Chapter 20
RAVENA
My mind was a storm that I couldn’t ignore.
Ronan left a couple of hours ago for some emergency meeting after giving me endless orgasms. He mentioned something about exploring his new good boy kink while I tried to use my legs again to use the bathroom, muttering something about collars and needing to do some research.
He and Malrik would get along well.
They have been gone for some time now, and I was getting worried. I knew the attack last night wouldn’t go unnoticed, and Xarothar had been so quiet; even our bond was dead, as if he were in some sort of slumber.
At least he wasn’t in Velmore.
I also needed to find a way to get Malrik back in without signalling there’s been a breach in the border, and I had a small idea of who I should find. I missed him and his crazy ways.
Drew practically dragged me out of Ronan's room the second he left—said I needed food, whisky, and a good distraction. In that order, and he wasn’t wrong.
He ordered takeout, found a stash of Kieran's whisky and decided now was the perfect time for twenty questions.
Thankfully, Daleyza showed up before I could tell him where he could shove his game.
I had a headache, but he pouted and I caved.
I was curled up in the corner of the couch, working my way through a mountain of fried rice and noodles while Daleyza sipped her drink and side-eyed her brother, who was painting my toenails like it was normal.
God, being lonely for so long does something to you.
“Okay, next question,” Drew said, grinning like a menace. “How do you know our brother?”
Not the question I was expecting.
I looked at him slowly, both of them looking at me, waiting for an answer. “I don’t.”
Drew pinched my foot, and I yelped, jerking it back. Daleyza didn’t miss a beat—she jabbed him in the side, and he nearly dropped the nail polish bottle, sending his glass teetering on the edge of the table.
“Shit.” He mumbled before pointing at me with the brush. “Don’t lie to us. We remember him mentioning a secret girl he was friends with years ago in the woods. If I recall, he was pretty smitten by you, too.”
He was my only friend.
“It doesn’t matter.” They weren’t having any of it.
Darian might be cruel sometimes, but he does have a good heart. He’s just under a lot of pressure, being responsible for us even though we are adults now, and working for Vespera.
I agree, but he’s still a dick and completely changed from the boy I once knew.
I hate not knowing how deep the dark magic has infected him already—how much of him is still him.
It could be twisting his mind, messing with who he is, and he has no idea.
Heck, I don’t, all I know is dark magic is rare and illegal.
The only way I would know for sure is if I touched him, but he hates me, and it would put me at risk. Also, his OCD would be an issue, too.
I remember the games we used to play—those stolen hours filled with laughter and late-night conversations that felt like secrets just for us. The way he looked at me was like I was something important. We never touched, not once. But by the stars, back then I wanted to.
Besides my mother, he was the only other person I could talk to. Now we have both changed, and he hates me for some unknown reason, and part of me dislikes him from the hushed rumours around Velmore.
Maybe I was wrong.
I was sixteen, lonely and desperate for someone to really see me. And Darian did. He looked at me like I wasn’t broken and worth something more. Like I could be loved.
But now, when his eyes found mine, all I saw was hate. The same hazel green eyes I once fell for in silence are now unrecognisable.
“He still cares about you—I can see it clear as day,” Drew said as he took a sip of his drink before glancing my way.
“I remember how pissed off he was when you stopped showing up. Not just angry, though. He was… sad. Wrecked, even if he pretended otherwise. We’d just lost our parents, yeah, and that messed him up bad—especially because it was to vampires.
But losing you?” He let out a breath, eyes flickering over to his twin.
“It kind of destroyed him, and then he had to become a parent to us, and he’s only four years older.
So, he decided to go through training to become a hunter. ”
Darian thought I had left him? Well, I did, but not because I wanted to. But I can’t tell him why, I can’t tell him anything, I can’t risk it with Vespera.
He’s been different recently; the queen has been requesting him a lot more. Daleyzas's shoulders drooped, and I could see how worried they both were.
They really do love and care for each other, and that makes me want to do everything I can to save their brother.
I set my food down and took both their hands in mine. “I don’t know how or why, and I know I’m still a stranger, but I promise I’ll do everything I can to help him.” I gave them a small, reassuring smile. Drew immediately pulls me into a huge hug, and Daleyza and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“You’re one of us now, bestie.” He whispered in my ear.
Warmth bloomed in my chest. It was unexpected and overwhelming, the feeling of being wanted, like I belonged.
I pulled back and noticed Daleyza wince, her hand shooting to her temples. My frown deepened, and she met my stare, instantly reading the worry etched across my face.
Headache, I might go lie down.
I could tell it was more than a headache, and I could sense something else. Something that could put her in a lot of danger if the High Coven ever found out.
As she stood to take her plate and drink into the kitchen, the front door slammed open with a bang that made my heart jump.
Darian and Kieran stormed in, both fully suited up in their dark uniforms, Kieran with his usually worn leather jacket, eyes wild and jaws clenched.
Anger radiated off them in waves—but beneath it, something else pulsed just under the surface.
Fear. And if they were scared, then whatever was about to happen… wasn’t just bad.
It could be catastrophic.
“Where’s the fire, fellas?” Drew asked casually, slinging an arm around my shoulders.
I didn’t miss the way Darian's eye twitched, and Kieran’s gaze dropped to where Drew's hand rested on my arm. It wasn’t subtle. Not even close. And for a moment, the air in the room was tense.
Daleyza, who could read the room, nudged Drew till he dropped his arm and smirked. He knew what he had just done.
Troublemaker.
Darian's eyes were different, darker than before—and that alone scared me. I needed to find answers about the dark magic, and if that meant going back to Zyphora, then so be it.
“Wait—where’s Ronan?” I asked, pushing up from the couch, careful not to brush against Darian as I moved.
“Doesn’t matter,” he snapped, his face fixed into a scowl as he looked down at me. “You need to go back to wherever the hell you came from.”
Not this again.
I squared my shoulders, meeting his glare head-on. “I won’t ask again. Where is Ronan?”
“Ronan’s back at the council building,” he ground out.
“I couldn’t let him come here. The love-sick fool is too far gone for you, and I can’t let Vespera figure him out.
Yes, I know he can block his mind, but that won’t stop her from peeling his skin off and torturing his mind if she suspects anything.
You’re hiding something, and you’re making him cover for you.
Now she’s sending every fucking Hunter out tonight—searching for you. ”
Oh god, Ronan. I can’t let anything happen to him.
“Tonight, she killed one of us, gruesomely, because he refused to hurt and question innocent people in this realm. And knowing that the people I care about are the ones hiding you was like a dagger to the heart. You are putting them in danger. She cut his fucking tongue out and ripped his insides apart for fucking nothing.” He yelled, and I closed my eyes quickly and opened them again.
“What do you think she will do to us for hiding the very person she wants?”
“Darian, that’s enough,” Kieran warned. Drew stepped closer, but he ignored them.
He closed the distance fast, herding me back until my shoulders hit the wall. My pulse hammered, but I forced my chin high, refusing to shrink under him. The ache building in my chest wasn't just fear—it was a reminder of why I am meant to be alone.
“Ronan is completely head over heels for you. Even Kieran feels something—and he can deny all he wants. You must have some kind of magical pussy to get them both breaking Vesperas' rules and lying to me.”
The words hit like venom—and something inside me snapped.
Before I could think, my fist connected with his jaw, the crack satisfying as hell. He stumbled back into Kieran, who looked one second away from doing the same.
To hell with his OCD, and as long as he didn’t touch me, I was safe. Nobody speaks to me like that.
“I get that you’ve got a problem with me,” I said as I stretched my hand out. “And I get that your anger comes from loving them—but next time you talk to me like that, it’ll be more than just a punch to the face.”
Darian was still rubbing his jaw, muttering numbers under his breath, but I ignored him. I turned my attention to Kieran, who’d been silently watching.
“Is Ronan okay?” I asked, my tone softening.
Kieran nodded once, then dragged a shaky hand through his hair. His fingers were streaked with dried blood, and something in my chest tightened.
He was struggling.
“He’s worried about you. He wanted to come, but it's too risky. Vesperas has been watching him closely, so we came instead. We need to get you out of here—now.”
I dropped my gaze for a second, forcing down the knot in my throat before looking back up. The tension in the room was thick, shadows stretching long across the floor as the sun was starting to set, and in that moment, the weight of it all hit me.
I was being hunted again, but by a different threat.
And the people I was starting to care about were risking everything to keep me safe.