VALEN’S POVA sudden, thunderous bang exploded against the thick wooden doors of the temple.Everyone flinched.Writhing shadows moved under the door, alarming the gang as they bolted from the chairs and rushed over to the edge of the ritual circle.“I can still hear them,” Raina whispered, her voice barely more than a breath. The color drained from her face, her expression frozen in numbed horror. “They're coming. I know it’s them.”My blood chilled.Shit.When the blasted portal was crackling with power, it must have alerted them. With one hand around Raina’s waist, I anchored her against me, firm and possessive, and rotated us to face the door.Bang! The hinges rattled. Bang! The woods groaned in protest.I instantly gave Penn a chin lift to use her magic to seal the door. “Hold them off.”Obeying my orders, Penn walked over to Zack. He stepped to the side to give her room to perform her spell, and her hands fluttered in the air, tracing something invisible. Grim determination etch
VALEN’S POV“Selene’s spirit dwells here, Raina,” I gestured to the space around us. “There’s more power in this circle than you could ever imagine. The Coyolxauhqui stone will protect you. So please stay inside it.”“Watch her,” Zeus nagged.“You’re experimenting with me, testing the limits of your world,” Raina scoffed. “You have no idea what you've done.”“I do. I brought you home.”Raina’s blue orbs glistened, and she snapped, “Stop acting like you're Valen's monochorionic twin. You are a piece of junkyard scrap, and I'll never let you get near my man.”Tears brimmed in her eyes. Her expression was devastated, torn, and ravaged by defeat, by misunderstanding.“Mate,” Zeus whimpered. Every muscle ached, protesting against the space between us.Hopelessness dulled her eyes, and her face saddened before she hung her head. A dejected sigh escaped her lips, and she muttered, “Two minutes.”“What!” Zeus roared in my head. His ears shot up, and his muscles coiled.Struck by sudden fear,
VALEN’S POVJust as Raina tried to bolt out of the ritual circle, I scrambled to my knees and lunged after her, heart pounding like hooves in a stampede.Thready streaks of white lightning lashed from the edges of the blasted portal. The team scattered, boots skidding on hardwood as they dove for cover from each bolt that struck the floor with a storm’s fury.Black smoke came next, enshrouding the nave and blotting out everything around, except the protected ritual circle.“This is some next-level stuff,” Zeus grumbled in my head.The thick, hot air choked the others. Coughing with hands over their mouths, they fell slowly to the ground, passing out from whatever was in that dark fog.“Stop interfering,” Raina shouted angrily.“I’m saving you, not trapping you.” I declared, catching her slender ankle again, but got a swift kick in the face.“Get away, bacillus robot,” Raina hissed, ferociously stamping me with her hard boots until she could get on her knees, her breath ragged and furi
VALEN’S POVRaina laughed bitterly. “I’m getting a second chance.” She swung a calculated gaze at the gang, settling one deadly look at Theo. Her voice dropped to a cold, smooth whisper. “Next time, I’m going to kill you first.”Theo gulped, suddenly frightened, and jumped onto his twin, clinging to Thaines’ neck as his muscular legs instinctively went up into his brother’s arms.Theo nervously asked his twin, “What did I do?”Thaines grimaced.“Listen to me, that’s not what we want.” Releasing her hands, I palmed her face, forcing her eyes to fix on me. “The Timekeepers are lying. The trial is over. Baby, please believe in me. We've already won.”Penn shook her head adamantly. “The timeline will change if you take that offer. It’ll be another fake Valen...not us.”All the while, she fought my grip, wrangling her head against the way I held her.Worry wove into Venus’ expression as she looked at me with wide eyes. “If the trial gets reset, and you lose, you’ll become a permanent part o
VALEN’S POV“It did,” I swore promptly, clinging to faith that it worked. My arms fell to my sides like dead weight under her scrutiny. “It had to.”Raina shook her head and stepped back as distrust took over. “There are still eight minutes on the timer.”Despite my assurances, a claw of doubt hooked into my skin. I might not be entirely certain, but I couldn’t let my mate spiral into a pool of endless possibilities.According to my future self, the trial was to kill each other, and if we refused, then there would be no trial anymore. However, it wasn’t that simple. It had to be done as a blood oath made to Selene, and blood oaths gave no take-backsies.“That's not possible,” I told her, feeling a dull fear rising inside of me.“You're pure evil. Keeping me alive to taunt me,” Raina said in short, curt tones with fisted hands and a blade-sharp glare. “You and your ridiculous aspirations.” She tapped a finger against her temple. “Get it in your operating chip. Your ambitions are thwart
VALEN’S POV “Where the hell are we?” Raina retorted as I placed her down on her feet inside the ritual circle, but kept her shoulders in my grasp.Every line and curve on her face was etched by misery and sorrow. Look at me kidnapping my own mate as if this relationship were forbidden. We are meant to be together, yet here we are being forced apart by terrible forces.“Dark Wolverson,” I told her softly, hugging her as if all the love in my heart could burst out of me to console her, just by having our bodies close. “The ritual temple.”Goddess, she looked drained, very tired, worn out, and washed out. Her eyes were wild, and her untidy, burgundy hair was damp from rain. It was knotted far from her scalp, and loose enough for heavy strands to slump against her shoulders, clinging to her neck and temples, the rest draped together down her back, tangled and darkened by water.“You changed the stage.” She looked at me strangely, and the unease etched into her expression had me on edge.