Page 6 of Fated In Forever (Nocturne Vampire Clan #4)

BLAKE

H er red hair streaming like a banner, Fiona finally closed off the leaking ley line, forming a bubble of magic that encapsulated the shimmering magic like a snow globe. The rift in the clouds paused, the chilled air no longer clogged with magic.

But she was alone. Eldric was down, unmoving on the ground, hair matted with blood.

And Nash…Nash was moving across the Keep to meet the oncoming threat.

“Now we know where he’s pulling his magic from,” Rohr hissed.

Thralls circled them like spiders, ten, twenty, climbing up over the lip of the cliff, arms and legs moving jerkily. “They’re coming up the walls of the ravine.” I spat. “Like a bunch of fucking insects.” Shots rang out as Nash and his guards picked them off, but they kept coming.

“Where the fuck did all of these things come from?” Rohr muttered.

“I killed three already, but there’s no way they brought all of these with them. They must have made them here. Kept them in reserve?”

Romulus yanked the blade from his thigh, glaring at the two of us before he rose in a vortex of roaring fire and shadow combined, several of the closest thralls dropping, curling in on themselves on the stone parapet, like drying husks.

“Have you ever seen anything like this?” Riordan asked, gaze fixed on the slowly desiccating corpses, Romulus’s sudden boost of power.

“No,” my own gaze ping ponged between the two, arriving at one conclusion.

As long as there were thralls, we were totally fucked.

“You cannot stop what has already begun,” Ravok screamed at Fiona, still firmly in his villain era.

With a wave of his hand, a fresh pulse of energy ripped open the rift and the temperature in the ruins dropped twenty degrees.

Ice began forming on the ancient stones.

“You are pathetic, with your witch magic and your spells and your cheap enchantments.”

Horror twisted my insides into painful knots as I watched everything happen in slow motion.

The promise of death in Ravok’s smile, how the mountain trembled beneath us, thralls dropping like flies.

The way Fiona lifted her small, pale hands to deflect Ravok’s killing blow, her wild eyes meeting mine.

Nash turning to throw himself in front of her, and how he would be too late.

I was already moving, but I was too far away, my magic too depleted, the iced-over stones too treacherous. With every step, my pulse—and the truth—pounded in my temples. Fiona was going to die. I was going to fail her. I was going to fail them all, and there was nothing I could do except watch.

A roar escaped my lips, a hopeless, futile sound.

Out of nowhere, Dravin barreled into Ravok from behind and sank his fangs into his throat, ripped out a mouthful of flesh and screamed at Fiona.

I didn’t understand a single word, but Fiona’s face settled into fierce determination and with a complicated hand movement and a final, whispered spell, she encased the bulk of the leaking magic in a bubble of golden light, then started dragging her brother behind the rocks.

“Nash, don’t let anything happen to Fiona or that ward. And someone help her with Eldric,” Riordan commanded without taking his eyes off Ravok. “Blake, you and I are taking Romulus out. Don't let him pin you down.”

I might have reminded him I’d taught him everything he knew, when a wall of magic burst out of Ravok, a wave of pure energy that would have liquefied a human.

The wave sent Dravin hurtling backwards into a wall of stone, bones crunching on impact.

Riordan stepped into my shadows, his own white power lashing out like a living whip of flame, ready to carve Ravok’s head from his shoulders.

But Ravok was ready spinning out of range, to defect my strike with his own whip of crackling darkness.

Gunshots rang out. Nash's aim was true, bullets rocketing for the center of Ravok's chest. Those silver tipped projectiles should have found their mark, but simply vanished when they struck the rippling aura of power surrounding our enemy. Nash cursed and began reloading with practiced efficiency.

“He's too strong,” Nash called out, crouching behind a fallen column as bolts of dark energy seared the air where he'd been standing. “Whatever's powering him, it's not natural.” He risked a glance over the wall. “I’m running low on ammo. We have to get Fiona out of there, she’s out of magic.”

Ravok's retaliation was swift and merciless, his aim perfect.

A ruthless whip of shadow sent Fiona sprawling, down beside her brother, unmoving. From here, I couldn’t tell if she was breathing, her long hair covering her face.

Dravin grunted in pain, climbing to his feet, countless thralls boiling up over the edge of the cliff onto what remained of the Keep floor. In a few more seconds, we’d be overrun and this would be over.

I grit my teeth and mustered every last piece of my strength, carved out the last of my magic and crouched low as a wave of crushing power headed our way. All I could hope for was the tide would shift, an opening would present itself, something I could capitalize on.

Retreating wasn’t an option, not when we’d have to leave our people behind.

“Nash, you and your men concentrate on the thralls,” I shouted, yanking Rohr down beside me as we ducked Romulus’s next blow, a mix of shadow and living flame surging over our heads.

“I’ll distract Romulus, you get Fiona and Eldric.” I told Riordan. “Get them far enough away that if this mountain comes down, they’ll be safe.”

Rohr gripped my arm as I went to turn away. “And what the fuck are you planning to do?”

“Ravok’s still in the game. Someone has to distract him and Romulus.” I muttered. “Dravin’s down, and I don’t know where the fuck Wolf is…”

“He’s right there.” Riordan said quietly, pointing. “I don’t think you have to worry about distracting Ravok.”

Across the Keep, Wolf crept up behind Ravok, face set with the kind of determination only an ancient, immortal predator could manage. The problem was, Romulus saw him coming, so before he shouted a warning to his Master, I sent my shadows flying.

A veritable cloud of black blocked out the watery light and turned the entire top of the mountain black as a moonless night. Plunged into darkness, the thralls shambled aimlessly, even Ravok was briefly at a loss.

Romulus feinted left, but too late, and my shadows brushed his shoulder, sending him crashing to his knees. But instead of turning into a pile of ash, he simply bared his fangs, black crawling over his arm, up his neck, covering half his face and one eye.

“Holy fuck.” Riordan muttered. “Like he wasn’t evil enough before.”

My distraction worked, Wolf tackling Ravok from behind, banding his arms around the powerful Elder’s torso, and whatever his power, he somehow neutralized the Elder’s magic long enough to wrestle Ravok to the ground.

“Go to Fiona and Eldric,” I urged Riordan, “and get them behind those rocks while Nash picks off the thralls. Maybe we’ve weakened Romulus enough to finally kill him.” I didn’t know how he’d survived my shadows, but if I had to saw the fucker’s head off his shoulders to finish this, I would.

Rohr vanished, just as Ravok twisted away, then struck, sharpened claws aimed at Wolf’s throat—a killing blow.

Only Dravin's intervention saved Wolf’s life—the bloodied, battered vampire throwing himself between them, taking the brunt of the attack, his claws intercepting Ravok’s strike in a shower of sparks.

But the maneuver left Dravin exposed, and Ravok’s second strike raked across his bare chest, drawing blood and a howl of pain.

Shots rang out in the dark, Nash picking off the thralls, and when the mountain winds finally tore my shadows away, the ruins were strewn with bodies.

Riordan was dragging both an unconscious Fiona and Eldric to safety, and Wolf, Dravin and Ravok were tangled together once again in a violent twist of claws and fangs.

I had to hand it to Dravin, even with a broken arm and leaking blood all over the mountain, he was still holding his own.

“Look at you, all alone,” Romulus materialized out of a bank of shadow.

“I don’t know whether to curse you or thank you for this.

” He gestured to his half-charred face. “My Master is going to kill those two, I’m going to kill you, then we’ll use the king and the witch as bait to draw out your precious Evangeline. ”

My hands closed into fists, magic coating my arms in a cold wash of darkness as I waited for him to make the first move. One heartbeat to measure my enemy. One breath to decide where to strike first. Would he attack me with my own shadows? Or Rohr’s fire? Or something even more deadly?

“And she is precious, isn’t she? So much finer than anything a common grunt like you ever deserved.” His eyes—one normal, one black as coal—glinted with malice. “Where is your mate? Or should I say…where did that monster take her?”

I squashed down the resentment and anger bubbling up from my gut, brought my raging jealousy back under control, my voice cold and unwavering when I answered.

“To safety.”

Romulus’s expression hardened, hatred gleaming in his ancient eyes and when he moved, it was with the full terrible grace of an Ancient. I barely managed to dodge his first blow and the second opened a throbbing gash down my shoulder, my dominant arm going numb.

But it didn’t matter what happened to me.

Evie was safe .

Malachi would keep her safe, Riordan would ensure she remained protected.

Wolf and Dravin were both injured, bleeding, and Ravok showed no sign of faltering, thralls creeping up over the edge of the outcropping like roaches, and while Nash and his guards were picking them off, soon enough, their ammunition would run out.

But our personal battles meant nothing, as the true threat continued to grow.

The rift above Ravok pulsed like a diseased heart, each beat sending tremors through the foundations of the mountain. Through the tear, I could almost glimpse shapes moving in the endless dark—things that could never be allowed to cross over into this realm.

At every break in the battle, Ravok tore that rift open wider, and with each passing second, he grew stronger as thralls dropped and dropped around us, until I could almost see the line of power flowing straight to Ravok, like an undulating river of stolen magic.

Dravin saw that stolen magic too, as he crept up behind Ravok, hatred burning in his face.

“This isn’t over. And you did not win today, you lost .” Romulus hissed, his head snapping toward his master, spotting Dravin. Then he vanished in a swirl of smoke and reappeared beside his Master.

Moving with terrible grace and speed, far beyond what he should be capable of, his claws caught Dravin mid-leap, the two of them crashing to the ground in a tangle of limbs and fury.

They rolled across the broken stones, each seeking the other's throat, neither giving quarter.

Romulus was faster, but Dravin was a feral beast, tearing with a desperate ferocity that was awful to watch.

The end came suddenly. Dravin overextended himself, lunging for what he thought was an opening in Romulus’s defenses. Instead, he found himself impaled on the vampire’s blackened claws, talons punching through his chest with surgical precision.

“No,” Wolf screamed, lunging for Dravin before Ravok hurled him away. I scrambled to help, sending my shadows spinning, but was too late. Romulus grasped Ravok’s arm in his bloodied hand.

One look—a glare that promised retribution—and they were gone.

Dravin crashed to his knees, trying to stem the bleeding, blood pouring between his fingers, splattering on the ground like a macabre painting. Above us, that rift roared like a starving dragon.

“We have to get the fuck out of here.” I staggered to Dravin’s side, slid my arm beneath his and heaved him to his feet. “Now. Fiona sealed off the ley line, but whatever Ravok just did…”

Wolf took on the rest of Dravin’s considerable weight, his blue eyes lifting to the threat above us. “We’ll go back to Ireland, tell Nikolai what’s happened. You should come with us.”

On the other side of the Keep, Nash was shouting orders, gunshots ringing out as he took down the last of the thralls.

“I can’t heal you, not here. We’ll have to dematerialize with your injuries,” Wolf explained to his friend. “If I know my brother, Nik will have healers waiting.” His gaze lifted to my face. “Bring your people. Tell King Riordan we will form an alliance, in the face of this threat.”

“I'll live,” the wounded Elder managed, though his face was pale as moonlight, his eyes on Fiona, sprawled on the rocks. “The witch’s binding—is her magic holding? ”

“For now, but the rift is…” I squinted, disbelief warring with shock at what I saw. “Shrinking.”

The sudden silence that followed was almost deafening. The supernatural winds died away, the temperature began to return to normal, and the ancient stones of Chateau des Ombres éternelles settled back into place with a grateful groan.

“Good.” Wolf said. “Perhaps without Ravok to hold open the tear, it will continue to grow smaller. We have time, maybe days, to close this down entirely.”

“Perhaps.” I said aloud, thinking— we were seldom that lucky.

“Check on Lady Fiona,” Nash called, his gaze fixed on her and Eldric, Riordan crouched down beside them. “She took a hard hit.”

I headed over that direction, relief loosening my chest when I found her already awake, cursing Ravok and halfway through what she’d do to him, once she got her chance.

“…anyone who jeopardizes the stability of this realm in the name of vengeance deserves to rot in hell,” she spat, letting Riordan lift her into a sitting position, the blood on her forehead nearly the same color as her hair.

“I know a spell that will turn him into a doorknob. And I know just where to fucking put him after I…”

“Eldric.” I squatted down beside her brother as he blinked up at me. “I see you ran out of books to throw, library boy.”

He blinked, like he was seeing two of me. “Oh, fuck you, Marten. Just because you’re some big, brawny asshole warrior, doesn’t mean…”

“That’s what’s known as a joke. You did good today.” I offered him my hand. “This is also what’s known as a peace offering. Take it, asshole. ”

“Fine.” He grumbled, swaying slightly when I hefted him to his feet. “Even though this is probably some weird hazing thing you came up with to humiliate me.”

“The binding will hold,” Fiona climbed to her feet, blood still slowly leaking from the wound on her forehead. “For a few days. But the rift isn’t stable. And once my binding weakens…I’ll have to come back and continually reinforce the warding. But for now…I’d say we dodged the proverbial bullet.”