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48

EVANGELINE

A s Angel and I approached the dining room, the low hum of conversation carried through the hallway, not arguing, but grudging cooperation. My heart fluttered when we rounded the corner, the scene before us something I’d hoped for, but hadn’t expected.

Amid the wreckage of what had once been Crimson House’s formal dining room, three mortal enemies bent over a makeshift table made from the splintered, overturned cabinet and what was left of a door. Riordan had a deep purple bruise along his jaw, while Blake's split lip had barely begun to heal. Malachi, sporting a cut above his eyebrow with a streak of dried blood like war paint on his skin, was gesturing at something before them.

The energy in the room had transformed—no longer volatile, but humming with a different kind of intensity. Purpose . Maybe—if I wanted to be optimistic—even a fragile trust.

Since I was a glass half full kind of gal, some of my dread slipped away, and a faint thread of hope crept in, Angel's hand finding mine and squeezing. I hadn’t realized how much I’d needed to see some sign of solidarity, when the world was caving in around us.

“This wing is the most defensible,” Riordan explained, his finger tracing what I now recognized as a rough sketch of Crimson House. “Fiona reinforced the windows and Eldric added additional warding to the underground passages, in case we need to escape.”

Angel’s gaze immediately drifted over to the red-haired male near the fireplace, his gold eyes pinned on my sister with fiery intensity, a slow smile spreading across his handsome face when he caught her looking.

Malachi nodded, his gaze focused on the drawing. Just seeing the three of them like this…my chest tightened and I rubbed my burning eyes.

“That tunnel could be our salvation or our downfall. We'll need to…”

Malachi broke off, his eyes finding mine, the air between us charged with unspoken meaning. The bruises on his face shouldn't have made him more beautiful, yet somehow, they did and I wanted to kiss away every single one.

“There you are.” Blake cut across the room and took my hands. “I’m sorry we were idiots. We’ll fix this, all of it.” His eyes darkened with apology and an earnestness that warmed my heart. “Rohr’s called an abjurist. By tomorrow, everything will be just like new.”

I touched his swollen lip. “Does that include you?” I asked softly. “You should go see Sylvester, let him heal this.” I brushed my fingers over his battered chest and he winced slightly. “I take that back. You will be going to see Sylvester, because you’re too stubborn for your own good.”

My gaze drifted to the table, where Riordan and Malachi watched with the kind of intensity usually reserved for professional sports and apex predators, and I couldn’t stop my shiver.

I didn’t know why this shiver seemed to reach into my soul, why my body came alive at the realization all three sets of male eyes were pinned intently on me, but…God, I felt like I was standing under a spotlight.

The moment splintered as Bex burst through the door, Nash right behind her. The commander’s face was grave, his usual calm replaced by an almost-panicked fervor.

“Bex told me about Ravok. About the Darkening, and this…transformation.” He strode to the table and planted himself between Rohr and Malachi, flipped the map over and began drawing.

“It's possible Ravok found a power source,” he said without preamble. “There was a rumor some years ago, of a disruption that caused a major blackout across most of Europe. They never definitively pinpointed the cause, but narrowed the source down to southern France.”

“That doesn’t mean anything.” Blake shook his head. “Who cares about the human power grid? We’re talking about cosmic energy here, not electricity.”

“The area they narrowed it down to is uninhabited, deep in the Alps, far away from the nearest transformer and yet…whatever happened took down twelve countries for two entire days. A surge capable of doing that…it was as big as a nuclear explosion.”

“Tell them what you told me,” Bex urged, her face pale beneath her freckles.

Nash ran his hand over the scars in his cropped gray hair. “I asked around. There were two ancient royal houses that once ruled that area. Bloodlines running all the way back to Caine, according to my source. And before you accuse me of jumping to conclusions, even the High Council sent out special envoys to look into the issue.”

“Who are the two houses?” Riordan asked quietly.

“House Vespertine and Malvyth.” I looked between Nash and Riordan, waiting for an explanation of why, exactly, this was significant.

“That’s impossible,” Malachi hissed through bloodless lips. “House Malvyth was exterminated by Caine himself, and Lord Aurelius is long dead…and the Chateau des Ombres is…” His face paled, his eyes locking with mine before he whirled away, stalking over to the window.

Eldric’s expression had lost all traces of humor. “I’ve heard of House Malvyth. They were a barbarian kingdom and Lord Volkmar…slaughtered an entire town who refused to bow to his rule, down to the last child.” His voice tapered down to a whisper.

I raised my hand. “Would someone like to enlighten those of us who weren’t born into this life? Who are these assholes?”

“Lord Volkmar, besides being a soulless barbarian, dabbled in forbidden magic and Aurelius…he was rumored to travel between realms, though no one ever confirmed they were anything other than rumors. But….it’s possible one of them managed to unlock some powerful energy source.”

Malachi faced the window, staring blankly out like he was lost in thought.

“The blackout was over ten years ago, the power source never confirmed.” Nash stared at us all in turn. “But possible causes…I looked it up. Solar flare, EMP, or a nuclear event so catastrophic it would cause widespread damage.”

Or accessing some sort of cosmic energy field.

My heart sank. “So you think Ravok somehow discovered this and what? Headed to France to find out if it was true?”

“He sees the future, remember?” Malachi reminded us softly, without turning around. “If a source of power exists, he already knows exactly where to find it.”

“And Romulus said the change had already begun…two days ago.” I swallowed, glancing at my sister, hugging her arms around herself, her blue eyes bouncing between everyone in the room before landing on Eldric.

“I’ve studied ancient lore, and this transformation you’re talking about,” Eldric shook his head. “This is quantum entanglement. There is nothing in the physical realm of this planet to generate a big enough energy field for what’s been hypothesized, not even a nuclear reaction. Forget the blood,” his gaze landed firmly on me, “forget the fact physical laws are inflexible when it comes to transmuting actual physical beings into another form, you would be talking about a confluence of about a thousand different variables for something like this scenario to work. You would need a miracle.”

“Or someone who can see the future,” I murmured.

“We have two leads. House Vespertine and House Malvyth. We should follow them both up.” Blake turned to Nash. “Is there anything else? We’ll need to split into two groups, so choose two teams of guards.”

“What would Ravok need,” I mused, “for a transformation? He’d need a secure location, right? Protection?”

“He doesn’t have an army left,” Riordan pointed out. “He only has Dante and Alistair…and this Romulus.”

“A fresh, steady source of blood, he’d need to feed constantly,” Eldric said, fingers tapping on the mantle, his sharp gaze focused on Angel, as if she was the only person in the room. “Changing from one form to another takes an enormous amount of physical energy, in addition to the external forces required.”

“Somewhere isolated,” Blake growled. “Far away from civilization and easy to defend, in case they were discovered. They have to know we’re hunting them, and they lack an army for protection. Isolation replaces strength, in this case.”

“Both locations are isolated,” Nash said, “and both have strategic positions in the mountains. High ground, easily defensible with even a small force.”

“I’ll see what I can find out about the two locations,” Nash said, pulling out his phone. “I have an old contact who still has influence in the Old Country, let me see if he knows anything.”

“If we find Ravok, there’s a chance we’re messing with forces none of us understand.” The temperature in the room seemed to drop as Eldric continued, his words painting pictures that made my soul recoil. “If Ravok, or one of these lords has managed to harness the energy required for this transformation, none of us—even together—will be able to shut it down. I’ll…” He swiped his hand over his temple. “Let me get started learning about quantum physics.”

Blake’s hand settled on the small of my back, and I leaned into his touch, drawing strength from the connection. The gesture wasn't lost on Malachi. His gaze flickered over us, then away, something complicated passing across his features.

“Do we have enough information to narrow down the search?” I asked. “Can’t we at least start looking, so we’re not just standing around…”

“I know where he is,” Malachi whispered, so softly, I wondered if I was the only one who heard him. His eyes closed, and even with his back turned to us, I read his stance. Defeated. Utterly defeated.

“If we find Ravok in time,” Blake rapped his knuckles on the table, “we can stop this. But if we can’t kill him…”

“We could trap him,” Riordan finished, and the way they built on each other's thoughts sent hope surging through my chest. He nodded to Malachi, eyes still closed. “Like you did, with the iron coffin. There are containment spells that might work. If Fiona could adapt them to this new magic, we could find a way to bind him long enough to...”

“I’ll speak to my sister. Fiona has contacts all over the world, specializing in arcane magic,” Eldric suggested. “She will come up with something.”

“I’ll reach out to my contact then start assembling a tac team, set to travel at a minute’s notice, anywhere in the world.” Nash turned on his heels and headed for the door.

I looked around at these males—enemies, now allies—and something profound shifted in my heart. All these people, vested in Riordan’s dream, ready to fight to protect it.

“Once we come up with a plan,” I said, stepping forward to join them at their makeshift war table. “We’ll go after Ravok. Together .”

The word hung in the air like a promise, but when I looked over my shoulder, Malachi was gone.

I frowned at the bright afternoon sun streaming over the empty spot where he’d just been, wondering why he’d vanish without a word.

Without telling us where Ravok was.