Page 77 of Fated In Ruin

The very air in the garden seemed to freeze when she repeated,“When silver wood rises and ravens take flight, a dark son returns, under cloak of midnight. Blood will combine to give birth to a king, a High Lord of Night, a future to bring. Crowned shadows awake, with his queen by his side, both claimed by darkness, illusion’s dark bride.”

My knees nearly gave out. Malachi’s memory had been real, after all. “Yeah, well, I’ll never be that douchebag’s fucking queen.Never.”

“Then you’ll have to fight him.” She tilted her head as more and more shadowy flames leaked from me, until it looked like we stood in the middle of a river of black.

I clenched my hands tighter at my sides. “That prophecy indicatesmyblood turns him into this High Lord. You’re saying I was made for this?”

Fiona hesitated. “Not made.Born. Your mother bound your magic to hide you, and after I tested you that day…I tried—gods help me, I tried—to make sure you remained hidden, but it was already too late, he’d seen you. Then, once he was free, your only path was to claim your magic and become strong enough to face him.”

Well, this was total bullshit.

I wasn’t liking this bound-for-destiny vibe I was getting.

“Itriedto face him.” My pulse thundered in my ears, my emotions turning cataclysmic. “It was a total shitshow and now Malachi’s his captive and Ravok’s only going to get stronger.”

Are you okay, Evie?A flicker of warmth trickled down the mating bond, and I looked up to where Blake was watching, palms flattened on the windowpane, his powerful torso illuminated by moonlight, dark hair framing his eyes, glowing like coals.

I’m fine. Just…lots of new developments.

Fiona followed my gaze to the window. “There are untapped depths to your power you have not yet discovered, depths Ravok fears. He hunted for Rhiannon, for her bloodline, because he knew that with her blood, with her magic, he would ascend to become more powerful than any other entity before.”

I felt as though the ground beneath me had cracked open, tendrils of black shadow seeping out into the air around me. “Why didn’t he find her?”

Fiona’s gaze darkened. “Because I helped hide her. As I hid all those who came before you.”

My breath hitched.All those…How old was Fiona? “You—you knew my mother?”

A shadow crossed Fiona’s face, “Aurora was a friend, long before Tyrell captured her and gave her to Silas. When I first saw you…I knew exactly who you were and knew Ravok wouldn’t be far behind.”

The weight of her words crushed the air from my lungs. I had spent years on the run with my mother and Angel—but my sister had been a child, I’d been a teenager…of course Mom hadn’t survived alone. All these years I’d entertained some romantic notion it was just the three of us against the world, but the only reason we’d survived was because we’d had help.

“You’ve been lying to me since the day we met.”And here I was, feeling all guilty because I’d kept my magic a secret. She’d known all along.“Neither did your brother. Did Eldric know who I was? Who Angel was?”

“He knew.” There was no hesitation in her voice. “And before you point your finger at me and call me a liar, if you had learned the truth, you would have gone looking for answers. And those questions would have led Ravok straight back to you.”

I could barely hear her over the rush of blood in my ears. “Does Blake know? Or Riordan?” I was drowning in panic, in something even worse than panic. Was I the only one who didn’t know who I was?

And what was I, exactly?

“No,” she said firmly. “And they still don’t. Your secrets are not mine to tell, only to keep. You are strong, Evangeline. You have a purpose, greater than any of us. Ravok has been a dark cloud looming on the horizon my entire life, the threat I always knew was coming, and now he is here.”

Her face softened. “You were supposed to be ready for this. Aurora was supposed to train you, prepare you for this fight, but Silas killed her before she had the chance.”

“And then?” I demanded. “If you were such a good friend, why didn’t you help us?”

She stared at me, her eyes glimmering with something almost like pride. “Because Silas trained you too well. Once you took your sister into hiding, none of the people I sent to find you could. You are the best slayer I’ve ever seen, and I wasn’t lying when I told Ysbeth to give you a chance to prove yourself, because I knew you would.”

“You say I’m Ravok’s counterbalance. But you’re afraid of me, aren’t you?” Silence stretched between us, then finally, she exhaled.

“Yes.”

My chest ached with something I couldn’t fathom. Anger. Grief. Betrayal. All three.

“Why?”

“Because power like yours is a double-edged sword. If you allow the darkness to consume you…you could become worse than Ravok ever was.”

She hesitated, as if she couldn’t bear to say the words. “And if he finds you and uses you to become this…High Lord, then our world, as we know it, will end.”

---