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36

EVANGELINE

O h God, he was going to…

“Blake, no .”

I threw out a hand, sending tendrils of shadow wrapping around my mate like thick, fiery ropes, stopping his charge, a few feet before he reached Malachi. Poor Virgil nearly collapsed from fear; Malachi’s narrowed expression told me he was not impressed by his welcome home party.

I was as surprised as anyone that my magic had not only obeyed me, but was doing what I wanted. Blake, stop. I need you to listen to me . He glared over his shoulder, eyes narrowing, and I dragged him back toward me, his boots digging furrows through the dirt.

I’m not going to hurt you, but you can’t kill them . A feral growl rumbled down the bond and I rolled my eyes. Fine, then. I’m not letting you go until you’re thinking clearly.

“That’s impressive,” Fiona muttered. “You’ve been holding out on me, Evangeline.”

“Impressive is right,” Eldric said, with more enthusiasm than his sister. “For a second there, I thought I was about to see the fight of the century.” He lowered his voice. “You could always let him go and see what happens. My money’s on Marten.”

“Stop goading him,” I hissed. “I don’t even know how I’m doing this.” I kept my magic carefully tangled around my struggling mate as Malachi and Virgil limped across the ward.

“Clearly, your instincts took over. An interesting development,” Fiona said breezily, sealing the ward back together with a wave of her hand. “You can release Blake now; his jealous rage has faded and he’s back in control.”

Indeed, my mate—his eyes back to warm brown—scowled at me like I was the one who’d totally lost my shit.

“Relax your body, you’re stiff as a board,” Eldric murmured in my ear. “Then loosen your hold on your magic, let it slide back into place inside you.” Those shadow flames slowly slipped away, though not without licking over his body one last time, paying special attention to my mate’s impressive hard on.

My magic, it seemed, had different ideas about this being an appropriate time .

“Hmmm,” Eldric said, studiously looking up at the sky, “I suppose that did the trick.”

“Oh, shut up. You really are an idiot, aren’t you?” I muttered, turning away so I didn’t have to deal with his bullshit. And to give Malachi a quick once over.

Despite being covered in dried blood and still-healing bruises, he looked intact. He’d been tortured, burns covering his neck, his arm, pink scars from knives and God-knows what other torture devices peppering his naked torso.

I wanted nothing more than to race across the distance between us and inspect every wound, to wash off the blood and dirt, to scold him for sending me away like he did. But the tension between these males was about to detonate.

The last thing I wanted to be was the match that set off the explosion.

“I see you’re ready for war.” Despite looking half-dead, Malachi managed to straighten to his full height and shove Virgil away. “I’ll tell you right now, you need more guards.”

The glare he fixed on me was tinged with possessive jealousy, and when he looked over to Blake…okay, these two were definitely going to be a problem. “Ravok will be here within the hour, and he’ll break through these wards within a few minutes.”

“They’ll hold. You didn’t manage to get through.” Fiona sniffed haughtily, peering down her nose at him.

“Take a good look,” Malachi indicated his beat-to-shit state, “and tell me I can do any-fucking-thing in this shape. That bastard’s coming for Evangeline, and he’ll be here within the hour. Do any one of you want to take a chance on him taking her? Because I’m not. Now get me inside.”

His eyes locked with mine. “Once I feed, that fucker will never get near her.”

* * *

My blood went cold. Then hot.

He wanted to… feed from me ?

Not a good idea. Blake was on the verge of combusting, and while Riordan had locked his emotions down beneath a mask if ice, once that control shattered, his rage would be devastating.

“Vicious,” Malachi’s eyes begged forgiveness, “this is the last thing I want to ask of you, but we only have one chance to survive this.” His pleading voice was quiet, devoid of swagger and even his usual charm. Instead, he sounded exhausted.

“Come on,” I muttered, turning on my heel and heading for the front doors. Angel and Bex waited in the opening, my sister’s gaze narrowing on Virgil, and I wondered if she even recognized him. She’d only been a child when we’d left, and Mom had always kept her insulated from the rest of the family.

“Hey, Evie. Long time no see.” Virgil trotted along behind us like a kicked dog, head swiveling from side to side, as if he knew his life might end at any moment.

“Virgil, I’m surprised to see you.” Alive . And how the hell had Malachi ended up with my cousin, of all people? And why wasn’t he a thrall, like everyone else?

“Yeah, well.” He scratched the back of his neck as we crossed into Crimson House, his eyes goggling as he looked around. “I’m not actually sure why I’m here and not dead, but I’ll take it.”

Riordan and Blake shouldered through the doorway behind us, then we were all packed into the foyer, plenty spacious for seven people, but not when three of them wanted to rip each other’s heads off, and one was a human about to piss his pants.

Finally, Malachi cleared his throat. “I’ll just say it, since we’re about to go to war, anyway. The only way I can face Ravok is if I feed. Evangeline’s blood is the strongest. I would prefer to do this alone, but I understand you don’t trust me, so…her sister will serve as a chaperone.”

“ Are you fucking kidding me ?” Angel muttered.

I couldn’t still my racing heart, couldn’t stop clenching my hands, a million words dancing on my tongue as I faced him. I wanted to scream at him, kiss him and offer myself to him, all at the same goddamned time.

But there were at least five pairs of eyes on us.

In what had to be the most awkward exit ever, I led the way down the hall, Malachi right behind me, Angel bringing up the rear, and once again, every eye followed us until nerves got the better of me and I chose the nearest room. “Here we go, this should work,” I said brightly, only to open the door to reveal…a coat closet.

Seriously, fuck my life.

“The next one is a sitting room,” Malachi murmured. “I know, because I’ve been here, a time or two.”

“Show off,” I muttered, while Angel made a harumphing sound of agreement behind us.

The next room was, indeed, a sitting room, paneled in dark wood with a handful of chairs, and floor to ceiling windows that let in lots of light. Light that revealed every single one of Malachi’s gruesome injuries. The second I closed the door, my heart leapt into my throat. “What did Ravok do to you?”

“This?” Malachi arched a brow, then winced. “This is courtesy of your family, mostly Dante, who has some serious anger management issues, which he should really work on, but I fear he’s beyond counseling.”

“Sit down before you fall down,” I ordered, steering him to the nearest chair. “How did you manage to get here? And with Virgil? I figured he was a thrall, like the others.”

“Is that his name?” Angel mused, crossing her arms over her baby bump. “I recognized him, but it’s been so long.” She sighed. “Mom never let me anywhere near Dante’s boys, they were evil little monsters.”

“Virgil was okay. He always had my back when we were younger and protected me from his father’s fists, whenever he could.”

“Virgil was my ticket out of the compound, and now I’m glad I didn’t kill him after all, hearing all that.” He stared up at me unblinking, unapologetic, and somehow, that made me feel better. An apologetic Malachi just didn’t feel right.

I wanted to sigh. Even beat to shit, he was still gorgeous, his stance still regal, the set of his perfectly honed shoulders arrogantly straight. His scent drifted over me, reminding me of the last time we did this, and how that ended up.

With me under him, actually. And on top. And…

“Wrist or throat?” I asked, brushing my sweaty palms down my thighs, trying to act businesslike. “Wrist.” I decided, suddenly remembering Angel was in the room and I’d been far too big an exhibitionist for one day. Or ever.

“Wrist it is,” Malachi agreed, his eyes suddenly bright as he studied my face. “You’re still healing.”

“Falling out of the sky will do that to you.” Angel’s tone was half snark, half furious little sister and Malachi’s expression shifted.

“You…fell out of the sky?” He repeated. “I thought…”

“She’s been a vampire for a whole two months. She doesn’t know how to dematerialize yet, asshole. Something you, of all people, should have known.”

“I hit the bushes, not the ground,” I muttered, as if either of them were listening.

“I didn’t…” he swallowed hard, his expression turning stricken. “You could have died. I didn’t think that through.”

“Obviously not.” My sister snorted.

“Angel, you’re not helping. Malachi, you made a decision that saved my life, and I didn’t die, so let’s move on.”

“I can’t feed from you.”

“Were you telling the truth about the ward? Can he get through Fiona’s magic?”

“Yes. Within a few minutes, maybe faster, if he brings Aria with him.”

I shoved my wrist in his bruised-up face. “Then you can and you will. We don’t have time to take Angel or anyone else to safety, so Ravok cannot get inside these wards.”

“I can take care of myself,” Angel said stiffly. “Don’t pin this on me because you can’t wait for his magic lips to be on you again.”

“Oh, fuck you. That was rude,” I scolded, blushing because her accusation was a little bit true. “And yes, you can take care of yourself, but your baby can’t. I’m not exposing you or the baby or Bex or anyone else inside this building to Ravok’s brutality.”

And while we didn’t have time to go into a history lesson right now, Malachi knew as well as I, Angel was the perfect leverage.

“Now drink, damn it, then get outside and reinforce that ward with your special brand of magic. Nash and his men will take care of any thralls Ravok brings along. Blake, Riordan, Fiona and I will handle Aria and Ravok. Together, we can hold him off, if he makes it past the wards.”

Angel put her hands on her hips. “Where, exactly, am I supposed to go?”

“You and Bex need to hole up somewhere safe.” I shivered when Malachi closed his fingers around my arm, fangs flashing before he bent over my arm, his possessive touch stirring up a shiver of forbidden anticipation. “Find Eldric. Ask him if there’s a basement, somewhere secure and protected.”

When Malachi’s fangs sank in and a rush of ecstasy swept through me, I wished my sister was anywhere else but here. This was…divine. Life changing. I felt every deep pull in my clit, like his mouth was wrapped around that swollen nub, sucking and sucking…

Vicious, you need to stop thinking those thoughts.

It’s not like I have a choice. Your mouth does unspeakable things, especially when your teeth are in me.

I’d like to do unspeakable things to you, but your sister is watching with that disapproving look on her face. His thumb began rubbing the underside of my hand, the friction rippling through my body in molten waves. I don’t think she likes me much.

Angel is just being protective. And a little bitchy. My other hand landed on the back of his head, stroking his hair.

His scent grew stronger. I want to taste you again. I want to lick your drenched folds clean and sink my cock into you so deep your pussy swallows me up and you make those sounds I like so much.

Oh. My God. I snuck a glance at Angel, who was peering out the window so studiously, I realized she totally knew what was going on between us right now. You can’t say those things to me, Malachi.

He blinked up at me, all innocent-like. Why not? The things I want to do to you, Vicious…we barely scratched the surface of all the ways I want to make you scream my name. Or beg for more.

Another long, deep draw from my wrist, and my weeping, empty pussy clenched around nothing, when all I wanted was to shove Malachi to the floor and ride him into oblivion. Good thing my sister was right fucking there to keep me from doing anything foolish.

Now that’s something we didn’t try. Even inside my head, his voice went deeper, huskier . You riding my cock. Think of how deep I could go, Vicious, fucking up into you. Think of how good I’d feel, while you used me for your own pleasure, gliding that wet pussy up and down my thick, rigid cock.

Stop, Malachi, or I’m going to… His mouth clamped down harder and I imploded, bowed over Malachi’s fangs in my wrist, my fingers twisting tighter in his hair, a cresting wave of pure pleasure crashing down and shattering me apart.

“Oh, fucking hell, are you two serious right now?” Angel muttered, then slammed out through the door.

The next second, I was wrapped in Malachi’s arms, crushed against his admittedly gross shirt, but I didn’t care. I nuzzled into his skin, pressing myself against every inch of exposed skin, like I couldn’t touch enough of him. This felt so right, I couldn’t think of anywhere else I wanted to be.

“You were the only thing that kept me alive, Vicious,” Malachi murmured into my hair. “The thought of holding you again like this was the only thing that kept me breathing.”

I pulled back so I could see his face, already healing beneath the layers of dried blood and gore. “If you plan to continue that streak, I suggest we go outside and you help Fiona reinforce those wards.”