23. Raven

RAVEN

The sense of falling sinks into my gut and I hit a hard surface, my breath lodging in my throat. Gasping in breath after breath, I feel dazed as I blink up at the ceiling. I think I might be sick. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this disoriented in my life. The room is spinning like I’ve enjoyed one-too-many moon rocks. I would prefer that kind of haze instead of this.

“What on Earth? Raven, are you okay?” Following the familiar voice, I tilt my head to find Lyra staring down at me with a confused look on her face. I can’t imagine what I look like, but seeing her can only mean one thing: I’m back at the academy. Relief floods me as I slowly shake my head at her. I'm unsure how to explain what I’m feeling.

“No, I don’t think I am,” I manage, surprised I’m that honest about it. Talking discomforts me further and bile rises up my throat. My hand lifts to my stomach like that will make the nausea pass, but it does nothing at all.

“Let me help you up,” she mutters, offering me her hand, but she wobbles on her heels when I clutch it and I instantly take my hand back. She grimaces, but I don’t mind, opting to push up off the floor instead. What did Creed call me? A lone ranger. Yeah, that’s me. I can get myself up off the floor, thank you very much. Especially since the whirlwind I’ve just been through practically began with me being helped up off a floor.

Once I’m steady on my feet, I plant my hands on my hips and take a deep breath, the nausea slowly ebbing. Lyra seems to take this as a sign that all is good and carries on prodding me for more information.

“How did you fall through the gateway like that?”

Frowning, I look at where she’s pointing just as the last flash of a gateway disappears. It’s not in the same spot as the one I left through, though, and I’m sure it has a more golden hue to it, but it’s no longer there for me to clarify. I’m intrigued to know exactly how I fell through it, but the thought of reliving that sensation again is enough to stop the question on the tip of my tongue.

“I don’t even know, one minute I was…” I press my fingers against my temple, silently pleading for the facts to resurface, when I’m bombarded with them all at once. “Zane’s dad. Rhys. Monarch Denver, whatever the fuck we’re calling him. It had to be him. I admitted my inner fear surrounding my parents, or more specifically, my father, to him, and a breath later, here I am.” I clap a hand over my mouth, desperate to shut the fuck up, but Lyra takes a step closer.

“What did he do?” I glare at her, my lips twisting as I try to bite back the truth, but I can’t seem to stop myself.

“I don’t fucking know, but he saved me from whatever the hell they were going to do to me,” I admit with my hand still over my mouth.

What. The. Fuck, Raven. Shut. Up.

“What are you doing to me?”

“Sorry?”

“Why are you making me tell you things?” I bite, my hand dropping from my face to curl into a fist at my side.

A guilty look widens her eyes and her jaw falls slack as she shakes her hands.

“I’m so sorry. I…” She glances back at her desk, like the answer is there, but I don’t see anything. She turns back to me with an uncertain glimmer in her eyes before she sighs. “Fine, but I’m only explaining myself to a student because I inadvertently made you do that.”

“Do. What?” I grumble, frowning at her.

“I… I’ve been working on my second magic. When I was a student here, I was told to suppress it, hold it in, conceal it, don’t feel, and all that,” she states, like that makes any sense at all.

“Why would you be made to suppress it?”

“Well, not suppress, but hide it, I guess. It’s frowned upon.”

My chest lurches. “What is?”

She nervously rubs her lips together, glancing around the room as if someone could jump out and hear her at any point. “I can emit my magic into my surroundings and it turns into a truth serum of sorts. So people talk honestly, are unable to lie, and speak more freely than they may usually do.”

Wow. That’s… wow.

“That's…”

“Awful, I know, but—”

“No, no. If anything, that’s cool as fuck. Useful as hell in a place like this, but I say all of that when it’s not actually being used on me.”

She grimaces again, but I wave her off. If we’re talking about her, we’re not talking about me, and if anything, this is a handy piece of information for future reference.

“Raven, what happened?”

Dammit. I thought I had completely distracted her from my mess, but it seems I can’t get away from it that easily. Real concern is thick in her voice but I need to get the hell out of here and process all of this myself before I start sharing with anyone else. Besides, the people I need to talk to aren’t her. I need the Bishops. My Bishops. I was prepared to deal with bullshit when Burton pulled me from class, but this? This is a whole other level of crazy.

“Sorry, I’m good,” I finally manage, relieved when I don’t continue to spill my truth to her without my consent. Although, I’m sure she would prefer it if I did. Staring at my feet, I frown down at my backpack on the floor. I thought that had been left on the porcelain floor where I first landed in Haven Court. I don’t know. Reaching for it regardless, I hike it over my shoulder and plaster a fake smile on my lips. “Can I head back to class now?”

“Class? Raven, they’ve finished for the day.”

My steps toward the door pause as I slowly spin to stare at her. How is that possible? I wasn’t gone that long, was I? It wasn’t even lunchtime when I left. I need to find the Bishops, and quickly; otherwise, I’m in for the world’s worst headache for being gone so long when they knew I was likely being lead into danger.

“They have? Oh, well, I’ll head back to my house instead then,” I reply, far too chirpy as I all but run for the door. My hand has wrapped around the door knob when I flinch at her hand on my shoulder.

She quickly removes it and I force myself to bite back the grimace as I turn to face her again.

“Are you sure you’re okay, Raven? I can arrange a gateway to your house if that would be easier,” she offers, concern marring her forehead as she purses her lips, and I frown.

“You can do that? You didn’t the day I got here.” I don’t know why I’m even bringing that up right now and extending this unnecessary conversation.

Lyra shrugs. “I wasn’t so keen on you then.”

Oh. “And now?”

“Now, your words of wisdom give me life. I can make an exception or two for someone with that kind of impact.” My eyes widen at her admission as I try to remember what bullshit I gave her to begin with, but it feels like forever ago. “So, the gateway?” she offers when I just stare at her, but I shake my head.

“Thanks, but I think I could do with the fresh air and a second to think after all of… that.” I wave my hand toward the corner where the gateway was, as if that makes sense, before tugging the door open.

I can tell there’s more she wants to say and do, but she must sense that I’m at my limit because she nods. “That’s fine, Raven. But if you need anything, anything at all, let me know. I can try and help.” I mumble my thanks, ready to slip through the door, but she stops me again. “Is that your magic, by the way?”

“What?” Confusion clouds my thoughts as she waves between us.

“Not one person has noticed me using my magic since I’ve been trying to unleash it more, but you saw right through it without missing a beat.”

My eyebrows pinch together. “I would never talk to someone I barely know so openly like that,” I state, but she shakes her head.

“Usually, people don’t notice how loose-lipped they’re being, even if they’re normally locked down like a fortress. It’s like you could sense it in the air or something. I’ve heard of that kind of magic before, but I’ve never actually met anyone with it.”

Stumped for words, I plaster a tight smile on my face and nod before finally slipping through the door and closing it behind me. I’m certain it’s going to slam, but I’m far quieter than I expect with the current frenzy running through me.

Fuck.

I slump back against the wood, giving myself a second to catch my breath. Thankfully, it’s dead in the hallways since classes are somehow over, and I use that to my advantage while I still feel so vulnerable.

My eyelids drift shut and the glass cage or chamber or whatever the fuck it was flashes on the back of them. What was that torture chamber about? I have so many questions about that room, about Abel and his craziness, Mama and her… help? Rhys and his questioning…

A snarl echoes off the walls around me but it seems distant, and when I open my eyes, I don’t see anyone around. Intrigue gets the better of me as I hear another, and another, and before I can think better of it, I’m tiptoeing down the hallway to the right to listen better.

“You’ve got some explaining to do, Sebastian.”

I stop, pressing my back against the wall behind me as the sound of Professor Burton’s voice comes from around the corner.

“About what?” Sebastian sounds bored and inconvenienced rather than worried like I would expect anyone else to be. He’s way too cocky for his own good and that’s going to kick him in the ass someday.

“Who authorized your parents to come onto campus a few weeks ago?”

“How should I know?”

“Because it was you who pulled Raven from class to meet with them. Don’t play foolish with me, Sebastian. I want answers.”

Holy shit. Is he talking about when I was taken to the medical center? I press myself further into the wall like it will allow me a chance to get closer.

“I don’t know.”

“Why did they visit your sister?”

“I don’t know.”

“What did they want, Sebastian? Think harder.”

“I. Don’t. Know.”

Burton sighs. “Of course you do. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have taken her from class. How was I kept in the dark about this?” The latter question is more to himself than to Sebastian, but that’s what he responds to.

“No idea, Professor. You probably need to keep a better eye on the staff you have here if you ask me.” I roll my eyes at his stupid answer, and it seems to piss Professor Burton off too.

“My trust in you is wavering, Sebastian. You'll be long gone if I find out you have been aiding and abetting unlawful magic on my grounds. Guild and all. That’s not what we stand for or believe in. Do you hear me?” Like earlier, the snarl echoes around me as Burton’s distress and anger get the better of him.

“Loud and clear,” Sebastian grunts in response, and a moment later, footsteps retreat into the distance. I can’t tell if I’m shielded from them or if someone else could walk my way, so I don’t move, holding my breath as I wait for the second set of footsteps, but they don’t come.

Instead, I hear Sebastian speaking, but he’s quieter now. “Yeah… No… He’s not a threat, not like he hopes to be anyway… No, we continue on as planned.”

Footsteps move farther away from me and I slump against the wall. What the hell is my brother up to? Something isn’t right, but I can’t put my finger on it.

But I’ve known Sebastian was trouble all along, and whatever he’s tangled up in isn’t good.

Not one bit.