Page 3 of Fated In Forever
Of course he can, otherwise, why bother?
Why bother, indeed.
“Ash, this is Malachi Draven and…?” Nikolai lifted his brow and it belatedly occurred to me I’d never introduced myself. And that was when I realized the issue of my problematic last name.
A slayer amongst suspicious vampires definitely put me firmly in the shoot-first-ask-questions-later camp, and I would very much like to avoid injury right now, when there were a thousand other things that could go wrong.
If they so much as blink, I’ll tear their heads from their bodies.Malachi projected an incredibly graphic, bloody scene into my head.
“Uhm, that is so not helpful right now.” I slanted him a warning look, then remembered Ididn’thave to give myself away to these strangers after all. “Evangeline Marten Graves.”
Aisling tilted her head to the side, Brendan giving me a look that very clearly said—both of them? And then all theattention in the room slid off me and onto the monster in the room.
“Well. If it isn’t Malachi Draven, back from the dead.” Brendan crossed his arms over his chest, deep lines bracketing his frown as he shook his head. “Care to explain why you had the nerve to show your face here, when I made it clear what would happen if I ever saw you again?”
Let me guess.He’s going to kill you?I glanced up at Malachi, and even in this form, he somehow managed to look unrepentant for his crimes.
And I was sure there had been many, many crimes.
It was a misunderstanding,he said stiffly.But…yes, that was the gist of it.
You do realize pissing off every last member of the species only makes it harder for us to find allies? I mean, at this point, I’d be shocked to meet someone you haven’t double crossed or betrayed.
Well, if it matters at all, I’ve never met Aisling, so perhaps there’s still hope.
2
RIORDAN GRAVES
What in the ever-loving fuck was that? Blake screamed into the void when the monster-formerly-known-as-Malachi disappeared with Evangeline in his arms.
I was still trying to process what had happened, the pain in my chest at seeing Evie snatched away balanced out by the fact shehadto be somewhere safer than the top of this mountain. And if Malachi didn’t protect her to his dying breath, I’d hunt the bastard down and scorch the skin off his eight-foot frame.
“I don’t know, but Evie’s safe enough with him,” I told Blake, praying I was right.
“Get your head back in the game. We have a situation, remember?” I jerked my head across the ravine, where Ravok and Romulus were perched atop the shattered outcropping of rock. “We have to stop that rift from growing, and to do that, we have to get past those two fuckers. Any ideas?”
Our enemies watched us across the gaping gorge, echoing from the dull roar of the open rift, and how I ached to rip Ravok’s gloating grin right off his face.What the fuck were they waiting for? Were they waiting for us to attack? Or was their magic as exhausted as ours?
“Don’t look at me. The evil sidekick’s impervious to mydragon fire, and I’m nearly depleted anyway.” Eldric muttered, throwing up his hands. “Maybe Blake’s killer shadows or your red demon magic will have more luck.” He gave me the side-eye. “But I doubt it.”
“Maybe you should throw a book at them library-boy,” Blake hissed, “but I’ll bet your aim sucks.”
“Oh, fuck you,” Eldric really did look affronted. “Without me, you’d be…”
“I can’t believe Malachi Draven knows Brendan Thorne,” Nash’s brow furrowed as he shook his head. “Didn’t see that plot twist coming.”
“No way Thorne will have anything to do with Draven, he’s got to be lying.” Blake added with a scowl. “Chances are, he’ll shoot him on sight, the second they reach Laith Castle, and where does that leave Evie?”
“For fuck’s sake, get your heads out of your asses.” Fiona hissed. “Evie can take care of herself. Riordan’s right, we have to stop that magic from leaking out and making the rift bigger.” Like mine, her eyes were glued to the sparkling magic leaking into that dark, gaping hole in the clouds. “I’ll have to get closer to see what we’re dealing with.”
“I can’t believe we’re here, dealing with these dickheads, when my mate just got kidnapped by afucking eight-foot monster. Or didn’t you see what I saw?” Blake muttered.
“Oh, I saw it,” Nash muttered. “With my own fucking eyes.”
“Me, too.” Eldric whistled appreciatively. “Did you notice the size of his…”
“For the love of God, don’t say another word.” I snapped. “Malachi and Evie are somewhere safe, we are the ones with the problem. What. Is. Our. Next. Move?” I growled, my patience fraying.
