Page 139 of Fated In Blood

“Tyrell’s magic is keyed to our blood. We can’t cross the outer boundary, and we can’t resist his compulsion for more than a few seconds.” I swallowed down my humiliation at the ugly scene she’d witnessed. “As you just saw.”

Nobody spoke as I pulled the knife out of my boot. “This isn’t what I thought I’d be doing tonight,” I muttered, crouching down beside Riordan, the tip of my blade poised by the entry wound. “But if I leave that silver inside you, you’ll never heal, my friend.”

“Do it.” He yanked off his tie, wound it around his hand, then bit down on the folded, brightly colored silk.

The silk muffled his scream when I plunged the knife in deep, turned the blade, and dragged the tip out, pulling the spent round with it. Riordan slumped onto his back, yanking the tie out of his mouth with a groan. “Fuck, I always forget how much that hurts. Did you get every piece?”

I nodded, flinging the silver disk away. “Enough you should heal.”

“If we’re stuck here, then it’s only a matter of time before they corner us.” Evie climbed to her feet, plucking at her gown, her face screwed up in concentration. “Do we have a contingency plan for this? Would a plan even help us now?”

“Did you see? Tyrell tried to compel her.” Rohr was breathing hard, hands fisted like he was in pain. “Didn’t work.”

“I saw.” I slanted her a look and she blushed. “I told you to run, little slayer. You ignored me.”

“I didn’t understand what was happening.” She shrugged. “The air got tight and hot around me, then I pushed really hard and his control slipped away. Right before I put that knife in his throat.”

Get her out of here, Blake. Now.

Riordan and I traded a long look, some of the tension in the air loosening.

“Evangeline.” I crossed to her and took her hands. “Do you remember when you dematerialized before? Do you think you can do that again? You wouldn’t have to go far.”

“I don’t know. Maybe?”

“I need you to try. Dematerialize beyond the outer walls of the grounds. Then concentrate hard on Crimson House and take yourself there, in as few jumps as you can manage.”

“There’s gold in the safe. Enough to get you anywhere you want.” Riordan’s dark-blue eyes were turning blacker, his bodyhealing rapidly, but his injuries weren’t our biggest problem right now. His eyes glinted with bloodlust, hands shaking as he climbed to his feet. “Take as much as you can carry. You need to go now.”

“What about you two?” She narrowed that glare on us. “You’re asking me to leave you behind? Leave Angel here with a monster? Do you really think so little of me that I’d walk away and, what? Live out the rest of my life on some desert island all alone?”

“Would that be so bad?” I murmured.

“We can’t get out.” Rohr fumbled his way to the couch and sat down heavily. “The wards around here are unbreakable. We’re trapped. You aren’t. I would be happy, Evangeline, to know you escaped all this. That you were happy, and alive, somewhere out in the world.”

“Oh, fuck you, Riordan,” she snapped, then she poked her finger into my chest. “Fuck you and your precious code of honor and your stupid plan for me to live happily ever after, while you do what? Die in my place?” She was hyperventilating, so furious she punched me square in the chest.

“What is wrong with you?” Evie demanded, pointing a shaking finger at Rohr. “You’ve given up the fight before it’s even started, Riordan’s completely falling apart…What the fuck is even happening right now?”

“I fed from you last night, remember?” Rohr said miserably, and Evie went still, hands falling to her sides.

“Everything Malachi said is true. Your blood is addictive, and now all I want is more. I can’t stop my cravings, can’t control myself around you. I’m dangerous. I shouldn’t be close to you, Evie. I can’t…The things I want to do to you right now…”

He shuddered, his entire body quaking violently, and when his head snapped up, we both shrank back. Blackness stainedhis gaze, his fangs flashing in a feral snarl. He looked like every nightmare the humans had about our kind.

“So all that bullshit story of Tyrell’s isn’t…bullshit?”

“Apparently not,” I murmured. “This was what Tyrell was planning all along. His way of trapping us, to controlling us, fuck knows what his end game is, but we need to separate you two before Riordan loses control.”

“This is a fucking mess,” she muttered. “You two…really can’t leave the castle, can you?”

“We’re stuck here. But you’re not.” I didn’t waste time arguing before turning to Riordan. “We’ll pick off Bosch, then the guards. Rohr will handle Collum, I’ll take Malachi. That leaves Tyrell. We’ll create enough chaos to present an opening for you to escape. We could cut the power, start a fire, create a distraction. Whatever we do, we’ll distract him long enough for you to get to Crimson House. It’s the only way.”

Evie studied me. “Tyrell knew all about the knife.”

“Fucking Malachi double-crossed us. That’s the only way he could know.”

“You think?” Riordan was doubled over, but he managed to curl his lips into a sneer. “I fuckingknewwe shouldn’t have trusted him. That bastard would sell his own mother to get ahead.Youtake Collum. Malachi is fuckingmine.”

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