102

102

RAVEN

"I'm not going to sacrifice my son for this," I whispered fiercely, hugging Orion tight, rocking him back and forth in my arms as I sat across from the table in the room I shared with Kael. No, I wouldn't do it.

It had been a day since Markov led half of the army to the Mystic pack to rescue Eria. I had been in my room since then. It was dark, but I didn't bother lifting the curtains. What was the use? I didn't think I could bear another day of the word "surrender" written over the sky, a reminder that the Order's powers stretched beyond just mutants and weapons.

I could almost see Darian, laughing at me, mocking my indecisiveness. If Orion was the only way to banish Darian and stop the war from coming, was I really going to be stubborn about it? Would I let hundreds of men endanger my friends and watch them die instead?

I knew what a lot of people would say... "For the greater good."

But I found that hard to believe now.

"He's just a baby... Just a baby," I whispered, my voice breaking, and this time, tears fell down my eyes.

The book that Merrick pointed out for me was open on the table, staring back at me. I read it, read all about the dark prophecy, even re-read a few phrases. The war ahead of us was terrible. I stared down at Orion, watching him play with a stuffed toy. No, I couldn't bear to sacrifice him like that.

He didn't ask for this kind of life. He didn't ask to be the prophecy kid. And I already knew within myself that this wasn't a decision I had the right to make for him. He deserved the right to grow up like everyone else. And I was going to protect him with everything, until he got old enough to make his own decisions.

But at the back of my mind, I could see my dream replaying into reality. Ash everywhere, deaths everywhere, Orion—

"Raven." A knock sounded behind the door.

I looked up, recognizing Kael's voice and glad that he was there. At least I won't be in my mind anymore.

The door pushed open and Kael stepped inside.

He was still in his war clothes. I knew he was standing guard with the rest of the men that hadn't gone on the rescue mission, more than ready to fight if the Order wanted to strike.

But Darian didn't want war, a voice in my head whispered.

I pushed it firmly out of my mind and rose to my feet, wishing that all my thoughts didn't contrast. Darian was the bad guy. He couldn't change that.

"I should be doing something," I muttered, my voice characteristically lower than usual. "I should have been with Kael and the rest, guarding the stronghold after all. No one knew when Darian was going to attack..."

"Raven."

My head whipped over to the door as someone called my name. It was followed by a knock and then Lukas stood at the doorway.

"They're back. There's a meeting. You're supposed to be there," he said.

It took me a while to realize that he meant Markov and the rest. I stood up, dropping Orion into his crib. "How long has it been?" I asked.

"Hours," he said carefully.

Hours of sitting down, staring at an ancient prophecy and being paranoid, I thought grimly.

I stared at my reflection in the mirror. Huge dark eyes that now had circles under them. I ran my hand through my hair multiple times, trying, at least, to make it look presentable.

Then I walked over to the door where Lukas was waiting.

"Can you look after Orion while I'm gone?" I asked. I would never leave Orion unwatched after what happened. Lukas was among the few people I trusted.

He nodded once and I breathed in relief, walking down the corridors. I already heard conversations coming from the room where the men were gathered.

"We couldn't capture Dominic. Darian came in out of nowhere and singlehandedly turned the tides of the battle. It was like a nightmare," Markov was saying as I entered.

He stood leaning against the wall by the window, his legs crossed at the ankles. Vance sat beside the long table, a better half of him bandaged up, but the sharpness in his gaze told me that he felt more alive than he ever was. I glanced across from him and knew why. On the wall was a target board, Darian's name at the top, and Eria stood, twirling a knife in her fingers. She was the only one that could make a knife look as harmless as a pen and twice more deadly at the same time. She turned around as I entered and grinned. "It's been a while. How's the party going on over here?"

"If only it was a party," I snorted.

Kael, who had been previously pouring over a large map on the table with Merrick, turned. His hard eyes softened immediately as he saw me. I felt my heart do a mini jump. I could never get used to the way he looked at me like I was the calm in his storm, like no matter what he was fighting, no matter how dangerous it could get, he was always going to come back to me as the man I love.

"Markov suggests we send in half of our numbers and draw out the Order to the eclipse of hallows, wear them off mid-battle and send in the rest of us from behind, trapping them between the hills," he said, filling me in as I sat down.

"And I say it's a perfectly suicidal plan," Vance said with a tired look that made me assume he had tried to point that out like a hundred times.

"You saw what Darian could do. The war would be over and all of us dead before we draw them far away from their base."

"We have to move fast," Markov shot back. "That way we take them by surprise. We can't wait for the Mystic pack to recover, then the war would be harder to win."

"We're wounded too," Vance pointed out angrily.

"The plan is to outlast them," Markov wasn't giving up. He stared at Vance, his eyes sharpening with the battle experience of a commander. "We call the shots while we still can."

I shook my head. "Darian doesn't want the war. He wants Orion."

Kael's jaw tightened. "And we'll keep him very far away from our son."

But I was thinking of something else. I turned to Merrick. "Now, did you say the prophecy worked again?"

"Evil rises from darkness, summoned by one who controls it. Why?" Merrick asked, leaning back and pulling off his glasses. He only wore them, I noticed, when he was reading maps.

His eyes widened, finally coming to the same conclusion that I did. "That would mean that Viper controls Darian."

"And that's why he wants Orion, to counter the ritual and free him from her control," I finished, my lips drawn in a tight frown.

"To banish or free," Kael said and paused. "That would mean that it goes both ways, right?"

I nodded. That was the part that I didn't want to think about. I had a phobia for rituals now, even one that could banish Darian forever.

"But Darian won't fight, not until Raven says so. Without him in the fight, Markov's plan might work," I continued.

Markov rubbed his beard, deep in thought. "You make a good point, Luna. If we keep Darian away from her, then she won't be able to make the command. And it just so happens that we have something he wants."

"No, no." Kael stood to his feet, cutting him off before Markov could finish. "My son is not going to be used as bait."

"Either that or the life of hundreds of men, Kael. You're an alpha," Markov shot back, his eyes sharp but not unkind. "A protector."

"I protect my family," Kael clenched his fist.

"No, you protect the pack, your people. You protect good," Markov said.

"He's mad. You can't be serious. Please, love, tell me you're not cool with this," Kael shook his head, turning to me, his eyes pleading.

I walked over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "We're not sacrificing Orion, Kael," I whispered softly. "It's the only way."

Kael sighed in defeat. He pulled me closer to him, wrapping his arms around me. His chin came to rest on my head, his breathing coming out in slow, heavy breaths as he came to terms with the situation.

"I'll be with Raven," Eria said, coming around. "Just like last time."

"Eria, please," Vance began.

She cut him off with a determined look.

"Thank you, Eria," I muttered, trying not to feel guilty for being the reason the two would be apart from each other again.

The truth was, none of us would truly be together until the war was done.

"So now that it's settled, how do we lure Darian out?" Merrick asked.

"He'll come. I'm sure of it. We just have to leak out the right information," I said, feeling a familiar rush in my veins. Things were about to get ten times more serious.