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ONE

RAVEN

I’m frozen in place, my breathing labored and my heart beating so fast my rib cage rattles.

Everything is too much and not enough all at once.

I can hear the sound of dripping water echoing in my ears over the insistent ringing of my pulse, but I can’t turn to look. I can feel the floor beneath my feet rumbling slightly, but I’m still glued to the spot.

Brax squeezes my shoulder, my name on his lips, but it’s not penetrating my mind deep enough to get a response from me.

I can’t.

I can’t take my eyes off them.

I can’t bring myself to blink.

I can’t.

My world is divided. Split by a barrier that refuses to budge. Everything I know is crumbling around me as I gape helplessly while it continues to unfold.

“Raven,” Brax repeats, and I shake my head slightly. Doesn’t he see? Can’t he understand? He knows what’s happening right now just as well as I do.

“Raven!” My name is called again, but this time, it comes from Zane. He can’t reach out and squeeze my shoulder, hold my hand, or even kiss my forehead.

No.

He can’t do any of those things.

Neither can Eldon or Creed, who flank his sides.

“Raven, you need to go,” Eldon declares, a solemn look in his eyes that burns my soul, threatening to melt me on the spot.

“Go where?” I rasp, my voice hoarse as my whole body pulses with pent-up adrenaline.

“Anywhere but here, Little Bird,” he replies, my nickname warming my heart a whole degree before I remember what he’s saying.

If I leave, they can’t come with me. Not if they’re still standing on the other side of the gateway, which leads to the Realm of Shadows. That won’t be possible, and it’s certainly not on my agenda.

“I’m not going anywhere without you. Any of you,” I clarify, looking from Eldon to Zane, then taking in Creed.

Too much has happened too fast, and once again, I’m left gaping in horror at my reality. I need time, a moment to fucking think, a damn time machine so we never step through the gate to begin with.

Fuck.

“Raven, right now, you don’t really have a choice,” Creed mutters. I almost don’t hear him, but my brain picks up on every painful syllable that parts his lips.

“How can you say that? How can you just ask me to leave?” I snap, my anger not actually aimed at him, but he takes the brunt of it anyway. Creed doesn’t reply at first. His gaze drifts to my left, and I know he’s turning to Brax to take control of the situation. Fuck that. “We haven’t even tried to find a way through. We haven’t attempted a damn thing. First, we do that, then, if there’s no option, we’ll come back in there to you.”

My nostrils flare as my spine stiffens, ready for any kind of argument they may throw back at me, but to my surprise, none of them seem ready to reach my level of anger quite yet.

“Dove,” Zane starts, and I instantly give him a pointed look. He better have some kind of positivity to add to the situation or he’s going on my shit list too. “I’m not sure what we can try. The veil that hangs between the arches of this door isn’t moving a single inch.” He lifts his hands and presses with all his might, even turning his arm invisible to see if it will make a difference, but it doesn’t.

“Fire,” I mumble, glancing at Eldon as my body still trembles. Thankfully, my fireball appeases me and lifts a ball of flames to the veil hanging between us, but it’s not a surprise when nothing happens. “Where’s Brax’s mother? Please, ask her,” I beg, taking the smallest step toward them before I’m quickly stopped by the invisible barrier separating us. “Why can’t I get back in?” I snap, anger burning through me as I wave my hand through the air, only to be met with a solid wall of nothing.

“There must be people nearby who aren’t permitted entry.” I turn to Brax’s mother, who appears a step behind my men, a deep frown settling between her eyes.

“What does that mean? It shouldn’t have let Zane, Creed, and Eldon through to begin with,” Brax grunts, looming from behind me as he stares at his mother.