AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Maybe not to begin with, but she is now,” Sebastian replies, earning a chuckle from Erikel, and I have to grind my teeth together to keep my mouth shut. Instead, I focus on Raven’s features, dragging my thumb over her face as I add a little heat to my touch.
“That’s enough. Take her home.”
The order comes from Fitch with far more conviction than I would expect from a man in his current position.
“That might not be what I want,” Erikel snarls, his humor vanishing as Fitch sighs, coming to a stop beside us.
He stands by Raven’s feet, placing himself just between her and Erikel in an almost-defensive pose. “You have us all pliant enough. She needs to rest,” Fitch states, folding his arms over his chest in the same stance he took with us earlier.
Keeping the temperature in my fingers low but present enough to hopefully have a warming impact, I glance across the short space to where Erikel and Sebastian stand. The latter sneers, like a feral dog waiting for its owner to let them go wild, and I’m beyond ready to put the fucker down.
“I’ll send for a healer if Erikel feels one is necessary,” Sebastian snarks.
“Like hell, you will,” Brax bites, channeling his own crazed and untamed beast at the enemy. “We’ll take care of her.”
“No, you won’t.”
This is about to turn into a dick-measuring contest, and although I know we’ll win, I can’t waste any time with it. Glancing at Creed, who has his fingers rubbing at Raven’s temples, I see the same thoughts flashing in his eyes.
A simple nod in agreement between us has us both rising to our feet, only I have Raven in my grasp. She’s limp in my arms, which only adds to my worry as Creed spins to shield us from Sebastian and Erikel.
Fitch doesn’t even bother to look over his shoulder at us as he speaks. “Boys, figure it out. Use Brax’s gateway. No one else’s.”
I don’t stand around and wait to be told twice. Running from a fight is not my usual choice, and I’m not likely to do it again, but I need to tuck my pride into my pocket and save it for later so I can save my girl.
Brax is at my side, a gateway appearing a moment later at his touch, and we’re moving through the space as Sebastian starts to shout. Thankfully, his words disappear into nothing as we appear in our home. It feels like an eternity since we’ve been here, even though it’s barely been two hours.
“Get her on the bed. Zane is going to bring a healer, Creed stayed with him so none of us are moving around alone,” Brax explains as I move toward Raven’s bedroom. I open the door with my magic, taking a moment to revel in the sight of the huge bed as I step inside before carefully lowering her to the freshly made sheets.
“Where the fuck was I when you guys were organizing who was going where?” I ask. “I don’t recall the conversation,” I add, and he shakes his head as he crawls up the bed on the other side of Raven.
“There wasn’t one. It was a look.”
A look.
Well, that explains it all, then.
Barely any time passes before the sound of the front door opening interrupts my anxious thoughts as I continue to stroke Raven’s cheek in comfort. More for me than her at this stage. Zane and Creed step in a moment later, with Grave, another member of the Nightmare Guild. My brows rise in surprise, but I don’t utter a word as he steps further into the room, his own eyes crinkling with concern.
“What happened?” he asks, dropping to his knees at the side of the bed as he runs his hands over the length of Raven without actually touching a single inch of her.
“Erikel,” I mumble, unsure if we should trust this guy with anything, but it’s going to be public knowledge, so what does it matter at this stage?
“So it’s true then, everything that happened last night. She’s a necromancer?” I purse my lips at his statement, unsure whether to just kill him now or torture him for any form of judgment aimed her way. But before I can express my concern to the others, he continues. “I’m sorry she’s being used like this. That’s not what anyone deserves, especially not with her level of power.”
“Carry on,” I breathe, focused on his hands as he runs them down her arms and over her chest again. His gaze flickers to mine for a brief moment before he swallows sharply.
“Sorry, it’s just that my grandfather always told me stories of necromancers, how they danced with the light, made the world a beautiful place, and chased away sorrows by bringing balance to the realm. Until power became too corrupt, of course. That fucked everything up for everyone. As I’m sure Erikel plans to do.” I’m not really sure what to say back to that, but he seems genuine enough so I decide to allow him to keep breathing for the time being. After a few more moments, he leans back, pushing up to his feet and brushing off his academy-issued pants. “There’s nothing to heal. It seems to be magic exhaustion. She just needs to rest and she should rejuvenate on her own.”
He doesn’t hover, heading for the door with Creed right behind him while I remain helpless and useless at her side. A silence casts over the room as Creed re-enters, and we all stare at her with bated breath.
“We can’t allow this to keep happening,” Brax states after a while, and I immediately nod in agreement.
“What do we do?” I ask, eager to protect her by any means possible.
“I don’t know, but we need a fucking plan, and now.”
NINE
