Page 34 of Fated In Forever (Nocturne Vampire Clan #4)

EVANGELINE

T he earth beneath me smelled of rain and growing things.

The overripe scents, all these colors were jarring, after seeing nothing but black and red for who knows how long.

For a moment I could only lay there, my lungs burning as they adjusted from the sulfurous air of the Underworld to the sweet, clean atmosphere of the living world.

I stared up at the tree and I swore tiny sparks of golden magic danced amongst the leaves.

Slowly, gingerly, I pushed myself up.

Grass—real, living grass—brushed against my palms, soft and cool and gloriously green.

The portal behind me collapsed with a sound like distant thunder.

I turned to look, but there was no trace of the gateway that had brought me back from the realm of the dead, save for a faint scorch mark in the grass at my feet where I had tumbled through.

I rose unsteadily, swaying slightly as the world tilted sideways. Everything felt too bright, too solid, too real after the ethereal shadows of the Underworld. Colors made my eyes water. Smells made my nose run.

Ah, hello allergies, my old friend.

Laith Castle was only a few steps away, yet here I stood, clutching an old book like a lifeline, debating about going inside .

Because the longer I stood here, I realized something was wrong.

Rolling hills stretched out before me, green and lush under a sky dotted with white clouds. In the distance, I glimpsed the jagged outline of cliffs, tasted the salt tang in the air, the way the wind carried the scent of seaweed and brine

The castle walls were the same, yet... different. Muted somehow, as if I were seeing everything through a veil. The blues of the sky were darker, more mysterious. Even the sunlight was filtered, as though it had to struggle through a web of shadows to reach me.

I raised my hand to shield my eyes from the brightness, and that's when I saw them.

Dark as night veins ran beneath my skin like a network of black lightning, pulsing with a rhythm that matched my heartbeat.

There were so many, starting at my fingertips and tracing their way up my arms, disappearing under the sleeves of my torn-up shirt but clearly continuing their sinister path beneath the fabric.

Just as dark as Romulus’s.

Identical to Ravok’s.

“No,” I whispered, flexing my fingers and watching the dark veins respond to the movement. “No, no, no. This can’t be happening.”

But even as I spoke the words, I knew it was. I’d had them before, vague suggestions, so faint I could have pretended they didn’t exist. But these, in the bright light…

A gust of wind swept through the gardens, sending strands of hair whipping around my face. I caught one between my fingers, holding it up to examine it in the sunlight, and my heart sank further.

Black. My hair was filled with black strands, dark as the shadows that had surrounded me in that otherworldly realm. My golden curls the color of honey were gone, and when the wind caught them again, each strand moved with an otherworldly fluidity, as if it were made of liquid shadow.

Fucking hell.

I sank to my knees in the grass, The Book clutched to my chest.

Something clinked in my pocket, and I pushed my free hand inside, only to yank it back out, the ends of my fingers burning. I remember that particular, cursed burning sensation.

Cautiously, I tried again, and this time, my fingertips found the fabric-wrapped hilt of the cold iron blade…and the smooth, carved edge of an obsidian swan…then the second one. The world blurred in front of me and I bowed my head, reminding myself to keep breathing.

Malachi had done this. He’d sent me back here with a powerful weapon—two of them—and a reminder of him, something he’d made with his own hands.

The dark veins pulsed again, along with a sensation I recognized all too well—power.

Shadow magic, the kind that had remade Malachi into something magnificent and terrible. Magic—another realm’s magic—flowed through me like a dark river, seductive and dangerous, whispering of abilities I had never possessed before.

With barely a thought, I extended my senses outward, over Irish soil and ocean air and sensed.

.. well, everything. The life force of each blade of grass beneath me, the distant cries of seabirds wheeling over the cliffs, the ancient stones of Laith Castle pulsing with centuries of accumulated magic.

Even beyond, like a wound in the fabric of reality, I felt the rift .

Felt every hungry, greedy pulse, as it bled more darkness into the world. Felt the tremulous trail of ley line magic, tracing a delicate path through the tunnels far beneath the mountains. It was like I was aware of everything, all at once, and in that moment I couldn’t breathe.

Gripping The Book, I began walking toward the castle doors.

Each step felt strange, as if the wet, spongy ground wasn’t normal, and my feet would rather be treading on black, shifting sands.

My shadowy vision turned the world both sharper and more distant, like I was seeing everything through a spyglass.

I reached for a pale pink rose, and tendrils of darkness coiled around the thick petals, not destroying them but.

.. changing them. The color deepened, became more vivid, turning to a crimson red, and I yanked my hand back.

I picked up a fallen branch, and tender new leaves burst from withered wood, roots writhing at the opposite end, reaching for rich soil.

I dropped it to the ground, horrified.

The roots were black, glassy, like they’d been forged from obsidian.

This was the power Malachi had tried to save me from. The power of death. Or transformation.

Or whatever the fuck this was.

The ability to manifest change like this was intoxicating and terrifying, and I could understand now why he had been so terrified.

But…the closer I got to Laith Castle, the stronger I sensed the rift's influence, how that unnatural breach was slowly poisoning this world just as surely as staying too long in the Underworld would have poisoned me.

I curled my fingers into a fist, watched darkness pulse along my veins, hope sparking as I had a revelation .

What if I could actually stop Ravok now? Shadow fighting shadow.

Darkness against darkness.

The liveried Knightsguard on either side of the front doors froze as I approached, and inside, I picked up two familiar signatures—Blake's wild, uncontrolled rage and Riordan’s ice-cold control.

They were about to get quite a shock.

“Hey.” As I got closer to the spooked guards I dug deep for my friendliest smile. “I’ll bet everyone’s looking for me, but here I am, back from the literal dead, so to speak.”

I stopped, unsure what to do next. The guards were in the same position, hands on their weapons, doubt on their faces. This felt like an Irish/vampire version of the OK Corral.

“Look, my mate and my king are inside, and I need to speak to them.”

One of them pulled out his phone and began scrolling. “We’re not allowed to let anyone pass, except those on the list.” Guard number two said gruffly, looking like he took his job very seriously, and honestly, good for him.

Wouldn’t I love to have a job I enjoyed.

But no, here I was, diving headfirst into the Underworld and battling Elders who wanted to burn the world down and now I was probably cursed for life.

“I wouldn’t happen to be on that list, would I?” I craned my neck to try to get a better look at this mysterious list. “I mean, I’ve been gone for…” I rocked back on my heels. “What day is it?”

“Tuesday.” Guard one muttered, looking totally unimpressed, given I’d literally survived the Underworld and returned to tell the tale .

I blew out a breath. “I was only gone one day. God, it felt like so much longer.”

“That is because time moves differently in other realms than it does here. But you’re off a week. You were gone eight days, Evangeline, not one.” Nikolai strolled up with that maddeningly slow gait. “Thank you, gentlemen, I will take it from here.”

“Wow, eight days? That makes sense.” Even though it really didn’t. “It felt like I spent months in the Underworld, so that’s good to know.”

But Nikolai wasn’t looking at me, he was staring at The Book.

“Where, may I ask, did you find that?”

We stole it from your librarian’s personal office , somehow didn’t seem like the right answer.

“Why? Do you know what this is?” I asked, trying to look innocent. Where were Blake and Riordan and why was he standing in my way? I had to see them, because if I’d really been gone eight days, they had to be losing their minds.

“You look like you could use something to eat and drink, and perhaps a bath.” He said, instead.

“Wow, you don’t mince words, do you?”

“Aisling tells me the same thing. I am working on toning down my…directness,” he answered, ushering me inside.

“From what I hear, I need to put in more effort. But your king and your mate will be relieved to have you back.” His eyes skated over me, pausing on my arm, and I tugged my sleeve down to hide those dark veins.

I paused in front of the doorway, suddenly uncertain.

How would Blake and Riordan react to what I had become?

The thought of their reaction made my chest tight, but I couldn't stand here all day, paralyzed by uncertainty.

My world needed saving, the rift needed sealing, and after that, I was going back to the Underworld and getting Malachi.

I took a last breath of the salt-sweet Irish air, feeling the dark veins pulse beneath my skin in response, and stepped into the castle. The Book seemed to sigh, as if it recognized home, and I hugged the relic tighter.

From the way Nikolai watched me, he knew what this thing was, and since it was my only way to bring Malachi back, I wasn’t letting it out of my sight.

“Your mate and your king will have many questions.” Nikolai murmured. “And so will someone else. I would advise you to stick to the truth. Finn Forge can see lies as clearly as I can, and he lacks my infinite patience.”

Great. I survived the Underworld, only to face an interrogation by the grumpy commander.

“Just so you know, stealing The Book was Malachi’s idea,” I sniped, perfectly willing to throw him under the bus, since he wasn’t here. “But try and take it from me, and I’ll fight you with everything I have.”

“I have no desire to take The Book, Evangeline,” he pinned me with a sharp look. “But know this, some wishes should never be made.”

“That’s the most unhelpful piece of advice I’ve ever heard.”

All he did was give me one of those strange, sad smiles, and I didn’t say anything else as I followed him down the hallway.

I was no longer the same person who had left this place only a week ago.

The new me meant to ensure Malachi didn’t spend an eternity somewhere he didn’t want to be, and also make sure he had a realm to come back to, which meant Ravok had to die.