2. Brax

TWO

BRAX

Aconstant tremble runs through my body, refusing to relent. I’m so caught up in my own thoughts, freaking out, it’s leaving me incapable of grasping everything happening around me. I don’t know which way is up, where to turn, or how to proceed. This is more than I think I can handle.

Us.

It’s me and Raven.

Just me and Raven.

My friends, my brothers… fuck.

I haven’t had to function without Eldon for longer than I can remember. Now, with Creed and Zane gone, too, I don’t know how to think. They’re just as much a part of me as I am them.

There’s a reason I’ve always been open to sharing a girl with them. I can’t handle the duty of making her happy, keeping her safe, and everything else that comes along with providing for the woman you want by myself.

Now here I am.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

How am I supposed to be enough for her right now? I’m not even enough for myself.

Glancing down at Raven, my chest tightens. She needs me. Technically, she needs all of us, but she’s stuck with me as her only option, so we’re both going to have to compromise. It won’t be for long. I swear it.

“Follow me, Soul Dancer,” Erikel calls out without looking our way. I remember the last time he used that nickname for Raven and I fucking hate it.

Her lips pinch as her nostrils flare. With narrowed eyes, she puts one foot in front of the other, following his order, but not before reaching for my hand to keep me at her side.

We trail after him and his men, stepping through the gateway they created instead of taking the narrow entrance we originally used to get in here. We appear outside a moment later. The sun has set, leaving only the moon to glow down upon us.

I’m surprised by how many students are already out here. Gathered in small groups, everyone looks uncertain, defeated, and exhausted. If that’s what everyone else looks like, I dread to think of what they see when they look at me. I’m trying my hardest to hold myself together, but it’s easier said than done.

Raven points to the left and I follow her line of sight to find Leila and Grave huddled together on a boulder. They’re sitting side by side, their thighs pressed against one another as they quietly talk.

I squeeze Raven’s hand, indicating for us to head that way, but Erikel suddenly whirls around to face us. His brows are knitted together as he looks down his nose at us.

“Where are the others?”

“Who?” I grunt, hating how tight Raven clings to my hand, her emotions pouring into me. I want to take them all away, every last one, but I can’t, and that’s a hard pill to swallow.

“Don’t play dumb with me, boy. The rest of the necromancer’s brothel,” Erikel snarks, and my whole body goes rigid with anger. My teeth grind together as I try to breathe through it, but I just want to lash out and take this fucker down.

“We split up inside, trying to find what you wanted,” Raven answers, and his gaze quickly shifts to her as he assesses the truth of her words.

His eyes narrow but he seemingly accepts it, spinning away again as he quietly talks with his henchmen.

Raven exhales heavily, her eyelids closing briefly, and I instantly wish Zane or Creed were here. They’d know exactly what to do to make her feel better.

“This is so fucked up,” she breathes as we move through the gathered students to where Leila sits.

“I know, but we need to wait until we’re safe to even think about it,” I admit, and the desperation on her face is evident.

“It’s gone, Brax. The gate is gone,” she mouths, her knuckles turning white as she holds on to me tightly.

Fuck.

“I know, Shadow. I know.”

She stops suddenly, wiping her free hand down her face before tilting her head back to look up at the sky, all while I stand helplessly beside her with no clue how to fix it.

My parents, my brothers; everything is fucked. Fucked so hard. I’m ready to sink into my own mess of thoughts, but I can’t focus on that when I can see how shattered she is, too.

“It’s just the two of us for now, Shadow, but we’ll figure this out. Fuck knows how but we won’t accept anything less than resolving all of this.”

She peers at me, the smallest and softest smile ghosting her lips for the briefest moment. “We’ll get through this.”

“We will,” I agree, and I notice her body relax a little, but the tension still radiates between us.

“Well, you might,” she reiterates, moving again, and I’m a sucker to stay at her side.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

She shakes her head, a grin appearing on her lips once again as her tongue peeks out, touching her bottom lip for the briefest moment before disappearing again.

“Well, you swore not to get me off until Sebastian was dead. Because he’s clearly under their magical control, it doesn’t look like it will be happening any time soon. At least the others weren’t so hell-bent on being an asshole.”

I gape at her, lips parted more than I wish, as she comes to a stop in front of Leila, effectively dismissing any further conversation.

“Hey, I was starting to wonder where you guys were,” Leila says, standing before us while Grave stays where he is. She frowns almost instantly, glancing around us. “Where are the others?”

Raven peers at her friend but not a single word comes, and I have to quickly catch up instead of remaining focused on the final statement she gave me before we were interrupted.

“Gather around,” Erikel snaps, pulling everyone’s attention to him.

Raven shakes her head at Leila, turning to face our self-elected leader with the rest of the student body out here.

He stands on a boulder, the golden warrior to his left, Fitch to his right, with the students from Shadowgrim Insititute crowding closer to him while the rest of us keep as much distance as possible.

Once he’s certain he has everyone’s attention, his eyes cut to Raven. “I want the location of Creed Wylder, Zane Denver, and Eldon Rhodes.”

Fuck. We should have known he wasn’t going to let it drop as easily as that.

The golden warrior’s attention perks up and he glances from Erikel to Raven and back. Fuck him, though. We wouldn’t be here if he hadn’t delved deep into his son’s mind against his will. We wouldn’t be parted from my brothers with the weight of the realm firmly on our shoulders.

“I don’t know where they are,” Raven states, making Erikel bare his teeth in anger. I don’t think we’re going to get away with saying nothing at this rate.

“Don’t lie to me. You know where they are, and my Potens Ruby,” he snaps, sweeping his hand in our direction, and the golden warrior instantly starts to move toward us.

Nobody says a word as we all watch his movements. His onyx eyes, which are usually blacker than black and void of anything at all, swirl with unspoken questions that he sure as hell isn’t getting the answers to.

“I can read your pretty little mind,” he warns as he comes to a stop in front of us, hand lifted and palm turned up in warning.

Over my dead fucking body.

I take a step forward, ready to put this asshole in his place, but Raven beats me to it. She reaches out, grasping onto thin air as her jaw tics. “And I can read yours.”

Laughter echoes around us, booming from Erikel with a gulp of excitement while the rest of the onlookers remain as confused as ever.

“Ah, mirror magic. How fun, you’re going to quickly learn you’re no match for me,” the warrior promises, the two of them at an impasse, refusing to back down.

I need to do something, but the reality is I’m the brute force. Raven is more powerful than me in every sense of the word. We already know my strength means nothing against Creed’s father, not in that armor.

“Help! Help!”

Panic swarms the air as hurried footsteps approach, interrupting another intense moment, but I’m thankful for it this time.

Gasps distract me, pulling my attention to Sebastian, who continues to approach, calling for help. He doesn’t stop until he’s standing directly in front of Erikel, where he drops to his knees and places something on the floor.

The golden warrior finally relents, turning to see for himself what all of the commotion is about, and that’s when I see what has everyone worked up.

Fuck.

“It’s Genie… she’s dead,” Leila whispers in shock as murmurs travel through the crowd around us.

Her limp body lies between Sebastian and Erikel. The latter stares with wide eyes as Sebastian kneels with his head in his hands.

Does he really care, or is this the magic? Either way, it doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things. As much as Raven has a sudden soft spot for him and his situation, I still can’t see past the shit he’s done, and seeing him full of despair is barely a drop in the bucket of what he deserves. If he’s that sad about the loss of Genie, I can sure as fuck help him join her if he wants.

“Who did this?” Erikel bites, darkness wrapping around us as silence quickly greets him. His eyes snap to Raven and I know what’s going to come next before he even opens his mouth. “Bring her back. Now.”

She assesses him while I fight to keep my mouth shut. I want to demand that she stay away and cut her magic off from them, but I know she has her own mind. This is her decision, and we both know she’ll have a better game plan at this moment than me.

I’d probably wind up dead, and she probably doesn’t need the added stress of that right now.

It’s no surprise when she starts to move. I grip her hand tight this time, pinning myself to her side as she swoops past the golden warrior and through the parting crowd to where Erikel stands.

The closer we get, the more noticeable his tremble becomes.

He’s mad. Mad mad.

Raven tries to release my hand and I frown down at her. She gives me a pointed look and I reluctantly relent, instantly hating the loss of contact as she drops to her knees beside Genie. Sebastian doesn’t move an inch, seemingly happy to keep his face in his hands.

“Now,” Erikel barks, and I don’t miss the eye roll my woman gives him even though he can’t see.

I inch closer, acutely aware of everything around us as I stand guard.

A few moments pass, Raven’s hands hovering over Genie’s body without actually touching her until she shakes her head. “I can’t.”

“Try. Harder.”

Raven rolls her shoulders back, moving her hands to Genie’s chest, but quickly shakes her head again. “I can’t. It’s too late.”

Her voice cracks ever so slightly at the end. The reality of what happened is washing over her, and I swiftly reach down and pull her to her feet. She spins in my hold, pressing her face into my chest, and I shield her from the world.

She’s not crying, shaking, or disheveled beyond words, but it helps turn her away from Erikel, who lets out an almighty roar of rage before falling to his knees beside Genie’s lifeless body. His fur cloak drapes around him, providing a blanket between him and the gathered crowd, who stand in complete shock.

He may be slightly hidden, but the words that part his lips remain etched into my mind.

“You won’t have died in vain, my darling. I’ll take this realm and the next for your mother, and now for you.”