Page 47 of Sticks and Stones and Broken Bones

I took a step to chase after the witch when I felt a darkness press against back, instantly chilling my skin. I turned around and saw Raevyn standing and staring in the direction that the witch ran off in.

Her eyes were pitch black and there were dark purple veins shimmering under her skin, spreading from beneath her eyes and across her cheeks. Whatever this power was, it was ancient. I could feel it hum and vibrate against my skin.

I tried to move but everything felt sluggish, like time had slowed. It felt like I was trying to move through honey, like something thick and gloopy was holding me back.

Raevyn strolled past me, not seeming to be struggling like I was. Her lilac hair had fallen out of its braid and a wind whipped the tendrils around her face. She looked powerful, strong and my heart beat a little faster in my chest.

She was so beautiful. How could she not think she was worthy of such a power?

“Nissa Crowley,” she hissed. She spoke slowly, enunciating every syllable with a venom I could almost taste.

Raevyn’s hand shot out and I could feel her magic flowing from her. It was strange, like a part of me was connected to her and I could feel her magic. It swirled inside her like an angry twisted thing. This was definitely more than just necromancy.

Nissa stopped in her tracks, frozen by Raevyn. I was still trying to get closer but whatever Raevyn had conjured was still holding me back.

“I hereby reclaim this soul, as is my right invested in me by the King of the Underworld himself.” Raevyn held her hand closest to me out and called the vial to her. It left my hand and sailed through the air before landing in her palm.

“But before I claim your soul,” Raevyn said, her voice dropping to a malicious whisper. Gods, I wanted to hear her say dirty things to me in that voice. “I’m going to do a little damage.”

Nissa let out a bloodcurdling scream as I watched Raevyn pull the woman’s soul from her body, piece by piece. A soul should be claimed as a whole, not like this.

“Raevyn, don’t,” I called, but she either couldn’t hear me or wouldn’t.

The tiny pieces of Nissa’s soul floated into the vial. When the last drop fell into the animarca, Raevyn sealed it and turned to face me. There was a twisted grin curling her mouth and I hated it. It looked so evil, so cruel, so out of place.

Nissa’s body crumpled to the ground, dead, and her soul was safely tucked away and ready for transportation.

Raevyn turned her attention to Rook, who was still lying prostrate on the floor. She knelt by his side and placed her hand on his chest. Words flew from her lips. Ancient words of healing that I hadn’t heard in centuries. How did she know them? How was she doing all this? I didn’t understand it.

Rook took a deep breath and came back to the land of the living. Not that I thought he’d actually died, but she definitely brought him back from somewhere.

Then she snapped her fingers and I fell forwards, my body returning to normal. I sped over to her, just in time to watch her eyes roll back into her head before collapsing on top of Rook. The little glass vial rolled across the surface at the road and stopped at my feet, the little gold flecks dancing and shimmering like they hadn’t just been ripped to shreds by some ancient power.

We returned to the house, a sombreness lingering in the air between us all. I hadn’t told the others what Raevyn had done. Rook had been unconscious and Nox and Korbin fighting off the vengeful witches. Casimir was nowhere to be seen, which was probably a good thing considering he’d been harbouring the God of Fear in his soul. I couldn’t wait to hear that story. But I couldn’t shake the uncertainty and worry churning in my gut when I looked at Raevyn.

She still hadn’t woken so I’d placed her in her bed, and, as I stared down at her, I couldn’t shake that image of her ripping that soul to shreds. She’d made it look easy, like dragging claws through tissue paper, and I knew it took a phenomenal amount of power to do what she did. But where was it coming from?

“How is she?” Korbin asked as he stepped into the room. The giant raven ruffled his feathers and settled on his perch by the bed, watching Raevyn as if he were guarding her. I didn’t like that bird. It gave me the creeps. It was too big to be an ordinary raven, which meant it was something else. Something I didn’t understand and that made me uncomfortable.

“Still sleeping,” I replied.

“Good.” Korbin pursed his lips and I could see the cogs turning behind those milky white eyes.

“What?” I asked in a clipped tone.

Korbin turned towards me, a dark eyebrow raised. “You know, you could be more polite.”

“What for?”

“Manners cost nothing, Hawk. And they’ll go a long way to smoothing your position in our home.”

He was probably right but I’d never been very good at playing with others. Moroi were singular by nature, unless they found their mate. As a territorial breed we could often get quite nasty when we felt invaded. It was odd that I didn’t feel the urge to murder the Revenants. Here we were, living in close proximity, and all their heads were still attached. Maybe it was something to do with Raevyn. Was her presence reining in that need? Who the fuck knew, but I’d take it for the small blessing it was.

I huffed a breath and folded my arms over my chest. “How did the soul handover go?”

Korbin smiled at me, as if he were pleased that I’d done as he’d asked. “It went fine, thank you. But we have more souls to collect.” His brows descended and I knew what he was going to ask.

“I don’t know what happened,” I said, pre-empting his question. “After Rook went down, she changed. Time seemed to shift.”

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