me likeIwas the one who’d totally lost my shit.
“Relax your body, you’re stiff as a board,” Eldric murmured in my ear. “Then loosen your hold on your magic, let it slide back into place inside you.” Those shadow flames slowly slipped away, though not without licking over his body one last time, paying special attention to my mate’s impressive hard on.
My magic, it seemed, had different ideas about this being anappropriate time.
“Hmmm,” Eldric said, studiously looking up at the sky, “I suppose that did the trick.”
“Oh, shut up. You really are an idiot, aren’t you?” I muttered, turning away so I didn’t have to deal with his bullshit. And to give Malachi a quick once over.
Despite being covered in dried blood and still-healing bruises, he looked intact. He’d been tortured, burns covering his neck, his arm, pink scars from knives and God-knows what other torture devices peppering his naked torso.
I wanted nothing more than to race across the distance between us and inspect every wound, to wash off the blood and dirt, to scold him for sending me away like he did. But the tension between these males was about to detonate.
The last thing I wanted to be was the match that set off the explosion.
“I see you’re ready for war.” Despite looking half-dead, Malachi managed to straighten to his full height and shove Virgil away. “I’ll tell you right now, you need more guards.”
The glare he fixed on me was tinged with possessive jealousy, and when he looked over to Blake…okay, these two were definitely going to be a problem. “Ravok will be here within the hour, and he’ll break through these wards within a few minutes.”
“They’ll hold. You didn’t manage to get through.” Fiona sniffed haughtily, peering down her nose at him.
“Take a good look,” Malachi indicated his beat-to-shit state, “and tell me I can do any-fucking-thing in this shape. That bastard’s coming for Evangeline, and he’ll be here within the hour. Do any one of you want to take a chance on him taking her? Because I’m not. Now get me inside.”
His eyes locked with mine. “Once I feed, that fucker will never get near her.”
* * *
My blood went cold.Then hot.
He wanted to…feed from me?
Not a good idea. Blake was on the verge of combusting, and while Riordan had locked his emotions down beneath a mask if ice, once that control shattered, his rage would be devastating.
“Vicious,” Malachi’s eyes begged forgiveness, “this is the last thing I want to ask of you, but we only have one chance to survive this.” His pleading voice was quiet, devoid of swagger and even his usual charm. Instead, he sounded exhausted.
“Come on,” I muttered, turning on my heel and heading for the front doors. Angel and Bex waited in the opening, my sister’s gaze narrowing on Virgil, and I wondered if she even recognized him. She’d only been a child when we’d left, and Mom had always kept her insulated from the rest of the family.
“Hey, Evie. Long time no see.” Virgil trotted along behind us like a kicked dog, head swiveling from side to side, as if he knew his life might end at any moment.
“Virgil, I’m surprised to see you.”Alive. And how the hell had Malachi ended up with my cousin, of all people? And why wasn’t he a thrall, like everyone else?
“Yeah, well.” He scratched the back of his neck as we crossed into Crimson House, his eyes goggling as he looked around. “I’m not actually sure why I’m here and not dead, but I’ll take it.”
Riordan and Blake shouldered through the doorway behind us, then we were all packed into the foyer, plenty spacious for seven people, but not when three of them wanted to rip each other’s heads off, and one was a human about to piss his pants.
Finally, Malachi cleared his throat. “I’ll just say it, since we’re about to go to war, anyway. The only way I can face Ravok is if I feed. Evangeline’s blood is the strongest. I would prefer to do this alone, but I understand you don’t trust me, so…her sister will serve as a chaperone.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Angel muttered.
