Chapter 6

_Cassian’s POV_

I stared at my phone screen.

The picture was a little grainy but I could still see her clearly. Raven sat at a small table by the window. A soft light fell on her face. She was laughing at something Raphael had just said.

Her shoulders were relaxed. Her eyes were bright. She looked happy.

My blood boiled. “She should not look like that,” I muttered under my breath. “She should be crying.”

On the screen, Raphael leaned closer to her. He said something I could not hear over the noise of the restaurant. Raven smiled again. Her lips curved. Her eyes softened.

A low growl echoed inside my head. It was not from anger but from longing.

My wolf, Ragnar, pressed against the edge of my mind. His presence was hot and heavy. His voice slid into my thoughts like a rough whisper.

She is beautiful, Ragnar said. Look at her.

“I am looking,” I snapped back in my head. “That’s the problem.”

She looks so soft, he murmured. So scared and brave at the same time. She is not like the others.

“She is worse,” I said. “Don’t forget that.”

Ragnar huffed. I could feel his unease.

I can smell her even through the screen, he said. She smells like lavender and warm earth.There is something special about her, Cassian. She cannot be evil.

“Stop saying that,” I growled quietly. “You are letting her angel face fool you.”

On the screen, Raven picked up her fork. Her hand still shook a little. I could tell. I knew fear. I knew shame. I knew how it looked on people.

I wanted to see more of it on her.

“I want her broken,” I whispered. “I want her on her knees, begging. Not smiling over chicken and fries with him.”

Raphael.

My jaw clenched. Of all people, it had to be him. The boy who liked to play the hero. The one who dared to stand between me and my enemy.

Ragnar growled again, louder this time. But it was not anger at her. It was something else. Something sharp and jealous.

Why is he so close to her? Ragnar demanded. Why is she smiling at him? She should not smile at him like that.

“Well, she is,” I said coldly. “Because he came in like a savior and wiped off her tears. She thinks he is kind. She thinks he is safe.”

He is touching what is ours, Ragnar snarled.

I froze. “Ours?”

There was a long pause. Ragnar’s voice became softer.

I do not know why I said that, he said. But when I look at her, my chest hurts. I want to pull her away from him. I want to keep her safe. She feels… right.

“Right?” I laughed bitterly. “She is a monster, Ragnar.”

She does not look like a monster, he argued. She looks innocent.

I leaned back in my chair and rubbed a hand over my face.

“That’s the point,” I said. “You should know this better than anyone. We do not judge by faces. Even Lucifer was once an angel, remember? He was bright, beautiful and pure. But now he is the devil.”

Ragnar went silent.

“The most innocent faces,” I went on slowly, “can hide the blackest hearts. A sweet smile means nothing. Soft eyes mean nothing. She is the enemy. She was born to destroy us...to destroy our kind.”

You don’t know that, he whispered. She doesn’t even know who she is yet. Look at her. She is scared and alone. She cannot even fight back.

“She will, when her powers wake up,” I said. “And when that happens, she will tear us apart without a second thought. You need to remember that.”

Ragnar growled. He was frustrated.

I do not want to hurt her, he said. But I do not like seeing her with him either. It burns. It hurts my chest. I want to rip him away from her.

“Good,” I said. “Use that. Use this feeling. Let it push you. But you need to remember what I am about to say.”

I stared hard at Raven’s face on the screen.

“She is our enemy,” I said in my mind. “Our goal is to destroy her. Do you hear me? That has not changed. It will never change.”

Ragnar did not answer right away. I felt him pace inside me like a caged beast.

I hear you, he said at last. But my heart does not like it.

A muscle jumped in my jaw. “Too bad,” I muttered. “Hearts lie.”

On the screen, Raven lifted her head. Her gaze moved slowly around the restaurant. At first, she looked past the camera. She looked at the door.... the tables....the lights. Then her eyes came back.

And this time, she looked straight at the man holding the phone.

Straight into the camera.

Straight at me.

My breath caught. Her eyes were dark and sharp. They locked onto the lens like she could feel it. Like she could feel me.

For a moment, there was nothing else. Just her eyes and the strange jolt in my chest.

She feels us, Ragnar whispered. She knows we are here.

“Don’t be stupid,” I said. But my voice shook.

On the other end of the call, the view jerked. The phone lowered fast. I saw a flash of the table, the floor, then Daren’s face. He was breathing quickly.

“Cassian,” he hissed. “She saw me. She looked right at me.”

“I know,” I said. “I saw.”

“I have to cut this,” Daren said. “If I keep filming, someone will notice. She already looks scared. People might ask questions.”

“Fine,” I snapped. “Cut it.”

The call ended. The screen went dark.

The silence in my room felt heavy. Slowly, I lowered the phone. My hand was still shaking. Not from fear but from rage. From something wild and hot and twisted.

Ragnar whined in my head. She was afraid. Did you see her hands? Did you see her eyes? She looked so small.

“Good,” I said. “Let her be afraid. She should be.”

You did this, he said. You sent Daren.

“I needed to know how close she is to Raphael. I needed to see it with my own eyes.”

And what now? Ragnar asked. What is your next step?

I looked down at my hands. My nails were longer and sharper. I forced them back....forced my control to return.

Next step.

I thought of Raven in my classroom. Raven at my dinner table. Raven in my house. Soon, she would live under the same roof. Her scent in the halls. Her voice in the rooms.

So close...So easy to reach....So easy to break.

“I will think of something,” I said. “I always do.”

That was when I heard footsteps in the hall. My door opened without a knock.

My father stepped inside. “Cassian,” he said, his voice tight. “I need your help.”

I locked my phone and slid it into my pocket. “With what?”

He ran a hand through his hair. He looked tired but there was excitement in his eyes. “The wedding is next week. There are still many things to do. Your future stepmother looks stressed. I need you to support her. Be sweet and kind.”

I frowned. “Why go to all this trouble?”

He stared at me. “What do you mean?”

I stood up. “Why get married to her mother at all if we can just kidnap Raven?” I asked flatly. “Take her, lock her away and use her. It would be faster.”

Ragnar went still inside me.

My father’s face hardened at once. “Do not say that again,” he said sharply. “We are not kidnapping her.”

“Why not? We could end this in one move. There will be no need for fake smiles and stupid family games. We take her. We break her. We make her obey.”

His eyes flashed. There was a hint of his own wolf behind them. “No. This would ruin everything. Do you understand?”

I clenched my fists. “Explain it to me.”

He took a deep breath. “Her powers have not awakened yet. Right now, she is just a girl. A weak one. But inside her is something vast. If we use force too soon, we may trigger it the wrong way. She might run. She might turn against us before we are ready.”

She is already against us, Ragnar muttered in my head.

I ignored him. “So what?” I asked. "We wait until she is stronger? That sounds smart.” My voice dripped with sarcasm.

“We do not wait for her to be strong,” dad said. “We shape where her strength goes. We guide her. We become the ones she trusts. The ones she loves. Then, when her power wakes, it will be in our hands.”

He stepped closer and lowered his voice. “We must manipulate her with love and affection. We cannot use force. Not yet. We need her to choose us.”

The word “love” coming from him made my skin crawl.

“So you want me to keep pretending? Keep acting like I care. Like I want to be her brother.”

He nodded. “Yes. I want you to befriend her. Gain her trust. Be the person she runs to when she is scared or sad. The best way to get rid of an enemy,” he added with a thin smile, “is to get close to them first.”

Ragnar snarled at those words. Close to her, he said. I want that. But not to hurt her.

“You understand the plan, now?"

“No, I don’t. Why be patient when we can end it in one blow? The longer we wait, the more destruction she can cause.”

“Do not argue with me,” he snapped. His voice cut through the room like a whip. “I have worked on this plan for years. Years, Cassian. I will not let your impatience ruin it.”

He grabbed my shoulder. His grip was strong. “You will control your anger and your emotions in front of her. Do you hear me? No more outbursts at school. No more cruel games where others can see. You cannot slip. Not even once.”

My teeth ground together. “And if she pushes me?”

“You smile. You laugh it off. You act like a real brother would. You need to be protective, kind and loyal. You let her fall in love with this family...with us.”

I shut my eyes for a second. I felt as if I was being pulled from opposite sides.

“I don’t understand you,” I said to my father. “You say she is our enemy. You say she could wipe us all out. Yet you speak of dresses and venues and smiles. You act like this is some normal wedding.”

His eyes went cold. “I am not doing this because I love her mother. I am doing this because it gives us power, access and control. You will remember that. Now is not the time to be reckless.”

He let go of my shoulder and straightened his shirt.

“Tomorrow,” he said while heading toward the door, “she will come here again. I want you to be ready. I want you to act like you are happy to see her. Do not fail me, Cassian.”

The door closed behind him. Silence spread again. But inside me, there was chaos.

Ragnar paced in my mind. I do not like his plan. He wants to hurt her. He wants to use you to hurt her.

“She is our nemesis. This is what we were born for.”

Then why does my heart hurt when I see her with him? Ragnar shot back. Why did I want to tear Raphael apart when he made her smile? Why do I want her safe, even from us?

My chest tightened. I remembered Raphael putting his jacket around her shoulders. I remembered the way Raven had looked at him, like he was the light in a dark room.

Heat rushed through me. I felt jealousy, rage and something else I did not want to name.

“I don’t know,” I said. The admission taste was bitter on my tongue. “Maybe you are weak.”

Or maybe you are blind, Ragnar said. His voice was low. There is something different about her. You feel it too. You just do not want to admit it.

I walked to the window and pulled the curtain back. The night outside was calm. The moon was half-full.

Somewhere out there, Raven was riding home in Raphael’s car. Maybe she was falling for him or.....whatever...her feelings were irrelevant to me. It should not matter who she smiled for or whose car she rode in.

I let the curtain fall back in place.

“Fine,” I said at last. “I will play the sweet brother. I will smile. I will wait. I will get close.”

“And then, we will see who destroys who.”