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I pray like hell that he understands that we’ll be able to do all of the catching up, but now just isn’t the time. Even with Figgins in our proximity, it’s too much.

“We could discuss it like this, in here,” he offers, speaking directly into my thoughts again, and I make a mental note to ask him to help me block my mind off from others as soon as possible.

“I don’t trust anything, Ari, and if something has you this spooked, I don’t want to risk it. Once I’m done, we’ll have all the time to catch up.”

He stares at me for what feels like forever until he nods. “Yeah, you’re definitely my Raven.”

I smile at him as Brax’s hand tightens around mine.

“My Raven,” he bites, making me press my lips together to hold back my grin as both Ari and Brax glare at each other.

“Shall we get to the point?” Figgins asks, looking at me pleadingly, and I nod in agreement.

Turning to face the barrier that separates us from the real world, I suddenly feel a bout of nerves. This has to go right. I can’t mess it up.

With a long and heavy breath, I stand mere inches from the ward, my skin tingling with nerves as I stretch my hand toward the barrier. I gasp when my fingertips connect with it, the magic coursing from it almost overwhelming, but as I twist my hand into the magic, I latch on to what I’m searching for.

“I can feel it.” Hope blossoms in my gut as I tilt my head to glance at Brax.

His eyes are wide, arms slack at his sides as he stares at me. “You can?”

“Yeah.”

I see the same hope reflecting from him as I feel in my veins. The magic dances over my skin, encouraging me to take control.

“What can you feel? What are you doing?” Figgins asks tentatively, and I turn to face her. It seems it was never meant to stay a secret, and I don’t know why, but I trust her enough to be honest.

“I can use my mirror magic to take control of the ward. Whoever placed it here left tendrils of their magic for me to harness. I believe it’s on top of yours, so possibly, together, we could work through it. I wasn’t sure it would be possible when someone offered the advice, but if I tug at it, I think it will fall down.”

Wait until the guys hear about this. Wait until Brax can fill Marieta with hope that her guidance was perfect. I know the compound being opened doesn’t directly impact them, but it feels like the first step in the right direction, and we all need that.

“Fall down? That would unleash all of the magical creatures,” Figgins states, eyebrows pinching in concern.

“Well, yeah. I’m not just going to free Ari and leave everyone else to suffer here.”

“But doing that would also include those from the Basilica Realm,” she explains slowly, horror washing over her features.

“We can’t,” Ari grinds out, taking a step toward me, but the sound of a twig snapping underfoot doesn’t come from him; it comes from the shadows to the right.

My gaze snatches to the Drake looming in the darkness and my spine stiffens.

Fuck. They’re right.

“You can set us free from here?” The Drake asks, and Ari snarls.

“You can speak?” my familiar shouts, but the Drake ignores him, keeping his focus on me as he takes a step forward.

Wrong move.

Both Ari and Brax move to protect me, but the Drake manages to keep his eyes locked with mine. “Can you set us free from here?” he repeats.

“I could, but I don’t believe that to be a safe or wise choice when you have familiars on the wrong side of the war on the other side of this barrier.” Being honest makes sense. There’s no point sugarcoating this shit with him, either.

He shakes his head. “We are fake familiars. That was just a ploy to get us on the property, nothing else,” he explains, making my heart race. That does make sense, especially since no one has been going crazy over the fact that some of the Drakes have been dying at the hands of Ari.

“And then?” Ari snaps, dragging his claw through the compact soil at his feet.

“And then what?”