Fated In Secrets (Nocturne Vampire Clan #2)

Chapter 46

46

RIORDAN

T he formerly opulent ballroom was unrecognizable.

The ornate chandeliers that had once bathed the space in golden light hung in jagged shards, their glittering crystals scattered like fallen stars across the blood-splattered marble floor.

The ceremonial maroon and gold decorations were shredded, the air still stank with the metallic tang of magic gone wrong. My gaze drifted to the gash through the wall from where I’d cleaved the ancient stone with my magic.

To the pool of blood where I took an attacker’s head.

The sooty stains where smoking corpses had lain, empty eyes staring up at the ceiling.

Every glance tied me to that night, reminding me I was still king, I was still me , not this cruel, murmuring voice inside my head, or the dark power trying to take me over.

Me . Riordan Ashwyn Graves, King of the Nocturne Clan… or what was left of him .

My once-bright white fire—the magic that had defined me, that had once burned with such hope and purpose—was now a seething storm of dark crimson shadow, swirling around me like a living host, more violent than the storm raging outside .

This magic wasn’t cold as a winter wind, light as a whisper, deadly as a razor.

This magic bent my back, weighed down my shoulders, as if every malicious deed ever committed held the heaviness of judgement. These past few hours, I’d wondered how much more I could bear without breaking.

“Riordan?” Evangeline called softly, her feet crunching toward me through the debris.

I didn’t move, but the oppressive presence around me shifted, as if the suffocating magic had found a new victim, like a shark sensed blood in the water.

No. She is not yours.

Silver edged closer until she stood in front of me, her heart pounding loudly enough my mouth watered. “It’s me,” she searched my face, her voice steady despite the fear rocketing her heart faster. “Evangeline.”

With great effort I lifted my head slowly, and when our eyes met, her breath caught, all the color draining from her face. Well, that’s not good .

“Oh, Riordan.” She lifted her hand, then dropped it, clenched into a fist at her side. “What can I do? How can I help you?”

Run. Get away from me . Don’t ever come back . But nothing came out.

I barely managed to flick my gaze toward the door, praying she’d take the hint.

I couldn’t bear that burning hope in her eyes, the fierce anger in her face, as if she could somehow claw this infection out of my center with her bare hands.

She can’t save you now, no one can, the dark voice of my captor taunted. You might as well give in, Riordan. Stop fighting this. You’ll never win.

Fuck off. I’ll never stop fighting .

I managed to turn my head enough to catch a glimpse in the mirror. The deep blue of my gaze was gone, replaced by an unnatural red glow that burned with cruelty and malice. Master of the dark voice inside me, the entity stared out of my narrowed eyes, as if I were nothing more than an insect that crawled too close to his web and got caught.

And he liked what he saw, lust tightening my body as his gaze fell upon Evangeline.

Evangeline…I like that name.

“Riordan,” Silver tried again, her voice trembling. “Tell me how to help you.”

“Bend the knee and make yourself useful,” the words poured out of my mouth, ugly and cold as he cupped my cock. “Put that mouth to good use, little slayer.”

She retreated a step, the same horror spiraling up through me etched across her face.

This is not me , I wanted to say, but I’d lost the use of my mouth hours ago. And my hands and feet and body. All I had left was one last, small compartment in the corner of my brain, one little piece of myself, and even that was shrinking by the minute.

“Who are you?” Silver whispered, and a ripple of surprise shattered the impervious hold he had over me as she came closer, curiosity sparking in her eyes.

“Go,” I choked out. “Run, Silver, run…” My attempted warning was cut off in a gargle of air.

“How do you know I’m not Riordan, little slayer?” The entity hummed with curiosity, peering at her from the center of my soul, like he’d found something that interested him even more than me.

“Oh, I know an asshole when I see one.” She set her hands on her hips and another ripple of excitement went through me— him —as I dragged my eyes down the curves of her body. “What do you want?”

“Everything.” The corner of my mouth twisted into a cruel smirk. “The king is weaker than I expected,” the entity said through my lips, my voice layered with an unnatural echo. “Your precious Riordan didn’t even put up much of a fight.”

Silver clenched her fists, while I screamed and screamed in silence for her to run . “You’re wrong,” she tipped her chin higher and stepped closer, within reach and hot, crippling fear pumped through me. “Riordan is still in there and he’s still fighting. I know he is.”

He laughed, the dark, hollow sound spilling from my lips like filthy water. “You’re delusional, little slayer. He’s gone. This body is mine now.”

“No,” she said firmly, her voice rising. “He’s not gone. And he’s stronger than you think. Stronger than you ever will be. Who the fuck are you?”

The entity’s expression darkened, crimson magic flaring around us like a storm. “My name is Ravok. And you, little slayer, are wasting your time. Your king belongs to me.”

Ravok. The monster had a name.

Silver took another step forward, close enough the tips of dark magic licked her face, close enough for me to scent her, warm desert breezes and exotic spices and a promised future. Fear surged inside me, fierce and primal, my frozen fingers twitching.

“Riordan,” she said, her voice softer now. “Hang on. We’ll find a way to free you, but you have to keep fighting. Don’t let him win.”

For a moment, nothing changed in my voided soul. Just the unyielding presence of Ravok’s dark, cold magic, threatening to crush me until there was nothing left .

I’d never felt as fucking powerless as right now, a prisoner in my own goddamned body, Silver caught in a monster’s sights, her scent flooding through me like a river of warmth.

Then something shifted, and fear like I’d never known swept through me.

This was the intent of a starving predator, honed in on prey, but even more, there was an awed curiosity there that made me want to shove Evangeline through the nearest door and tell her to never come back.

“I never thought I would see another one of you. I thought you were all dead .” My hands clenched, nails digging grooves into my palms, a greedy, desperate urgency driving me a halting step forward.

“I know that smell. A Silverwood ,” Ravok whispered, his voice fractured, “Your blood calls to me, little one, I cannot fight this urge, because your blood…”

I wrestled control away long enough to shout, “Run, Evangeline, fucking run .”

Then I was back under his dominion, hands twitching, knees locked, a prisoner once again, like a male drowning in darkness. “You are a Silverwood. They still exist .” Ravok’s creeping presence twisted and writhed inside me, trying to escape. “You will give me the power I need to…”

“I’ll give you nothing,” she hissed, cutting him off. Ravok tried to force my body forward a step, but I stopped him, legs shaking as she raised a hand and pointed her finger dead in my face. “You and I will meet again, and next time, you’ll be the one on your knees, motherfucker.”

God, I wanted to scream at her… but just look at her, face to face with a fucking monster and not a shred of fear in her face.

“Keep fighting Riordan. Don’t you dare stop.”

My arms swept toward her, heavy and clumsy, and then she was gone, dematerializing right before my eyes, surprising me as much as Ravok. Crimson magic surged violently, reeking of otherworldly power, like the black sediment at the bottom of a bog, as if I’d dredged up something rotten from the depths.

She’ll never save you , Ravok hissed, his control snapping back into place. You’re mine.

Ten minutes ago, I would have agreed wholeheartedly with him, but I knew one thing he didn’t—this bastard had never met Evangeline Silverwood.