28. Raven

TWENTY-EIGHT

RAVEN

Eldon reappeared at the end of class and told me all about his vision. A vision I have so many questions about, but I’ve had to keep them to myself while we’ve gone from class to class. Now that it’s lunchtime, I have them all noted in my mind and I’m ready to pepper him with them.

I hope I don’t overwhelm him, but the pointed look he’s been giving me ever since tells me he knows and is ready for it.

As if sensing exactly what I’m thinking about, he’s at my side when the class is called to an end and we all gather our things.

“Are your questions categorized, or is it going to be a free-for-all?” he asks with a quirked brow and a grin on his face.

Fucker.

“Telling you would give you a heads up and I like keeping you on your toes,” I retort, sticking my tongue out for good measure, and he shakes his head at me with a chuckle.

“What’s your first one?”

Well, now he’s putting me on the spot, but really, it’s simple. “What do you think it means?”

He drapes his arm around my shoulder and sighs. “Honestly, I don’t know. It feels like the vision was more about the location than a narrative underneath. Which is different. They’re usually trying to send me a message, and if that’s the case now, I can’t see it. Which is annoying as hell.”

“Maybe once we’ve talked it through, it might become a little clearer,” I offer, and he smiles.

“That’s what I’m hoping for, Little Bird.” He kisses the top of my head for the briefest moment as the others join us.

Zane silently reaches for my hand, we all head out into the hallway with Brax up front and Creed a step behind.

“Raven.”

I freeze in place, blocking the path of everyone around me, but it’s unavoidable.

“Ari? Is everything okay?”

“Figgins is looking for you. Go with her.”

“Why, what’s going on?”I wait a few seconds, but he doesn’t respond. “Ari?” Still nothing.

Fuck.

“Raven?” My name on Creed’s lips pulls me from my head and I sigh as we step to the side so we’re not blocking everyone’s path.

“It’s Ari. Figgins is looking for me and he wants me to go with her.”

“Why?” Zane asks, and I shake my head.

“I don’t know. I asked, and he stopped responding.”

“And it would definitely be Ari?” Brax clarifies, and I nod.

“It has to be. No one else has ever communicated with me like that before.” It wouldn’t be a possibility for someone else to do it… would it? Shaking my head and clearing my thoughts, I focus on my guys.

“Then we’ll all go,” Eldon declares, pressing a kiss to my temple this time.

“What about Leila?” I ask, and Brax nods in her direction, where she’s cradled under Grave’s arm as he guides her toward the dining hall.

“She’ll be fine,” Creed murmurs, and I nod in agreement. “Where would Figgins be coming from?”

“Uhm, I don’t know. Maybe we should head toward her classroom?” I suggest, and the five of us take off in that direction, walking against the flow of students all heading in the opposite direction.

We don’t even make it halfway before she comes barreling around the corner, almost walking right into us.

“Oh, you’re here. Raven, I’m sorry to—”

“Lead the way,” I interject. There’s no need for her to get all worked up over-explaining when we’re already aware and ready to go.

“Oh, perfect,” she mutters, spinning on her heels and turning back in the direction she came from. Wordlessly, Zane takes a step back and I follow beside her as she moves through the halls. Eldon, however, keeps his arm firmly secured around my shoulders. “You don’t seem surprised to see me. I’m guessing that’s because your magic has grown enough for you to communicate with Ari,” she states, tapping her temple.

“Some of the time, but in this case, yeah. Ari reached out, he just didn’t explain what for.”

She hums in understanding. “It took a while with my familiar too. It’ll get there,” she says encouragingly, and a question I’ve been thinking about for a while blurts from my lips.

“Where is your familiar?”

Her gaze drops to the floor, pain flashing in her eyes as she exhales slowly and glances back at me. “I managed to get her through the gateways the night…” Her words trail off, but I know what she means. The night Erikel declared his intentions and rendered us all trapped here.

“How are you holding up without her?” I ask, instantly feeling the pain in my gut. It’s hard enough for me right now with Ari, to not be accessible at all is something else entirely. She offers me a wobbly smile, unable to find the words she needs, and I find myself being the comforting one for a change. “You did what you thought was best for her.”

“Did I?”

“Is she safe?”

“Yes.”

“Then that’s all that matters.” I try to recall what her familiar is, but if she’s told me, I can’t remember, and now it feels awkward to ask. So, instead, I change the subject, hoping it will stick. “What are we doing now?”

Figgins clears her throat as we step into her classroom and head straight for the door at the back where her office is. “I heard some of the institute students say they were going to find their familiars in the compound.”

“Fuck,” I blurt. Are the creatures Erikel brought familiars with some of his men?

“Yeah. I don’t think it’s going to end well when they confirm that some of them are dead, but I also want to see how they’re getting in and out of the ward surrounding it. Once I have an understanding of that, then I may be able to adapt it for us too.”

My eyes widen in surprise. She really is taking this as seriously as I need her to, and it’s a fucking relief to have someone on academy grounds on our side. My heart feels so warm I almost want to let her in on the Monarchy secret, but I keep my mouth shut. Enough people know already, I don’t need to add to that list. Besides, being here with her doesn’t mean that I trust her, and that’s paramount. Not when Erikel’s control spreads wider than I would have ever believed.

Instead, I focus on the familiar part again. “If some of those creatures are familiars with the students from Shadowgrim Institute, would they be aware of the… damage Ari has done?” My lips twist nervously as I try to use the right words. Damage probably isn’t it, but slaughtering sounded way more sinister than I would prefer.

Figgins tilts her head in my direction, but her eyes aren’t settled on me as she thinks. Eldon squeezes my shoulder tentatively in support, but no one utters a word as we wait for her answer.

“I feel like if it was my familiar I would know. Do you?”

I nod. How I feel inside about Ari, the connection of emotions and feelings must run deep enough to know if someone is lost or their life is taken.

“Then let’s assume that they do. Although, their tone didn’t suggest so, and there’s no telling that their familiar actually is a Drake.” I offer her another nod in agreement, and she deems the conversation complete as she spins to face the back of her office again. “We’ll go through a gateway from here,” she explains, and a moment later I hear the click of her office door locking behind us.

She generates a gateway with her hands, but as soon as it appears, it disappears before our eyes. She frowns, as do the rest of us, before she tries to do it again and comes up just as short.

“What’s wrong?” Brax asks, moving to her side, watching her do it a third time with no luck before giving it a try himself. “I don’t know what’s going on with that,” he states, turning to me as Figgins shakes her head in disbelief.

“What—”

Her wonder is cut off by a siren blaring through the room, spiking panic in my veins as adrenaline courses through me.

“What’s going on?” I ask, covering my ears. When I see that no one else is, I get even more worried until Zane taps my ear and the cry of the siren dulls. It’s still present, but nowhere near as deafening as it had been only moments ago.

You have magic, Raven. Learn to fucking use it.

I roll my eyes at myself as I murmur my thanks while Figgins unlocks her office door and ushers us outside just as quickly as we came in. I don’t know what the fuck is going on, but now isn’t the best of times.

Hurried footsteps beyond the classroom draw me toward the doorway, despite my irritation, where students and professors alike rush by.

“The siren is a drill. Everything is shut down and everyone must gather in the courtyard. That’s why the portals aren’t working,” Figgins explains. “Go quickly. I will follow separately,” she adds, and I nod before taking off down the hallway with my men in tow.

Following the crowd of both Silvercrest and Shadowgrim students, my steps slow as we enter the courtyard to find Erikel standing at the far end. Creed’s father, in his usual golden armor, is standing to his right while Fitch hangs back in the crowd with Leila at his side. Her face is downcast, and I can’t see Grave, but that will have to wait until we know what’s going on here.

I catch sight of Sebastian stepping in from the right, his pace slow and measured. He glances through the crowd, looking for someone or something, but is quickly distracted as Genie throws herself at him. They’re a tangle of arms and lips a moment later and I twist my head in wonder. Is it an act? I don’t know, but it’s insane either way.

I may be standing here, wondering what the hell is actually happening on so many levels, but I don’t think it’s possible to get a true answer. Not with so much magic at play, so many people controlled by situations I know nothing about. It’s unsettling. And that’s an understatement.

While everyone gathers, I turn to Eldon, hoping to distract us from all of this with more talk about his vision, but the second our gazes connect, he discreetly shakes his head before nodding to the side. I follow his line of sight, spotting a few of the institute students beside us.

Damn, there’s nowhere for us to talk freely right now. Why is the world against me at the worst possible times? Are there even more suitable times? I don’t think so.

Shaking my head, I heed my wandering mind. I need to warn Ari. I’m not going to be getting there any time soon, but hopefully, it means the other students going to see their familiars won’t be able to either.

“Ari?” I cross my fingers, praying it works.

“Raven.”

Thank goodness he heard me. I sigh with relief.

“Something is going on here. We can’t leave the academy right now,”I explain, and a tightening takes over my chest as I sense his concern. “I’m okay. I don’t think it will be anything to worry about. I just wanted you to know.”

“Okay, be safe, Raven, or I’ll blame those men of yours.”

I smile at his remark, focusing back on the present instead of communicating with him.

“What’s this about?” one of the guys beside us asks his friend, and I peer at them from the corner of my eye.

“Fuck knows, man. You know details never get passed down the chain quick enough,” his friend retorts with a huff.

“For now, brother. For now. Once everything is said and done, you know it will be different. It was promised.”

I want to tell him that promises don’t mean shit, especially among those men, but that’s not for me to be concerned about. What is a slight worry, though, is that they don’t know any more than we do, which makes this feel far less planned and way more chaotic. The fact that Erikel’s men are so blindly led also baffles me. Maybe it’s who I am—the need for all of the information and my obsession with control—I can’t understand how people wouldn’t want those things too.

Erikel clears his throat, swinging his arms out wide at his sides to gain everyone’s attention, and when the courtyard is completely silent, he speaks. “It’s been brought to my attention that the peace and tranquility we feel right now will be coming to an end.” Everyone frowns, bewildered with where this is going, but he doesn’t leave us hanging for long. “The Monarchy is coming to invade us tomorrow.” Gasps ring out around us, a mixture of hope and an inkling of horror swirling in the air throughout the crowd. “So we must act today.”

Invade? That’s a bit fucking dramatic. Are they coming? Yes. Invading? No. Not that I’m aware of at least, and I consider myself very well informed on all things regarding The Monarchy right now. But the semantics don’t fucking matter in this moment because the fact remains; he knows. He fucking knows.

How? Fucking how?

“Act how?” Ruben asks, catching me by surprise. I thought he would just do as he was told without any questions, but the frown on his face tells a different story. More than that, the question reflects my own. What the hell does Erikel mean we must act today?

“We’re going to Ashdale.”