Chapter 279
Elowen's POV
The silence that followed Drake's death lasted exactly three heartbeats.
Alaric's voice cut through first, sharp with disbelief. "He actually... fuck. He actually tried to save us."
"Doesn't change what he did," Kade said quietly, his amber eyes tracking Raven's movements even as he kept one hand on Casper's unconscious form. "But it counts for something."
Ronan's emerald gaze stayed locked on the demon, his body coiled tight. "He died fighting. That's more than most get."
I looked down at Drake's empty eyes, at the blood still warm on my hands, and something inside me snapped. All the hurt he'd caused, all the betrayal—none of it mattered now. Because Raven had taken away his chance to truly make amends, had stolen his redemption before it could mean anything.
"Drake was a fucking asshole," I snarled, rising to my feet with Juno's fury burning through every word. "But he was our asshole. And it sure as hell wasn't your place to kill him, you disgusting piece of shit!"
Raven laughed, the sound wet and wrong with blood still pouring from his ruined eye. "I'm disgusting? Sweetheart, I barely had to try. A few carefully placed words and you abandoned your precious twins for six months. Your bond was already cracked—I just gave it a little push." His remaining eye blazed crimson. "And Selene, that meddling bitch, she won't let you keep them anyway. She'll find a way to tear you apart, just like she tears apart everything that threatens her precious balance."
The mention of the Moon Goddess sent ice through my veins, but I shoved the fear down. Later. I'd deal with that threat later.
"Everyone who can still fight," I said, "Get up. We end this now."
I looked down at Grimm, at the hellhound who'd chosen to follow me instead of his master.
Kill him, I commanded through our bond. Tear his fucking head off.
Grimm's response was a roar that shook the Moonrise Den's foundations, flames erupting along his massive body as he launched himself at Raven with supernatural speed.
The battle that followed was chaos incarnate.
Raven moved like liquid shadow, his demonic speed letting him dodge Grimm's snapping jaws by inches. Ronan came in from the side, claws raking across Raven's ribs and drawing black ichor that hissed when it hit the floor.
But Raven was a demon, and demons didn't die easy.
He spun, his hand catching Ronan across the face with enough force to send the Alpha flying backward into the bar. Wood splintered. Glass shattered. Ronan hit the ground hard and didn't get up, blood pooling beneath his head.
"Ronan!" Alaric's shout was anguished, but he couldn't move—not without dropping Casper.
Cassian snarled, ice spreading faster as he threw himself between me and Raven. "You want her? You go through me first, you son of a bitch!"
Raven's laugh was bitter. "I don't want to hurt her, you fool. She's carrying my legacy—the only thing that matters!" His ruined eye socket had stopped bleeding, but the flesh around it was blackened and wrong. "But the rest of you? You're all just obstacles."
He moved again, impossibly fast, his clawed hand punching through Cassian's defenses and raking across his chest. Blood sprayed. Cassian gasped but didn't fall, ice forming over the wounds even as they bled.
"Cassian!" I lunged forward, but he shoved me back.
"Stay behind me!" His voice was ragged with pain. "I can take it, baby. I can—"
Raven's kick caught him in the ribs, and I heard bones crack. Cassian went down on one knee, coughing blood, but his ice never stopped spreading. Never stopped trying to protect me.
Then Raven turned on Grimm.
The hellhound had been circling, waiting for an opening, but Raven was done playing. He raised his hand, and words in a language I didn't understand poured from his lips—guttural, ancient, wrong. Grimm howled, flames sputtering and dying as his massive body began to crack like cooling lava.
"No!" I screamed, but I was too late.
Grimm shattered into ash, his final howl echoing through my mind before our bond went silent.
"Stupid dog," Raven spat, breathing hard. "You chose the wrong master."
Cassian, I reached out through our mate bond, feeling his pain like it was my own. He won't hurt me. He can't—not while I'm carrying the twins. We can use that.
Absolutely not. Cassian's mental voice was fierce despite his injuries. I won't let you risk yourself.
We don't have a choice. I looked at Ronan's unconscious form, at Casper still slumped between Kade and Alaric, at the blood staining Cassian's chest. This ends now, or we all die. Trust me.
The pause felt eternal. Then: Fine. But if you get hurt, I'm never forgiving myself.
Then make sure I don't get hurt.
I bent down, my fingers closing around Drake's knife where it had fallen. The blade was still warm from his blood, still carrying the last act of a man who'd chosen redemption. I raised it slowly, deliberately, pressing the tip against my stomach.
Right where the twins were growing.
"One more step," I said quietly, meeting Raven's crimson eye with cold certainty. "One more step and I push this in. I'll kill them myself before I let you turn them into monsters."
Raven froze. Completely, utterly froze.
"No." His voice cracked, all the confidence and mockery stripped away. "Elowen, no. She's mine. You can't—you wouldn't—"
"Try me." I pressed the blade harder, feeling it dimple my skin. "You've taken everything else. What's one more loss?"
"She belongs to me!" Raven's scream was desperate, anguished. "I've waited centuries for this! You don't get to take her away!"
The blade bit deeper.
And Raven lunged.