110

110

RAVEN

There’s the flame of the silver chains burning against my wrists, flaming blanks of agony up my arms every time my arms jerk or snap. The stone room that surrounds me is rough-hewn but useful—thick walls gouged straight out of the rockslide, with no windows and one heavy door bound in iron. This is Darian's fortress, and everything about it is being told "paranoid preparation".

I test the chains once more, biting my tongue to stifle the pain. The silver is doing what it's supposed to, draining my wolf enough that the gift feels far away and far too quiet. But I am not the scared little girl who was first taken weeks ago. And my secret training, my battles, have altered me.

“Are you still trying to get those chains to yield, little Luna?”

The voice of Darian, so mocking as always, rings out as he enters with two of his rogue lieutenants. The torchlight catches in his silver hair and cruel amusement ripples through those crimson eyes. Even in captivity, chained as I am, I refuse to let him see me afraid.

"And you thought I’d just sit here while you play your games? I stay calm, locking the eyes with him. “I’m not some damsel in distress to be cut a deal on.”

“But, dear, that’s what you are.” He paces me, slowly, like a predator checking out injured quarry. Daughter of the Moon, destined to save or doom us all. Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for this?

“Long enough to lose all the sanity you had left, apparently.

One of his lieutenants snarls at my lack of respect, but Darian raises a hand. "Such spirit. I see why Kael was so taken with you, although I doubt he ever shared the entire truth about what the prophecy actually means.”

I feel a faint resonance of Kael's agony through the bond. What ever fight he’s waging it’s the hardest one he’s ever engaged in. The bond here is dull, silver-faint, distant, but I can still feel his will. He's coming for me.

“The one about peace or fire from a union.” I say, fishing for information. "Not exactly a mystery."

"Peace or destruction, yes. But it does not make clear who wields that power.” Darian’s smile takes on a predatory edge. The rite that chains the prophecy can be… altered. With proper knowledge and preparation, the Moon Daughter’s power can be taken by another.”

My blood runs cold. “You’re talking about corrupting the prophecy.”

“I mean all I want is what was mine to begin with. His voice drops to a growl. "My ancestors raised up the Obsidian Spire. We were the ones who held that ancient knowledge, the protectors of the old ways. But no, your oh-so-precious Kael's ancestors drove us out, called us rogues, took everything we'd built."

"So this is about revenge."

"This is about justice." He inches closer; I smell old blood and something less savory. “But I’m not doing this all by myself little Luna. I mean, someone very near and dear to your husband has been very instrumental in coordinating everything."

The words were as though a physical punch in the stomach. "What are you talking about?"

And you seriously thought it was a simple coincidence that my spies always knew exactly where to hit, did you? That I would be able to anticipate your pack\\'s every move so accurately?" His laughter is breaking glass. The mole in your dad’s pack was the tip of the iceberg. I have someone far more valuable funneling information to me from inside the Obsidian Spire.

"You're lying."

"Am I? How else would I hear about your clandestine practice sessions? This newfound strength of yours that the council's so concerned about? The precise moment when Kael would depart the Spire and look for you?”

My mind races. Somebody on the council has a project with Darian, but who? And for how long?

“I can see the wheels turning,” Darian adds. “Yes, Kael’s right hand has been my greatest ally for months. They've promised me you for helping them kill your husband and seize your two packs."

“Who would want Kael dead from the council? He's their Alpha."

“Because some people know leadership involves tough choices. Kael’s weakness in you, his emotional connections to passé ideals like honor and loyalty—this is the vulnerability. Make him weak."

Before I can answer, the fat door opens again. Light ignites in my chest, but it’s snuffed out when I see who walks in.
"Eira!"

Two more rogues drag in Kael's sister, her fiery-red hair plastered with blood, her green eyes burning with rage despite her injuries. They shackle her to the wall opposite me, with the same silver bindings.

“Well, well,” Darian says, pleased as punch. “The little spitfire thought she was some kind of tracker. How’s hunting been for you today, girl?”

"Rot in hell," Eira curses, pulling against her chains. “Kael will butcher you when he arrives.

“Oh, they had better try. Darian's smile widens. "But I'm afraid your brother is falling for a trap bigger than he knows.
He starts to back out, then stops at the threshold. "Enjoy your reunion, ladies. It might be the last conversation either of you has.”

The door thuds closed behind him and Eira and I are left in the flickering torchlight.

"Raven, thank the moon you are alive," Eira says, her voice strained with distress. "I've been following you for days, but these fuckers were set up for me."

"How did you find me?”

"I tracked Kael as far as his scent veering of toward the eastern ranges. Then I detected the traces of the rogues who had carried you away. She tries her chains, and winces. "But they knew I was coming. Somebody pointed out to them exactly where to lay their ambush.”

The components snap together in my head. “Darian claims to have contact with someone in the Obsidian Spire council leaking to him. Someone who wants Kael dead."

Eira's face goes pale. "That's what I was afraid of. Oh, Raven, I learned something before I left to rescue you. "Thane has been in secret communication with someone through communication crystals that don't journey by normal pack channels."

"Thane?" I recall the cold-eyed councilor who always seemed to second guess my every action. "Are you certain?"

"I have seen him myself, lurking in the ancient cellars below the council hall. He was spying on Kael — spying on when you trained, about pack defenses. Her voice drops to a whisper. “He’s been plotting this for months, if not more.”
"But why? "What does he get out of betraying Kael?"

"Think about it. What happens if Kael is felled and you're corrupted by whatever foul ritual Darian has in store for us? The council would have to appoint a new Alpha, and Thane has for years cast himself as the voice of reason.

The extent of the betrayal washes over me as though it were a tangible thing. Thane hasn't only been slipping our enemies information, he's been sabotaging Kael's cause from here in our very home.

"We need to warn him," I say, tugging at my chains even though it feels like I'm being burned alive.

"But the tie you and Kael have, can you marshall that?

I shut my eyes, feeling the connection that binds us. It’s faint here, drowned out by the silver and whatever dark magic Darian’s tapped into the place, but it’s still there.

"Barely. I can feel his feelings, I can feel that he’s vaguely in that direction, but I lose all the communication.

“So we’ve got to get our own selves out of here. Eira looks at the chains that bind her. These are very old, but the silver is good. It’s going to burn, but if we can find something to act as leverage..."

I see a slack stone in the wall behind her that has been rubbed smooth by years of water flow. "There, behind you. ”If we can loosen that stone, We may be able to do the chain links damage with it”

We work quietly for the next hour, each taking turns scraping into the stone, one watching for guards while the other digs. The silver sings and burns non-stop, our wrists raw and bleeding, but the rock is coming free.

“Well, you know the saying.” Eira murmurs, pulling up the heavy piece of granite. “And now, all we have to do is place the chain and —”

The door is thrown open and Darian enters followed by a handful of his lieutenants. We freeze, stone encased at her back.

"Such busy little wolves," he says, evidently having watched our flight. “But I fear the time for games has passed. The ceremony will commence at moonrise and I require my Moon's Daughter to be well prepared."

"What ritual?" I ask, but I know I’m about to hear something I won’t want to.

“The one that will give your prophetic power to me, of course. With the right incantations, and the right sacrifice, I would be able to taint the ancient magic that has you bound to Kael, and make it serve me.”

“And what sort of a sacrifice would that be?”

His smile is truly creepy. "Why, your mother, naturally. You know how much history Lysandra has with the old magic. Her blood would be the ideal catalyst for the ritual."

The world looks like it’s tilting around me. "My mother?"

“Ah, yes, we found her a week or so after your husband left the Nyxhowl lands. She has spent much time complaining about the room. He gestures to his men. "Bring them both. And now it is the Moon’s Daughter’s time to fulfill her ultimate purpose.

As the rogues begin to undo our chains, I meet Eira's look. She gives me the subtlest nod, even as her hand clutches the rock behind her back.

“Also,” Darian adds casually as the first rogue goes for my chains. “Your husband will be here soon, but it will be too late to save you. My friend on the council has made sure that he’ll be faced with the kind of choice that will finish him either way.”

"What choice?"

He can save you or he can save your mother. But not both." He laughs loud enough that it bounces off the stone walls. “It needs a willing sacrifice, see. What would Kael choose when being unable to keep the two women he loves the most?"

The villain's key in the lock turns round, And the silver chains are shattered. My power rushes back in, my wolf bursting forth in a wild snarl. But before I can go, I hear something that makes my blood run cold.

And miraculously, as clear as when I was taken, through the bond: He's here, Raven. Hold on."

And in that minuscule moment I hear another voice resounding through the stone corridors of the stronghold—my mother’s scream.