38. Chapter Thirty-Eight

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Raevyn

" R aevyn…"

My eyes flew open as I heard my name whispered darkly right by my ear. The voice caressed the syllables like a prayer, something reverent and demanding worship.

"Who's there?" I scanned my eyes around the room, picking out the familiar shape of Corvus perched on his favourite branch but not seeing anything else out of the ordinary.

"What is it?" Corvus asked as he stretched his wings.

"I don't know. Just… something…"

"Raevyn…"

My head turned in the direction of my door and I stepped out of bed. I grabbed a hoodie and looked back over at Corvus. "You coming?"

He squawked and hopped off his branch, landing on my shoulder with a resolute thud.

"I think it's time we checked out the West Wing," I said.

I left my room and walked the quiet hallways. I'd been left to sleep on my own and I think that was the guys' way of telling me I needed a good night's sleep before heading to the Isles. That was the plan for tomorrow and I was a little giddy with excitement. I mean, I might discover who my father was and by extension, the other side of my family. It was nerve wracking and exciting but I kind of wanted to vomit a little.

I tried to keep my footsteps quiet as I walked towards the centre of the house. The black rose was suspended in the air like it always was, the embers kissing its charred petals. It was beautiful in a sombre way. Like it was a gift even though it brought a darkness with it.

I walked past the flower and the down the forbidden corridor. I thought I should have felt some sense of wrongness walking down there, but I didn't. I just felt a sense of walking home. That I belonged here.

"Raevyn…"

I could hear my name louder now, calling me towards the dark door at the end of the hallway.

"Am I doing the right thing?" I asked Corvus, nerves starting to twist my stomach.

"Only you know the answer to that, but I'm here to help with whatever decision you make."

I raised my eyebrow at him. "That sounds like a total copout."

He croaked a laugh and snapped his wings.

"Come on then. Let's just hope we don't get eaten by whatever is behind the door."

I finally made it to the door and paused. There was no doorknob, no obvious way to open it. I placed my hand on the door, my palm flat against the cool surface. Something hummed through it, something powerful, and I knew it was going to everything within me to open this door. I could feel how powerful this magic was. It was complex and l there were intricate layers woven through the door. They extended beyond the door, through the walls and I figured that they must surround the space.

A hazy memory flittered through my mind of a room with no windows, but I couldn't quite hold onto it. The more I tried to remember, the harder it was to picture the space.

I glanced at Corvus. "What do I need to do?"

"Feel the layers and try to break them down."

Okay, I could do that… I think .

I placed my other hand on the door and focused on the magic I could feel. I systematically broke down the first few layers, it seemed easy at first, disrupting the magic but it started to get harder the deeper I went into the layers.

My arms trembled with the effort, my head pounded, sweat peppered my brow and I clenched my jaw so hard I thought that I might have broken a tooth or two.

Warmth spread through my shoulder where Corvus was sat, and I realised he was channelling some of his energy into me to bolster my power.

"Just a little more," I ground out. Pain lanced up my arms when the magic started to fight back. It sliced at my skin, wrapping around me like thorns and hooks, digging in.

"Come on," Corvus said, his voice strained. "You can do it."

I felt my way to the last layer and the pain intensified. Fire seared my veins and blackness started to cloud the edges of my vision.

" Just a little more, Raevyn."

I yelled as I pushed the last vestiges of my power at the door, the air vibrating around me and electricity zapping against my skin.

The last layer broke and I collapsed to my knees, my magic drained and my body completely exhausted.

"You did it," Corvus said in awe. "You actually did it. He will be so pleased."

My brain was a little foggy and felt sluggish, but it didn't stop me understanding what my Familiar just said. "Pleased? Who will be pleased?"

Corvus jumped off my shoulder and ruffled his feathers. "My master."

There was something ominous about the way he said those words, a dark foreboding that had a shudder running through me.

"Well done, Raevyn," the voice from my dreams said, but it wasn't in my mind anymore. His voice echoed from the darkness beyond the door. Dark and harsh and it set a shiver of anticipation racing down my spine.

The temperature dropped and shadows started to ooze through the open doorway. They slithered across the floor towards me, like wispy black silk, threatening and beautiful at the same time. Corvus was squawking and cawing, bouncing on his feet and flapping his wings in excitement.

"I've waited so long for this," the voice said again, a wildness tinging his tone.

Fear sent a shockwave through me, and panic constricted my chest like a python.

What had I done?

A figure started to emerge shadows and a hazy sense of familiarity started to grip my mind.

I saw the pale skin of his bare arms first as he came closer and my magic jumped behind my solar plexus, swirling and reaching for the man walking towards me.

Two glowing embers appeared in the darkness and that sense of familiarity sharpened. I knew him. Had talked to him. Why couldn't I remember?

Corvus took flight and disappeared into the shadows. "Master."

"Hello, pet. You've done so well." He came closer still his, and the light finally caressed his face.

Recognition hit me like a fucking freight train. A face built on sharp lines, a soft plump mouth, and hair as black as pitch. My heart lurched in my chest, instantly knowing him.

"Hello, Raevyn." He held his hand out to me and pulled me to my feet. I wasn't very graceful, stumbling forwards into his chest. My limbs still felt like jelly from breaking the God from his prison.

He trailed a finger around the curve of my face, and I melted in his arms, his touch instantly soothing my frazzled nerves.

"Apollo," I finally said, his name a mere whisper on my lips.

He settled one hand on the small of my back and the other in the hair at the back of my head. I was completely under his spell, bewitched by something in his eyes. I couldn't look away, couldn't get thoughts to form in my head. Why was it so difficult to think?

"Raevyn?"

The sound of my name broke through the fog in my mind, and I turned to see Nox staring at me with a mix of fear and fascination playing across his face. "What are you doing?"

"I…" What the hell was I doing? I looked up at Apollo, hoping to see some answers in his face because there was clearly something wrong with my thought process at the moment. Was I even the one putting my own thoughts together? Had Apollo dragged me here? Had Corvus encouraged me to break down the door? Or had I done that all on my own?

A thunderous roar echoed through the house and fear had my stomach dropping like lead.

"Well, that's my cue to leave," Apollo said, breaking the spell that was clouding my mind.

I shook my head to clear the cobwebs. "Leave?"

"Yes. If I'm not mistaken, that roar was Hades, and I don't want to stick around to see his face." He held out his hand. "Are you coming?"

I looked at his hand. He had long fingers, a musician's fingers, but I couldn't leave.

Could I?

"Raevyn, don't go," Nox said, and pain hit me square in my chest at his whispered plea.

Maybe this was better. I hadn't found a way to leave to meet my grandmother and I was running out of time. I wanted to save them, had to protect them, and maybe this was the best thing. For them to hate me because I left. Surely it was better that way. It had to be.

A deep sense of loss and grief grew inside me as I stepped towards Nox. "I'm sorry."

"No, Raevyn, don't—"

I lifted my hand and slowed time. It came to me easily now, and as Nox launched himself towards me, I halted his movements. Tears tracked over my face as I looked at him for a moment. His beautiful face twisted in agony as he tried to reach me.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, trying to keep a steady hand on my resolve. "I just want to protect you, to protect all of you. I wouldn't do this if there wasn't any other way but she—" my voice hitched as a sob escaped — "she wants revenge and I can't let her hurt you. I won't."

I took one last look at him before walking back to Apollo and placing my hand in his.

It was time to go.

A whimper left my throat as Apollo's shadows curled around my legs. My vision blurred with tears and I closed my eyes as we disintegrated, not wanting to look at the home I was leaving behind. Hawk and the Revenants had come to mean so much to me in such a short space of time and I'd sacrifice it all if it meant saving them.

I was growing to love them, I knew that now. We were so intrinsically linked that I couldn't really imagine a life without them. But I'd have to. If my grandmother wanted my power, then I'd willingly give it to her, even if it killed me.