Page 32 of Fated In Forever
I didn’t know Ash and she didn’t know me, and her offer meant more than I could put into words. Her offer meanthope and friendship and trust. I’d be a fool not to take her up on it, and Aurora Silverwood had not raised a fool.
“Well, in that case, I accept. If only because you recognized my expert level skill in bullshit sniffing. To be fair, there’s a good amount of it around.”
“Tell me about it.” She blew out a breath. “So you have a sister? Is she like you?”
I choked on my tea. “God no. Angel is nothing like me. She’s kind of like a sparkly barbie with really good taste in clothes. But she’s pregnant. Due in a few months. I’m going to be an aunt,” I added, surprising myself that it was coming up so fast.
“Who is the father?” Aisling asked. A perfectly innocent question, and one I hadn’t thought about a lot lately. Or at all.
“Laurent Tyrell. He kidnapped Angel, hypnotized her into believing she was his mate, or maybe she really was, and then we…killed him. Malachi was involved.”
“Of course he was,” Aisling rolled her eyes. “I don’t have to tell you he’s a traitor and a liar. I know Esme had a soft spot for him, but he’s bad news. My sire is still deciding how far we should trust him, and quite frankly, I’m leaning toward not at all. But so far, I’ve been outvoted.”
“Did Esme have good judgement?” I asked quietly. “Like…besides her taste in calendars?”
Aisling’s brows went up. “The best. She was like a literal barometer for morality and…ah, I see what you’re doing here.”
“All I’m saying is that sometimes people don’t let anyone see who they really are. Because it’s easier to let people think the worst of you, then the bar’s never set too high.”
14
EVANGELINE
By the time we arrived in France, this incursion felt more like a guided European bus tour than a military operation. We’d dragged half the castle with us, and even while I watched, Brendan curiously poked his finger into a shale outcropping, sending a handful of stone tumbling down into the ravine below.
Finn had brought most of their Knightsguard, Nash had brought ours. Blake, Riordan and I stayed out of the grumpy commander’s way—hell, we all stayed out of his way—while he secured the perimeter and sent Nikolai to reinforce the ward, since Fiona had stayed behind to tend to Eldric.
Malachi—clearly staying true to form—remained close to the trees.
“Holy gods,” Brendan muttered, craning his neck. “Will you look at this place.”
In fact, I didn’t know where to look first.
At what remained of the chateau, no longer the stately ruins of two days ago, artfully covered in vines and mountain mist, but rough, broken piles of rock. Or at the enormous crack running down the side of the mountain from the Keep’s edge, splitting open the side of the cliff like a gaping wound, or at the rift overhead…
“I don’t like the looks of what’s behind that. I’ve never seen one so…wide open.” Brendan breathed.
“Nor I.” Nikolai’s voice echoed off the stone, tipping his head back to get a better look at the rip in the sky. In fact, we’d all adopted the same posture, and the same horrified expression, consumed by the looming threat over our heads.
The sun was just rising, and we were so high in the mountains, fresh snow dusted the ledges and collapsed arches, streaked gray with soot and ash from the explosion, like the bones of some slumbering god—charred stone towers clawing at the sky, jagged silhouettes haloed against the pale light of dawn.
But all around us, the mountains lay silent beneath the dull, constant roar from the rift. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath.
Finn didn’t notice the silence, or the gaping rift in the clouds. “Knightsguard, take the perimeter—spread to the north and west flanks. Eyes sharp. If anything moves, you kill it. Thralls, especially.”
Nash was already moving our guards toward the south, barking orders in low tones, efficient as ever. Our soldiers responded without hesitation, forming into a tight unit with the Shadowsend guards, until the entire perimeter was secure.
Nikolai’s fingers flickered in a complicated pattern once he’d reinforced the wards, then a no-nonsense Finn was at my elbow, nudging me closer to the base of the cliff, “We’re secure. One at a time, up to the Keep.”
Finn might be a grump, but he ran this operation like a well-oiled machine, keeping his eyes on every single person here. Nash went first with a patrol of his best guards, followed by Finn and Nikolai, then Rohr, then Blake’s arms tightened around me, his lips pressed to my ear.
“Ready? Once we land, stick close while we get our bearings. Nikolai will have to secure the leaking ley line.” Inodded. One minute, I was on the floor of the snow dusted forest, the next, up on what little remained of the castle Keep, my knees trembling from the sheer force of the black misty magic pouring from the rift.
“Once we locate the opening, we head into the tunnels and see how far we can go.” Finn’s jaw worked as he studied what little was left of the castle. “Expect cave ins and blocked passages. Providing we reach the round chamber, and the walls are still intact, Brendan performs the ritual, then we get out as quickly as possible.”
Finn and his men spread out across the ruins, Nikolai heading to the far side of the Keep, where a faint haze of magic stained the air like a glitter bomb.
“Are you sure about this, Evie?” Blake stayed close, both of us watching Riordan, and Nash gather near the remnants of what had once been the grand entry hall. “There’s no reason for you to go back below, and we could use another spotter up here.”
