Page 55 of Raisa's Cursed Ravens
He smiles, thin and ugly. “You think you’re the first girl to discover power hurts more than it heals, Raisa?”
I flinch. “What about my father? Shade said he has it too.”
“He has something,” Grim says. “But he’s not like you. Not anymore. He sold his soul for power long ago.”
Shade steps into the firelight, his shadow broken behind him. “That’s enough,” he says. “She doesn’t need to know.”
My voice comes out higher than I mean. “I think I do.”
He glares. “You don’t.”
I push to my feet, my fists clenched. “You owe me the truth.”
The words hang between us.
Onyx stands, brushing dirt from his hands. “It’s not that simple, Princess.”
“Stop calling me that!” I shout. The magic bubbles, furious and bright, under my skin. I feel it winding up my spine, prickling at the roots of my hair.
Bran tries to calm me. “Let’s just talk–”
“No,” I snap. “I want to know. Why did he keep me locked up? Why didn’t anyone tell me what I am?” My voice cracks on the last word. “Why won’t you tell me whatyouare?”
They look at me like I’m a monster now, but we all know I’m not the only one, even if they won’t say it. They’re sometimes human, sometimesother, cloaked in violence and simmering with rage.
The brothers exchange glances—Shade’s cold, Grim’s hungry, Bran’s desperate, Onyx’s almost gentle.
Rune and Sable return, but they hang back at the edge of the fire, watching.
I press my hands to my chest, trying to trap the wild thing inside. “What am I?“ I whisper, desperate.
Shade moves fast, grabbing my wrist. “You’re human, Raisa.”
“Am I?” I rip my hand free of his. The spark jumps—real, visible, blue-black like before—and Shade’s face darkens with something I can’t name. “Humans don’t turn men to stone, Shade. They don’t kill without a single touch. They aren’t this…this monstrous.”
I turn to the others. “You all knew about this, and none of you said a word. Howcouldyou hold me like you do, and then lie to me?”
Grim laughs, the sound rough. “Would you have believed us if we had told you? You don’t even want to believe it now.”
I lunge at him, swinging blindly. The air ripples, magic trailing from my hands. He jerks back just in time. The pulse that leaves my palm is hot and electric, burning the moss where he sat.
He grins, his teeth gleaming. “See? Magic.”
My hair lifts, every strand floating as if caught in a storm. My skin is burning. The world blurs at the edges, my vision tunneling in on the seven faces in front of me—seven men, seven pairs of eyes, all locked on me and nothing else.
I can’t breathe.
“Tell me,” I beg.
Shade’s voice is steady, but I hear the strain. “Some truths are better left buried, little bird.”
“Fuck you!” The power bursts from me, a second wave, bigger than the last, this one rolling out from my body like a hurricane. The air turns viscous, my skin tingling, every nerve ending screaming.
This time, it doesn’t turn anyone to stone.
It hits the brothers, and I see the change instantly. Their eyes darken, their irises swelling, pupils going wide. Their hands twitch, their jaws set hard. They lean forward—not in fear, but hunger, as if the magic took my words literally, giving hunger teeth.
Shade lurches toward me, his breath coming fast.
