5. Chapter Five

Chapter Five

Raevyn

W hat the actual fuck? "You're a Revenant?"

The dark-haired angel nodded at me. "Yep. Have been for millennia."

"I was sacrificed to you ?"

"Looks that way."

"I really am dead, aren't I?"

"I don't know, pretty girl. You might be something in between. Or…" He pulled one of his snake bite piercings between his teeth as he disappeared into his thoughts. He really was beautiful. Like he'd been drawn from darkness and twisted in nightmares. Apart from his eyes, which were such a blinding blue they must have been stolen from an angel. His cheeks arched high, and his lips were plump and full. And his hands… hot damn they were gorgeous. He had long fingers that ended in ridiculously looking sharp, pointed black nails and they were flipping that black blade of his absurdly fast between his fingers.

"Or…," I hedged, trying to get him to continue his train of thought.

His eyes met mine, a wildness in them that pulled at me, making me want to let go and join him in it.

"What if, instead of making the baby the necromancer, they made you it."

I laughed. The notion was ridiculous. I didn't have any magic apart from whatever had randomly appeared when I landed here, and I wasn't even sure I knew what that was. It wasn't possible. I couldn't be the necromancer.

Could I?

"I'm serious. Try it." Nox looked at me like I had the potential for world domination. Like I could make all his dreams come true.

"You're being ludicrous." I jumped to my feet and started to walk away.

"I'm not," he said, following me. He grabbed my arm and pulled me to a stop. "Why did you come here?"

"Because it's quiet."

"But it's a cemetery, Raevyn. What would bring you here? There's a perfectly pretty garden just over there." He pointed to a lush bit of greenery that I'd walked past and not even noticed.

My stomach dropped. I pulled my hand away and continued to walk away. Nope. He was wrong it wasn't possible. I couldn't be a Necromancer. I wasn't—

"If you give it a go, I'll help you get revenge on the person who killed you."

Those words had me stopping dead in my tracks. I wasn't going to lie to myself and say I didn't want it. Hell, it was revenge that was churning deep in my gut and souring my stomach. I wanted to make my coven pay for what they did to me. For all the times I was ignored, pushed aside, thought of as lesser because I was a Null.

Was I angry enough to seek revenge on my own grandmother?

Hell fucking yeah.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Will you help me even if I don't actually manage to do anything?"

He grinned wildly. "Yes, but I think there's definitely more to you than meets the eye."

I mulled it over. Was I really going to do this? Where did I even begin? "What do I do?"

Nox twirled in a circle, gleefully. "Pick a grave. Any grave."

I looked around the mismatched styles of monuments in the cemetery. There were gold ones, red ones, even a bright green tree but, as I was casting my eyes around the space, something pulled my attention to a simple black headstone. There was just one letter emblazoned on it in gold: H.

"This one," I said as I pointed to it, a hum bubbling like an overflowing brook under my skin. Something was pulling me closer, like a magnet, and I was powerless to stop my feet from moving towards it. I stretched out my hand and placed it on top of the headstone. As soon as my fingers touched the cool stone, a jolt of electricity shot through me.

"Wow," I gasped. My skin felt electrified, buzzing with something I didn't understand.

"I don't think you should choose that one," Nox shouted but his voice got lost on the wind that had started to swirl into a cacophony. I was acting on pure instinct here. I had no idea what I was doing, but whatever magic had curled up inside me when I arrived in the Underworld seemed to know exactly what it was doing.

My fingers glowed a bright, brilliant white and my hair whipped around me. I closed my eyes as the magic searched for something, but it was like swimming through sludge, pushing against a thick and gloopy substance. I was reaching out for something, but what?

A voice that was nothing more than a deep rumble called to me from the depths of the darkness.

"Closer."

Shit. When did it get so cold?

"Closer, Raevyn."

It knew my name. I did as the voice asked, reaching closer, stretching until I felt a hand latch on. It was hot and rough, the fingers covered in calluses.

"Pull me up, Raevyn."

Should I? What if I was pulling up something horrifically dangerous?

I pulled my magic back towards me. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.

But then it gripped my hand with a desperation I didn't understand.

"Save me," the voice whispered, and my heart lurched. I felt its agony, its despair, and the misery it had suffered. Tears filled my eyes. Somehow, I could feel everything this creature, whatever it was, had been through and it was agonising. I couldn't leave it down there, wallowing in hopelessness.

So, I clutched tight, and I pulled.

T here was a sharp sting as someone tapped my cheek repeatedly.

"Come on, Raevyn. Wake up."

I groaned as life came back into my limbs and I opened my eyes. Nox's face was hovering right above me, close enough that I could feel his breath across my lips. His thumb stroked across my cheek and his eyes were pinched with concern.

"Thank the Gods. I thought you'd died, pretty girl."

Something warm blossomed as he used the nickname again. I barely knew the guy, but fuck, I was growing to like him. He was mischievous, crazy, and sweet. How could I not like him?

"Is it possible to die again?" I asked with a crooked grin.

"Fuck knows, but I'm glad you didn't." His gaze dropped to my lips, and he pulled one of his snake bites between his teeth, chewing on the piercing. My heart pounded in my chest as he leant closer. Fuck, he was going to kiss me. My eyelids fluttered closed as his lips brushed against mine.

"No!" someone roared before Nox was ripped away from me.

I opened my eyes in time to see Nox flying through the air before crashing into a hideous, gaudy gold statue and cracking it into pieces with the force of his impact.

I turned to look behind me, but all I could see was a swirling mass of darkness. Like a black shadow, tumbling and twisting in and over itself. It towered above me, easily thirty feet high, and it was dense and thick, swallowing all vestiges of light around it.

What had I brought back with me?

"Stay away," Nox shouted but his words fell on deaf ears. My attention was entirely focused on whatever it was that I had pulled from the Depths. A sane person would be terrified. Or at least, an alive one. Maybe I'd lost my sense of fear when I died. If I was already dead, did I have to worry about dying again?

The scent of death hit me as I stepped closer. Putrid and sharp. It shouldn't be appealing, but for some reason, I found myself dragging another dose of it deep into my lungs. The smell was followed by a freshness that hinted at icy winds and glacial mountains. Cold. Hard. Mysterious.

I was aware of the other guys arriving, bringing with them a sense of unease. The swirling darkness in front of me scooted backwards, putting more distance between it and the other men. I took a step closer, craning my neck to figure out if there was someone in there.

"Hey," I said softly. "I just want to talk."

"I don't like this," Rook mumbled. That made me chuckle a little. Bet he was only saying that so he could be the wise one if this all went to shit later.

I flicked a glance over my shoulder at the Revenants. They stood in a line, harsh expressions on their gorgeous faces, their eyes watching the darkness in front of me warily. They all wore long black coats which whipped in the wind behind them. They were intimidating to look at, tall, muscular, all of them looking like they belonged to the Underworld. They should be terrifying. And they were, just terrifyingly hot. I didn't realise I had a thing for the scary looking bad guys, but I guess dying had changed my tastes in men. I certainly wasn't going to complain.

"Don't go any closer," Nox begged.

I eyed the swirling mist in front of me. Something rumbled deep within it. I could sense a being in there, and I could feel the sadness and agony I had sensed before I pulled it to the surface. I knew I was going to help this creature before I'd even realised I'd made the decision. Guess it was time to find out how dead I really was.

I threw a grin over my shoulder. "I'll be fine boys. Don't worry."

Then I stepped into the shadow.