Page 101 of Fated In Blood

I smelled the reek of Silverwoods all around us, along with a shit ton of human testosterone and gunpowder. They’d hired mercenaries for backup. Thirty, maybe more.

“We need help, Blake.” Riordan gazed at the scene, his face wiped of all emotion, eyes clear and steady. “With only two of us, I can’t buy you enough time to get in and out. Those snipers will pick you both off before you free her from those shackles.”

Evangeline’s head lolled to the side, fresh blood running down her neck and soaking the collar of her shirt beneath the leather jacket.

“You’re not wrong, but I’m going in anyway. We can’t wait, Rohr.”

She was fading, her heart pumping slower and slower, eyes closed, every freckle visible against her white skin. I was going to lose her. I’d fallen for her, rejected her, and made her my enemy, all within the space of an hour. I’d wasted a week despising her, and now I was about to lose her forever.

I didn’t think I could hate the Silverwoods any more intensely, but seeing what Silas had done to his own daughter…loathing solidified into violence, vengeance screaming in my veins.

“Do you think she managed to find the dagger?” Riordan wondered softly, staring across the field at Evangeline, eyes narrowed in concentration.

“I don’t give a good goddamn about the dagger.” I growled, flexing my sweaty hands, dying to wrap them around Silas’s scrawny throat.

Rohr surveyed the scene once more before shaking his head. “What we need is a distraction.”

Evangeline. When I spoke, her eyes fluttered and my heart raced in fear, wondering if she’d wake back up.

Little slayer, stop pretending you’re asleep. I put a twist of amusement into the name and her bruised lips twitched.Riordan and I are here. We’re going to get you out of there, but we need to pull your father’s attention elsewhere. Any ideas?

Silas would do anything to protect his precious house. Just past those trees.Her voice was dull, every word slurred.

Good. That’s good. Hang on, Evie. While Rohr works his magic, I’ll get you out of there.

Burn it down. If you do anything for me, burn that fucking house to the ground.

A picture flashed through my head of a regal mansion with eight pillars and a massive Doric roof. The same roof looming just beyond a grove of hickory trees.

“You heard the lady.” I said viciously. “Torch that fucker.”

The words were no sooner out of my mouth than Riordan vanished, leaving me to watch Evangeline sag against her bonds, those cruelly sharp shackles slicing deeper into her wrists. There was so much blood dripping off her body I didn’t see how she could still be alive.

Seeing her helpless…

I shuddered, uncut, merciless fury charging through me.

My magic bucked and roiled, clawing to escape. To ravage. To purge. I yanked the darkness back, forced it toheel.

My power did not distinguish between friend and foe. Yes, I could decimate this field—this entire area—with a snap of my fingers, but no one would escape the brutal frenzy.

And I would rather die than harm a hair on Evangeline Silverwood’s head. I’d nurse her back to health, then fall on my knees to beg her forgiveness for being a complete and utter ass.

Above the trees, a plume of dark gray smoke rose from the roof of the house, the exact color as the sun-drenched morning clouds.Hang on, Evie. Another minute and I’ll have you out of those shackles.

Faster than should be possible, billowing smoke turned to consuming flames, and every eye turned away from Evangeline and toward White Chapel as the house exploded into a roaring fireball that shook the ground beneath me.

I closed my eyes, smiled, and sent a mental image to Evie.

Your wish is our command. Riordan’s gone above and beyond.

Men dropped from trees and raced toward the fire, streaking across the grass and hopping fences, weapons bouncing erratically, but I still felt a singular presence…there. A dark form waited, half hidden in the shadows opposite me.

I sensed infinite patience, like a spider waiting for the fly to flounder into his net.

Silas, most likely, or Alistair, was still watching, waiting for his prey to appear, despite White Chapel turning to ash five hundred feet away.

I ground my teeth together. They were the ones who killed Cassmira.

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