Page 53 of Fated In Forever (Nocturne Vampire Clan #4)

EVANGELINE

I was drowning.

Smothering, beneath a soft, unending quiet, in the dark space between life and death, where the world felt muffled and distant. My body was cold, my consciousness floating somewhere outside of myself, tethered only by the thinnest of resolve and two whispered words.

Hang on , Riordan had commanded, and I was trying.

Really trying, but God, it was hard .

So hard not to give into the beckoning darkness, demanding I let go, give into the pain washing through my body in unrelenting waves, give in to the thought that I’d end up as one of those beautiful, glowing souls and be able to see Malachi one last time.

Without him, I was an unraveling thread.

Without our connection, I was a tapestry coming undone.

After Blake had said his goodbyes, gruff and stoic on the outside and completely falling apart inside, there had been nothing but quiet.

That’s when I began to drift, as if he and Rohr were the anchors pinning me to this realm, and without them, like an unmanned ship… I drifted straight toward Malachi’s.

Then the world ruptured.

A crash of splintering wood was followed by footsteps heavy enough to shake the bed, and suddenly the air was choked with sulfur and shadows that made every nerve in my barely-functioning body sing.

Malachi.

Even with my eyes closed, even trapped in the empty space between worlds, I knew he was here. How his massiveness filled the room, the way the air bent around him, the familiar grumble-purr that was definitely more of a grumble right now and less of a purr.

He loomed large over me, like the roof over a house, or tall trees in a forest, and his touch was impossibly gentle when his claw dragged over the top of my hand. He emanated power, and fear, and a kind of fierce resolve I’d never sensed from him before.

You weren't supposed to come back, I thought, the words taking shape slowly, as if I’d forgotten how to speak.

I sent you away to keep you safe. How could I stay away when you were not?

But the portal was sealed. The Book…

Did you really believe anything would ever keep me away from you, Vicious? A wickedly dark chuckle rumbled deep inside me. I told you. I will never leave you. Not really. There is no magic, no distance, no scenario where we will ever truly be separated.

I wanted to argue, but the magnitude of his presence was already battering away the miserable coldness that had been devouring me, and I found myself clinging to his familiar strength.

Besides, I missed you, he admitted, the thought barely a whisper.

I know, I missed you, too.

His thumb brushed across my knuckles, rougher than ever before. I’ll have to open the bond between us. All the way. No more barriers, no holding back—just us, the way we were meant to be.

Malachi… some nebulous sense of warning niggled at the edges of my thoughts, but I couldn’t form an argument from my murky thoughts. Is that dangerous?

Nothing is more dangerous than seeing you like this. His voice was firm, brooking no argument. I won't lose you, Vicious, and this will fix your body, by fixing your magic.

Always fixing something, aren’t you?

Before I could protest further, I felt a seismic shift—the bond between us blazing to life like a star being born.

The connection that had been raw and bleeding suddenly fused back together, links snapping back into place, strengthening, soldered together with love and an iron will.

But this time, Malachi didn't just restore what I'd lost.

He gave me everything.

Magic poured into me through the bond, ancient and wonderful and wild. His life force followed, and like being struck by lightning from the inside out, every cell in my body suddenly flooded with power that had been sleeping for centuries.

My back arched off the bed as my body convulsed, muscles that had been still for days suddenly seizing with violent life. Energy crackled through my veins like liquid fire, and my heart hammered against my ribs as it remembered how to beat with purpose.

The gray space where I'd been floating shattered like glass, and I crashed back into my body with enough force to make me gasp. My eyes flew open, and the first thing I saw was Malachi's face above mine—and holy shit he was terrifying.

Ten feet of pure demon lord, with burning amber eyes and a curved crown of horns, shadows writhing around him like living smoke. He was magnificent and deadly and completely, utterly mine.

“Wow,” I whispered, my voice raw from disuse.

His expression—fierce and desperate and relieved all at once—was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. I think I’ve grown larger.

You’ve definitely grown …I raked him up and down, my heart racing faster. Yeah, larger is one way to put it. Then I spotted all the blood coating his body . Are you alright?

I…had to coax the portal to open. I might have used my fists.

Of course you did.

The door burst open, Riordan and Blake rushing in, cloaked in an aura of white flames and deathly shadows. They took one look at the massive demon crouched beside my bed and stopped.

Malachi's head snapped toward them and the sound that emerged from his throat—a growl that erupted from the very depths of the Underworld itself, sent the windows rattling and the paintings on the walls crashing to the floor.

His lips pulled back to reveal fangs that could tear through steel, and his yellow eyes burned with predatory threat.

Mine, that growl said. Stay the fuck back.

I knew that’s what it said, because he was snarling those same words inside my head.

Riordan and Blake froze, and I laid my hand on Malachi’s enormous, muscled forearm.

“It's okay,” I croaked, my voice weak and shaky. “Nobody is going to hurt anybody. Let’s all calm down.”

Have you been working out or something ? I thought, my fingers gripping the hard as steel muscles that hadn’t been there before. In fact, his whole body looked stronger, nothing but layers of slabbed muscle and ropey tendons .

“What the fuck?” Blake straightened, spooling his shadows back, his face shining with relief. “How did you heal her so quickly?”

“Evie?” Riordan asked softly, his eyes skating over me, but every time he stepped closer, Malachi bared those very impressive fangs. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” I said hoarsely, wishing I had a big glass of water. “Already feeling better.”

Maybe not better, but more whole , if that was even a thing. I squinted at the sun beyond the heavy drapes, wondering what day it was, how long I’d been out. I felt clammy, detached from my body, which was too shaky, too cold, too…weak to be mine.

“She needs to drink something, you fucking gargoyle. Move out of the way.”

The entire room vibrated from Malachi’s growl, but Blake—he of the ‘I might not live for another minute and don’t really care’ attitude—elbowed past him and poured me a glass of water, sat on the edge of the bed and tipped it to my lips.

“Drink. And then you’re going to feed,” he leveled a stare as Malachi’s growl increased about a hundred decibels. “And then we’re all going to sit down and figure this the fuck out, because if you think I’m the least bit intimidated by those horns…”

Malachi, of course, chose that exact moment to drop his cloak of shadows, and I ducked my head, both to hide my smile and my burning cheeks, but my mate was not deterred.

“…or that fucking tail, I am not. I get it. You’re back, you’re big, you’re bad, and you healed Evie.” My mate swallowed, his hand trembling from where he held the glass. “So thank you. ”

He narrowed his eyes. “But if you think for one moment you can push me around, or scare me, then you can go get fucked. She makes the calls now, understand? Her, not you. If she wants you here, then you stay, but Evie runs this show, and our job is to take care of her.”

Rohr bellied up to the bed. “She is all that matters.” His fingers traced my cheek, and I closed my eyes, leaning into his touch. “Her happiness and her welfare are our only concern, and the sooner you get on board with that…the higher the chance we can make this work.”

I let Blake ease me back down onto the pillows, refusing to admit my head might be spinning—just a little. The tension that filled the room was almost as potent as the scent of brimstone, but honestly?

With the three of them around me?

I'd never felt safer in my life.