Page 134 of Fated In Ruin

My heart pounded as I fought, desperation clawing at my throat as I glanced at my knife, forgotten on the floor, but those wicked, cruel chains bit in deeper and dragged me forward toward the water.

Toward the portal.

Toward my doom.

59

EVANGELINE

During the seconds I was debating ignoring Blake’s order—adirectorder that I’d promised to obey—the choice was taken from me.

A violent pull wrenched me downward, the stone floor dissolving beneath my feet. Cold darkness swallowed me whole, and I plummeted, twisting and spinning, weightless yet suffocating. A force—something ancient, something cruel—dragged me into the abyss.

I fell for what felt like hours, arms flailing, legs kicking.

I might have screamed, before the wind tore the breath from my lungs, and I lost my best knife as I clawed at the rushing air to stop my descent.

I hit the ground hard, shattering the silver nitrate vials, one of my own daggers slicing into my thigh.

The smothering, stale air was damp and smelled of limestone and decay. Flickering torches cast jagged shadows on the hewn walls of a labyrinth—identical corridors leading off in all directions. My pulse roared in my ears as I staggered to my feet, trying to get my bearings.

Then Ravok was right in front of me.

The Ancient emerged from the darkness, wreathed in smoke and shadows, his crimson-flecked gaze gleaming with triumph as he bore down on me. My magic guttered, sinking back into the well at my center. I tried to keep breathing, but down here, in his domain, even the air was poisoned with his oppressive power.

“I have foreseen this moment so many times,” he murmured, his silken voice sinister. He stepped closer, power radiating from him like a storm waiting to break. “You, brought to me at last. Fate always corrects its course.”

I glared up at him, willing myself to speak. “You don’t control fate any more than you control us. Now where is Malachi?”

His lips curled. “But I do. And Malachi…” He sighed, almost wistful. “His death is inevitable. I have seen it. You must accept that as truth.”

A chill raced down my spine, but before I could react, a voice—warm, steady, and achingly familiar—bloomed in my mind.

Run, Evangeline. You have to run. Now. None of what you see is real, but soon enough, it will be and I cannot keep you safe.

Malachi. He was still alive. My breath caught. His words sent a rush of fresh resolve through me.

You are the one thing he cannot control.

Ravok’s gaze sharpened, as if sensing our silent conversation. He reached for me, fingers curling in the air like invisible chains tightening around my throat. That hand swiped straight toward my face…

And nothing but a wash of cold air brushed over me.

When I opened my eyes, the corridor was empty.An illusion. That had been an illusion.

Run,Malachi urged.I’ll buy you as much time as I can, but you have to get everyone out of here, none of you will survive if you don’t.

I didn’t hesitate. Whirling on my heel, I sprinted deeper into the labyrinth, following the fragile trail of the blood bond, toward Malachi, and toward Ravok.

* * *

The serpentine corridorswound before me like the insides of some stone beast. Every breath was a ragged gasp, each inhale carried the scent of damp stone tinged with something metallic and familiar.

Malachi's blood.

I pressed my palm flat against my throat where the blood bond throbbed like a second pulse, increasingly frantic. The insistent warning worked like a compass point, pulling me deeper and deeper into this labyrinth, a maze I would never find my way out of.

“Hold on,” I whispered, though he couldn't hear me. “I'm coming.”

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