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PROLOGUE
RAVEN
Wind sweeps through my curly locks, dusting around my neck as tears stream down my face. I don’t know why I’m crying. I just know that the sound of Mama and Papa arguing hurts my heart.
Sniffling, I wipe my nose on the cuff of my dress as a rumble of thunder sounds in the air. Mama is mad. The thunder bites like that every time she gets a twitch in her left eye.
Another tear rolls down my cheek as I stand on the porch of our home, helplessly looking up at my older brother. I’m four and he’s six. I’ve never seen him smile, but maybe he’s just never smiled at me. Maybe he does it when I’m not around. Maybe he’s happier then.
“Seb,” I start, but he quickly dismisses me with a shake of his head and his finger pointed in my face.
“Shut. Up. Raven.”
I squeeze my eyes shut, my bottom lip trembling once more as the front door bursts open and I startle, blinking up at Mama. The wrinkles around her bright blue eyes, almost onyx in color, are more pronounced than usual as I hear my papa call out her name.
“Evangeline, listen to me.” His tone is cold, his arms folded over his chest as he glares at her, completely ignoring Seb and me.
“I’ve listened enough, Abel. It’s not going to change,you’renot going to change, and if the consequence is a lifetime in Shadowmoor, then so be it. At least there, I’ll know where I stand and what I’m up against.”
Her hands vibrate at her sides with pent-up magic, a duffel bag hanging from her shoulder as she heaves with every breath. I reach out to touch her without realizing it, her fingers long and dainty compared to my own as she peers down at me.
A soft, sad smile touches her lips and I try to give her one back but fail miserably.
“Mama?” I ask gently, and she sighs, grabbing me under my arms a moment later and lifting me onto her hip.
I nestle into her side, resting my head on her shoulder as another rumble of thunder ripples through the air. “Forget it, Evangeline. She remains here. Theybothremain here.”
Mama scoffs. “What, so you can destroy them too? I don’t think so.” Her arms tighten around me and I cling to her collar. The smell of her familiar scent cocoons me as my sobs slowly subside.
Everything is always better when I’m in her arms, where I’m safe from Papa’s wrath and Seb’s…anger.
“You don’t get to make all of these decisions, Evangeline,” Papa bites, but Mama takes a step back.
“You’ve made enough decisions for the entire family without considering anyone else but yourself. You don’t get to pass judgment, Abel. I’m done with all of this. Consequences be damned.”
My eyebrows furrow as I squint between them both, even chancing a glance at Seb, but he’s glaring at Mama as he stands beside Papa. Papa's jaw ticks and Seb reaches for his hand.
Lines have been drawn, solidarity among the Hendrix family torn apart in a matter of breaths.
Not another word is spoken.
Not as Mama puts me in the car, not as I glance out of the window and watch as we leave them behind, and nothing at all for the next fourteen years.
Yet it somehow still feels too soon.
Pain at the hands of family, in the name of love and pride, even without physical harm, can destroy you.
How do you come back from that?
1
RAVEN
The crowd roars with triumph as I keep my back plastered to the wall. The bloodbath in the pit below holds everyone captive as the referee counts down to zero and calls the fight. The winner throws his hands above his head, celebrating his victory, while healers swarm the man at his feet in an attempt to save him.
Resurrection is against The Monarchy’s law, so it’s no surprise when the healers call time on the man’s life, sending another ripple of applause around the underground setup. We cheer at the loss of a man’s life. That’s what everything has come to. There’s no hope here, no blossoming gut feeling of a future that equates to more than this.
Shadowmoor.
