Page 99 of Fated In Forever
I grabbed him by the throat and lifted him off the ground, my claws careful not to puncture skin. “Move,” I growled, my voice like grinding stone. He tried to speak and I squeezed gently—just enough to cut off his air—his magic snuffing out like a candle flame. I dropped him and continued forward.
The blond Elder spoke, I ignored him.
Blake and Riordan appeared in my periphery and I kept going.
They would pay for letting harm come to Evangeline, but I had to save her first, fix whatever they’d done to her.
The bond pulled me up the grand staircase, past blue and silver tapestries and portraits of long-dead nobles who watched my ascent with dull, flat eyes.
The pull grew stronger as I reached the upper floors, mysteps quickening. She was close now. So close I could almost taste her fear and pain on the air.
I'm coming, my beautiful, vicious girl.
I’m almost there.
Hold on a little longer.
Behind me, the castle was littered with the chaos of my passing—broken doors, scattered guards, the acrid smell of the Underworld hanging in the air like death itself. But ahead of me, beyond the next corner, lay the other half of my soul.
And I no longer heard her heartbeat.
48
BLAKE
“And whatever you do, don't drink from or touch the River of Sorrows,” Sabine was saying, her combat boots propped up on the war room table as she gestured dramatically with a silver dagger that looked suspiciously like one of mine, and sure enough, when I checked my weapons belt, one was missing.
“The water is spelled to make you forget your mortal lives, the currents are strong enough to drag you under, and trust me, drowning is not the way you want to go. One hundred percent, donotrecommend.”
Riordan leaned forward, “We should have been on our way ten minutes ago. Stop fucking around…”
“You don’t like my methods, get your own selves there, darling,” she teased, but her eyes had gone flinty hard, and I gripped the back of Riordan’s coat and pulled him back.
“My mate is dying,” I told her evenly, even while I wanted to throttle her. “And we are wasting time.”
“Oh, time is only a?—”
“Do not say time is a construct or I swear to God, I will…”
“What about weapons?” Riordan asked through clenched teeth. “You said no steel, but what about iron? Silver? Copper?”
“Only cold iron lasts in that place, silver turns to ash,and you don’t even want to know what happens to copper,” Sabine replied cheerfully. “Your best bet is to run very, very fast and hope…”
The castle shuddered.
Even the air shifted, charged with electricity, like a storm was coming. But this was no storm. This was something else, a deep rumbling that shook the very foundations of Laith Castle itself. The glasses of water on the table rippled, and dust rained down from the ancient stone ceiling.
“Ravok?” Riordan asked as Nikolai jumped to his feet.
“That's not possible.” Nikolai went still, brow pinched together. “The wards should have?—”
Another rumble, closer this time, followed by what sounded like thunder rolling through the corridor outside. The air in the room darkened, growing thick and oppressive, carrying a scent that made my nose burn.
Sulfur.
“Ravok,” Riordan breathed, his face going pale as his eyes flew to the ceiling, to where Evangeline lay, unconscious, unprotected. “Fuck. He's here.”
“It’s about time, I honestly thought he’dneverget here.” A delighted Sabine pulled her boots off the table. “Just when I thought I’d die of boredom, things are finally about to get exciting.”
