Page 119 of Fated In Forever
Commander Forge had brought a veritable army, who, with a few flicks of his finger, were already surrounding the property. He’d taken Romulus’s trespassing personally, and now he had an axe of his own to grind.
Evie, we’re here.I rocked back on my heels, taking a harder look at compound's outer defenses. But from my position behind a massive oak tree, nothing moved exceptthe wind, I couldn’t even detect a telltale shimmer of glamour.
Evie? Can you hear me?
“I’ve got a report from one of my men.” Finn crouched between us, “There is a line of at least twelve thralls positioned on the other side of that low rock wall, more inside. They’re not seeing many actual heat signatures, five, six at most.”
“Do they know we’re here?”
“There’s been some movement inside in the last three minutes, but none of it is heading in this direction,” Finn frowned, holding a finger to his earpiece. “All of them seem to be moving toward one of the smaller buildings on the west side of the compound.”
Blake and I traded a look and whatever was left in my stomach churned.
Evie, I’m going to need to hear from you. Soon.
The way Blake was glowering, he was sending her a stream of demands as well, and not getting anything back, so I opened up our bond fully…and found nothing but empty air on the other end except dead air.
“Could be the magic,” I muttered. “Blocking us.”
“Or she’s in real fucking trouble,” he swore. “We have to get inside.”
Watch out…get down…That was Malachi. Inside my head. And in Blake’s, from the way his eyes flared wide.Go…that can’t be…
Blake blinked and was gone, leaving me staring at a patch of dead air.
“Evie’s in trouble,” I told Finn as I began to dematerialize. We’re going in.”
I followed Blake,landing in a swirling pool of his inky, protective shadows beside a pile of dead, rotting thralls stacked like cordwood behind one of the buildings.
The smell was stupefying.
The size of the pile even more so.
This is how he's so powerful,I thought, filled with horror.He's feeding off all of them. Drawing their life force to fuel his own strength like he did at the ruins.
More decaying thralls circled the building, a veritable semi-living wall we’d have to fight our way through, if we had to escape on foot. This was worse than anything I could have imagined, cruelty beyond what even Ravok should be capable of.
They all looked so young, little more than children.
Blake wasn’t looking at the pile of bodies, he was staring at that back door, left slightly ajar, chest heaving, body trembling like he was holding himself back from charging inside. He had a knife in each hand, his shadows spilling free, like he had lost all control over them.
She’s in there?I pulled out the gun Nash loaned me, double checked the clip out of habit. Twenty bullets, twenty chances to drill some silver into Ravok or that fuck Romulus.How do you want to do this?
She and Malachi are in there, but I can’t tell much more than that. I’m getting mixed signals, like there’s a ward around them, or something powerful blocking her thoughts.
Angel and Eldric?
Alive, as far as I can tell. Deep in the compound, below ground level. But their energy signatures are weak.
We hadn’t been inside this building before, but beneath the overwhelming stench, I smelled dried blood and urine, iron and limestone. A prison, then, or some version of it.
Then we go in quiet and fast. I’ll take point, you go in behind me. How good are your shadows at keeping out conventional weapons?
Bullets won’t get through, but Ravok’s magic…Blake wet his lips. What I’m sensing inside is strong, Rohr. Really strong.
There was a deep boom on the other side of the building, and the circle of thralls turned as one, empty eyes fixed on the edge of the property where we’d left Forge and his guards. Slowly, as if they were controlled by one mind, the group slowly shuffled in that direction.
There’s our distraction. Finn will sweep in behind us.
