Page 117 of Fated In Forever
Stay with Malachi, do not get separated. We’re right behind you, Evie.
“Thanks.” I brushed my fingers over his hair before he rose, staring down at me. “What kind of mate would I be, sending you off to battle unarmed?” He winked, then slid a glare in Malachi’s direction. “Can’t have this motherfucker showing me up, now, can I?”
I braced myself for one of Malachi’s snarky replies, but all he did was slide his hand under my coat, his palm resting on the small of my back, and held me tighter.
“I’ll take good care of her.” He dipped his head to Blake, then Riordan. “Don’t delay, I’ll give you a report when we land.”
I reared back so I could see his face.Who are you and what have you done with Malachi Draven?
He’s right here, and he’s trying learn from his past mistakes.He grinned, a flash of that old arrogance shining through.Now let’s get your sister, and that annoying librarian.When I raised my eyebrows, he sighed.Fine. He’s growing on me, too.
“What's the plan?” I asked as he tightened his grip, cold air washed across my face as he began to dematerialize.
“Improvise,” he drew me closer, until we were pressedhip to shoulder, then called to Blake, right before we disappeared, “I’ll always show you up, loser.”
Blake’s growl was the last thing I heard before we vanished.
Ravok made a mistake, taking my sister. He had no idea how far I’d go for Angel, how far she and I would go for each other. Just ask fucking Tyrell.
We landed on the far side of the compound, the buildings barely visible through the trees. Somewhere inside those stone walls, Angel and Eldric were depending on us.
We wouldn't let them down.
55
EVANGELINE
The Silverwood Compound was a hodgepodge of low stone buildings with sloped slate roofs behind a line of trees, surrounded by hand stacked walls that perfectly matched the bucolic atmosphere of this upscale, rural area—if they weren’t topped by almost-invisible lines of razor wire.
After the cool misty damp of Ireland, New York was miserably hot, the kind of heat that fried the grass brown and turned everything to dust. A constant stream of sweat trickled annoyingly down the center of my back, right where I couldn’t scratch.
“Like old times,” Malachi murmured, his eyes studying the perimeter, searching, like me, for any sign of life inside that razor wire border. My nerves were so fraught I couldn’t concentrate, see sawing between absolute fear and obsessing over Eldric’s parting words.
He was right.
I was a shit sister.
Formostof these past ten years, it was me and Angel against the entire world, and God, how tight we had been. There hadn’t been space between us for anyone else. Then I’d lost her to Tyrell and every day since had become a maze of…I didn’t even know how to describe my life right now.
There was more room now. More people. Less time for the two of us.
And I’d failed Angel, by letting so many people into the space only she used to occupy.
It will take the others longer to get here, Malachi explained.I’m…stronger than I have ever been before, but they’ll be forced to use the rifts, which will delay them. We’ll be on our own for half an hour, perhaps longer.
The compound looked abandoned, and every report we’d had for the past weeks had confirmed that fact. Maybe it was my enhanced powers, but the consecrated land still hummed with hallowed energy, and my bones echoed in response.
“Can you seeanything?” I whispered, swatting away a biting fly. Because sweating to death wasn’t bad enough, so all the little bitey things had to come out, too. “The place looks abandoned. There’s nothing there, Malachi.”
“Your sister is in there,” he said, with so much confidence I went still. “So is Eldric.”
A wave of fear washed through me, but I didn’t ask Malachi if he was sure. We wouldn’t be here if he wasn’t, and besides, the very air around the compound felt more wrong than usual—thick with malevolent energy that made my skin crawl and those black veins rise to the surface, like they were responding to a threat.
Do we wait for the others?
That depends, Malachi rose into a half crouch, staring at those buildings with such intensity, more sweat slid down my spine.Let me see if I can pinpoint them. Make sure we can afford to wait.There was a short pause and then, even a few seconds could make a difference.
I hadn’t drawn my next breath when his fingers clamped down on my wrist and I was swept up in a disorienting gustof cold air, a blur of motion, leaving half my stomach behind.
