Page 46 of Fate of the Fallen
I focused my eyes and finally made out the same scene. Evangeline had the soldier on his stomach, using her weight to hold him in the dirt. She yelled out in pure rage as she sank her fingers into his side, getting a grip on one of his thick ribs before snapping it free with ease.
The sound of his voice when he cried out into the night told of his agony.
She stayed on him, her hands locking beneath his head as she pulled. Pulled with everything in her as she grunted with the force she applied. It was enough to snap the soldier’s neck, relieving us all when the apparent threat was no longer.
Beth panted beside me when we slowed to a stop. I, on the other hand, was not even winded. Evangeline slumped against a tree, fatigued from the fight.
“Are you hurt?” I asked in a rush, quickly kneeling when I was at her side.
“I’m fine,” she nodded, catching her breath. “Did she … did the woman get away?”
Her priorities hadn’t shifted in the least. This question made that clear.
“I didn’t see her, but I think so,” I answered. “Hopefully, she makes it to the house, but there’s no way to know.”
And, I didn’t say this part out loud, but even if she did make it, there was still no guarantee our home hadn’t been compromised. The thought made me glance around, taking in our surroundings. We were alone for now, but that could change in an instant.
“We need to go,” I asserted, gripping Evangeline beneath her arm.
Beth agreed with a nod. With Evangeline on her feet, we started back in our original intended direction, but what I feared came to pass within a few steps. The quiet stretch of woods we stood in a moment ago was now crawling with mutts, soldiers, more dragons … and witches. With so many seeming to manifest out of thin air, I questioned whether we had been surrounded the entire time, their presence hidden by a charm.
Like … a trap.
The pieces began to fit together—how the small family had so closely resembled Evangeline’s, how the soldier chose to take the woman instead of the man to turn into a mutt, instead of taking the child to sire, how the woman had seemingly vanished into thin air the moment Evangeline reached them.
This … it was the work of witches. I figured it out, but unfortunately, much,muchtoo late.
My chest heaved with labored breath, taking in the breadth of the situation. We were grossly outnumbered—three of us to nearly thirty of them. The witches had already begun the work of suppressing my powers. It could be felt, the added weight on my limbs, weakening me as much as they could with my increased strength. Even my flames dimmed a bit, but there was still a hue of red engulfing my skin, my hair where it rested on my shoulders.
Other than distant screams and cries for help, this circle of the woods was eerily quiet. So quiet I heard the heavy footsteps trudging through the soil long before there was a face to go along with it. But then there was, and at the sight of Blaise, my flames glowed bright again, resisting the witches’ magic.
Confused, they passed fleeting glances toward one another as their stench wafted in the breeze.
Blaise approached, first settling his attention on me, the red of my flames that stood out in comparison to the dragons that had aligned with them in this fight. His gaze did a quick sweep, scanning me from head to toe, taking in my size as I towered over the others in my shifted form. There was a brief moment of confusion, but that look was replaced by another as his gaze passed over to Evangeline. Now, all that remained was a dark smile.
My fists clenched and my thoughts turned morbid, focused on this war ending once and for all with Blaise and Sebastian both meeting a gruesome, untimely end.
Blaise closed the distance between him and Evangeline. My mind signaled my limbs to move, to step in between them, but the magic made this impossible. Instead, I was forced to be a spectator.
“Don’t take another step,” I warned, the words leaving my mouth as more of a growl as they hissed from between my teeth.
“Or what?” Blaise mocked, that grin of his widening as he eyed me again. When I began to struggle against his witches’ spell, he released a bored sigh. “Relax. I won’t be hurting your beloved today. It’s recently come to our attention that she’s far more valuable to us alive than dead,” he explained, adding, “for now.”
He was nearly face-to-face with her now and I noted how she tensed. When she passed a quick glance my way, I was certain she had attempted to communicate via our thoughts, but the spell had likely jammed up our frequency on my end, seeing as how it couldn’t affecther.
Blaise’s sights were set on me again after walking a slow circle around Evangeline, staring with that dead look that always dwelled behind his eyes.
“Looks like we win again, dragon,” he laughed, signaling over his shoulder for a handful of his soldiers to step forward. “Tie her up and head east. The others are waiting for us. Bring the blonde, too,” he added. “I’m sure I’ll find some use for her.”
With that command issued, the soldiers began the ascent on Evangeline and Beth, both beginning to shift, thinking their best bet was to fight in their true form.
“Don’t … even think about it,” Blaise called out, leveling a glare on them both. “Shift and I’ll finish what we started with your dragon.”
His gaze came back to me and so did that smile I wanted to rip from his face. “This is a good look for you,” he commented, adding, “The new wings and all.”
His smirk fueled my rage and I felt the magic beginning to slip. It wasn’t strong enough to hold me forever. Not like before. Not as bits of the memories from the time I spent with Sebastian and Blaise splintered into my thoughts.
Blaise turned to Evangeline and Beth one last time. “Are we clear on the rules, ladies?” he asked.