Page 9 of Fated In Forever (Nocturne Vampire Clan #4)

RIORDAN

W e landed in a bloodied, undignified heap in the ancient stone entryway of Laith Castle, vaulted ceilings disappearing into shadow above our heads, the rarified air holding onto that perpetual chill of centuries-old stone.

Dravin was spilling blood like a leaking faucet, and if he didn’t see a healer soon, he was going to bleed out.

Blake ended up braced against one of the massive stone pillars, his usual cocky grin erased by exhaustion, while Wolf and I carefully lowered Dravin to the stone floor, Fiona and Nash settled a disoriented Eldric beside him.

Two fucking Elders, the strongest vampire-witch I’d ever known, plus me and Blake, against Ravok and Romulus, and we’d barely survived the encounter.

I would have agonized longer over our failure, but one second, the entryway was empty, then soldiers streamed in from every direction, and a beautiful red-haired female crouched beside Wolf, along with a pale-faced Nikolai, who motioned the healers over to his brother.

Blake shook his head over the melee.

The two people we were looking for were nowhere in sight.

Finally, just when I thought we’d have to hunt her down, Evie burst through the doors, Malachi right on her heels, shoulders knocking a chunk of stone off the arched doorway he ducked through. Somehow, the bastard looked even bigger than I remembered.

At least he had shadows swirling around his middle, thank the gods.

“Well, well,” Blake called, though his tone was filled with relief rather than his typical swagger. “Look what the cat dragged in.”

Evie's face lit up and she broke into a run, her footsteps echoing against the stone floor as she raced toward us. “ Blake. Riordan . Oh God, you’re back and you’re alive and…

” She hit Blake with the force of a train, arms wrapping around his waist before she launched herself at me, hands hovering uncertainly around my face as if afraid she might hurt me.

“Where are you cut? There’s so much blood…

is that Dravin ? And what happened to Eldric?—”

“We're all fine,” I said gently, catching her hands in mine. “A little worse for wear, but nothing that won't heal.”

When her palms carefully cradled my face, that warm, sweet feeling coursed through me in a rush that nearly took me out at the knees. I closed my eyes and let her hold me, let myself savor this moment, like the greedy bastard I was.

“I thought…” I opened my eyes to find her biting her lip. “I was worried,” she admitted. “Worried that Ravok and Romulus would hurt you. I see I wasn’t wrong.”

“We’re fine, mate.”

Blake reached out and ruffled her hair with his good arm. “Takes more than a few angry thralls and two megalomaniac assholes to take us down. Though I'll admit, there were a few moments up on that mountain where I questioned our life choices more than once.”

Evie laughed, the sound ringing off the vaulted ceiling, bright and incredibly beautiful .

Then she grasped Blake’s hand and mine, and this was like old times—the three of us in our familiar triangle, sharing that unshakeable trust we’d fought so hard for, almost like we’d never been separated.

Towering over the chaos, Malachi watched everything, taloned hands clenching and unclenching at his sides, something like resignation written on his face.

His massive frame was even more imposing against the ancient architecture, shadows pooling around him like living things as he stared impassively, amber eyes narrowing down to slits, watching us.

The way Blake's fingers lingered in Evie's hair. How my hand remained on her shoulder as she leaned into me. The soft laughter that passed between us, full of relief and a lot of shared history.

His body tensed, I braced myself, and then, all that tension just…slipped away.

In its place came something I never expected.

Malachi’s eyes met mine and in that split second, something undecipherable passed between us.

No, not undecipherable—unexpected.

Take care of her, like she’s the most precious thing in the world. Protect her with your fucking lives. Do not allow any harm to come to her, or I swear to all the fucking gods, I will come back from the dead and kill you both slow.

One glance told me Blake was hearing the same thing, as Evie chattered away, pointing out Dravin waking up, that Eldric always seemed to end up unconscious, that she thought the redhead was Wolf’s mate.

We always have . I offered carefully, wondering what had changed in the last few hours. What was he talking about—coming back from the dead?

And you know we always will .

Good. Because if either of you fucks hurt her, or allow Ravok to get anywhere near her, you’ll pay with your lives. Along with Malachi’s warning came a wash of emotion—emotion I was sure he didn’t mean for us to feel. Grief and loss and jealousy, but mostly, a fierce, almost feral protectiveness.

“Oh. Brendan’s going to perform a ritual, to help Malachi get back his old mortal body,” Evie said suddenly, glancing back toward where the monster waited in the shadows. “He should be here soon. Once he’s ready, we’ll start.”

More healers rushed in, bending over Dravin, who tried to shove them away, tending to Wolf, while the red-haired female scolded him about not being more careful. I wondered if Evie was right. They did seem to act like mates.

Blake's eyebrows rose as he took in Malachi's monstrous silhouette. “Well, this is new. Last I checked, tall, dark, and terrifying over there could barely form a coherent thought. Now he’s gotten all bossy in a matter of hours.”

“People change, you know.” Evie said quietly, but there was something defensive in her tone that made my chest tighten further. Yes, we had missed something. Something big.

I nodded respectfully in Malachi's direction. “Thank you. For keeping her safe.”

Malachi inclined his massive head once, a curt acknowledgment, even as his eyes roamed over us, despair mixed with anger, and right then I knew.

This bullshit ritual of Brendan’s, Evie’s bubbling hope—all for nothing.

There was no saving Malachi from whatever transformation Ravok had started. I will come back from the dead and kill you both slowly. Draven knew he was doomed, and had tasked us with keeping Evangeline safe.

Fucking Ravok . I’d had that soulless fuck inside my head once, and he’d left an indelible mark on me. On my magic. On my soul. Whatever harm he’d done to Malachi went even deeper, in a soul consuming sort of way, because whatever was happening to Malachi Draven couldn’t be reversed.

He knew the truth, now I knew, too, but…my gaze drifted over to Evie. She had no idea what was coming, high on hope and… smelling a little too much like that enormous monster over there.

She started it. Malachi said, a bit defensively.

Blake surged forward. You’d better not have finished it, asshole, or I’ll cut your cock off and stuff it down your…

I threw my arm across Blake’s chest. While I felt the same surge of jealousy, mine was tempered by something I might have called pity.

Whatever happened between the two of you… I forced myself to hold Malachi’s stare. Whatever happened was Evie’s choice, which means I have to accept it, which means… I took a steadying breath. Which means…

“We’re ready.” An older male with graying temples stepped between us, his stern expression and stiff shoulders all business.

“The training room is ready, Nikolai has refortified the wards and I found everything we’ll need, even though you didn’t give me a lot of time to prepare. ” He glowered in Malachi’s direction.

We’d just arrived, hadn’t met a single soul, yet Malachi was the one acting like an outsider, the monster lurking at the edges of the light, and another wave of pity hit me. He might be an untrustworthy asshole, but he didn’t deserve this shitty fate.

And I had a sneaking suspicion his fate was far worse than any of us imagined, especially Evangeline.

The echoes of healers and conversation faded as a tall, dark-haired male stepped into the room, with a raven haired female on his arm.

He exuded a quiet power, the kind I’d like to think I possessed, though not at the moment, blood splattered and battered and exhausted.

His dark green eyes assessed everyone in the room in a single sweeping glance, resting on me for a moment before shifting over to Blake.

This had to be Rowan Forge, the new king of this clan, a male I’d only heard rumors about.

“Who is that?” I asked Evie, and she went up on her toes to get a better look.

“No idea.” she mused. “But he kind of looks like Finn Forge, the Knightsguard commander. That’s Aisling, though,” her eyes drifted from the brunette over to Nikolai. “But I thought she was with Nikolai, unless…”

As Silver went off on a tangent of who was sleeping with who, I couldn’t take my eyes off Malachi, watching Evie with such longing. And maybe I was a bastard, but I tightened my arm around her, pulled her closer.

Malachi made us swear to take care of her?

We would lay down our lives for her.

And while they might have shared a fleeting… moment , even he knew this was where she belonged—with people who could give her the life she deserved.

Because monsters were meant to remain in the shadows, no matter how much they longed for the light.