“That’s a fucking beautiful sight.” Rome grinned as he came to my side as they fought off each revenant.
Renee had positioned herself behind the line of undead, and we had to get closer.
The town wouldn’t be able to survive the onslaught for long. I didn’t even know what was happening on the other parts of the border. All I knew was that we needed to protect those we loved.
We needed to keep the revenants here where we could handle them. That way, no one else got hurt because of our mistakes. No longer.
“One more spell. Do you have it in you?” Rowen called, and I grinned wildly, my wings beating behind me.
“Hell, yeah, I do.”
And then the sister of my heart smiled, and I knew she saw the power within me, even as the battle raged around us. Because I was no longer the cursed one. I was strength. I was fire. I was witch. I was coven. And we could do this.
Jaxton held one of my hands, Ash the other, as Rowen stood next to him and then Rome and then Sage approached. We were the six. We were of the coven, yet we were more. We were everything that we needed to be, and we would banish this woman.
“Repeat after me,” Rowen began, and I did so.
“Our might is right and spirits rise, strength of six across the skies. Take this evil, make them pay. Give us strength to win the day. The darkest reign this day will end, giving us time to gather and mend. This sacred truth we do decree, this is our will, so mote it be!”
Power surged within me, my wings beating a mile a minute, and then we were off, the revenants falling to the ground as they were pushed away with our magic. The smoke billowed, the darkness no longer encroaching. We could fight now, and we could win.
I just needed to get to Renee.
My sword was no longer there, Renee having burned it to ash, but that was fine. I could still get closer. I could still fight.
I ran, my wings beating as I tried to lift off and couldn’t, and then Rowen pushed out air magic, and Ash used his earth while Rome pounded his paws into the ground next to me, and Sage used her water power. They pushed me forward and up, increasing my magic and my strength, my connection to Mother Earth and everything around me.
This was what we had been practicing, what we needed. This was what the coven was for. This was why we could save Ravenwood.
I had never had so much hope before, and I knew this was it. I knew this was how we could make it.
And then Jaxton was there in hawk form, flying around me, using his wings to teach me how to soar. And then I was off. I shot off into the air, and Sage let out a whoop before going back to fighting her own battles.
Jaxton and I went after Renee. The dark witch threw a blade of flame, but I stopped it before it got to my mate, angry that she would even dare try to hurt what was mine.
I looked at Jaxton in the air, his hawk form tilting a bit to give me a slight wave, and then we were off once again. He slashed at Renee with his talons, and I used my flame. It was battle against battle, heat against heat.
Renee was strong, but finally, finally, I was stronger.
I no longer felt as if I were being burned from the inside out just trying to breathe.
I scorched the earth purposefully now, pushing at what I could. I knew this could be the end. This could be it.
“You will never have this town,” I called as the others cheered behind me. “Ravenwood is ours.”
“It was never yours. You are on stolen land. This was ours, and you will finally know it.”
Renee slid both hands into the air, lightning shooting down into the ground around us. Lightning so much like the storm that had brought Sage to us.
And then a wolf in the darkness blinked at us, his eyes red. Suddenly, he was gone, and I couldn’t think. Was that Oriel? Or something else?
Renee pushed fire at me again, and I did the same, our two plumes slamming into one another, arcing into a wave that took the rest of the coven’s power to keep confined so it didn’t burn down the town I was trying to save.
“Keep her focused. We’ll get her,” Rowen called out over the din of the roaring flames. I nodded, doing my part. I needed to keep Renee focused on me so the others could come at her.
I slashed out with blade after blade of fire as talons ripped into Renee’s side, trying to get through her personal wards. Renee fell to the ground, burns scorching her, blood pooling, and looked at me with wide eyes. I knew this could be the end. We were almost there—one step closer to Oriel and protecting our town.
And then a shockwave ran through us, and I flew back, hitting my head on the ground. Jaxton let out a pained sound as he landed next to me, and I went to him, both of us in human form now, holding onto one another as the ground shook and an earthquake carved a jagged line through the earth. I looked around to make sure we were all safe. Everybody was alive, but something was coming. Something was happening. Was this Oriel? Finally?
Smoke twisted around like a chain over Renee’s body. She gave me a wicked grin and glare, and then she was gone. The smoke had taken her, taken our enemy. It seemed the battle was over. For now.
I looked at my mate, then the others, then back at Jaxton before crushing my mouth to his, praying that we could rest if only for a moment.
We might have lost Renee, but we would find her again. I had to hope.
And then Ash’s hand was on my shoulder, pulling me up, and my brother held me.
I sank against my mate after Ash let me go and looked around at the members of the town who had come together to protect it, and I had to hope that we would be enough.
I had to have faith that we would find the strength to save Ravenwood. Once and for all.
Chapter
Twenty-Five
Oriel
Oriel set Renee down on the bed and whispered words of healing under his breath. The burns and scrapes began to close, even though they wouldn’t fully fade away. She would carry scars, but then again, she probably deserved them. She had failed. They all had failed. And now, he would have to get his hands dirty.
Oriel sighed and patted Renee’s broken cheek. “You did your best. But we are not finished yet.”
“He killed my mate,” she sputtered, her voice raw from screaming.
“William was weak. But you knew that.”
“He was mine,” she snapped.
“And he is no longer. I do regret his loss, just as I regret Faith’s. But needs are met, and now we have access to the core.”
She narrowed her eyes. “You used me as a distraction.”
Oriel grinned. “Of course, I did.” He let out a sigh. “What did you think I would do? Watch you make mistake after mistake? No, you did what you were supposed to do, just like William, just like Faith. But now I have access to the core of Ravenwood, and it will be ours.”
Mine.
Oriel sneered. It would be his alone, but he didn’t say that.
“Then what’s next?” she asked, pressing her hand to her wound.
“We heal you, we gather our forces, and then we finally take the town and the coven. And I take what’s mine.”
Renee passed out in pain, a small smile playing on her lips. She may grieve her mate, but she would mourn the power lost more if they weren’t careful.
Oriel shook his head and then turned on his heel, making his way to look out the window. He saw the town of Ravenwood below, although Rowen and anyone else would never know he was here. That was the strength of his magic. They would never know he had access to the power that was Ravenwood. Or that it was his.
He smiled and tapped his fingers to the glass, waiting for the right time.
“Okay, dear sister. You might have killed some of my team, but it was all written. Now, you’ll have to deal with me. You thought you were the last of the Ravenwoods? Oh, no, dear sister, how wrong you were. And soon, you’ll realize exactly how wrong you have always been. And how wrong you will always be.”
Chapter
Twenty-Six
Jaxton
My phoenix rode me, her grin fierce as she arched her hips, her pussy clamped like a vise around my cock. I reached up, brushed my thumbs across her nipples as she lowered her head, her fiery curls dancing around us. Her hair had gotten even redder after she came back and every time she turned into a phoenix, as if she were turning into pure flame, heart, and fire. And she was all mine.
I grinned and lifted my hips as I pounded into her. She rolled her hips above me, meeting me thrust for thrust.
“Fuck me harder, hawk of mine.”
“As long as you fuck me right back, witch.” She grinned and leaned down to kiss me before I turned us both, putting her on her hands and knees. I gripped her hips, her fiery wings flowing out around us, and grinned as I fucked her. I pounded into her as she arched back for me, flames dancing around us. My hawk flew around the mating bond to meet her anchor.
I had never known sex could be like this, that this kind of power could infiltrate us both, but this was everything.
When she came, she rolled her body back, her back to my chest, and I slid my fingers over her clit, my hands on her breasts as I bit down on her neck, claiming her as mine. She moaned my name, and then I filled her, coming hard as both of us shook. We fell to the bed, her wings disappearing into smoke as we kissed, loved, and simply lay there.
She looked up at me afterward as both of us lazily drew imaginary pictures over our anchors.
“Is it getting hotter, or is it just me?”
“Is that a line?” I asked with a laugh.
“I can’t believe this is our future,” she whispered.
“I can’t believe I almost lost you again.”
I would never forget the look on Renee’s face as she tried to kill Laurel, again and again, or the fact that we had only lost that part of the battle because of Oriel. A man we hadn’t seen, but we knew the taste of his power.
I leaned down and brushed my lips across hers, then nuzzled her and peppered more kisses down her neck and her chest as I sucked on her breasts. I couldn’t help it. I needed her taste on my tongue. My hand was still between her legs, gently playing with her slick folds, just us waking up in the morning before we had to meet with the coven to plan.
“Tomorrow, we will fight again, and again after, but we are stronger now than ever.”
I nodded, kissed her again, and removed my hand so I could hug her, hold her.
“And your sister’s safe?”
I cringed. “Let’s not talk about my sister while we’re naked and spooning.”
“Well, is she?”
I nodded, knowing it was important that we spoke of the details, even if it didn’t feel like this was the time. “Nelle will be within the fae lands for a while as she heals, but then she’ll be back.” I paused. “Her father is coming to visit.”
Laurel almost shot up off the bed. “The king of the mermaids is coming here to Ravenwood?”
“It seems like. There’s more than just Ravenwood now against Oriel. And the merpeople are spread out all over the world.” My mother had been working with her mate to speak to the others of the world to see what could be done. Ravenwood was important to the world for many reasons, and not just because it was the home of my heart.
We both took a minute to focus on that before I held her close and kissed her again.
“Okay, then. Things are happening.”
I nodded. “Quicker than any of us thought.”
Soon, we’d meet with the coven to make more plans for Oriel and for Ravenwood itself. For now, my sister was safe, stronger than ever—possibly even stronger than me.
My mate was whole, a power in her own right.
And we all had a purpose. The wing was strong. Coming into the future and navigating their own mistakes while rising above them.
We had plans. A future.
It had almost taken losing everything more than once for that to happen, but it was happening.
We were beyond dawn, beyond the dusk, turning into the next phase of our prophecy and path.
In the end, as I held my mate, I knew that we would have to get up soon, but I ignored all of it. I kissed Laurel, wondering how I was so lucky to finally be able to hold the woman I loved, the woman I had lost. The woman that was mine until the end of time.
Chapter
Twenty-Seven
Rowen
I was used to being alone. I had been alone for most of my life. My parents were gone. My family was gone. I was the last of the Ravenwoods. Named after an ancestor, and yet alone. It had taken years for our coven to become what it was. To find out who we could be if curses were broken, and we could find who we needed to be. And yet, I had almost lost all of that—multiple times.
Sage was back. No longer a distant memory of what I missed and what we had all forgotten. She was no longer being pushed away from the town because of a curse.
I moved into the kitchen, pulled out a bottle of pinot noir, uncorked it, and slowly poured myself a full glass. I considered drinking straight from the bottle after the events of that day, but I knew as I took a deep sip of my wine, the smoky flavor settling on my tongue, that I needed to sit in my meditation room and focus. I needed to set up my crystals and replenish the power that I had lost in that battle. Battle after battle, year after year, it wasn’t enough. I wasn’t enough.
But that was why we had a coven. That was why we had a prophecy set in stone for how we would fight the darkness. And that darkness was Oriel. It had always been, and yet he was strong enough to get past me. He’d hidden from me for so long that I hadn’t known exactly who was coming, and I still didn’t. Not until he was right in my face. That was because I wasn’t strong enough. I had never been. And that wasn’t like me. I needed to be strong enough. But then again, maybe that wasn’t the case. Maybe it couldn’t be the case.
Sage hadn’t been pushed away because of a spell of the town’s making. It had been Oriel. That was the only explanation. The town wouldn’t have pushed away one of its founding members. We wouldn’t have forgotten that she existed at times, or not known to pull her in until it was almost too late. That had to be Oriel. This necromancer was a power that I didn’t understand, and I hated that I didn’t. I needed to understand, and yet it wasn’t enough. How was I yet again not enough?
And then there was Laurel. Laurel, the sister of my heart and my coven member, the one who I had never been able to find a way to protect. I had put my heart and soul into finding new spells and ways to rip that curse from her. Only every time I did, it only hurt her worse, and I could feel it. Along our coven bonds, I felt the flames burning her, and there was nothing I could do. I would scream in my dreams as she burned and faded, and there was nothing I could do because of the Christopher curse. Because of something from long ago before we were born.
I took another sip of my drink and looked around my ancestral home that was far too big for one person.
I didn’t even have a familiar. I had lost my cat Samuel three years ago to old age. I hadn’t wanted to lengthen his life using a spell, coming so close to dark magic and necromancy that it would twist my soul. So, I had said goodbye to him, to my heart, much like I had said goodbye to everyone else.
We had lost Trace, Penelope, Alden, William. We had lost countless others in the fights against Oriel and those he sent after us. I had nearly lost the family of my making, Nelle, and so many others.
And every time I tried to formulate a plan to go at Oriel head-to-head, he wouldn’t let us. He was the one in control. I was the Ravenwood witch. I was a formidable power. And yet, I could not win in this.
I’d lost.
And I didn’t even know how.
I felt him near the wards of my home even before he hit my doorstep.
I had known he would come.
I would always know when he was there, even if I told myself that he shouldn’t be. That I wasn’t that woman.
I opened the door, wine in hand, and looked at Ash.
He was the boy I’d loved. But I didn�
�t recognize the man.
He stood there in his thousand-dollar suit, shirt unbuttoned at the top, his hair falling over his face. He was gorgeous, seemingly sculpted from stone with a jawline made of granite. His dark, piercing eyes were far darker than they had ever been before.
He was of the Christopher line, Laurel’s brother, but he was also the man of my heart, the man of my past. But not of my future.
“I know we planned with the group, but it’s our turn, Rowen. It’s time for us to come together so we can fight the darkness.”
He said the words, but there was nothing in them. No emotion, no feeling. Nothing.
It was as if he said the words by rote, and I couldn’t recognize the man that stood in front of me.
I sipped my drink and took a step back. “Come in, Ash. I suppose it’s time we talked.”
He walked past me, gently brushing his arm against mine, and I knew it was an accident. He wouldn’t even do it instinctually. He didn’t have the capacity any longer.
I closed the door, swallowed my emotions. Because he wasn’t mine anymore—maybe he had never been.
I pressed my palm to the aged wood of my door, ensured the town’s wards that were slowly draining me dry despite the coven’s help were intact, as well as the wards around my home, and then closed it. When I turned to my soulmate, I met his gaze.
Could a person be a soulmate to someone without a soul?
That was the question for the ages. The question of my past and my future.
Ash Christopher was my soulmate. My path.
But he had lost his soul.
And he could never be mine.
Ash and Rowen’s romance completes the Ravenwood Coven Trilogy in Evernight Unleashed.
Finally.
A Note from Carrie Ann Ryan
Thank you so much for reading DUSK UNVEILED!
Dusk Unveiled (Ravenwood Coven Book 2) Page 19