Page 139 of Fated In Ruin

Now that I did, my blood ran cold.

The circular room was carved directly into the mountain's heart, its walls so perfectly smooth they looked polished. A pool of still, black water dominated the center, reflecting nothing—not the torches that lined the walls, not the ornate ceiling covered in ancient symbols, and certainly not the tear in reality that hovered ten feet above the dark surface.

That portal pulsed with malevolent energy, a vertical gash in reality itself. Through that silvered opening, I saw nothing but swirling darkness, occasionally broken by flashes of crimson lightning. A faint spiral of magic floated up from the ground, feeding into that gaping hole, creating a magical dissonance that made my teeth ache.

“Evangeline.” Ravok inclined his head, greeting me like we were old friends. “Now we can begin.”

Movement to my left caught my eye. Romulus stepped around me, his face bright with awed reverence, holding a curved ceremonial blade that gleamed in the torchlight. I’d seen that bright silver blade before, both edges equally curved, except the last time I’d seen it…

The knife had been in Caine’s hands, pressed against Rhiannon’s throat.

“You knew she would come,” he murmured to Ravok, awed reverence glowing on his face. “The blood bond ensured her obedience and now the future you predicted arrives at last.”

A slow burning rage ignited, the kind that ate through everything else, until anger was the fuel that fed magic’s dark flames. They were going to kill him, and a shudder went through me.

I loved Malachi Draven.

That fact was carved on my soul, and these two power hungry fucks were not going to steal our future away from us.

“Let him go,” I demanded, my voice steadier than I felt. Even bound in Romulus’s shadows, even unable to move, the only way this was going to end was with these two assholes dead and Malachi and I walking out of here.

The ancient vampire laughed, the sound echoing off the stone walls. “Soon enough I will let him go, and the world will curse me for it.” He gestured toward Malachi with languid grace. “For as often as I have dreamed of this moment, nothing prepared me for the sheer…” His chest expanded with a mighty breath. “Magnificenceof what is about to happen here.”

“You can take your magnificence and shove it up your hairy ass, you fuck. You wanted me here, well, I’m here.” Romulus tapped the knife against his palm, tutting softly.

“Yes. You are.” Ravok’s glee turned into a glower, but I had that effect on people.

“Every step has been so carefully guided, from Aoife, to Rhiannon, to you, and Malachi’s consuming guilt over her death was a delight I hadn’t anticipated. Forgive me if I need a moment to revel in the fact all my planning has paid off.”

“Do me a favor and cut the villain speech short.” I snorted, and those shadows tightened warningly around my throat. “You’re boring me to tears and frankly, I don’t give a fuck.”

Romulus was now looking both stabbyanddeeply disapproving.

“Be that as it may, none of this has really been about me.” Ravok sounded rather snippy for someone who had the both of us bound up and captive.

Confusion rippled through me. “What are you talking about?”

“Your precious Malachi,” Ravok said, circling the pool slowly, as if he, too recognized the inherent danger in that too-still water, “is much more than he appears.” He stopped directly across from me, the portal pulsing nauseatingly behind him.

“Did you never wonder why I choseyouon that battlefield? One soldier out of ten thousand identical, ordinary humans?”

Malachi managed to lift his head, eyes blazing. “How I wish you hadn’t.”

“Still…” Ravok shook his head. “What if I told you we were not there for Tyrell? What if I told you Caine came there for you?Onlyfor you? What if I told you he had discovered something about your bloodline, something your family kept a secret?”

He leaned closer. “Di inferi.”

Malachi struggled against his chains, the metal cutting into his wrists. “Don't listen to him, Evie.”

Ravok continued as if he hadn't spoken. “When I was an Elder, Caine hunted rare bloodlines, those possessing rare magicks and powers. But none were as elusive as yours. He already had his Thirteen by the time we found you, and while Caine could not add you to his collection, I saw your true potential.”

I could barely breathe, not because of the bullshit Ravok was spewing, but because of the waves of dread being telegraphed down the blood bond from Malachi.

“Now that your brother is gone, you are the last descendant of Orcus, punisher of broken oaths, a malicious god who tormented the evil dead. I saw what you might become, in the right hands, at the right moment, with the right confluence of power and blood.” His dark gaze slid to me.

“Two…no,threepowerful bloodlines, and an endless supply of primordial magic. I will mold you into a monster, like the one who first spawned your bloodline and you will consume this world at my command. You will be my punishment, for any who stand against me.”

Malachi began to fight in earnest, blood streaming down into the pool at an alarming rate.

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