Chapter Five

Upon the raven’s wing the halls of Valhalla are met

“ C an you hold me, please? Just for a bit. I feel so cold.” Ravyn carefully kept the space between them, as if giving him a chance to deny her quiet request. Back rigid and green eyes sharp, she wouldn’t allow herself to appear too vulnerable in spite of her words and was clearly preparing to flee if need be. But he knew her. He saw her.

Bash’s wolf had already been pressing against his mind, and her small, vulnerable request had nearly let it push through to take control. Thankfully, the wolf calmed itself when Bash pulled Ravyn into his arms, tucking her head under his chin and wrapping his arms around her, pulling her close to his warmth.

Closing his eyes, he selfishly soaked up the moment, enjoying the feeling of her against him and allowing himself to briefly imagine “what if.” She was so tiny, a fact that he knew, but holding her like this, feeling her smallness in his grip, while she let herself for a single moment be vulnerable…

“Mine,” his wolf growled contently and for once, Sebastian didn’t argue with his animal. It should be permitted this moment as well.

Tentatively, he brought one hand up to her head and let it settle just briefly before relaxing it and petting down the side of her head, allowing her hair to slide beneath it. Then again, this time taking a few strands to smooth between his thumb and forefinger, trying to bring her a bit of comfort the best he knew how. Bash wasn’t good at this stuff, but he wanted to be. The faint, still unrecognizable floral that he came to know as her signature scent filled his nose. Normally, his sensitive nostrils rejected any number of perfumed scents, but this woody, green floral scent specific to Ravyn smelled like home.

Ravyn snuggled closer to him, burrowing in as she murmured something so softly that even his enhanced hearing couldn’t quite pick it up. In the end, he went with the assumption that she found contentment with his feeble attempts to comfort her, so he continued stroking her head, enjoying the feeling of her soft, sleek hair beneath his hand. Peace wafted over him, enveloping him in a serenity he hadn’t felt in years. The scent that anointed Ravyn caressed his own skin. His wolf preened at the marking. Not that he should be thinking that way, not at all; Ravyn was a job, a vampire, and one of his partner’s dearest friends. The list could go on and on but right now, for this moment, he was in complete agreement with his wolf.

Just shut up and enjoy it.

“Thank you, Thor,” she whispered, her words clear this time and the softness, the vulnerability in her voice, hit him low and hard. It took every ounce of strength to not pull her even closer and offer to take every bit of fear and pain from her.

Heart pounding faster than just a few minutes ago, he knew she could hear it and feel it speed up, but right now it didn’t matter. A soft embrace was all he could safely offer.

“Not a problem, Princess.” The words came out more gruffly than he’d intended. In a moment of weakness, he allowed his lips to lie upon the side of her head, deeply inhaling the scent of her, embracing the closeness even as he pulled her tighter into his embrace. It took all of his strength not to grind his face against her, marking her with his own scent.

“All part of the full-security package?” She hesitated as she said the words, and even a big dumb wolf like himself knew that it wasn’t just a simple, off-the-cuff question. They’d been dancing around each other for weeks. But Bash wasn’t the wolf. He wasn’t one to confuse sexual attraction and the innate desire to protect the woman with a lifelong mating bond. No, a mate wasn’t a part of his future.

“No, this is a perk reserved especially for you.” Pausing a beat, he admitted, “Besides, I do like you a bit.”

“I knew it, Thor,” she whispered back, before holding still in his embrace as they both—he liked to imagine—savored this moment. Ravyn was strong, stronger than any woman he knew and not just because she was a vampire, and it felt like home offering her a touch of his own strength just for a moment.

“I sort of like you a bit too. Even if you still won’t tell me your kinkiest fantasy.” She referred to the last question she’d tormented him with at Oliver’s home before the entity had struck her down and attempted to force a connection. If the moment hadn’t been potentially deadly, he would have thanked Fenrir for the intervention.

Hesitantly at first, then growing bolder, Sebastian allowed his fingers to rub the tension from her hands and lower arms. A small moan escaped her and, embodied with a bit more confidence, Bash shifted his position to allow access to her shoulders and neck, massaging the tension spots with gentle but firm pressure.

“Oh, you’re so warm.” Ravyn seemed to shiver with delight under his ministrations. Eyes closed, she continued, seemingly unaware of the effect she had on him in return. “Your hands are like magic.” Her whisper and the feel of her under his hands did things to his own body that he would rather keep hidden. Shifting in his seat to ease the pressure, he reminded himself and his wolf that this moment was for her. He imagined his wolf rolling its eyes at him.

Bash wanted to tell her that under his hands her skin felt like a cool, refreshing brook in the springtime colliding with the full winter moon. But he remained mute even as his wolf huffed at him, “Coward.”

All too soon Ravyn pulled away, easing away almost reluctantly from his touch even as his fingers lingered before he removed them from her and set them back on his thighs.

Slowly picking up the envelope as if it might be a viper, she deliberately turned it over in her hands, warily examining the envelope holding the past and future.

“Like a bandage, let’s just rip it off.” She slid one long nail under the envelope flap, pulling it open while quickly sliding the letter out before anything else could even be suggested. “And it’s fancy stationary.” Pale yellow paper with tiny blue lotus flowers hand drawn around the border, filled with tiny, precise script elegantly penned in blue ink, as if the writer had much to say but was determined to keep it to a single page.

“As if you would send a letter on school notebook paper. Can’t say I would expect less from any sister of yours,” Bash grumbled as he shifted himself uncomfortably on the sofa, immediately feeling the loss of her body against his.

Ravyn held the letter in both hands as she leaned back against him as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

As she brushed a finger lightly against the blue lotus flowers, he could feel her happiness.

“She remembered my favorite flower,” Ravyn whispered in awe.

Blue lotus. That made sense. She had tiny, hand-blown glass flowers in her private chambers; he’d chanced upon them one day when he’d popped in to check on her during her quiet time of day. Even her throw pillows had a border of the floating flowers dancing on their edges. Her scent was the blue lotus.

Having never smelled it before he couldn’t be sure, but now, as he inhaled her lovely scent, he couldn’t help but feel he’d stumbled upon the answer to a question he hadn’t known to ask. It was most likely the same flower that had drugged her years ago to gain her compliance in a demonic change she hadn’t asked for. Despite that, she clearly didn’t hold the delicate flower responsible.

Bash stared straight ahead as Ravyn silently read the words in the letter, not feeling prepared to intrude upon this moment, but not wanting to pull away either. From the corner of his eye, he could see her eyes moving rapidly as she scanned the words. He felt a tinge of relief when her small, mysterious smile passed her lips, showing the hint of white from her teeth. A real smile, not one of those fake plastic smiles she saved for the cameras.

“It’s Ibis,” Ravyn told him, as if he would know which sister this was, but he nodded and smiled, pleased at her happiness. “She goes by Anya now. When we entered the temple, we were given new names. Animal names, given to each of us that we shared also with the girls from other groups. I suppose recycling the names and giving everyone an animal pendant made it simple for the old fools to know who we each were. Goddess knows we shouldn’t be allowed any individuality or any link to our old lives.” The scowl across her face was replaced yet again with a smile. “She wants to meet with me.”

Bash immediately went on edge, his body only tensing slightly, but he knew that Ravyn would immediately know his thoughts. This could be a trap. It could be that this Anya or Ibis was Ravyn’s stalker, and she was either impersonating her sister to gain her trust or had been driven insane over the years and was now planning Ravyn’s demise. So many options, and none of them good.

After all these years, a letter drops out of the sky at the same time that a supernatural stalker is taunting Ravyn? There were no such things as coincidences, as far as Sebastian was concerned.

Drawing herself away from him, Ravyn’s green eyes went dark before flashing a hint of red at him. The air between them snapped with electricity and if Bash dared take a breath, open his mouth, he knew that he would instantly taste the bite of anger that consumed her.

Spitting out the words, Ravyn instructed him, “You forget yourself, Thor. You forget who and what I am.” Holding up the letter, she reminded him as if he could ever forget, “I am thousands of years old and have survived alone for nearly as long. You, you and your men, are here simply because I allow it. You may trick yourself into believing that Oliver controls this situation, but you would be gravely mistaken. I and I alone. Allow. You. Here.”

It was almost like the few moments earlier had ceased to exist. His suspicious thoughts had wiped them away, turned a precious moment ugly.

Sometimes it was easy to forget that the tiny woman held more power than all of his men and him combined, including the vampires on the team. As an actress, Ravyn was more than used to allowing people to see what she wanted them to see, portraying the woman they wanted to see. But she was always a predator, a manipulator, and if she chose to embrace that, none of them could stop her. Sure, the stalker had shaken her, but even without them or Oliver to intervene once the initial shock passed, she would handle the situation. Even if by handling it meant she went on the run.

Bash’s wolf flared at the challenge but immediately backed down in deference, and he recognized that it was best he follow suit. “My apologies, Ravyn. I wish I could blame the wolf in me.” In the back of his mind, the wolf growled lowly at him. “But…”

His brain whirled. But what? That a part of him would give his very life to protect her and it had nothing to do with it being a job? That every day with her brought both the highest and lowest of every emotion? That when she left the room, his very breath went with her?

“But I’m an idiot and I apologize. I know absolutely you can more than take care of yourself, but I’m… we’re… here to share that load, so you don’t have to. Unless of course you want to,” he quickly amended. Worst apology ever, but much better than admitting the truth to both the greatest thorn in his side and the reason he woke up each day. The last few months had been hell.

The blackness in Ravyn’s eyes slowly drained away, leaving behind the deep green. “Of course.” Nodding regally, she agreed. “Apology accepted.”

Sighing, she admitted, “Yes, it could be a trap. I’m lazy as of late, but not a fool. It is very convincingly Ibis. She was always the gentlest of us all, full of laughter and love and a bit mischievous.” Another hint of a smile as a memory crossed that she didn’t share. “But this change might have made her a different woman. Or if she shared her truth with someone else, they might attempt to manipulate me. And after all these years, at the same time as a stalker, it could be a coincidence or something more.”

By habit, Ravyn smoothed her hair and began braiding it along the side of her neck while Bash watched, waiting for her to decide how to proceed. He was mesmerized as always by her every move, so graceful even as she smoothed her hair. Hair so black it almost shone blue under the lights. Then she pulled the plait free and began again.

Bash knew that Ravyn counted the movements in her mind even if her lips weren’t moving. Over the past few months, he’d come to understand that this habit of hers occurred while she thought things through, considered the outcomes and possibilities. Criss cross, back and forth, one, two, three, and so forth before her fingers pulled the weave free, smoothing out the strands before beginning again. While she pondered, he waited, caught in the thrall of the quick work her long, thin fingers made of the hair.

“Have Oliver’s office run a background check on this person.” Ravyn twisted the hair up into a bun, allowing a few pieces to sneak free. “It needs to be done fast but thoroughly, of course, though I don’t want them to know who she is to me. There may not be anything on her, depending on the life she has chosen this century, but these days, it’s difficult to stay hidden. After that, I wish to have a meeting at a secure location with double our detail and you by my side. She claims she currently isn’t far from us or at least, from my agent’s address.”

Flipping the envelope back and forth, she silently examined the return postmark once again. It had been sent weeks ago, but only from across the state. California was large, but not so large that it should keep her from her sister.

Looking up at him through her dark, sooty lashes, Ravyn pleaded, “I can’t miss a chance if this is my sister. I’ve looked and waited for years.”

Bash understood. He would do anything to see his own brother again. “We can make it work. We will make it work. But Ravyn”—he hesitated—“this could all be a trap. It may not even be her, or it could be your stalker using her as a lure. Or even this could be your stalker. Maybe the years haven’t been as kind to her as this letter would lead you to believe.”

Always elegant, with grace and smoothness, Ravyn extracted herself from the sofa, drawing herself up as tall as her petite stature would allow barefoot. “I think I’d like to rest now; I’m going to my rooms. The sun is high.” She handed him the envelope with the name and return address but kept the letter half crumpled in her hand.

Cordially, she added with a hint of ice in her tone, “And you… you need to do your job now.”

“Let me know if you need anything,” Bash offered. His heart sank at her harsh words, but he knew she needed time alone. At Ravyn’s age, rest was vital, but even a big dumb wolf like him who barely spoke to women aside from his ma and sister-in-law, Sara, knew what was left unsaid. “I’ll get the background check started.” He mentally added, and a background check on every single person this Ibis/Anya person has crossed paths with.

Oliver’s firm was both thorough and discreet. By the end of the day, Sebastian hoped to know everything about this sister down to her favorite blood type and her favorite flower.

Glancing at his phone, he saw that the building had once again been scanned and deemed clear of threats. Two more birds had hit the glass during the exam. A witch was on her way and was begrudgingly repeating her ward work despite her claim that it was already impenetrable.

Impossible! Bash thought as he looked at the corner of the window whose blinds he’d opened earlier to scan the city below. In the upper right-hand corner of the high window, a deep crack had formed, nearly six inches long. Rubbing his eyes in frustration, he hoped that when he looked back the weakness would be gone, but if anything, it already appeared larger.

Punching the buttons of his phone, he demanded that the witch bring another to complete her reinforcements, and to triple check the glass.

Would this ever end?