Chapter 25

RAVEN’S POV

The healer’s hut smells of bitter herbs and damp wood. Moonlight is bleeding through the cracks between the shutters, painting silver stripes across Kael’s motionless body. His chest is rising slow, too slow. The poison lingers.

I walk the tiny area, boots scraping against wood. Every nerve is screaming to run, to fight, to do something. But his words reverberate inside my skull.

Be careful who you trust.

The door creaks open.

I whirl, dagger already drawn.

Eira is frozen in the doorway, her wild red hair tousled, green eyes huge. "You look like hell."

"You’re late." I lower the blade but do not sheath it.

She enters, slamming the door behind her. “Had to go a long time without running into patrols. Council’s got wolves all over Nyxhowl.”

I glance at Kael. "They drugged him."

"Yeah, no kidding." She taps her boot against his. "Wake up, brother. We’ve got traitors to gut."

He doesn’t stir.

Eira snorts, air expelling through her nose. "Fine. We do this the hard way." She tosses me a pack. "Grab his arms."

I don’t move. "Where are we going?"

“Somewhere where they won’t find us.

"That’s not an answer."

She bares her teeth. “It’s the only jolt you’re getting. “Now are you helping me save his life or not?”

I thrust the dagger into my belt, and I grab Kael by the wrist. His skin burns beneath my fingers.

Eira grabs his other arm. "On three. One—"

Kael’s eyes fly open.

He lurches up gasping, his gray eyes wild. "Raven—"

I tighten my hold. "I’m here."

He looks back and forth between us, eyes still clouded by poison. "What—"

"No time." Eira hauls him to his feet. "We need to move. Now."

Kael sways but stays upright. "The Council?"

“Planning our funerals,” Eira says.

He grimaces. "How long was I out?"

“Long enough for your wife to piss off every Alpha in territory.” Eira flashes me a grin. "Nice work, by the way."

I ignore her. “They have knowledge of the silver light.”

Kael’s jaw tightens. "Who?"

"My mother." The words taste like ash.

Eira sobers. "Then we’re out of time."

A howl splits the night. Close. Too close.

Kael straightens, his Alpha instincts slicing through the fog. "Where’s Paul?"

"Gone," Eira says. “Took off after he gave us the warning.”

Another howl. Closer.

Kael grabs my hand. His grip is fever-hot. "We run."

\---

The forest swallows us whole. Branches claw at my arms, my clothes. My breath saws in my chest, but I don’t slow.

Eira guides, her red hair a flame in the darkness. Kael stumbles next to me, his steps uneven yet unyielding.

A snarl cuts through the trees behind us.

"Faster," Eira hisses.

I glance back. Figures dart between the trunks. Too fast to be wolves. Too quiet to be human.

Kael yanks me forward. "Don’t look."

Thorns slice the skin of my hand as we crash through a thicket. The river looms ahead, black and churning.

Eira screeches to a halt at the bank. "We cross."

Kael eyes the water. "I can’t—"

"You can." She pushes him into the current. "Swim or die."

The first arrow zips by my ear.

I don’t think. I jump.

The water is ice. It robs me of breath, of sensing. Currents pull at my legs, my arms. I kick, scratching for the surface.

A hand clutches my collar, yanking me to my feet.

Kael’s face hangs above me now, teeth out, face against the cold. "Stay with me."

I choke out a nod.

Eira arrives at the far bank first. She turns, reaching for us. "Hurry!"

Something grabs my ankle.

There’s hardly any time to scream before the water closes over my head again.

\---

Darkness.

Pressure.

Then—light.

Silver, flaring, bursting from my skin.

The thing holding me lets go.

I break the surface, gasping.

Kael watches me, the light gleaming in his eyes. "Raven—"

Eira drags both of us onto the rocks. "No time for gawking. Move. "

The light fades, but their shock does not.

I don’t explain. I can’t.

We run.

The forest retreats around us as we race through the brush. My waterlogged clothes stick to my skin, dragging me down, but I don’t dare let up. The snarls behind us grow louder. Too close.

Eira jumps over a fallen log, the movements practiced and efficient. “There’s a cave system up ahead — we can lose them there!”

Kael lunges next to me, panting like a dog. He is still reeling from the poison in his system, slowing him down. I clutch his arm, draw him further.

"Leave me," he growls.

"Shut up," I snap.

His grip on mine tightens, though he doesn't protest.

The land rises, fewer trees until we arrive at rocky slope. Eira scrambles up first and reaches down to help pull Kael up. My muscles scream at me, but I persevere, digging my fingers into the cool stone.

A howl bleeds from behind us — nearer than it was.

I glance back. Figures flit among the trees. Not just wolves. Hunters.

"Move!" Eira yanks me forward.

We dive into the maw of the cave, darkness engulfing us whole. The air is humid, heavy with the smell of moss and wet rock. Without hesitation, Eira guides us deeper into the twisting tunnels.

Kael leans into the wall and gasps. “We can’t continue running blind.”

Eira reaches into her pocket and pulls out a small vial. A pale liquid within glows, spilling a sickly green light across the jagged walls. "We're not blind."

I frown. “Since when do you keep witchlight on you?”

“Because I discovered our own family couldn’t be trusted. She doesn't meet my eyes.

The tunnel becomes narrow and we have to walk single file. The only sound, besides our ragged breaths, is the distant dripping of water.

Then—footsteps.

We freeze.

Eira snuffs out the witchlight, engulfing us in darkness.

The footsteps grow louder. Closer.

Kael stirs, his body stiff next to mine. "They're not following. They're herding us."

A low chuckle reverberates through the cave.

Familiar.

Mother.

“You always were a bit too clever for your own good, Kael,” her voice floats over to us, smooth as silk.

My stomach twists.

Eira squeezes my arm tighter. "Run."

We bolt.

The cave (the official name of which is the Lascaux Caves) meanders, branches splitting off in every direction. I don’t know where we’re going — only that not going means death.

A hand reaches out, grabs my cloak, pulls me back.

I collide with someone — hard muscle, pine and steel. Kael. He pushes me behind him, showing his teeth at the figure emerging into dim light.

Lysandra.

Her violet eyes glint as she appraises us. “Did you think you could really get away?”

“Get away from her,” Eira steps forward, her dagger ready. "We're not going back."

Mother exhales, disappointed. “This isn’t a negotiation, Eira.”

Behind her, more figures slink out of the shadows. Council members. Warriors. All armed. All watching.

Kael’s voice is low, dangerous. "What do you want?"

Mother's gaze shifts to me. “The prophecy has to be fulfilled. One way or another."

I advance and clench my hands into fists. “You don’t care about the prophecy. You just want power."

She smiles. “And you just now figure that out?”

Silver light flares under my skin, at the crack of my anger. Mother’s eyes drop to my hands, a smile widening on her face.

"Good," she murmurs. “You’re really embracing it.”

Eira lunges.

Chaos erupts.

Kael pushes me out of the way as a blade cuts through the air by where my throat had been. I hit the ground hard, rolling to dodge another blow.

Eira fights Mother, their blades dancing in the shadows.

Kael fights as if he were possessed, his movements venomous and sharp. There are way too many of them.

A boot kicks into my ribs, knocking the breath out of my lungs. I suck my breath in, scrambling backward at the sight of a warrior standing over me.

Then—pain.

White-hot and gnashing like steel chafing on my shoulder.

I scream.

Kael's roar shakes the cave.

The silver light erupts out of me, blinding, burning.

Warriors recoil, shielding their eyes.

Mother's laughter rings out. "Yes! Yes! "

I don't think. I grab Eira's arm and run.

Kael is right behind, his hand clasped in mine like a lifeline.

The cave shakes around us, rocks rattling to the floor.

It is Eira who guides us through a narrow crevice into a hidden passage. The sounds of pursuit die away behind us, muffled by the cave-in.

We don't stop.

We can't.

\---

The passage spits us out into a moonlit clearing. Here the forest is silent, free of the pandemonium behind us.

I fall against a tree, my shoulder burning. My shirt is soaked with blood, hot and sticky.

Kael falls to his knees beside me, shaking as he inspects the wound. "It's deep."

Eira tears a sliver from her cloak, pressing it to the laceration. "We need to bind it."

I forcibly clench my teeth as they do their thing, the pain a reminder of what the adrenaline that’s still drumming through my system serves to muddle.

Kael's voice is rough. “What the heck was that light?”

"I don't know," I whisper.

Eira knots the makeshift bandage tight. "It saved our lives."

Kael’s eyes are stormy with unasked questions as they find mine.

I don't have answers.

Only fear.

Because whatever that power is — it’s growing.

And I don’t know how to make it stop.