14. Raven

FOURTEEN

RAVEN

“How the fuck do we work this thing?”

I sit at the foot of the bed, dressed in my uniform, with my hair loose around my shoulders as I turn the shell over in my hand. I can’t for the life of me understand what I’m supposed to do with the damn thing.

“You don’t know?” Brax asks, his brows furrowed as he steps out of the bathroom with a towel loosely draped around his waist. It’s instinctive to linger on his impressive crotch, hoping the material hiding one of my favorite parts of him will disappear, but we really do need to focus on this.

Sweeping my tongue over my bottom lip, my magic flickers beneath the surface, eager to be used to eliminate the towel, but I turn back to the shell instead. I can behave for a little while.

“I’ve never seen one before Zane’s,” I admit, slowly turning the shell once again, hoping to see something new this time, but I fall just as short as the time before.

“But your father works for The Ministry, didn’t he… shit, shut up, Brax,” he grumbles, swiping a hand down his face as he recalls the excellent relationship I don’t have with my father. I smirk at him and he sighs, planting his hands on his hips. “My parents were gone before I needed one, so I have no clue either. Isn’t there a button or something?”

I spin it in my grasp again, but no magical button appears. “No,” I admit. Finally able to look at him without fixating on the outline of his cock, I purse my lips. “I think our only option is to find Lyra and see if we can use her secret little room to reach out instead.”

Brax nods, glancing at the time before swiftly using his magic to get dressed. My pursed lips tighten to a pout as his uniform now hides his body.

“We’ve got a little time if we leave now,” he offers, and I nod, feeling reluctant to go anywhere at all.

Placing the shell in my backpack, I swing it onto my shoulder as I step out into the lounge behind Brax.

His hands move, and I watch with hope that a gateway will appear, but it seems the suppression on that simple mode of transport is still in place.

“Walking it is,” I sing, heading for the front door. He grumbles under his breath, but I don’t catch it. “It will give us a moment to get our heads in the game anyway,” I offer, smiling wide and positively at him, highly aware that it was me getting distracted.

“I don’t think that’s ever going to happen with all of the mess we’re wading through,” he grunts, and I can’t help but hum in agreement. He’s not wrong, that’s for sure. But I’m focusing on one challenge at a time, or trying to at least.

The pathway is quiet since we’re earlier than usual, and I use the reprieve to lace my fingers with his, enjoying the peace around us while we have it. Last night was another information overload. We’re going to go from one mini-quest to another until all that remains is enemy number one. Once they’re out of the equation, maybe we’ll be able to actually take a minute to breathe and appreciate being young and somewhat free.

Maybe.

Hopefully.

We’re stepping through the arched doorway into the academy building in no time, heading straight for Lyra’s office. We don’t come across anyone, which is a relief as her office door comes into view. Brax knocks without missing a beat, and I rock back on my heels as we wait patiently.

A few moments pass and I start to worry that I should have reached out sooner. I haven’t seen her since we were all taken to the cave in Ashdale, and I don’t even know if she’s been present.

Fuck.

Taking a step closer, I lift my fist to knock again, but before I can connect with the wood, the sound of the door unlocking echoes around us and Lyra appears in the gap. Her eyebrows pinch together when her gaze locks with mine, but she quickly shakes it off.

“Hey, is everything okay?” she asks. Her cheeks are a little pink and her hair isn’t quite as smooth as usual.

“Is everything okay with you?” I redirect, watching as she straightens, running her hands over her silk blouse as she forces a wide smile onto her lips.

“I’m fine. How can I help you guys?”

“We need to use your…” My words trail off, not wanting to say it out loud, and she instantly nods in understanding.

“Oh, right, of course. Give me two seconds.” The door slams shut before I can reply.

Brax clears his throat as he glances at me out of the corner of his eye. “Does she seem… odd to you?”

I try to bite back my smile, but it’s not as easy as I hope. “She’s acting like there’s someone in there that she doesn’t want us to see,” I remark, watching the confusion gloss over his eyes.

“Why would…”

His mouth pauses as I wiggle my eyebrows and understanding dawns on him.

“Oh, like we’re bothered about that shit. We’re already pressed for time,” he grumbles, scrubbing a hand over his cropped hair.

I shrug. “Girls are skittish with this stuff. Besides, she’s doing us a favor, not the other way around. She doesn’t owe us anything, yet she helps anyway.”

A moment later, the door swings open and a much more put-together Lyra appears, waving us inside. Peering around the room, I don’t see anyone, so I decide to put it to the back of my mind as we head into the private room. The layout is exactly the same as it was and we take a seat on the sofa like we always have.

“Is it Rhys you want to speak to?”

“Please,” I murmur, looking up at Lyra, who smiles.

“Sure. I’ll get it set up.”

The door shuts behind her, hiding us away from the rest of the academy. Brax leans back in his seat, running his hands over his thighs before tapping his fingertips on his knees.

“What do you do while you wait?” he asks, already impatient, and my cheeks heat at the reminder that flickers in my mind. “Wait, did you and Zane…” He doesn’t finish his sentence as I turn to face him, and his eyes widen in surprise before morphing into something else. The memory of being fucked by thin air ripples through me.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say with a shrug, turning away as Brax splutters.

“Sure you don’t.”

Right on cue, Rhys appears, and my cheeks heat even more. Thankfully, he seems more concerned with our appearance than my actual state.

“Is everything okay?”

Gulping, I smile, nodding like a fool, but the exhaustion on his face is noticeable, and concern quickly gets the better of me. “Is everything with you okay?” I brace my elbows on my knees, inching closer, and the sigh that parts his lips feels weighted.

“Honestly, it’s not going the best. I’m coming up against some blockers,” he mutters, wiping a hand down his face.

“How?” Brax asks. “What is it?” he rapidly fires at him.

Rhys glances between the two of us before looking down at his hands. “I think there are connections aligning The Monarchy with Erikel. I don’t know who to talk to, who to trust, or who to rely on, but I’m trying everything I can. I swear it.”

I know that feeling deep down in my fucking soul.

“How are we going to get around it?” Brax asks, and Rhys shakes his head.

“No. That’s for me to worry about. You have enough going on. Tell me what you’re facing.” He laces his fingers together as he peers from Brax to me and back again.

I glance at Brax, who nods at me subtly, and I take a deep breath, but it’s my gargoyle who answers.

“My parents believe Erikel isn’t Erikel.”

Rhys’s eyes crinkle as he processes the words. “How so?”

“Because my father killed him years ago.”

Zane’s father wipes a hand over his mouth. “He could have been on the brink of death before he was brought back,” he offers, trying to see the situation from every angle, and Brax shakes his head.

“They’re both certain that he doesn’t have skinwalker abilities either.”

Rhys seems stumped for a moment, and I decide to spell it out to him.

“They believe Erikel is Burton, not the other way around.”

Rhys narrows his eyes, trying to comprehend what I’m saying, while completely understanding how ridiculous it sounds.

“How? Why?” His face falls to his hands for a moment, as if his simple questions are overwhelming him, too.

“We honestly don’t know. I’m not familiar with Professor Burton, other than what he’s portrayed himself as and what the golden table showed us, which made him look a hell of a lot shadier. As much as it initially seems impossible, it isn’t.”

“What do you know of Burton, Rhys?” Brax asks, eyes narrowing. “My parents said he’s one of the few people to have ever been a skinwalker. You didn’t mention that when we told you what we saw in the Nightmare’s Guild.”

My heart practically stops in my chest as I gape at Rhys, coming to the same realization as Brax. If this guy has been pulling the wool over my eyes the entire time, I really will explode. We’ve trusted him more than anyone.

Don’t let that be for nothing.

“Tiran Burton’s powers have never been shared with me. He falls under a different department at The Monarchy, so I’ve never been privy to his details, just as he wouldn’t be aware of mine either.” I search his eyes, seeking what I’m not entirely sure of, but all I find is sincerity. “I can’t understand how he would make any of this happen or why he would stab himself the night we were all there. We all saw it ourselves.”

“I know, but there is the consideration that Raven bringing him back from the dead allows him to visit the Realm of Shadows now… like me,” Brax admits, seeming to accept Rhys’s words too.

“We’re getting closer to figuring this all out. I know we are,” he murmurs, shaking his head as he remains slightly dazed by the facts.

Clearing my throat, his gaze finds mine. “That’s actually why we’re calling.”

“Anything.”

“Marieta believes I should speak to my mother.”

He nods, rising to his feet immediately without question. “Of course, give me a few moments.”

The room falls quiet as he leaves and I fall back in my seat, chancing a glance at Brax to find him already staring at me.

“Do we trust him?”

My teeth sink into my bottom lip as I think it over, but ultimately, I nod. “He’s either a phenomenal liar or telling the truth. As much as my mind wants to believe the worst in everyone, he’s never done anything to make me believe he’s anything other than genuine.”

“I hate that I can only agree with you. I just hope we’re right.”

I nod nervously, but before we can say anymore, Rhys reappears, only this time my mother is beside him. My heart races at the sight of her as she rushes closer, her hand reaching out toward me before she quickly retracts it, remembering she’s not actually here.

“Oh, Raven,” she whispers, falling to her knees before me, and I shift awkwardly in my seat.

I want to reach out to her, too, and offer her some kind of comfort, but I don’t want to drift my hand through her projection.

Her hair is pulled back tight into a ponytail, her eyes heavy as she tries to smile. We’ve all clearly got a lot going on. It feels insane to comprehend that there are more problems out there when I’m already dealing with a lot.

I don’t know what I expect from her, but just as quickly as she dropped to the floor, she gathers herself, stiffening her spine as she takes a deep breath and meets my gaze with determination vibrating from her.

“What do you need from me? Anything, I’m here.”

I exhale slowly, her words pushing me forward as I smile at her, and it’s not forced. “I spoke with Marieta, Brax’s mother,” I state, pointing to my gargoyle without glancing in his direction. My mother follows my finger, offering him a smile. “I have some concerns over Sebastian and she thinks I need to speak to you about it.”

“Of course.” She nods for me to proceed, and I do.

I tell her about the hostility I received from him as soon as I got here, the attacks I received at his hands, the attempts on my life, everything. With every instance, her eyes widen, her jaw falls more slack, and a combination of disappointment and heartache washes over her.

“I’m sorry, Raven,” she apologizes as if it’s her fault, and I shake my head, but Brax speaks before I can soothe her.

“I wanted to kill him,” he grunts, and I watch as my mother gulps nervously. Silence stretches out, filling the air as Rhys remains quiet. “But—” Brax breathes, shaking his head like he can’t believe where the conversation is leading.

Placing my hand on his thigh, I take over again. “But, we’ve seen some things that have left us questioning if his decisions were his own.” My mother leans back, stiff, as she waits for me to proceed. “We saw his back, it’s covered in scars from lashings, watched what he… endured, and we heard the threats aimed his way.” I know it’s vague, but my stomach curls with the thought of repeating it. It doesn’t matter, though; I’m familiar with the twinkling of knowledge in her eyes and it’s my turn to go rigid. “Mama?”

She glances at Rhys, who is an image of pity as he nods at her. “Your father is the same.” Her words hang in the air for a moment as I try to process them, but before I can question her further, she offers the information freely. “Your father is currently under protective magic to ensure he isn’t a harm to himself… or others.” She clears her throat, trying to tamp down her emotions, but it’s clear it’s not easy. “We found the same lashing marks on his back. We’re not certain who they’re from, but magic is controlling him and it looks like it’s been going on for a long time. Whoever is controlling your father could be doing the same to Sebastian.”

Fuck.

Rubbing my lips together, I let that knowledge settle over me for a moment while Brax speaks. “It was Erikel or Burton, along with Fitch, who we saw giving Sebastian the lashings.”

My mother wipes her hands down her face, an action we’re all seemingly familiar with at this stage as we try to brush off the issues that continue to weigh us down. We’re not dealing with anything easy, which means every new piece of information leads us further down another bumpy path.

“We believe it’s someone in The Monarchy who has done this to your father.” Damn. Tears track down my mother’s face now, but she wipes at them swiftly. “I should never have run, Raven. Not for your father’s sake, not for Sebastian’s sake, but especially not for yours.”

I shake my head. “We can’t change the past. We can only pursue the future. What ifs and the endless possibilities are out of our hands now, but we can make a difference in what comes next.” I believe the words so deeply that my chest warms, and Mama smiles at me.

“I know, but I feel like taking you away only worsened an already bad situation.”

“We can’t turn back time to determine if that would result in a different outcome or not, so we have to let it go. The world is crumbling around us and we need to decide if we’re going to control where the pieces fall or not.”

“Raven is right, Evangeline,” Rhys murmurs, planting a hand on her shoulder. “I’m not sure why Marieta referred you to your mother for this, but it only strengthens my belief that her inkling links back to your father, and The Monarchy, too,” he states, and I nod in understanding. “Now that we’re aware of it on both sides, we need to tread carefully. Sebastian may not be of his own mind, but that doesn’t make him any less dangerous,” he admits, a solemn atmosphere casting over us. A bell rings from their side of the communication and Rhys glances off in the distance. “I’m sorry, guys, I have a meeting, an important one,” he states, eyebrows raised. “Is there anything else before l leave?”

“No. We should go, too. We’ve got classes to get to,” I mumble, in no way ready to be surrounded by people who have no clue what’s truly happening around them, all while trying to play the dumb girl who is just as clueless.

“Okay. Oh, wait. Is there anyone there with the last name Richardson?”

I frown, thinking, but my mind is blank.

“Yes,” Brax confirms. “There’s a Grave Richardson. Why?”

Rhys shakes his head as my mother looks at him, her eyes filled with concern. “Keep an eye on him. It’s his grandfather causing me the most concern within The Monarchy.”

Fuck.

“Okay,” I mumble, my mind in overload.

“I love you, Raven. This will all be over soon,” my mother promises, arms folded tightly around her.

“I love you too,” I rasp, the words razor-sharp in my throat, but I can’t get caught up in emotions right now. Just as they’re about to disappear from view, I call out Rhys’s name one last time.

“Yes?”

“How do I work this thing?” I ask, digging my hand into my backpack to find Zane’s shell.

He smirks at me as he points to the smaller end. “Blow in it.”

I gape at him before rolling my eyes. “Of course, it’s something dramatic,” I state as they disappear from view, leaving just Brax and I in here.

“Are you okay?” Brax asks, and I nod, not really giving myself a moment to consider the true answer, and the knowing glint in his eyes tells me he knows it too, but he accepts it for now.

Heading to where the door should be, I rap my knuckles softly against the wall to alert Lyra that we’re ready to leave. A few moments pass before I hear the click of the door as it appears before us, but as I push it open, I’m halted in my tracks.

“Sister, we have a lot to discuss.”