Page 6 of Sticks and Stones and Broken Bones

I flinched. This guy needed to improve his bedside manner.

“You must forgive Casimir. He doesn’t get much social interaction,” a man with silver white hair said as he entered the room followed by the guy I’d seen with green hair already. He sat down next to me and the guy with the green hair sat in his lap as if it was completely normal. “I’m Korbin and this is Rook. The grumpy redhead is Casimir and the manic goth over there is Nox.”

I kept my focus on Korbin. It was a bit overwhelming how much power was sitting in the room. It felt oppressive and stifling. Dangerous and explosive. A little thrill shivered through me at the thought.

“I’m Raevyn,” I said while fidgeting with the hem of my tee.

“Nice to meet you, Raevyn. Do you know what happened?” Korbin asked, his voice soft and smooth, almost like he was deliberately trying not to frighten me which I appreciated. I was already on edge with this much dark power in the room.

“Bits. But it doesn’t seem to make any sense. I think…” I swallowed, trying to gather the courage to put my thoughts into words but I couldn’t. Sadness overwhelmed me and a sob wrenched itself out of my throat.

I was once again wrapped in powerful arms and the scent of Nox invaded my senses instantly, bringing with it a sense of calm. He pressed a kiss to the top of my head. “Who hurt you, pretty girl?”

“My grandmother. She sacrificed me.”

The temperature in the room instantly dropped and tension snapped taught. Nox’s hands tightened in my hair as he held me close to his chest. It was insane, but I felt protected. I’d just met this guy, but here he was, angry on my behalf. I could feel the violence and chaos building in him and that caused something to flutter to life inside me.

“Why were you sacrificed?” Rook asked.

Nox growled at the question and pulled me in closer, almost like he was trying to shield me from it. How did someone who seemed so scary actually be so sweet.

I sat up and pulled away from Nox a little, which he grumbled at, and I had a hard time not finding that adorable. “I was born a Null and as such, had no use to my coven. Well, other than being a sacrifice for my unborn sister.”

“You can’t be a Null,” Korbin said with a frown, his completely white eyes focussed on a spot above my head. He grabbed Rook’s hand and threaded their fingers together. “Can you feel it? Her power?”

“Hmm,” Rook mumbled as he sank further into Korbin’s embrace. They made a gorgeous couple and damn, thinking about them together was making me hot under the collar.

Wait. Power? “I don’t have any power.”

Nox hummed by my ear. “You do. I can feel it swirling deep inside you. Begging for release.”

Gods, my face flushed, and my skin heated as his lips brushed my ear. And shit, did I just moan? If I wasn’t already dead, I think I was about to die of embarrassment right there.

“Maybe you were never a Null,” Korbin mused.

“What?” The thought was ridiculous. “I’ve never had magic.”

“Not even once? Not even a flutter or a random fluke?” Casimir asked. He’d been so quiet I’d forgotten he was even in the room. That wasn’t a bad thing, he still didn’t look happy that I was here.

“No, never. I—”

A memory jumped to the front of my mind. A raven had flown into a tree, snapping its neck, and falling to the ground. I’d felt such a pang of sorrow for it that I’d wanted to bury it. I picked it up and I remembered there was a funny tingle in my fingertips and a surge of something beneath my solar plexus and the bird twitched before flying out of my hands. The feeling had been so fleeting I’d thought nothing of it. It had been easier to think the bird hadn’t really died than I’d somehow brought it back to life.

“Maybe once,” I breathed. “But it’s not possible.”

Casimir snorted a laugh and shook his head before sinking back into the shadows.

“We need to figure out what’s going on with her magic,” Nox said from above my head. “I don’t think she was sacrificed because she was a Null.”

“No,” Korbin replied, concern lacing his tone. “What coven were you in?”

“Raathmore.”

“Fuck,” the guys all said at once.

Why did my coven matter?

“We have to send her back,” Casimir growled.

---