7. Raven

SEVEN

RAVEN

Ican practically feel my heartbeat in my core, and this asshole is talking about delayed gratification. I can’t decide whether throat-punching him or kneeing him in the balls will make me feel any better, but at this stage, it’s worth a try.

His breath fans over my face, his closeness overwhelming my senses, and I’m desperate to forgo attacking him and fall into his embrace instead. But this is Brax. That’s not how this works. And despite how pent up and electric my body feels, I know he means exactly what he says.

With my gaze fixed on his, falling under the usual spell of one brown, one green, I smile. “Zane,” I call out, trying to keep quiet, but I have no idea where he is.

Brax sees the glint in my eyes and knows what I’m up to. “He’s too busy keeping us invisible, Raven. Try again.”

Wetting my bottom lip, my tongue brushes against the tip of his thumb. “Eldon.”

He’s already shaking his head. “He’s the one with the little flicker of fire, remember?”

I pout, narrowing my eyes at him as I call out to another of my men. “Creed.”

“Is listening to nearby thoughts, Shadow. You’re all out of luck and orgasms, it seems.” The smirk that spreads across his face has the ability to somehow make him look even more rugged and gorgeous, and I fucking hate it.

A soft breeze along my back sends a shiver down my spine, followed swiftly by a warm presence. “Say the word, Dove, and I’ll make us all visible and put my hands on you instead,” Zane offers, making my core tighten even further.

That is oh-so-fucking tempting, but until the siren sounds to confirm the end of the class, I need to remember where we are and how vulnerable I already made us by stripping down to nothing at Brax’s command.

“I would love nothing more,” I breathe as Brax’s grip on my chin tightens in warning. “But right now, I should probably get dressed and focus on what we’re actually supposed to do. I can come all over your cock later.”

Stepping to the side sharply, Brax’s grip falls and I turn to see Zane raking his eyes over my naked body. His eyes are darker, his teeth sinking into his bottom lip, and I’m about to go back on the very words I just said. Until his eyebrows suddenly furrow and he goes to reach out and touch me before remembering if he does, it will likely drop his magic. “You have two strands of black hair now, Dove,” he murmurs, confusing me for a second as his words settle in.

Two black strands?

“One for me, and one for Burton,” Brax states, and my chest clenches.

“What does it mean?” I breathe, but the look he gives me makes it clear he doesn’t have the answer to that. Not yet, at least.

“I’ve got some people coming up fast. They might not catch us before the siren, which is due to go off at any moment, but we need to be prepared to fight,” Creed announces, his voice somehow staying low yet traveling around the space clearly.

Springing into action, I quickly use my magic to dress, exponentially reducing the time of the mundane task. I resecure my hair in a ponytail and head toward where the others are gathered near the entrance of the cave.

A few beats pass before I hear footsteps among the trees, the snapping of twigs underfoot as murmured voices grow louder. My hands flex at my sides and I channel all of my energy into watching for any tendrils of magic drifting in the air.

I’m usually an act now and worry about the consequences later kind of girl, but my magic isn’t outwardly aggressive until someone comes at me with their magic for me to turn on them, so I’ve got to bide my time.

“They had to have gone this way. I’m certain of it.” Sebastian. I would know his voice anywhere. It’s like a fork being dragged along porcelain, a groan from the pits of Hell and the sound of someone obnoxiously chewing with their mouth wide open all at once.

“I don’t know if I’ve already mentioned it or not, but your brother is a cunt,” Eldon grunts from beside me, the flame in his hand lowering to nothing more than an ember.

I fake gasp, placing my hand on my chest. “Sebastian? Never. He’s the brother of my dreams.”

“You mean nightmares,” he quickly retorts with a grin, and that one little jolt of happiness from him eases the growing tension in my chest.

“He wishes.” I wink at him playfully at the same time a siren blasts in the distance, signifying the end of the lesson.

“Do you want me to hold out or drop the magic now?” Zane asks, coming to stand on my other side.

“Drop it,” Brax states. “We’re not hiding from them. We’re just playing along with their little game.”

I can’t explain why, but his words fill me with a boost of confidence, swirling more adrenaline through me as I roll my shoulders back. It’s clear the moment Zane drops the magic because his arms are around me a moment later, draping me in his scent and peppering kisses at my neck.

“I said we weren’t hiding, I didn’t say we could relax,” Brax grunts, whacking Zane in the arm, but he only chuckles in response.

“Let’s get out of here,” Creed murmurs, a tiredness flickering in his eyes as he nods for us to follow after him.

I slip out from between Zane and Eldon, rushing to keep up with him, but I skid to a stop when Sebastian appears through the trees with Erikel and two of his men.

Fuck.

He brought out the big guns. Why would Erikel waste his time being here?

His dark gaze falls on me instantly, the scar down his face crinkling as he smiles. “Come, you have work to do,” he rasps, beckoning me forward with the tip of his finger.

“No.” I widen my stance, solidifying my connection to the ground beneath me, like that will make a difference. If he wanted to lift me off my feet right now, I’m quite sure he could.

“It wasn’t a question.”

“I don’t care what it was. I’m not going to clean up the bloodbath your men created.”

At the mention of his men, the two that were present earlier when the class was announced step forward. They don’t make it two steps before they drop to the floor, hands clutching their heads as they writhe in pain.

My eyes widen in surprise and I quickly assume it’s Creed when I see the flicker of magical wisps coming from his direction, but I don’t want to turn and draw attention to him.

“Nice work, Mr. Wylder. Why don’t you take a shot at mine too,” Erikel goads, smirking at Creed. Following his line of sight, I watch as Creed’s magic redirects to Erikel himself, but before it can touch his target, the magic morphs in the air, and it’s Creed on his knees in pain. His scream burns my soul, his cry forever fueling the darkness inside of me as I rush to his side. “I’ve trained much longer than you, Mr. Wylder. I recommend you work on blocking your own mind as well as strengthening your gift.”

Sebastian chuckles at Erikel’s statement and I turn to glare at both of them as Creed’s cries soften but don’t stop altogether.

I glance over my shoulder at Brax, Eldon, and Zane, the anger clear on their faces, and I know it’s my fault they’re dealing with all of this. I also know this isn’t going to stop until I fall into line, just as he wants.

My nostrils flare as I take a step toward the enemy, my body hating every moment of giving in to this man. But maybe I have to see things differently. Maybe I need to be closer; maybe I need to bend to his will so I can take down his defenses and bleed him dry.

I don’t fucking know.

I’m not thinking anything through. I’m running on my heart and emotions, something I’ve never done before, but now it’s all I can do.

“Lead the way.” The words burn my tongue but come out fiercer than I feel.

“Raven,” Eldon warns, and a part of me wants to pretend like I didn’t hear him, but I feel like that would only give Erikel and Sebastian another form of satisfaction, and I refuse for them to have that as well.

Looking back at him, I see the anger and worry clearly in his eyes. “We knew this was coming,” I murmur, my gut twisting with the truth. So much has happened in such a short time, but there was no avoiding it. My gut twists even harsher with another thought, and a bout of worry stiffens my spine. “Please, don’t worry about me. Find Ari.”

I turn back to Erikel with that, snarling at the smug look on his face as I storm past him and Sebastian with no real clue where I’m going. It’s not far into the tree line, though, where I see a gateway waiting, and I head in that direction.

My racing thoughts seem to keep circling back to one thing with every step I take.

Ari.

If anyone or anything could have potentially stopped Erikel’s attack on the academy last night, it would have been him. Or he may have attempted to, at least. Where was he? That’s not like him at all.

Coming to a stop at the gateway, I glance over my shoulder to check how far back Sebastian and Erikel are. I have a moment, a brief one, to focus elsewhere, and I close my eyes to try and sense the magic within me that connects me to my familiar.

It’s weak, but it’s there. I don’t feel pain, just a slight tingle of rage and irritation, but it’s not strong enough for me to be certain.

The memory of Ari mentioning that one day we would be able to talk into each other’s minds flashes in my head and I wonder if I can project into his from this distance, but a blunt force from my left sends me tumbling forward and through the gateway before I can even think.

My hands and knees are greeted with sand as I land with a grunt on the other side. One day I might actually fucking walk through one of these, but at this point, it doesn’t seem all that likely. Sebastian steps around me and I glare at the back of his head, hoping it might make him combust, but that doesn’t seem to be the case today.

I rise to my feet, brushing off the sand as I look around. We’re at the edge of the huge lake where Fitch had us do the water challenge, but it doesn’t look like it did back then. Not with the row of dead bodies lined up beside each other.

Bile burns the back of my throat, the reality of what I’m here for making itself very clear.

Eight.

Eight students lined up with paling skin, lifeless eyes, and the pall of death clinging to them like a shroud. As much as I don’t want to be Erikel’s slave, none of these students deserved this. Does that make it my responsibility to save them, though? That’s not what I signed up for. I can’t carry the weight of that. I believed we didn’t allow necromancy magic to keep the balance in the realm. That’s what we were always taught. In Shadowmoor, no one would ever dream of harnessing such power. It was spoken of as almost a folklore myth at best. Now, I’m wondering what other facts I’m missing.

Erikel steps around me as the small group of his men move back from their huddle and look from their leader to me. “Bring them back,” he states, waving a hand at the limp students.

“I can’t right all of your wrongs.” My chest aches already, my magic tugging at me to find a way to save them, which instantly has sadness creeping up my spine and through my limbs, consuming me.

I drop to my knees beside the first student on the end, darkness clinging to me as I become nothing more than a vessel for my magic. It’s more than a tingle from my orb this time; it’s consuming.

Shadows flicker across the back of my eyelids as whispers block out any other sound around me. I feel like I can’t breathe as a sense of warmth takes over, just like it did with Burton. My hands blindly land on the first student and my body shakes with the sudden onslaught of power before I wind up cold and depleted. I sag, hearing the first beat of their heart.

“Another,” Erikel orders, triumph in his voice, and I can’t move or even open my eyes to see. Instead, the sadness intensifies, the darkness sweeping deeper into my mind.

I know the moment another body is thrust in front of me, and my body completes the same little ritual. Breathless. Warm. Icy. Empty.

Again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again.

Breathless.

Warm.

Icy.

Empty.

I can’t speak. I can’t think. All I can do is feel anguish in every muscle, pain in every bone, and desperation in every breath I take.

Until the world shifts to complete darkness. Claiming me for itself.