Page 70 of Fated In Forever (Nocturne Vampire Clan #4)
EVANGELINE
I woke to unfamiliar brightness streaming through my bedroom windows.
The quality of light was different somehow—warmer, more golden than any morning I’d ever seen before.
Blinking against the gentle radiance, I sat up in a bed that felt far too big, wrapping soft sheets around me as I tried to pinpoint what had changed.
The night before came flooding back in a rush, and heat rose in my cheeks. Malachi. Blake. Riordan. Our evening together had been more beautiful than I could have imagined, and I felt transformed this morning.
But this light—this wasn't the harsh morning sun I was accustomed to.
Wrapping the sheet tighter, I slipped from bed and padded to the window, my bare feet silent on the cool floor. I pushed the drapes aside and gasped, pressing my nose to the cool glass.
Crimson House had been transformed.
Where once there had been an overgrown, untended garden, a green, sweeping lawn stretched toward what appeared to be a brand-new forest. Two long, magnificent new wings extended from either side of the original structure, their enormous windows reflecting the golden morning light.
The architecture was seamless, as if the house had always been this way, ivy climbing over the stone in a thick, shiny mat.
But it was the gardens that truly took my breath away.
Terraced flower beds cascaded down gentle slopes in riots of color—roses and jasmine, lavender and peonies, flowers I didn't even recognize but glowed with their own inner light.
Winding stone paths meandered between the beds, all of them leading to a crystalline lake that hadn't existed yesterday.
The surface was an unbroken sheet of pure light, pink and gold and purple, reflecting the dawn like a perfect, unbroken mirror. Perfect, except for the pair of swans gliding serenely by, their necks elegantly curved.
“Oh my God,” I whispered, pressing my face against the glass.
I threw on some clothes, rushing barefoot downstairs, my heart pounding like it was Christmas morning. When I reached the main floor, I heard Angel's voice, high and breathless with excitement and headed in that direction, my feet flying.
Her head popped through a doorway, cheeks pink with excitement. “Evie, get in here. You have to see what Bex and I found this morning when we woke up.”
I paused in the doorway, speechless, dumbfounded, trying to absorb what I was seeing.
Where Riordan had once had his modest office, a magnificent room dominated the center of the house.
The ceiling soared two stories high, supported by elegant columns of white marble veined with gold.
Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves lined every wall, their mahogany surfaces gleaming in the soft, natural light pouring through domed skylights above.
There were so many books.
Shelf after shelf, each marked with fancy brass signs, and there were rolling ladders, a balcony that divided the shelves in half, the air smelled of fresh paper and new leather, of roses from the garden and something indefinably magical.
But it wasn't just the books, though there were thousands of them, leather-bound volumes that pulsed with knowledge, while others—my sister and Bex had quite a stack in front of them—I suspected were a little light on knowledge and heavy on steam.
Reading nooks were scattered throughout the space, each one perfectly appointed with comfortable chairs and soft lighting.
From brass lamps with green shades.
And there, in a corner, a familiar grand piano sat, its ebony surface reflecting the dancing patterns of light from the windows, playing a playful, happy tune.
Definitely not Russian.
I blinked my tears away, my throat closing up, my chest so tight I could barely even breathe.
“Evie, come look at this place,” Angel exclaimed, spinning with her arms outstretched, like she was trying to hug the entire room. “It's like something from a fairy tale.”
No , I wanted to tell her, it’s a castle in the air dream.
Eldric emerged from behind one of the towering shelves, his expression a mixture of awe and what I could only describe as scholarly lust. “The collection is incredible,” he said, his voice hushed with reverence.
“There are texts here I've only heard whispers about. First editions of books that were supposed to be lost to time.”
He flapped his free hand at the room, eyes fever-bright.
“And this is just the beginning. We could expand this into something even grander—add research alcoves, perhaps a rare manuscripts room, even a scriptorium for copying and preserving the most precious volumes. In time, we could even rival the library at Laith Castle.”
Angel clapped, practically bouncing on her toes. “And we could have reading circles, and story times for all the kids, and, God, Evie, isn't this just perfect?”
I turned slowly, taking in every detail of the transformed space, of the house that had somehow become a sanctuary, an impossible dream made manifest. The realization hit me like a physical blow, stealing my breath and making my knees weak.
“Malachi,” I whispered.
“What?” Angel asked, her excitement slipping into confusion.
“Malachi did this.” I sank into one of the reading chairs, overwhelmed by the magnitude of what I was seeing. “He did all of this. For us.”
The truth of it settled over me like a warm blanket. Sometime during the night, while I slept, he had come down here and given me—given us—everything we’d ever wanted. Not just the library, though that was clearly the crown jewel—but the gardens, the lake—he had been paying attention.
He’d listened.
And more importantly, he’d remembered.
I found him back on the terrace, watching the swans float past, cutting a perfect, v-shaped ripple into the smooth surface .
“You were right,” he said, as I tried to sneak up on him. “It is a different kind of quiet. Peaceful.”
“You built us a home,” I said softly, my voice catching. “Not just a house, but a real home. A place where Angel can read, where Eldric can do his research, where we can all be together and safe and happy. This is too much, Malachi.”
“You gave me more.” he said simply.
“I didn’t…how?”
“You gave me a family, you made me feel loved and accepted.” His throat bobbed, then he was looking at me. No, not at me. Through me, into my soul.
“I know what it’s like to want something so badly, with the knowledge it will never be yours.
I figured the least I could do was give you the home you’d always wanted.
” His hands tightened on the railing, until his knuckles whitened.
“I won’t be able to share this with you, Evangeline, but knowing you are all happy here… will be enough.”
“You will share it with us,” I said fiercely, over the gentle lapping of water against the shore and the soft rustle of leaves in the enchanted forest.
‘We are going to build a life here, Malachi, all of us. And you will be a part of that, we’ll figure out a way to break the Underworld’s hold over you, just like Sabine did with me, we’ll…”
“…do no such thing.” He turned, and my breath caught in my throat. This was a different Malachi. Not just a different version of the male who had worn a thousand face in his lifetime, but a wholly new male altogether.
This Malachi was serious, in the way powerful males are serious, wielding their power carefully, with kindness and gentleness and intent. He was settled, and calm, and…happy.
Quiet joy radiated from him, his fingers tracing down my cheek, spreading the tears I hadn’t known I’d been crying.
“I swore an oath, Evangeline. To open the portal, to come back to you, I promised to return to the Underworld, once you were safe. But even before that…” His eyes got that far away look, like he was peering deep into my secrets, a smile curving his lips, turning beauty to perfection. “I knew I belonged there. My task…”
He sucked in a deep breath. “You asked me how I was so strong? I ferry souls across a river. Every day. I take them to the other side so they can be free. They were waiting, for a very long time, for me to arrive. And now that I’ve started this, I can’t just walk away.”
“The task Sabine talked about.”
He dipped his head. “Yes. And the old me,” his mouth twisted with that arrogant smirk, “The old me might have tried to find a way around that promise, but the new me…just…can’t. I have to go back, I have to keep my word, Evangeline.”
He straightened his shoulders. “I know I made promises to you. I know to keep one oath, I have to break another, and I’ve been…” He spread his hands helplessly.
“I gave you the house because it’s a poor substitute for what I really promised you, Vicious. But it’s all I can give you, because I don’t belong here anymore. I just…don’t.”