Page 93 of Fated In Ruin
“What a poor king you make.” Ravok shook his head, chuckling. “Sentencing your loyal followers to death, all for the sake of one worthless female.” My jaw clenched, magic burning white-hot, the heat searing my face.
“Thisfemaleis worth a thousand of you,” I hissed through my barely restrained rage. “You are a soulless fuck who should never have seen the light of day. Come a little closer and I’ll shove you back in that box myself.”
“How dare you threaten me.” Ravok’s heavy brow dropped until I could barely see his eyes. “You presume to speak to me as an equal, when you are but a…”
“You know,” Blake murmured quietly, giving me a hungry, glittering look I knew all too well, “he talks too much. Don’t you think?”
“This is not the time, Blake,” I hissed, “I swear, do not…”
“How about you go fuck yourself,” Blake shouted, grinning at both of us before he tacked on, “Look, you two would have wasted time going back and forth, I’m just cutting to the chase, seeing how things were starting to drag on.”
“God, Blake,” Evie muttered, “just wave the red flag, why don’t you?” But her cheeks were pink, her eyes nearly as bright as Blake’s, lips curved into a vicious smile.
“Let them come. They won’t get through,” Malachi stated with his usual arrogance, his eyes fixed not on his Maker, but on the tall vampire beside him, and those warning bells in my head grew louder.
Ravok's response was a casual wave of his hand. “Bring her to me.” His gaze turned darker as the vampire beside him leaned in. “Unharmed,” he added, as if the brainless creatures needed a reminder.
His thralls surged forward like a tidal bore, their movements unnaturally swift and coordinated.Because they were controlled by one mind.
That wall of pale, demonic faces chomped the air with broken teeth, feet digging chunks out of the ground, legs blurring as they closed the gap between us. I spooled up more magic, preparing to hit them with a plume of fire, then everything stopped.
They crashed into Malachi's invisible glamour, a barrier as thin as silk but apparently stronger than steel, and for a moment, confusion rippled through their ranks as they struggled to breach something they couldn't see.
“Told you not to worry.” Malachi preened like a peacock. “One of these days, maybe you’ll listen.”
That moment was all we needed.
Fiona struck first, drawing fiery sigils in the air. Flames erupted in precise arcs, cutting down the front lines of thralls. The air filled with their inhuman shrieks as they burned, their bodies crumbling to ash. The smell was horrific, but no worse than the rotting reek.
Evie’s shadowy fire lashed out sporadically, most—not all—of her strikes going in the right direction. Everywhere her power touched, thralls froze solid, crumbled into piles of frosty ash, trampled into the mud by the horde of churning feet.
She was beautiful and terrible to watch, and for a heartbeat, I almost pitied those who faced her.
Almost.
Blake and I locked eyes for a fraction of a second, a plan forming without words. Together, we gathered our power, letting it build until a cloud of darkness loomed over us, riven with crackling bolts of white fire. The thralls between us and Ravok never stood a chance. Our combined power cut through them like butter, opening a clear path to their master.
Ravok's eyes widened slightly, the first hint of uncertainty I'd seen from him. Blake and I struck as one, our magic merging into a fiery spear that struck Ravok square in the chest. The impact drove him back several steps, his boots digging furrows in the earth.
But he didn't fall.
Instead, he laughed, a sound harsher than a screaming wind. “Is that all you have for me?” he asked, straightening his jacket with exaggerated care. “I expected more from the king and his loyal dog. Come now, Riordan, where is all that pent up rage? Has your courage been lost beneath all the self-doubt? Or did it never exist to begin with?”
“Don’t let him get to you, he’s fucking with your head,” Blake muttered. “Let’s shut him up.”
“Yes, let’s.” But there was a chink in my armor now, some of that doubt creeping in to poison my confidence, my snapping fiery creatures moving erratically before I got them back under control.
But not quickly enough to evade Ravok’s notice.
“So many memories of the weak son, hiding his true power because of the father he feared. You may have killed your sire and stolen his throne, but a true king would have risen up and taken what he wanted. I’ve tasted them all, you know,” Ravok crooned.
“I know your weaknesses better than you know yourself.” His gaze landed on Evangeline, and I fought the urge to throw myself between them.
“You don’t deserve her. In time, she would have grown tired of you, like you feared. Better to end this now, before she realizes what a weak, worthless male you truly are.”
More thralls poured in through the gaps in our defense, forcing us to divide our attention. They were a mixture of Silverwoods, of mercenaries, of Tyrell’s desiccated soldiers. Anyone, it seemed, Ravok could sink his fangs into.
Was that how he’d gotten so strong, so fast?
