Page 85 of Fated In Forever
Riordan shouted to Fiona, who raced to the ley line rupture, encasing it in a dome of fire.
In the sudden quiet that followed, Evangeline swayed on her feet, but I was there to catch her. To scoop her up into my arms and cradle her against me, feeling every exhausted tremble of her body.
I carried her to the edge and we peered over together,her arms tightening around my neck. Riordan and Brendan joined us, the four of us sharing the same bemused can-it-really-be-over looks.
“You didn’t pace yourself,” I scolded gently, kissing the top of my mate’s head. “Always, always, leave a reserve, Evie, no matter how strong your enemy is. If you’re running low, retreat and fight another day.”
“I won the battle, yet here you are, giving me advice.”
“Only because I’ve been in your shoes.” My smile turned wry. “More than once. And the advice bears repeating.” I nuzzled her throat. “You dematerialized.”
Her nose wrinkled. “It was awful. I thought I was going to be torn apart like a chicken wing on wing night.”
“Well, that’s something else for us to practice then.” I pressed my face into her neck, breathed her in, drowned in her, and thanked all the gods for keeping her safe.
Around us, the Keep's ruins slowly settled into stillness, and for just a minute, I let myself savor the familiar weight of my mate in my arms, and her delicious smell, before Riordan stole her away.
“You shouldn’t have used all your magic, Silver,” he scolded gently, and I stifled my I-told-you-so grin when she looked at me over his shoulder and rolled her eyes.
38
EVANGELINE
The moment Blake's shadows touched mine, and I felt more complete than I ever had before, started me thinking.
What if…what if the four of us weremeantto be together. Like pieces of a whole.
Riordan, my steadfast rock who steered me in the right direction.
Blake, my mate who made my magic sing.
And Malachi, my enemy who had spent his life making sure I was safe.
I blamed Nikolai, with all his talk about different bonds and how none of them were any more important than the other, for sending me down this path. There was an undeniable connection between each of us, a different kind of bond, and Nikolai was right, I felt just as strongly for each of them.
I loved them equally, for who they each were.
The revelation was mind-bending, and I probably should have reached this conclusion earlier, but better late than never, as Angel always said.
After giving me nearly the same lecture as Blake, Riordan set me down and went about the grim work of helping Nash identify the fallen guards, and dragging the thralls into a pile, while Blake assisted Brendan and Fionain shoring up the wards around the ley line, and by assisted, I mean made unhelpful suggestions that had her giving me the death stare.
“Blake,” I called, finally taking pity on her.
“Shouldn’t we go down there and make sure our enemies are splattered all over those rocks?” Actually, I could see the rocks from here, and knew for a fact Ravok and Romulus were not splattered anywhere below, but I still wanted to check.
I doubted I’d sleep tonight if we skipped this very important part of after-battle reconnaissance, and it would do my heart good to know one or both of them were dead.
Still, just picturing Ravok tipping backwards over the cliff in a tangle of uncoordinated limbs and highly-pitched curses gave me a warm fuzzy feeling.
“Blake,I’m serious.” At least that earned me a wave of gratitude from Fiona, then Blake prowled my way, his scent hitting me like a physical blow, filled with musk and thunderstorms and a hint of shadows.
“I don’t see anything, Evie,” Blake's jaw tightened as he looked over the cliff's edge, so close I itched to drag him back to a semi-safe distance. “But sure, we can go down there and make sure.” He put his fingers in his mouth and whistled, loud enough to blow out my eardrums. “Riordan. We’re checking for bodies below.”
Then the three of us were down among the pine trees, our footsteps echoing in the unnatural quiet. I would have loved to find Ravok's broken body. I’d even settle for him sitting on a rock, cradling his broken arm and looking sad.
Disappointingly, there was nothing.
As if he'd been swallowed up by the darkness itself. I craned my neck to get a better look at the rift, directly above us. “Didn’t we use the rifts to travel here, the first time wecame?” I asked. “I mean, I know this one’s unstable, and dangerous, but…”
