Page 74 of Fated In Forever
I nodded, the edge of my panic less sharp.
“Good. You need training.” Nikolai finally said, with a stern expression that had me wilting. Back for less than an hour and I was already a menace. That had to be some kind of record. “Get yourself sorted out, then we will have a training session to evaluate your transmuted power.”
“Do you even know what this magic of hers does?” Blake hovered close, though careful not to brush up against me, I noticed.
Nikolai arched his brow in an almost perfect imitation of my sister. “Besides destroy Aisling’s favorite room in the castle? I suppose we’re about to find out.”
Just what I needed. More powers I couldn’t control. More pointless training.My shoulders sagged, but I snapped up the Wishrender and let them escort me up to our bedroom, careful not to touch a single thing along the way.
33
EVANGELINE
Three days had passed since my return to Laith Castle, and I had become a prisoner in my own home. Barricaded in not by walls or bars, but by the curse of my own touch.
Riordan and Blake hadn’t left my side.
Well, that wasn’t exactly true. All this time, they hadn’t strayedtoofar, sleeping out in the hallway in a couple of uncomfortable wood chairs, hovering like two mother hens, waiting on me hand and foot.Worrywarts.
Secretly, I was grateful, and scared and losing my mind.
Trying not to let myself wonder what might happen if I touched bare skin.
Which was why I kept the door closed most of the time, not willing to risk hurting either of them, since every time my emotions rose or fell—which was often—more of this room became something out of a low budget goth video.
I sat in the center of the bed, surrounded by the evidence of my corruption. The silk curtains had turned to thin glass that chimed whenever the wind touched them. The wooden chair in the corner was now carved from polished black stone, though it somehow remained warm to the touch. Even my bed linens had transformed—the soft white cotton now a deep crimson that pulsed with theirown dark life.
Everything I touched became a reflection of the realm where I should have stayed.
Beside me, on the nightstand, the pair of black swans sat, necks curved, heads touching. I’d stowed the cold iron blade in the dresser on the other side of the room, along with The Book, while the key was strung around my neck on the chain.
Close by, in case I needed them.
“You know, I kind of like it.” Blake leaned in the open doorway, a soft smile on his face. “Makes the place look like a proper vampire hideaway instead of a museum.” He’d made it his mission in life to keep my spirits up, and I couldn’t help but smile.
“Just…” I kept my hands folded in my lap, kept glancing over at the pair of swans, a lump in my throat. “Tell me what’s going on.”
“Well, Dravin just reported back and the rift is stable, Fiona’s almost done sealing the ley line closed,again. Nash reports no activity at either of the Silverwood compounds, and there’s been no sign of Ravok or your uncles at the ruins or anywhere else.”
“I’m not sure that’s reassuring.”
Blake shrugged, then crossed the room in two strides to sit next to me on the bed and I leaned away, scared to death he might accidently brush up against me and I’d turn him to stone. “Reassuring or not, that’s what’s happening. And Nikolai sent me to remind you you’re late for today’s lesson.”
“I’m not going.” I sighed. “There’s nosensein me going. I’m just wasting his time. He could be concentrating on bigger problems, anyway, like the rift.”
“You are not wasting his time.” Blake’s tone hardened, the hair on the back of my neck stood up, and the rug beneath the bed turned to sand. “You are not wasting histime, Evangeline,” Blake repeated, as if he said it enough times, it might be true. “You can control this, you just have to find the source. Once you do, it will be like driving a boat.”
“Riding a bike.” I corrected automatically. “And I’ve been trying, but there isn’t a source of this…darkness, not like my other magic. This is something different.”
And I had a good idea why. This magic didn’t come from me. The wellspring of darkness came from another realm, one I no longer had access to, and therefore, could not locatethe fucking source.
Which, at the very least, was a rational reason for my constant failures.
“Hiding from the world isn’t going to help matters, Evie. And I’ve never known you to give up so easily.” Blake was quickly becoming more of a thorn in my side than a supportive mate, even though he was right on all counts.
“Did you turn your clock into stone, too?” Nikolai's voice carried that familiar note of dry amusement, but his dark eyes were serious as they surveyed the transformed room. ‘I’ve been waiting for twenty minutes.”
“I'm not practicing today,” I said defensively. “There really isn’t any reason for you to spend your time on a pointless endeavor.”
