Page 47 of Fate of the Fallen

I locked gazes with Evangeline and could pinpoint the moment she saw the situation for exactly what it was. Hopeless. At the sight of it, that look, my heart broke in a million pieces. She eventually nodded, agreeing to this bastard’s terms because her back was against a wall.

“Glad to hear it,” he crooned, tipping his chin to signal his men to carry on.

“Are we taking the dragon, too?” one soldier asked.

Blaise, without hesitation, gave his next order. “As amused as Father would be to see the upgrades he’s acquired since his brief stint as a human, I’m going to do us all a favor. This one is quite vicious when left to his own devices. Let’s just put an end to this once and for all.”

Sweat poured down my face and neck as I fought the spell, as hard as I could, feeling the strain of tendons and veins as I pushed my dragon to it’s limits. This … what they were trying to do … it couldn’t happen. They couldn’t take her from me.

Couldn’t takethemfrom me—my love, my … child.

“You should know something before you die, Reaper,” Blaise said, casting one final look my way as his men closed in on me. “We’ve got the Liberator with us, too.”

When I managed to press forward a few feet, fighting the spell, Blaise’s brow twitched.

“Settle down. We’re working on a way to keep both alive. And, if our sovereign king succeeds, rest assured the child won’t be fatherless,” he grinned sinisterly. “We’ll raise the little brat up like one of our own. And with a bit of our influence, he or she will one day be the greatest weapon this world has ever known. You can count on that.”

With so few words, Blaise had just made my worst fear a reality.

Chapter Fifteen

Evie

They knew exactly how to separate me from the herd, knew my weakness was family. Or more specifically, knew my weakness was having my family ripped from me.

But it was easy because they knew me, knewallof us. I suppose spying through the Elders’ and Hilda’s thoughts provided the Sovereign quite the advantage.

I originally thought the soldier had come out of nowhere, snatching this woman from her daughter’s grasp. Seeing it, my heart was nearly torn from my chest. I’d seen the look that little girl wore before—in the mirror on my own face. It was still fresh in my memory what it was like for a parent to suddenly be gone, how helpless that felt. I couldn’t, in good conscience, standby and let a child feel that.

Only … there wasn’t really a child, wasn’t really a woman. Only the work of witches and their clever illusions. Apparently, their magic didn’t work on me, but I was susceptible to their manifestations just like everyone else.

Blaise had two soldiers inject Beth and I with something the moment we were shoved inside a dark van waiting on the outskirts of the woods. Once the injection took effect, our wrists and ankles were bound with heavy chains. Whatever the syringe contained made it hard to focus on any one thought, any particular face or conversation. It all ran together in a blur. Still, my thoughts managed to settle on Liam.

I tried desperately to communicate with him before being taken away, but the witches must have blocked him. This, too, had been a disadvantage of being watched, of them knowing each of our abilities like the back of their hands.

With the scene that unfolded as we were taken away, I would have thought they killed him, but … I still felt him. So strong. It was my hope that, once whatever spell the witches had cast to separate our mental connection had faded, I’d be able to speak to him again.

I was worried—about him, the family, the clan. I hadn’t even had time to process how bad things had gotten in just a matter of minutes.

There was a sound just outside the van, and then a flash of light that filtered in beneath the door.

“Evie, we can’t let them separate us,” Beth grumbled, clearly feeling just as groggy as I did. “We have to stay together. It’s the only way I can protect you and the baby.”

I reached for her hand beside me and held on, the closeness to my best friend being my only comfort. She’d taken off running right behind me as I chased after the woman. In this instance, Beth’s loyalty had come back to bite her. Although, I was almost certain she wouldn’t see it that way. Like she said, she was determined to protect us.

The back doors of the van unlatched, and then flung open. Behind two massive silhouettes were the headlights of a second vehicle.

“Out,” came a hard voice.

They didn’t wait for Beth and I to get to our feet before grabbing us each by our arms and snatching us toward the back bumper, and then to the dirt.

“Careful.”

I glanced left to spot Blaise’s boots, realizing he’d been the one to bark the command at the rough soldier.

“This one’s carrying precious cargo,” he added as he approached, pointing a finger toward me. His feet stopped and the headlights illuminated the dust he kicked up on his walk closer.

He stopped where I rested on all fours on the ground, and when he extended a hand, I flinched, remembering our last encounter. I’d been jabbed with that awful cattle prod of his, sending electricity all through my body, causing pain I didn’t even know was possible. In fact, had it not been for Liam’s dragon suddenly awakening, I would have died beneath Blaise’s boot that day.