Chapter Sixteen

Valentin

O ur descent into darkness is blurring every line Maureen has ever crossed. The sigil of Erebus carved into her neck will be her undoing. My shadows call to hers. And tonight, they want to come out and play.

Torches light the cavern. They flicker wildly in response to our presence. A small grouping of ravens has gathered at Barnaby's chained feet, squawking over his wails. It's a beautiful sight.

Before Maureen pledged her oath and added her bloodline to our coven, we used to draw on the ravens for power. We made sacrifices to them. Carved sigils into our flesh as offerings. But now, it's the other way around. The bond shifted in our favor. Each new sigil makes us stronger. Now, they draw power from us .

No one knows where they come from or how they got here. They just always were. Rumors and speculation have been passed down through the generations. Some say the ravens embody the spirits of our ancestors. Others believe they are the devil's children. Nocturnus was born from the desire to be invincible. Immortal. But it came with a price. A price that Jessamine and countless others have paid with their lives.

It has spurned feuds and curses, deceit, and greed. The ones before us have benefited in ways most mundane people could only dream of. Our fathers have had their fun for long enough. It's our turn now. And we've done what they never could. We've turned the ravens into our servants.

The only sacrifices we'll be making now is to each other.

The four of us form a circle around Barnaby. His trousers are soaked with piss and shit. I have to choke back the bile from the stench of it.

Atlas rips the man's shirt open. "Hey there, Barnie boy." He dips the tip of his dagger into a vial of poison before waving it in front of his face, taunting him with it. "Now that you have all of our attention, why don't you start from the beginning? When did my father first approach you?"

Barnaby's eyes widen as he fixates on the knife. "Right after the Winter Solstice Ball," he stammers.

Maureen's fists clench at her sides. I can practically smell her anger, feel the rage reverberating off every cell in her body.

"Did he say why he wanted you to do this?" Riot asks calmly, even though every vein in his neck is bulging.

Barnaby shakes his head. "I don't know. He said that pretty dolls should be played with. That I could play with her if I did what he asked."

Maureen snaps her fingers. "I'm right here, fucker. But I'm not your doll to play with."

Atlas presses the flat of the blade against his chest.

Barnaby's lip quivers as a big glob of snot falls onto it. "Pl-please don't kill me."

This whole display infuriates me. Barnaby should be at Absentia Asylum, not running errands for one of the most powerful men in Raven's Gate. Fucking, Pisces . The sick fucking bastard. He's always had a strange way with women. Charming as fuck, but deeply disturbed.

"I'll ask you again," Atlas roars. "What the fuck does my father want with Maureen Blackwell?"

His eyes dart back and forth as his chest heaves. I think this asshole might hyperventilate to death before we get a chance to kill him. "I-I don't know. She's pretty. Who wouldn't want to keep her?"

He's right about that. But Pisces Thorn doesn't go out of his way for pretty girls. I shake my head. "Kill him quick. He doesn't know anything."

Maureen snaps her head to look at me. "Fuck that. This asshole was planning on abducting me. He needs to feel pain before he dies."

Riot lets out a sigh. "Firecracker, you could kill him with a flick of your wrist. You have no idea how powerful you are. He wouldn't have succeeded in abducting you."

"Let her do what she needs to do," Atlas urges. "An eye for an eye."

"A soul for a soul," she whispers back.

Barnaby's gaze hardens. "Dolls aren't supposed to talk."

Oh, fuck.

Maureen whips out her knife. She moves toward her stalker while the ravens flock around her like a small army. "You know what, Barnaby?" She rests the tip of her dagger against his chest. "You talk too fucking much."

"In absentia lucis, tenebrae vincunt," Riot chants. In the absence of light, darkness prevails.

I feel a deep rumbling in my chest. An electric spark shoots through my veins as my sigils come alive. I glance around the room and see theirs are glowing too. There's an invisible thread connecting us, tiny little fibers that stretch out between us like tendrils. The power rushes through my bones, spiking my adrenaline like it did that night we drove off the cliff.

I take a deep breath and lean into its power. I surrender to it. "Mors tua, vita mea." Your death, my life .

Atlas holds up a vial of poison in salute. "Mors vincit omnia." Death always wins .

Maureen exhales before plunging her dagger into Barnaby's chest. His eyes bulge out as he lets loose a bloodcurdling scream. She drives the blade in hard and deep, twisting it until it's buried to the hilt, her gaze locked on his.

"Ruina nostra salus," she whispers. Our ruin is our salvation . The ravens let out a piercing cry unlike any I've ever heard.

The man's head falls forward and his body goes limp.

Maureen struggles against his chest as she attempts to pull the dagger out. I move forward to help her, but Riot holds up his hand. He shakes his head.

She must do this herself.

Her tiny frame seems to find unnatural strength as she releases a loud grunt and pulls the blade out. She looks wild and free and beautiful. I want to lick the blood from her hands as a tribute. To kneel down at her feet and bathe in her power. We belong to her as much as she belongs to us.

She is fire.

The dark queen on our desecrated chessboard. We have to protect her at all costs. Even from herself… Especially from herself .

I amble toward her, careful of the ravens who dot my path. They eye me suspiciously. As if they don't already know what's in my soul. As if she's their mother, and I'm a predator stalking through.

Riot and Atlas circle in after me, shooing them off. Reminding them that we are the devils of Raven's Gate. That we control them now. They shrink back, their squawking quieting to a low whimpering.

Maureen spins around to face us. Blood splatter decorates her cheeks and neck. She wipes the blade across her jeans before sliding it back inside her boot. "Someone needs to call Pisces Thorn and tell him to come pick up his trash."

Maureen showers upstairs while Atlas, Riot, and I usher out the last of the partygoers. I'm sure the teachers of Tenebrose aren't going to be too pleased with us for getting all their students drunk and high the night before the first day of school. But it's tradition.

We throw a party every semester. They couldn't stop us from doing it if they tried. Which they haven't. We have too much dirt on them. Too much leverage. And our families donate obscene amounts of money to keep them all driving their fancy cars and living in their monstrous houses. Even the faculty lounge is funded by us.

Riot leans back against the couch, whiskey in hand. "We need to keep an eye on her at all times. Who knows how many spies our fathers have planted here."

Atlas snickers. "Well, mine is about to see firsthand what we do with spies." He plops down next to Riot and lights a joint.

"Have you called him?" I want to make sure Maureen is nowhere near this house when he arrives.

Atlas holds up his phone as he coughs out a huge hit of weed. "I sent him a text. Told him it's urgent. He'll be here soon."

I grab my coat and keys. "I'll take her back to the Nest and stay there with her tonight."

Riot nods in agreement. "Good. Make sure you walk her to class tomorrow too. I don't trust anyone but us right now."

I wait for Maureen in the car, the engine running. When she bounces out the front door, she's all smiles and sunshine. Like she didn't just stab a man to death.

The scent of honeysuckle and vanilla invade my car as she climbs into the passenger seat, her hair damp and glistening. I want to lick her entire body; she smells so fucking good. Wearing a fitted white tank top and yoga pants, there's not a speck of blood on her that I can see. She looks like Maureen again. The sexy, fiery version we first met. Before we corrupted her.

"Ready, love?"

Her eyes light up at the pet name. I haven't told her I love her yet. But I really fucking want to. It's not that I'm afraid to say something so final; it's the fear that she's not ready to say it back. That would crush me.

She nods and puts on her seatbelt. "Thank you for taking me back home. I can't wait to sleep in my own bed."

I throw the car in drive and peel out of the stone driveway. "I'll take you anywhere you wanna go, Firecracker. Anytime. Always."

She gazes at me as I drive us through the dark forest. It reminds me of the first time I took her to the cabin. It's hard to take my eyes off her, so I steal as many glances as I can between her and the road. There's a calm radiating from her, a serenity oozing from her pores. After what she just went through, I'm in awe.

"What are you looking at?" she teases.

Fuck. I'm looking at the most beautiful creature I've ever laid eyes on. "I was about to ask you the same question." I smirk back at her.

She leans over and plants the softest kiss on my neck, sending shivers down my spine. "I'm wondering how I'm going to get any sleep tonight with you in my bed."

My cock flexes. "I'm going to fuck you to sleep."

Her breath hitches as she brushes her hand up my thigh. I almost lose control of the car at the contact. "Val…"

I step on the gas, increasing our speed. I need to get inside this woman as soon as possible. "Yes, Maur."

She blows out a deep breath. "I want to drink and fuck and read poetry under the stars and fall in love… with you."

Fuck. I'm a goner. A woosh of nerves swirls in my belly. I squeeze her hand. "We can do whatever you want, Firecracker. You know I'll give you anything you want."

I can't pull into the parking lot fast enough. I bring the car to a screeching halt outside the Nest, and we barrel out, making a mad dash for the front entrance.

As soon as the elevator doors close, I push her back against the wall. She whimpers and fumbles with my pants. "You smell so fucking good. Fuck." I kiss her hard, shoving my tongue deep into her mouth. We claw at each other in desperation. With a frenzied need to find release within each other.

She moans as I slip my fingers inside her pants and press them against her pussy. Her panties are already soaking wet. " Yes, Val . Fuck… A thousand times, yes."

Her praise sends an emotional response to my brain. An archaic and primal instinct to dominate, to force her into submission. "I'm going to do filthy things to you tonight," I promise in her ear.

"Mmm, yes, please. I need it." She grabs my cock and squeezes.

The doors slide open with a ding, letting us out into her dorm apartment. I half-expect Libra to come barreling out of her room, but then I remember she's still not back.

Relief fills me when I realize we're all alone. And we can do whatever the fuck we want without anyone bothering us.

Our kisses deepen as we stumble inside. I pull her top off first and then push her pants and panties down in one quick jerk. I pull back to look at her. Her nipples are bright pink and hard as fuck. Her thighs glisten as moisture from her cunt leaks out.

"Bend over the coffee table," I groan as the ache takes hold of my voice.

She bites her lip coyly and gazes back at me with so much mischief and temptation I have to steady myself.

I relish the way her creamy white ass jiggles slightly as she saunters over to the table. She looks back at me and winks before spreading her legs wide around it, straddling it underneath her.

Fucking hell. I grab my cock as it pulses.

She hangs off the end of the table, flat on her belly, and holds onto the sides. I stalk over and take a minute to gaze at how fucking naughty she looks.

I drag my fingers down her ass crack until I find her pussy underneath. "Are you going to let me do whatever I want to you tonight?"

She lets out a moan as I push two fingers in. " Yes, baby ."

I slap the inside of her thigh. "Anything?"

"Mmm, yes. Whatever you want. Please," she whines.

I love seeing her bent over and begging for my cock. "Keep your hands on the table at all times."

I grab her hips and pull them back toward me. Her juices leak out as I push the tip of my cock inside her cunt. "Fuck, I love how tight you are." I push all the way in and let out a deep moan as her walls clench around me.

"Oh, fuck," she cries out. " Harder ."

I thrust slowly in and out, edging her into a wild frenzy. "Shh, relax. We have all night."

Her body glistens with sweat. I bend over and lick the back of her neck, savoring the salt of it on my eager tongue. "Mmm, fuck." I pump in and out as she wails, her fingers white-knuckling the edges of the table as she grinds her pussy against it.

"This is going to hurt a little," I murmur. I pull out of her cunt and inch the tip of my cock inside her asshole.

She bucks and clenches as a fresh sheen of sweat spreads across her body. "Val," she moans. "Fuck, go slow."

Her ass is like an oven. I can barely squeeze in there. I muster a glob of saliva and spit it down in between her ass cheeks. The sound of her moans alone could make me cum. I feel her loosening, moistening, as we fall into a rhythm.

I reach around and play with her clit, making her cum hard within seconds. "Yeah, that's what I needed." I thrust my cock all the way inside her anus as she rubs her pussy against the table, milking her orgasm to the fullest.

I pinch her hips as I push and pull them forward and back. I'm so fucking deep inside her. Fuck. Every nerve, every fucking ridge on my cock is being tugged tight as I thrust in and out. I can't hold back for much longer.

"FUCK," I roar. All the blood rushes to the tip as my cum bursts out. I pump harder and faster as wave after wave of spasms ripples through my balls and down my shaft.

She screams my name over and over again as I pound her so hard the wood on the table legs splinters. "I'm coming again, Val. Fuck you, this feels so fucking good."

I take pride in breaking her, unraveling her. I ride her ass like a matador trying to wrangle a bucking bull. I give her ass cheeks a hard slap as I fill her to the brim with my thick hot cum.

Collapsing onto her back, my cock still inside her, I kiss her shoulders. Consumed with my need to worship her, I brush her hair to the side and leave more kisses on her neck. "I… love you, Maur ," I whisper softly in her ear.

She grabs my face and presses it to hers. A gurgled cry escapes from her throat. As she turns her head to the side, her eyes brim with tears. But I don't have to wait for a response. "I love you too, Val. I love you so fucking much."

Thank fuck. Her words are my salvation tonight. My reckoning.

As I slide my cock out gently, more of my cum leaks out. "I'll buy you another table."

She laughs through her tears. "Nah, I think we should leave it for Libra to find."

I scoop her up and carry her into the bathroom before drawing a hot bath. We take turns washing each other in silence, our gazes locked and full of something that feels stronger than love. Something that transcends human emotion and logic.

And when I lie her down next to me in her bed, she curls up in my arms like a wild cat who's finally found peace. I know it will be short-lived, but at this moment, everything is still and quiet and perfect.

"Val?"

"Yes, Maur."

"Why don't I feel any remorse?"

I hold her tight to my chest, afraid that the shadows will slip in between us again. "Because you're with Nocturnus now." I sigh. "And because he deserved it."

She whimpers and tucks my arm under hers against her belly. "They all deserve to get what's coming to them."

"Yes they do. Sleep now, baby."

I try to do the same, but the sound of the ravens pecking on the windows is riding my last nerve. I send them shut the fuck up messages through my sigils, but they keep tapping and whining.

When I finally drift off to sleep, a tiny flicker of fear sparks in my chest. The more her power grows, so does her lust for vengeance. Something tells me that there's much more bloodshed to come.