ログインRAVENAfter they had deliberated for hours, they finally held a feast to celebrate it. I sat at the head table in a simple chair, not the ridiculous throne they’d tried to force on me. Marek lounged to my right, his powerful arm draped possessively over the back of my seat, fingers occasionally brushing my shoulder in a way that sent sparks down my spine. Theo sat to my left, eating with his usual quiet precision, but every time our eyes met, that small, knowing smile curved his lips. Across from us, Dominic watched me with dark, heated intensity, while Jax grinned like a devil, licking sauce from his thumb with deliberate slowness that made heat pool low in my belly.Marek leaned in once, his breath hot against my ear. “You keep looking at us like that and we won’t make it through dessert.”I turned, catching his lips in a quick, promising kiss that drew a few cheers from nearby tables. “Good,” I whispered back. “I don’t want to.”Jax caught my gaze again and winked, his foot slidin
RAVENBy morning, Blackridge looked like a place that had survived a war and honestly?That was pretty accurate.Smoke still drifted faintly from some of the lower tunnels beneath the mountain. Guards moved through the halls carrying debris out of damaged sections while engineers argued loudly near the entrances about what parts of the underground city were still structurally safe.Apparently setting ancient cursed kingdoms on fire created logistical problems.Who knew? Oh well, I had done what I needed to do. I stood near one of the upper balcony corridors overlooking the main hall below. Territory leaders had been arriving since sunrise after hearing what happened underground last night and from the amount of noise echoing through the building, they were already exhausting me.I was tired and it was the kind of exhaustion that settles into your bones after seeing too much at once and realizing the world will immediately start demanding things from you anyway.Footsteps approached b
DOMINICI was already moving before anyone properly explained what was happening because the fire alarms were going off and all over the place.Theo met me in the corridor first, half-dressed and still pulling on his coat like he hadn’t decided whether he was going back to sleep or not.“What the hell is going on?” he asked.“I don’t know,” I said, even though that was already a lie forming too late to matter because I could feel it.Heat and it seemed to be coming from underground.Jax appeared from the opposite side of the hall like he had been running through the building for a while already.“I’m going to say something deeply unhelpful,” he said, breath uneven. “It’s worse than anything we’ve seen.”“That narrows it down to absolutely nothing,” Theo snapped.“Yeah,” Jax replied. “That’s the point.”Marek was the last to join us and didn't look surprised. That was the first thing that made my chest tighten. Like he had been expecting this outcome in a way none of us were allowed to
RAVENI didn’t go back inside after the elder finished speaking.I stayed outside Blackridge longer than I should have, standing near the edge of the upper walkway. Everything he said kept repeating in my head in a way I couldn’t shut off.The Hollow was never hunting your bloodline. It was waiting for it to awaken completely.It didn’t feel like information anymore.It felt like something inside me had been waiting to hear it spoken out loud before it could finally move. I turned back toward Blackridge after a while, but even inside the building it didn’t feel quieter. It felt worse. Too many corridors. Too many eyes. Too many people who now looked at me like I was the next thing they were going to misunderstand.Theo tried to speak to me near the entrance.I walked past him.Jax said something under his breath that sounded like a joke meant to soften the tension.I didn’t answer.Dominic didn’t say anything at all, which somehow felt heavier than the rest. By the time I reached the
JAXBy this point, I genuinely believed Blackridge was incapable of giving us normal days anymore. Every morning started with somebody uncovering ancient psychological damage beneath the mountain and every evening ended with the realization that history had somehow been lying harder than the people currently alive.Honestly, impressive consistency.I was standing near the lower archive entrance watching engineers carry recovered records upstairs when Theo approached holding another stack of documents against his chest.“You disappeared,” he said.“I was avoiding responsibility.”“That’s not a real task.”“It is if you commit to it emotionally.”Theo looked exhausted enough that he didn’t even argue properly. That was concerning because usually he enjoyed arguing with me far more than was medically reasonable.The lower tunnels beneath Blackridge had become significantly busier over the last two days. Territory leaders kept arriving after hearing about the discoveries underground and a
DOMINICIt started without warning. One second I was still in Blackridge trying to process what Raven had said, and the next I was standing somewhere that made me confused as hell.It looked like a council chamber.Stone polished smooth in a way that suggested control more than design. Tall pillars lined the room, carved with symbols I didn’t recognize. People were speaking before I even fully realized I was inside it.“The outer territories are destabilizing faster than expected.”“We cannot maintain narrative consistency if they continue asking questions.”“The child cannot remain referenced even indirectly.”That last line made something in my chest tighten immediately.Child.I turned toward the sound without meaning to. A long table stretched across the center of the chamber. Advisors sat on both sides, leaning forward like the weight of their own decisions was physically pressing them down.At the far end sat the First King and he didn't look like the portraits. He looked tired
DOMINICThe sky was the color of a bruised plum when I finally shook myself awake. I hadn't really slept; I had just drifted in and out of a light doze, my ears twitching at every floorboard creak in the hallway.Raven was still tucked against my side. In the gray light of dawn, she looked small.
RAVENThe morning started with a strange kind of beauty.I was standing on the porch of the main house, a cup of hot tea in my hands.The sun was just starting to peek over. It was beautiful, but it made the hair on my arms stand up."Dominic," I called out.The screen door creaked open and Domin
DOMINICThe sun was hot and it did not feel good. It felt like we were standing too close to an open oven.I stood in the middle of the training field with a broom in my hands. All around me, the wolves of the Iron Howlers were working. We were not training with swords or shifting into our beas
COLEI have always been a man of the ice. I like the sound of skates cutting through the rink. I like the smell of sweat and the cold air of the arena. I am used to being in the spotlight, but usually, I am wearing pads and a helmet. I am used to people cheering for a goal, not staring at my tie.T







