Page 66 of Fated In Forever
Gods, I hoped the things weren’t actually mating.
“When are you doing this?” she asked, her voice barely audible as she wiped her cheeks. Not us doing this, butme, as if I was punishing her.
“Now.” I couldn’t stand looking at her paling skin and darkening hair for another moment. The sooner she went back, the better, because if I had to live with the knowledge, I’d somehow harmed her and the damage had gone too far to be undone…
“Right now, actually.” I took her hand, smoothing my thumb over her smooth, warm skin again, because touching her felt too nice and I couldn’t help myself.
She nodded slowly, acceptance and heartbreak warring in her expression. “Will I... will I be able to say goodbye?”
“Of course, we’ll say goodbye.” I tried to smile. “I’m not a monster, Vicious.”
The joke fell flat, as I knew it would, but I had to try.
“I’m sending you back through with The Book.” I said,already planning the next steps in my mind as I swirled my finger through the air, gathering up the swans, the iron blade and depositing them safely in her pocket. “You will then be the possessor, which means you will get one wish. Use it on Ravok. wish him into oblivion, or wish him dead. But…”
I licked my suddenly dry lips. “For every wish, there is compensatory price. And you cannot take the wish back, once it is made. No matter how badly you might want to.”
Above us, the souls continued their endless dance, and I pulled Evangeline closer, holding her against my chest. In a few hours, I would be alone. I’d become part of this realm forever. But for just a few more precious hours, I could pretend we were simply two people who had found each other in the darkness.
And as long as she was here, I would love her completely.
29
EVANGELINE
The obsidian corridors grew darker as Malachi led me deeper into the castle's twisted heart. But that could have been my imagination.
Maybe because the lost souls stayed upstairs, as if they knew whatever waited down here was something they wanted no part of.
But this was bullshit. Complete and utter bullshit. This was Malachi and his twisted sense of nobility, and okay, sure my hair was a little bit darker, but sending me away was a bullshit move.
Malachi’s transformed form—Orcus—moved with a fluid grace that both fascinated and terrified me—every step silent, every gesture flowing like liquid shadow, as if he was truly becoming part of this place.
But…
I caught glimpses of my reflection in the polished black walls—skin growing paler by the hour, hair darkening at the roots like ink spreading through water, eyes that held flecks of darkness that hadn't been there before. He was right. The Underworld was claiming me, and the longer I remained here, the thinner the connection with my own realm became.
“How much further?” I asked, my voice echoing in thevast corridors like a deep, resounding echo, not unlike Malachi’s.
“Not far. One more corridor, and a right, and we’re there,” Malachi replied, squeezing my hand. “This portal was made by someone, the owner of the castle, perhaps. There’s a room, much like the one at Château des Ombres Éternelles. But…bigger.”
I tightened my grip on The Book, its black leather binding as dark as the walls around us, the golden band gleaming softly, the key strung around my neck. Still warm from my body, as if the darkness here had no effect on it.
We turned a corner, and the corridor opened into a vast circular chamber carved from the same obsidian as the rest of the castle. Five, ten times the size of any other room in this castle. Those ancient symbols covered every inch of the walls, glowing with a faint red glow that emanated from within the stone itself, and then it struck me.
These symbols were the same as those beneath the chateau.
Glowing with the same crimson light.
And hanging in the center of the room, like a dark, twin specter, was another portal.
“Your doorway, my queen,” Malachi bowed slightly, that arrogant smirk back on his lips, as if it could erase the vulnerability he’d just shown. “If I had to guess, sealed since before your species—and mine—ever drew breath.”
I held out the key, fit it between his too-big fingers, helped guide it into the tiny hole. There was a click, and the golden band vanished altogether, the key falling into my palm. Warmer than it had been, and I slipped it back around my neck for safekeeping.
He approached the portal, The Wishrender spread open inone enormous hand. The language was nothing I recognized, even though I sensed the immensity of the power drifting off the relic, so strong, every shadow in the room drew back.
“Malachi,” I said, unease creeping into my voice. “How do you know any of this?”
