20. Raven

RAVEN

Ican’t breathe. My body is coiled so tight with tension I think I’m going to pass out. I might be the first to die from just watching the Gauntlet. I’m sure of it. Sweat beads at my temple as I watch Zane enter the pit, taking a piece of me with him.

One minute he’s trying to channel his magic; the next, the siren is sinking her heinous teeth into his shoulder. I choke on my breath, my hands dropping from my ears as horror consumes me. And then he’s gone.

Just…gone.

Invisible. He went in-fucking-visible.

I’m almost one hundred percent sure that I’ve imagined the whole thing until the boulder sweeps through the air and claims the siren’s life. Time stands still, my world spinning as the pit starts to reset itself. The water slowly recedes, the siren defeated, and just as quickly as he disappeared, Zane reappears before everyone.

A roar of shock, surprise, and triumph echoes through the crowd. The tense look on Zane’s face as he looks at the spectators tells me he’s not happy and I get the feeling it has nothing to do with the gaping wound on his arm. Blood trails down his body, his t-shirt torn at the sleeve and crimson droplets dripping from his fingertips.

His eyes lock on mine and I finally manage a short, sharp breath. I’m out of my seat and taking the steps down to the pit two at a time before I can consider my actions. Not that I care. My only priority is getting to him.

I clamber down the steps in a flurry, the rest of the world a blur around Zane as I near him. He steps through the iridescent barrier and I stop just short of launching myself at him.

“Are you okay?” he asks, concern flitting in his hazel eyes as he reaches out with his good arm to grab mine.

“Fuck that. Are you okay?” My gaze drifts to his bleeding arm. Instinctively, I reach out to touch it before quickly dropping my hand. Fuck.

“We need to take care of this,” Creed announces, moving to my side, and a quick glance over my shoulder reveals both Eldon and Brax aren’t far behind.

“Not the medical center,” Zane states with a wince.

“Why not?”

Eldon rolls his eyes. “Because he’s adamant the medical center staff can’t be trusted.”

Frowning, I glance between the five of them, expecting to see humor, but he’s not joking.

“It’s a pity our housemate, who claimed to be a healer, doesn’t actually have the ability,” Brax muses, quietly, and I glare at him.

What an asshole.

Before I can snap at him, Creed steps between us. I’m sure we’re causing a scene right now but Zane is the first person to be attacked by the siren and make it out alive.

“Thank you, students. The final day of the Gauntlet will commence tomorrow. Then there will be celebrations aplenty. Follow the sun, destroy the shadows, and survive another dawn.” Relief washes over me at the professor’s announcement and I lean into Zane.

Banding my arm around his back, I encourage him to drape his arm over my shoulder and we take the steps one at a time. I’m almost certain he smells my hair as we ascend the arena but when I turn to look at him, he’s looking off into the distance.

When we make it to the exit, the late afternoon sun cascades over us and I’m relieved to still be standing for another day. Tomorrow could be entirely different but that’s not a problem for right now.

“Let’s get him out of here.” Eldon takes charge, walking to Zane’s other side without touching the injured area.

“Where to?” I ask, still confused with where we can get him help.

“Back to the house,” Zane states, and the others nod in agreement.

Instead of following the crowd down the usual pathway, Eldon steers us all behind the arena where it’s completely dead, only stopping when we’re hidden behind a tree line. Zane leans heavier against me as the others do a triple glance around us. Before I can ask what they’re doing, Brax presses his palm into the bark of the closest tree.

“Let’s go,” he grunts, nodding toward the gaping black hole that now fills the space.

Creed steps through without a backward glance but none of the others move, waiting for me to follow after him. Pursing my lips, I consider my options but decide they wouldn’t do anything to put Zane at risk right now, so I approach the abyss.

Zane remains with me, his body getting heavier with every step we take. Worry consumes me but when I give myself over to the swirling darkness, I startle when I realize the other side of the abyss leads us straight home.

“What the…” Creed is already searching through the drawers in the kitchen as Brax and Eldon step through behind us. “Is that your ability?” I ask, glancing at Brax, but I don’t get to hear his response as Zane slumps in my hold. He’s a dead weight at my side and the others have to help me guide him down onto the sofa.

The second his back is against the cushions, he shakes his head. “No. No. I want Raven,” he slurs, each word elongated more than necessary. My eyebrows pinch as I glance at Eldon and he shrugs his shoulders.

“Is he okay?” I ask, crouching beside the sofa as I instinctively run my fingers through his hair.

“Side-effects of a siren’s bite. If you live to tell the tale, that is,” Creed explains, approaching with a hot mug in one hand and a rag in the other.

He soaks the fabric in the water and presses it against Zane’s wound, making him hiss in pain.

“Imagine if you were actually a healer right now. That would be really useful,” Brax grunts again, and my nostrils flare in anger. Instead of arguing back, I glower in his direction.

There’s only one thing I can offer. It’s not the same, but it might be worth something.

Fucker.

Wordlessly, I rise to my feet and march to my room. Zane calls after me, his slurred words worrying me more and more, but I’m rushing back to him the second I have what I’m looking for.

“What’s that?” Eldon asks as I open my small bag on the floor next to where Zane lies.

“They’re healing herbs and potions,” I murmur, not lifting my gaze as I search for everything I need. The small vials clatter as I dig for what I want. It’s been a while since my last class at Shadowmoor, but I think I recall what I need.

“Where did you get them from?” Creed asks.

I don’t reply until I have all of the needed ingredients lined up. “I brought them with me from Shadowmoor.”

“What is it you’re trying to make?”

“A healing elixir. We were taught how to do it back at school but I’ve never felt like my injuries or wounds warranted such a grand effort, so I’ve never made it before. It’s worth a try, though, especially since I’m not actually a healer.”

If Brax hears my snark, he doesn’t take me on. Creed drops to his knees beside me, eyeing the ingredients.

“Why have I never heard of any of these ingredients before?”

I glance at the quiet and observant man beside me and get lost in his onyx eyes for a moment before I clear my throat. “Because it all grows in Shadowmoor.” I grab the small bowl from my bag, adding a little of everything before taking a little of Creed’s water.

“Is that concoction even safe to use on him?” Brax barks, raising my hackles further.

“Your comments are starting to piss me off. You don’t like that I’m not a healer, so I find an alternative and that’s not good enough either. So, unless you’ve got something useful to add…” I bite back, cheeks heating. His eyes draw me in. One brown, one green. Disgust tinges both of them, nonetheless.

“I’m just speaking the truth, Shadow.”

The bowl clatters on the floor as I scramble to my feet, wagging my finger in his direction, ready to give him a piece of my mind, but a hand on my leg stops me in my tracks. Distracted, I look to see Zane touching my knee. Following his hand to his arm and trailing up to his face, I find him smiling softly.

“Do whatever you’re thinking, Raven. I trust you.” He’s slurring heavier than before and that doesn’t leave me filled with confidence. I exhale sharply and do as he asks, but not before giving Brax a deathly glare.

Thankfully, nobody speaks as I create the paste needed. When I’m happy with it, I move my attention to cleaning his wound the best I can.

Bile burns the back of my throat as his flesh hangs loose in jagged patches, torn loose by the siren’s teeth. When I’m sure I can’t get it any cleaner than it is, I slowly spread the paste over the affected area as gently as possible.

It smells disgusting but no one complains. Satisfied with the coverage, I reach for the bandages I usually use to wrap my knuckles. Swathing his shoulder, I repeat the process until the wound is completely protected.

“Thank you,” Zane breathes, his voice a little more sated and his face not quite as pale as it was earlier.

“What now?” Eldon asks, offering me a hand to rise to my feet. I take it.

“Now, we wait. It should take about eight to twelve hours, so he should be good by morning.”

“And if not?” Brax interjects. I shrug.

“Then you can complain about my lack of powers all over again?” I retort with an eye roll.

“No, he won’t,” Zane murmurs, lifting his good arm slightly to point in Brax’s direction, but the execution isn’t quite there. “What are your plans for the evening, Raven?”

Putting the small vials back into my bag, I shrug. “I was going to find that damn handbook in my room and see what the hell you keep referring to.”

A smile breaks across his face and I want to be mad at him, but I let him off the hook since he’s in bad shape.

“Maybe you could keep me company?”

“Sure. I can read it while I sit with you,” I offer, and he nods meekly.

“I’m going to train for a bit. Then we’ll figure food out,” Creed suggests, and everyone hums their agreement. He takes the bowl from my hand and I murmur my thanks as he takes it to the kitchen.

“Maybe after we’ve eaten, you and Eldon could give me all the hot tips for surviving tomorrow.”

“Of course.” Eldon leans in to kiss my cheek sweetly before he takes off toward the glass doors with Creed.

“I’ll give you whatever you need, Raven, but you’ll be fine. I just know it.” I smile down at Zane. It’s not lost on me that he’s giving me such a carefree pep-talk when he’s injured from the same thing that I will be facing tomorrow. He has magical powers and he still got hurt.

I’m screwed.

Zipping up the bag, I rush back to my room to switch it out for the thick handbook Zane gave me on my first day. Deciding my pajamas would be more comfortable, I quickly realize I’m still wearing my exercise clothes and my uniform is back in the locker rooms.

Hopefully that’s not something I will get into trouble for. I’ll mention it to Leila in the morning. She missed the afternoon sessions after her father called her away.

Slipping into a pair of shorts and an oversized white tee that definitely didn’t belong to anyone else before me, I grab the handbook and make my way back out to the lounge area to find Zane quietly snoring.

I smile at his calmness and the serene aura that always seems to grace him. Sleeping or not, I’d rather be by his side, so I move to sit at the opposite end of the sofa.

“It’s for the best.” I startle at Brax’s words as he looms in the doorway of the room behind me.

Despite not wanting to get involved with him right now, I sigh and push for him to elaborate. “What is?”

“That he’s asleep.”

“Oh, yeah?” The sweet smile on my face is so forced that I’m sure I’m going to snap my jaw. But, in spite of Brax’s need to hit me with the constant hot and cold treatment, I don’t want him to see the emotions he makes me feel ripple down my spine.

“Yeah. Because when you die tomorrow, he might not be quite as attached to you as he could have been.”

I gape at his retreating form as he heads for the back deck with the others.

What a motherfucker. How fucking dare he?

“You’re an asshole. You know that?”

“I do,” he grunts before letting the glass door slam shut behind him.

I want to scream. My lungs burn to feel a roar rip from my lips but I can’t give him the satisfaction. Not when I know a sob lurks so close to the surface right alongside it. Flopping back onto the sofa, I panic that I might jostle Zane, but he doesn’t budge.

Clutching the handbook to my chest, I try to take a calming breath but it’s futile at this point. Brax’s words stir something so deeply inside of me because they’re true. They’re factual, and there’s nothing I can do about it.

All I can control is this moment.

With that in mind, I inhale long and hard through my nose before exhaling just as slowly from my mouth. I repeat the process four more times before I can finally focus on the front cover of the housemate handbook.

Opening the folder to the first page, the surprise I find raises my eyebrows. Tentatively flicking to the second plastic wallet, I snicker. Running my fingers from the first page to the last, I gape as disbelief washes over me.

That sly motherfucker has been playing me hard. And I’m not even mad about it.

It’s a pity it’s a done verdict that I won’t make it past tomorrow. Otherwise, this would have been far more fun.