Page 88 of Sticks and Stones and Broken Bones

I felt my way to the last layer and the pain intensified. Fire seared my veins and blackness started to cloud the edges of my vision.

“Just a little more, Raevyn.”

I yelled as I pushed the last vestiges of my power at the door, the air vibrating around me and electricity zapping against my skin.

The last layer broke and I collapsed to my knees, my magic drained and my body completely exhausted.

“You did it,” Corvus said in awe. “You actually did it. He will be so pleased.”

My brain was a little foggy and felt sluggish, but it didn’t stop me understanding what my Familiar just said. “Pleased? Who will be pleased?”

Corvus jumped off my shoulder and ruffled his feathers. “My master.”

There was something ominous about the way he said those words, a dark foreboding that had a shudder running through me.

“Well done, Raevyn,” the voice from my dreams said, but it wasn’t in my mind anymore. His voice echoed from the darkness beyond the door. Dark and harsh and it set a shiver of anticipation racing down my spine.

The temperature dropped and shadows started to ooze through the open doorway. They slithered across the floor towards me, like wispy black silk, threatening and beautiful at the same time. Corvus was squawking and cawing, bouncing on his feet and flapping his wings in excitement.

“I’ve waited so long for this,” the voice said again, a wildness tinging his tone.

Fear sent a shockwave through me, and panic constricted my chest like a python.

What had I done?

A figure started to emerge shadows and a hazy sense of familiarity started to grip my mind.

I saw the pale skin of his bare arms first as he came closer and my magic jumped behind my solar plexus, swirling and reaching for the man walking towards me.

Two glowing embers appeared in the darkness and that sense of familiarity sharpened. I knew him. Had talked to him. Why couldn’t I remember?

Corvus took flight and disappeared into the shadows. “Master.”

“Hello, pet. You’ve done so well.” He came closer still his, and the light finally caressed his face.

Recognition hit me like a fucking freight train. A face built on sharp lines, a soft plump mouth, and hair as black as pitch. My heart lurched in my chest, instantly knowing him.

“Hello, Raevyn.” He held his hand out to me and pulled me to my feet. I wasn’t very graceful, stumbling forwards into his chest. My limbs still felt like jelly from breaking the God from his prison.

He trailed a finger around the curve of my face, and I melted in his arms, his touch instantly soothing my frazzled nerves.

“Apollo,” I finally said, his name a mere whisper on my lips.

He settled one hand on the small of my back and the other in the hair at the back of my head. I was completely under his spell, bewitched by something in his eyes. I couldn’t look away, couldn’t get thoughts to form in my head. Why was it so difficult to think?

“Raevyn?”

The sound of my name broke through the fog in my mind, and I turned to see Nox staring at me with a mix of fear and fascination playing across his face. “What are you doing?”

“I…” What the hell was I doing? I looked up at Apollo, hoping to see some answers in his face because there was clearly something wrong with my thought process at the moment. Was I even the one putting my own thoughts together? Had Apollo dragged me here? Had Corvus encouraged me to break down the door? Or had I done that all on my own?

A thunderous roar echoed through the house and fear had my stomach dropping like lead.

“Well, that’s my cue to leave,” Apollo said, breaking the spell that was clouding my mind.

I shook my head to clear the cobwebs. “Leave?”

“Yes. If I’m not mistaken, that roar was Hades, and I don’t want to stick around to see his face.” He held out his hand. “Are you coming?”

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