Page 144 of Fated In Forever
And I had no idea how to help her.
70
EVANGELINE
The portal snapped shut with a deafening crack.
Malachi was gone.
For a moment, I could only stare at the empty space where he’d just been, Blake’s body pressed tight against mine. He was gone—pulled back into the Underworld, all because of an oath he’d sworn to save me.
“What is this? Where is my ascension?” Ravok’s every word dripped with confusion. “Where is the power I was promised?”
I forced myself to focus on the danger in front of us, rather than what I’d just lost. The corrupted pool still churned, my uncle’s blood turning it thick, almost, sludgy.
“You,” Ravok snarled, whirling to face a cringing Romulus. “You said the ritual would work. You said the Silverwood blood would grant me the power I was due.” Something was happening to Ravok’s body—black, scaly skin ripping through fabric, hands becoming twisted claws.
Romulus backed away, red, stolen witch magic flickering uncertainly around his hunched form, fear gleaming in his one good eye. “It should have worked, Master. The bloodline is pure, the ritual was performed correctly?—”
“Then why,” Ravok's roar shook dust from the ceiling, “am I not already a god?” The dark stain on his front wasspreading, that foul reek growing even stronger than what was coming off the pool.
Darkness pulsed along his bulging arms, flesh splitting, like a snake’s skin.
Ravok threw his head back and howled like an injured beast, the sound echoing around the room, the runes on the ceiling going dark, the portal going still. As if the Underworld didn’t want any part of this shitshow.
He grew bulkier by the second, and there was nothing recognizable about what he was becoming. Malachi had remained some version of himself, but this… Ravok's slitted eyes fixed on me with murderous intent, and I recognized the growing panic behind his rage. Everything he had thought to be true was crumbling around him because he was too arrogant to respect the very forces he was trying to manipulate.
Romulus tried to intervene, his voice trembling. “Master, perhaps if we?—”
He never finished his sentence.
Ravok's claws tore through his throat with surgical precision, black blood spraying across the ancient stone, into the water. Romulus's body crumpled to the ground, stolen magic dissipating like smoke into the putrid air.
“Such a failure,” Ravok spat, the pool boiling beneath him. “I am surrounded by failure. If I cannot have godhood in the Underworld,” his voice echoed hollowly, “then I will tear open the rift to another.” His gaze lifted to the ceiling and the runes flickered to life.
I almost—almost—felt sorry for Romulus.
A lifelong convert, dedicating his life to a monster, only to meet a terrible end. Fitting perhaps, but part of me was glad Malachi hadn’t been here to see his old friend die like this.
“We have to get some distance between us so we can dematerialize,” Riordan muttered behind us.
“We can’t.” My voice shook, palms slick with sweat, but I shook my head. “We need to finish this. Romulus is gone. Ravok is mid transformation. He’s the weakest he’ll ever be. In a few minutes, once this is complete…”
Okay, I didn’t know what flavor of monster Ravok was becoming, but Malachi’s strength had increased tenfold after he’d gotten past the disorientation of the change.
To their credit, they didn’t argue, just moved to flank me, Eldric muttering a string of curses that would have made a trucker blush.
“He can't be allowed to reach the surface,” I continued, my eyes never leaving Ravok's towering form. “You heard him. If he gets close to that rift, he’ll rip it wide open. And this room…” I took in the bubbling pool, the haze of ley line magic. “This room can’t just be buried and forgotten. This is like a toxic waste dump.”
Ravok turned toward the door, nothing but feral rage burning in those blood-red eyes now, the clever, manipulative Elder gone, and in his place—a cornered animal with nothing left to lose.
He began moving toward us, one flick of his wrist sent a blast of power ricocheting down the tunnel, the deafening roar followed by the far-off rumble of falling stone.
“He’s going to trap us down here.” Riordan said, gathering fire at his fingertips.
“Not if we trap him first,” I said, gathering my magic around me like armor. The power felt slippery now, different, sharper, and not in a good way. Losing Malachi had knocked me off my game, but I had to keep my wits about me.
This ancient monster had taken everything from me—my family, my love, my world. But he wouldn't take our future.
