9. Sienna

9

SIENNA

B en held the door open for me, and I stepped inside Last Drop, immediately becoming submerged in the rhythm of the place. I led him to the usual table in the back corner and spotted everyone already there. A small smile tugged at my lips. Until I saw the smug look on Waylen’s face as he leaned back in his chair, watching us approach. My fox bristled.

Don’t even think about it, Waylen .

“Everyone,” I said quickly, cutting him off before he could say a word. “This is Ben—my mate.” The words came out in a rush, and my heart raced as I tossed Ben a glance.

He gave a polite smile, raising a hand in a small wave, even though he clearly hadn’t expected me to be so bold with my words. “Hey.”

“Tradition,” Waylen said, lifting his beer in a toast and taking a swig.

Dean leaned forward, his gaze steady but friendly as he nodded at Ben. “Nice to meet you. Welcome to the crew.”

“Thanks. Nice to meet you all,” Ben said, returning the nod as we settled into two open chairs at the table. “Sienna’s told me—well, not much about you yet, but I’m looking forward to learning more.”

Astrid shifted in her seat. “You’re definitely in good company here,” she said, offering Ben a warm smile, but there was curiosity in her stare. Her gaze shifted to me. “How exactly did you two manage to get a feather from Xander’s raven? I know it couldn’t have been easy.”

“I went to Lucius’s grave to see if I could find where his raven had built a nest since Ben said that ravens could be territorial and would likely be protective of places that hold significance to them,” I said. “The plan was to figure out if he had a nest there. If so, then I wanted to come up with a way we could lure him out and snag a feather. It didn’t happen that way, though.”

“What did happen?” Waylen asked, sounding impatient with my story.

I took a breath, steadying myself. “He was there and got into my head.” I glanced at Ellis. “You’re right, he’s gotten stronger.”

Ellis frowned. “I’m sorry you had to experience that.”

“How did you get away from him?” Dean pressed.

“Ben stepped in. He didn’t hesitate,” I said, flashing him a look of gratitude. “He grabbed Xander’s raven, which shocked him I think, because I’m pretty sure his focus was solely on me, and did some weird thing with tucking his face under his wing and shaking him around. He fell asleep, which broke his hold on me completely and allowed my fox to get a feather from him.”

“Badass.” Waylen grinned, nodding.

“It was nothing,” Ben said nonchalantly. “I’m a vet, so I’m used to doing things like that.”

“That explains why I haven’t seen him at his house in weeks,” Astrid said quietly, her gaze shifting back to me. “His raven must be staying at Lucius’s grave.”

“Aunt Maribel said the spirit inside him is tied to his raven form, not his human one,” Rachel reminded us all.

Dean shifted in his chair and took a swig from his beer. “Well, now that we have the feather, we have everything Maribel needs for the ritual.”

“Not exactly,” Rachel said, tension creeping into her expression. “Aunt Maribel mentioned last night that Xander’s raven has to be there for the ritual.”

“What?” Dean demanded. “She never mentioned that before.”

“I know,” Rachel said. “I told her the same, but she said it’s because Lucius’s darkness is rooted deeper than before.”

“I can attest to that,” Ellis said. “I’m sure Sienna can, too.”

“Sadly, yes,” I said. “There’s definitely a darker presence to him.”

“Okay, so now we need to figure out how to capture Xander’s raven,” Lyra chimed in. “Any ideas?”

The table grew silent.

“Well, we know where he’ll be now. That’s good,” Rachel insisted.

“Sure, but how do we get to him without him getting into all of our heads?” I asked.

The memory of Xander’s invasive presence inside my head sent a chill down my spine and caused my fox to pace. It wasn’t something either of us wanted to relive.

“Ravens like shiny things, right?” Waylen leaned his elbows on the table, his eyes wide. “We could bait him somehow. Once he’s out in the open, Ben could do whatever he did before and make him sleep or Rachel could use her power to sling him to the ground and knock him out. Then we could take him to Maribel.”

It wasn’t a bad idea.

“Okay, but how do we keep him knocked out while we take him to Maribel? If he wakes before we get to her, we’re all screwed,” Dean said.

“I can sedate him,” Ben offered. “It would make sure he stayed out for a longer period of time. I can also snag a cage from the clinic to put him in for traveling as an added precaution.”

“Sounds like we’ve got a plan,” Dean said, a smirk twisting his lips.

“How much time do we have before the releasing phase of the moon ends?” Astrid asked Rachel.

She pulled out her phone, and her expression turned serious. “Forty-eight hours. Tops.”

Waylen whistled. “We’ve got to move fast.”

“It needs to happen tonight,” Dean insisted. “That way, if we screw something up, we still have time to try again.”

Everyone seemed in agreement on that.

“We’ll need to find a babysitter for Serenity,” Rachel said to Ellis. “I don’t want her around while Aunt Maribel does the ritual, just in case.”

“I agree.” Ellis nodded.

“I’ll need a little time to grab the correct sedative and a cage to secure him in from the clinic,” Ben said.

Dean leaned back in his chair, his steady gaze bouncing around to each of us. “Okay, nine o’clock work for everyone? We can meet in the woods near Lucius’s grave and get this done.”

Everyone agreed, and I breathed a sigh of relief along with everyone else. It was short-lived though, because, yes, we had a plan, but that didn’t mean this was going to be easy.