Page 5 of Fated In Forever
The newcomers were stripped to the waist, splattered in fresh blood, the blond had a darkening bruise along his ribs—a recent injury. No sign of weapons, but they might not need steel. Maybe all they needed was their magic and they would wipe us all out with a single fucking thought.
Shield. Now.
Black shadows and whatever protective spell Fiona was muttering coalesced into a wall between us, sparks billowing inside the writhing darkness, turning the two strangers into foggy outlines.
“Well look what we have here, Wolf,” the dark haired one smirked, madness dancing in his eyes. “A couple of pups…and awitch. A veryprettywitch.”
“Watch your tone around my sister, you mad fuck, or I’ll rip your tongue out of your mouth.”
Fiona sent her brother a scathing look that clearly said—I can protect myself, then her flames burst to life around us, a deathly ring of dragon fire hot enough to peel skin from bone. The newcomers only looked faintly surprised, and cold chilled my ankles as Blake’s shadows spilled across the stoney ledge, reaching for their intended victims.
One brush and they’d be dead, andfuck Ravok.
I glared at them, waiting for them to make their move, trying to keep one eye on Ravok and Romulus. Finally, the blond vampire threw his arm across the other’s chest.
“Stop, Dravin, we came to observe only.”
“ThatwasNikolai’s order,” the dark-haired vampire snarled, his accent so thick I had to parse out the words. “But while your brother has lost his taste for blood,” His grin turned darker as he licked his lips. “I have not. And I amhungry.”
“No eating,” the blond admonished. “My brother was very clear.” Dravin just snarled back, feral gaze fixing on each of us in turn.
Who the fuck are these two?Blake braced himself, shadows coating the ground beneath us.Who is Nikolai?
No fucking idea.I measured the blond, who appeared steadier, unlike the other one, who might beactuallybethinking about eating us. I thought they were with Ravok, but now I’m not so sure. But we need to shut down that ley line, and now these two assholes are in our fucking way.
“You want a fight? We’ll give you one.” Blake’s shadows swept across the rocky ground like a river of death, reaching for their next victims, when a wave of the blond vampire’s hand sent them melting away like harmless mist.
Elders?Blake asked, spooling up more magic.Whoever they are, they’re powerful as fuck.
“You are allies to the ones who came to Laith Castle, looking for Brendan?” This Wolf spoke slowly, enunciating every word, as if he was not familiar with our language. “The small female, and the…” he struggled for words, “large male?”
“We are.” I admitted, while Blake hissed out a curse. I recalled my fire, the wall between us collapsing. If these two were as old as they appeared, our magic wouldn’t stop them, even on our best day, which today certainly was not.
Besides, they seemed to be waiting for confirmationweweren’t the enemy. “You’re from the Shadowsend Clan? Friends of Brendan Thorne?”
“We have come from Ireland.” The blonde’s gaze was fixed on the sky, “This is worse than we thought. Nik will want an immediate report.”
“My king asked you a direct question. Do you know Brendan Thorne?” Nash demanded, keeping his guns aimed at their heads. “Did he sent you to help us?”
Wolf turned his attention to me, his eyes flaring slightly with a regard that wasn’t nearly as unhinged as his friend’s. And even so, the weight of that stare made my knees buckle.
“Brendan Thorne is a friend. We were sent here to observe only, not engage.” The blond explained carefully, “Iam Wolf, this is Dravin, and we have come on behest of my brother, Nikolai, who…”
“Is my mate safe?” Blake growled, shoving past me. “Did you see Evangeline?”
“She is meeting with Brendan as we speak. Fear not, your mate is perfectly safe.”
“Thank you for that,” I dipped my head so neither of them would see the relief in my face and misconstrue love as weakness.
“Evangeline is…well, she means everything to us.” I didn’t know who this Nikolai was, but a fresh wave of gratitude swept through me. We needed allies and given the intensity of the magic rolling off these two, they could hold their own against Ravok.
“Calling in reinforcements won’t save you.” Romulus called, his hands cupped around his mouth. “Give us back the traitor and the Silverwood, and we’ll let you walk away.”
Wolf froze in place, his shocked gaze flying across the wide ravine to where Ravok stood, hands loose at his sides. For one strung out second, they all stared at each other—Ravok, Wolf and Dravin—the color draining from their faces, the stone ledge beneath our feet rumbling, loose rock spilling down into the deep ravine.
“That cannot be.” Wolf whispered, his hands dropping limply to his sides. “He cannot be here.”
“Er ist tot, min brothar, er mag niomanlih leben.” Dravin growled, and even though I didn’t understand a word, I read his body language perfectly as he began to dematerialize.
