WAKENED (The Silvervane Chronicles Book 1)

by Rachel Berlynn

  Aylie watched the way they all interacted with Ryder in mild bewilderment, wondering what could have caused such a change of heart among the very students who had spread such awful rumors about him only a matter of weeks ago. It was like he had gone from zero to hero in an instant. She didn’t quite know what to make of it.

  When lunch was over, Ryder and his cousins walked her to her next class.

  “We’re so happy to finally meet you,” Colin said, his gray eyes resting on her face. “We’ve heard so much about you.”

  “You’ll be joining us tonight I hear,” Roman said with a wicked sideways glance. “Good choice.”

  Aylie swallowed imperceptibly. Ryder squeezed her hand, rubbing his shoulder against hers as they walked slowly through the halls.

  You’re going to be fine, he assured her.

  She took a deep breath and kissed him on the cheek, parting ways with them as she went into the French room.

  Ren was waiting for her at her desk, “That was interesting,” she mused, watching Ryder and his cousins as they disappeared down the hall.

  “Yeah. I had no idea they were going to be coming here.”

  “They kind of gave me a weird vibe,” Ren murmured quietly.

  Aylie looked down at her French notebook. “Yeah.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  “Y ou’re doing the right thing,” uncle Alexander said, smiling at Ryder approvingly as he drew the long, black cloak up around his nephew’s shoulders. He allowed the hood to rest at his back until the ceremony started. “And might I add how glad I am to hear that your girlfriend will be joining us as well—it would have been a pity for her to reject us.”

  Uncle Alexander’s twisted smile was unsettling. Ryder cringed inwardly, hoping that he hadn’t unknowingly endangered Aylie by asking her to join Edryd’s Order with him. If his uncle was hiding the true nature of what they were about to become a part of, both her and her family could be in a very perilous position. He could only hope that his newfound faith in his uncle wasn’t misplaced and that everything was going to work out for both of them.

  Ryder followed his uncle through the tunnels to the Order’s official underground headquarters. He ignored the uneasy sensations in the pit of his stomach and focused on the tunnel walls, which were covered in spray painted graffiti of Order symbols, sacred phrases, and ceremonial words known only by its elite members. He was impatient to reach his destination and make sure that Aylie had been escorted there safely. He had wanted to be the one to bring her through the tunnels her first time, but his uncle had forbidden it and had sent Colin instead. Ryder had been forced to relent, agreeing that it would be better for Colin to fetch her than for Roman to do it.

  Ryder pictured Aylie in his mind. They had probably blindfolded her just like they’d blindfolded him when he’d come the first time. It was apparently their practice with anyone who was not officially part of the Order and it helped them maintain secrecy and discretion in the midst of outsiders. Their method made sense, but it seemed a little uncivil to him. He was sure Aylie would be scared and anxious, but his hands had been tied in the matter and he felt powerless to do anything about it.

  When they finally arrived, Ryder scanned the room for Aylie frantically.

  “Relax cousin,” Roman said, sidling up next to him. “She’s right over there.” He pointed to a row of chairs in front of the low, wooden platform in the center of the room. A solitary cloaked figure was seated with her hood drawn over her head. He walked over to her quickly, sitting down beside her. He took her hands in his. They were as cold as ice. He reached for the hood of her cloak, pushing it back so that he could see her face. Her blond hair shimmered in a long braid down her back, but her eyes looked hallow and her lips were almost blue.

  “Aylie,” he said, staring into her eyes. “What’s wrong?”

  She lifted her gaze slowly from the floor to his face. The fear in her eyes was so pronounced that it sent a shiver down his spine. “Ryder,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

  He felt the erratic beating of her heart, the fear flowing through her veins. He sensed the weight of her anxiety and his determination faltered. “I don’t think we can back out now,” he murmured, swallowing the lump in the back of his throat.

  “Truer words were never spoken,” his uncle said, approaching them humorlessly. “The ceremony is about to begin.”

  Alexander Payne took the platform, waiting for the crowd of hooded figures to find their places in the giant circle around the perimeter of the room. Ryder helped Aylie to her feet, leading her up to the edge of the platform. There was a wooden table in the middle of it, with a clay basin and a ceremonial knife wrapped in an ornate strip of cloth sitting on top of it. They stepped onto the platform and Alexander instructed both of them to kneel down in front of the basin. He unwrapped the ceremonial knife, holding it above his head as he began to chant. The circle of cloaked figures joined in, repeating the chant over and over, getting louder each time.

  Finally Alexander lowered the knife and the chant ceased. Everyone watched as he drew the tip of the sharp blade across the meat of his own palm. Then he reached for Ryder’s hand, slashing his nephew’s palm as he’d done to his own. Blood dripped freely from the gashes in their palms, flowing into the silver basin as they grasped each other’s forearms in a ceremonial blood oath.

  Next, it was Aylie’s turn. Ryder was instructed to use the ceremonial knife to cut both of Aylie’s palms, the flesh above her heart, and the skin at her throat. Since she was an outsider being brought into the Order, her blood was considered impure and would need to be cleansed in order for her to join their ranks. Ryder had known nothing about this part of the ceremony before he’d arrived and his face blanched as he realized what he was being asked to do. He saw the absolute loathing in Roman’s eyes and the sneer of satisfaction on his uncle’s face.

  With a sickening wave of certainty, Ryder understood his uncle’s intentions now. If he refused to carry out Aylie’s rite of passage his uncle would, and he would probably bleed her to death on purpose. If Ryder agreed to do it, however, there was still a possibility that she would bleed out if he didn’t cut her in exactly the right places and stop the bleeding in time. A sudden hatred for his uncle coursed through Ryder’s body, but there was nothing he could do about it now. He could only guess at the depraved nature of his uncle’s power and he didn’t want to put Aylie in more danger than she was already in.

  He understood now why her face had been so pale…why her blood had frozen in her veins. Colin must have warned her about what was coming and she’d been trapped before Ryder had even known what was happening. She’d been willing to stay for his sake, and he loved her for it. He stared at his uncle, repulsed at the wicked gleam in the man’s sardonic eyes.

  “Well?” His uncle asked, his lips curing into a wicked grin.

  “Are you prepared to do what is necessary?”

  Ryder took a deep breath and forced all emotion from his face. He knelt down in front of Aylie’s rigid body. She was still on her knees and the fear on her face was evident. He

  stared into her scared eyes. Without blinking, he took the knife from his uncle’s hand…the one still dripping with his own blood, and grasped it firmly.

  Are you ready? He asked silently.

  She nodded, closing her eyes and tilting her head back slightly to expose her neck to him.

  I’m so sorry, he thought, as he drew the blade of the knife across the skin of her pale, white throat.

  Keep Reading for a preview of

  CHOSEN

  A Silvervane Chronicle

  Book II

  CHOSEN

  - A Silvervane Chronicle -

  Book II

  Rachel Berlynn

  CHAPTER ONE

  A ylie knelt on the platform in front of Ryder’s uncle, trying to keep her lips from quivering. Colin had told her what was going to happen to her during her rite of passage and it
was more horrifying than anything she could have imagined. What made it worse, was the fact that Ryder would be forced to perform the cleansing ritual himself. If he refused, his uncle would do it for him, and it was very clear from the cold, hard look in Alexander’s eyes that death would be preferable.

  She looked around the room at the cloaked Order members as they stood in a large circle around her, chanting their pagan ritual rites. She recognized Judge Kavanagh first, flanked by both of her children—Sophia and Kyle. Her eyes caught his and he looked away, dropping his gaze to the ground guiltily. His behavior at the lunch table earlier was starting to make a little more sense now. His girlfriend Addison was standing to his left, avoiding eye contact with her at all costs. As she continued to scan the room, Aylie noticed Police Chief Blair and even Coach Cole. Ryder’s housekeeper and Butler stood in the back of the room, as if guarding the door against intruders. If she hadn’t been in such a precarious position she might have laughed at the irony of it all. The least likely of Silvervane’s citizens all coming together to bind themselves in allegiance to Edryd’s Order.

  Her heart stopped when she recognized the person closest to the platform on the far left. She hadn’t noticed him at first because she’d been too busy taking everything in when she’d first arrived. Her eyes settled on him now in horrified disbelief. He returned her gaze, unflinching in his betrayal. Lucas Bryant stood only a few feet from her, dressed in the same black cloak as the other members of the Order. He showed no remorse as he watched her preparing to face her potential demise. Her eyes stung with tears that could not be shed, as Ryder took the knife from his uncle and knelt down on the ground in front of her.

  Are you ready? He asked soundlessly.

  He was asking her the same question Ruah had repeated over and over in her dreams. The irony wasn’t lost on her, even in this perilous moment. Aylie closed her eyes, hoping that the lion was somehow with her now as she put her life in Ryder’s shaking hands.

  I’m so sorry, he said to her wordlessly, just before he drew the cold, silver blade across her throat. She survived the first cut, as he skillfully sliced the skin at her throat just enough to draw blood but not enough to bleed her to death. The trail left by the blade was stinging as he slowly pulled her cloak away from her shoulder, exposing her collarbone and the top of her left breast. He sliced a star-shaped pattern over her heart, just as his uncle had forced him to. This cut was much more intricate and hurt far worse than the first. It was all she could do not to scream out in pain. She wanted to run from the room, but she didn’t know what Ryder’s uncle would do. With grim determination, she remained where she was, kneeling motionlessly on the wooden platform as small streams of blood dripped down the front of her cloak.

  She studied Ryder’s face to keep her mind off of the searing pain, as he took her hands in his to perform the last part of the ritual. His expression was completely blank, as if he had no remorse for the pain he was inflicting on her. Only his emotional connection to her betrayed his true feelings and the anguish hiding just beneath the surface. He hated himself for what he was doing and he wanted to kill his uncle for lying to him and putting her life in danger. He wanted to comfort her, but he had to finish this or things would get much worse.

  He’d saved her palms for last, and she wasn’t worried about them since she’d survived the other two, riskier incisions. She gritted her teeth as the agonizing pain from the other two cuts threatened to make her faint. Blood was dripping down her neck and her chest as Ryder drew the knife across her palms, one at a time. When he’d finished, he clasped both of her hands in his, looking into her eyes reassuringly. Alexander draped the ornamental cloth over their joined hands, chanting something that sounded like Latin.

  Aylie didn’t know the exact words they were saying, but she knew the ritual was meant to join her and Ryder together in a bond that could only be broken by death. Collin had explained the purpose of the ritual to her before the ceremony, but she’d forgotten most of what he’d said until now. The blood-bond made them responsible for each other and accountable for one another’s actions. If she defected, she would bring a curse on Ryder, even if he chose to remain loyal to the Order and vice versa. It was basically their version of a marriage covenant with a much stricter pre-nuptial contract signed in their own blood.

  Alexander removed the strip of cloth and forced them both to stand, resting their joined hands over the silver basin so that the blood from their palms might mingle and fill the bottom of it. She’d lost so much blood already that she began to feel lightheaded and her vision blurred. Ryder tried to help her from the platform. With a stab of pain, she fainted in his arms before her feet even touched the ground.

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