Page 42 of Raven

"Parked it," I growelled

My mother put her hand up. "Don't play games. We just want the bike. Nothing else." But her attention had shifted. She angled around, eyes locking on a gutted motorhome nearby. A tarp created a makeshift shelter, and in the doorway...

A young woman swayed, her eyes wide and unfocused.

"Malachai?" The name slurred from the woman's lips. She looked disoriented as she spoke, slurring even that single word. Her eyes were wide, pupils like saucers. I reached out to her, not physically. Her heart was racing. Shadewine. She wasn'thuman; I could see that much, but she was high. Shadewine was essentially shifter blood. Humans took it. It had everything that would cause them to go furry removed, and all the good things left. It enhanced them—their hearing, their strength. But when they came down, they crashed hard, and that was where she was at. Crashing. Only, she wasn’t human. Witch, maybe. When others took Shadewine, it made them even stronger, yes, but it also made them like this woman. Drunk.

"Lyra ..." my mother breathed.

The Fae—Malachai—moved to block her. "I believe she isn't any of your concern. You said you just wanted the bike."

My mother's glare could've melted steel. "I believe she's my concern if I say she is." She pushed past him. "Lyra. It's me, Raina. You know me, from Madame Sian's."

Malachai's smirk was pure venom. "Another fucking whore. I swear, I wish Society would wash you all away. Do the place right. No wonder humans don't want to bother with you all."

Rage exploded in my chest. "You want to call my mother a whore?" I snarled, fists clenched.

"Sure," he said. "You think you can take me on, little kitty?"

My panther clawed beneath my skin, begging to be unleashed. "Fuck you," I spat.

"Raven ..." my mother warned.

"Yeah, Raven ..."

"Leave it." My mother's voice cut through the red haze. She eyed the Fae. "He isn't worth it." But her attention was on Lyra, who was barely standing, bruises stark against her pale skin.

"Get back in the fucking camper," Malachai barked at her.

Don't you speak to her like that," my mother shot back, her eyes blazing with fury.

Malachai's fingers dug into my mother's arm like talons. I moved to intervene, but she shook her head. "You came here for the bike, right? That's all you take."

Their gazes locked, a silent battle raging between them. The air crackled with heat, though I couldn't tell which of them was the source.

"You piece of shit," my mother snarled. "Did you drug her up? Is that why she's high? The only way you can keep her here is by hooking her on fucking Shadewine?"

He raised a brow, voice dripping with menace. "Careful what you accuse me of, or I might tell the young man here some home truths."

"You wouldn't know the truth if it hit you in the fucking head," she spat back.

My mother turned to Lyra, her voice softening. "You can come with me if you want. Right now. We'll get you away from this piece of shit who'll only use you until you're dead."

Lyra looked at my mother, and for a moment, the haze in her eyes cleared. "Raina ..." her voice was soft.

"Yeah."

" I..." I thought she was going to say yes. Her eyes glazed over, and she trembled, but then she closed her mouth and looked to Malachai. He didn’t need to do or say anything. His presence alone was enough to make her back down. "I'm okay here," she said, her voice so soft and weak I was surprised any of us heard it.

"Don't be afraid of this dick."

"I'm not. He's good to me." She stepped out and went to stand beside him, curling herself to his side in a fake show of loyalty. But I could see the anger in his expression, feel it coming off him.

"Take your bike and go," he said to my mother, his voice cold. "Before this turns into something you don't want it to."

My mother’s anger was like ice in my veins. "Do not move," she growled at me, and despite me being bigger than her, I knew enough to respect her authority. This was her fight. I wouldn’t letthis fae beat her or take her, but I would stand back and watch, as she asked, because defending her was like saying she wasn't strong enough to handle it.

She walked right up to him, getting in his face, her teeth bared. Her panther teeth had shifted, adding a wild, animalistic tone to her words. "You want to threaten me, and I'll rip your fucking balls off and feed them to the strays as you watch."

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