Page 147 of Fated In Forever
But Ravok simply flexed his muscles and then all I saw was black as the tunnel filled with enough of his magic to swallow us whole. Blake threw up his good hand, shadows surrounding us, and we all gasped down a mouthful of air before a wave of pure power crushed us. My head slammed against something hard, and stars exploded in my vision.
Eldric just…disappeared, blown backwards into the darkness. The last thing I saw was the shock on his face, his golden eyes flaring wide, just before he vanished.
Blake hit the wall beside me and crumpled, his shadows dissipating, eyes half shut, blood dripping from his nose and ears.
“Blake,” I screamed, but there was no time to even check if he was breathing. Ravok was advancing, those powerful claws flexing, as if he was deciding where to start shredding. I tried to move, tried to put myself between my mate and the oncoming threat, but I couldn’t move.
Riordan stepped between us, his hands wreathed in white flames tinted red, hurling them at Ravok before any of us could get back on our feet. They spilled over Ravok in a graceful, slow-motion wave of power, greedily devouring, and this time the monster actually staggered backwards.
“The light burns, doesn't it?” Riordan hissed, pressing his advantage, herding Ravok back into the chamber as he sent another whip of flame lashing across our enemy. But even the white flames weren't enough. They left angry redwelts, made the beast hiss, but they didn't penetrate deep enough to do real damage.
“Watch out.” I screamed, but I was too late. Ravok's answering blast of dark energy caught Riordan full in the chest and sent him sprawling. But worse than that, the ceiling above us groaned. Ancient stone cracked, sending chunks of rock and dirt raining down around us.
I coughed violently as dust mixed with the toxic fumes from the corrupted pool to create a choking haze. My eyes were streaming, my throat raw, but I fumbled with my jacket pocket, trying to undo the zipper as another low, menacing growl came out of the haze, a hulking form advancing through the falling stones as if they were nothing more than rain.
I had The Book, and the key. I had the knife.
I could pull this off, I could…
A massive piece of the ceiling crashed down between us, and Ravok paused, claws twitching at his sides.
“Go Evie,” Blake shoved at my shoulder, face coated with dust, eyes filled with pain. “Get as far from here as you can. You can…” He swallowed and I shook my head. Hiding was not going to save me. Nothing was going to save any of us now.
Not with a monster looming over us, deciding where to strike.
Not when I saw death reflected in his red, burning eyes.
I braced myself as Ravok raised his hand for the killing blow, energy crackling around his deadly claws. “Close your eyes, love,” Riordan called softly, still trying to crawl across the ten feet that separated us. He would never make it. “Close your eyes and don’t look.”
But I had to look.
I wasn’t about to hide when this fucker killed me. I wasgoing to hold this fucker’s stare and look him dead in the eye until I took my last breath. I fumbled the knife out of my pocket, tried to raise the blade, but my hand wouldn’t work right, stars floating in my vision.
So many fucking stars.
Glowing points of light, like dancing fireflies, their soft phosphorescent glow cut through the thick dust and choking haze. I blinked and they were still there, Ravok batting at them in confusion.
Dozens of them, then hundreds, leaking through…the portal.
For a second, I could hardly breathe, instantly knowing who had sent them through. And why. They moved with purpose, with intelligence, converging between Ravok and me like a constellation of tiny stars.
Ravok hesitated, and for the first time, uncertainty flickered across his monstrous features.
The dead had come for Ravok.
And they were very, very angry.
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EVANGELINE
Istared at the lights dancing in the hazed air, tears running down my face.
Thank you, Sabine.
We’d thought Sabine gave us a warning, but in reality, she was giving Malachi the clues he needed to save us all. And he was clever enough to put them together.
I was still on my knees in the rubble, dust and blood coating my face, a host of lost souls dancing around Ravok and me like stardust. For a moment—one precious moment—Ravok's attention was completely focused on them.
