The Reaver Chronicles: Raziel

by Gift .

  This can’t be, if this happens I will be with him forever! I said to myself. Well, would it really be that bad? I thought back, Yes, yes it would! I want to be with Raziel! I shot back. This internal dialogue went nowhere because Wynter was also on his side. This was fucking hopeless.

  Then I thought about it, I can’t use magic, I can’t mind link anyone, but what about the shadows?? You can't tell me that magic is powerful enough to block the shadows..

  I started focusing on calling them forward which was a lot harder than it was the first time, thanks to this fucking bracelet, I figured. Just as Raphael sat up and went to flick his wrist, no doubt to remove my remaining clothes, a curtain of relief showered over me as I felt the familiar icy chill to the bone.

  The plethora of tendrils came snaking out of nowhere and everywhere all at once. For the first time I had somewhat body clarity, I sliced my hand open “Drink” I said.

  I locked eyes with Raphael as the tendrils snaked their way past him and up my arm to happily oblige. I saw the terror in his eyes, then it changed to confusion. I was able to maneuver myself away from him and off the bed. He just stood up at the end of the bed and didn't move.

  “How, how is this possible?” He asked the Shadows. “We are here to make dealss, we made a deal with you to get Rayne, we fulfilled our part, you have her. Now she is here to make a deal with uss.” They hissed. “You were supposed to stop her from being able to use any magic, and give me complete control!” He spewed, He was fucking pissed.

  So that’s what he did, he made a deal with the shadows, what a damn snake, I thought. “We did, you have had complete control, she cannot use magic.” They hissed.

  “Then how are you here!?” Raphael snarled through gritted teeth. “We are not magic, we are not called by magic, we are the shadowss, we are everywhere and nowhere, we are not magic.” They slithered.

  “You Sli-” Raphael started to say but was suddenly silenced by the shadows. “Enough!” The shadows roared causing us both to flinch. They turned to me, “What is it you wish for princesss?” They questioned in a calmer tone.

  I tried to stay strong in front of them. As much as I didn't want to admit it, the shadows scared the ever living hell out of me. “First I want this magic barrier removed.” I said. “They had already drank my blood and that must have sufficed their price because they suddenly surrounded my wrist and shattered the bracelet into tiny pieces sending shards flying all over the room.

  I grabbed my wrist and rubbed my hand across it, I instantly felt the body fog dissipating. As soon as it was all gone, and I was back to normal I could feel the familiar tingling in the palm of my hand, my magic was back! My body was my own as well! I was able to freely move and react. My mark was still tingling in proximity to Raphael, but it was something I could withstand.

  Within an instant of my hand tingling, Raziel materialized right behind me. “Shadows, remove this mark from me” I commanded.

  “The price is steep, a bond for a bond, you already know the price. Do you accept?” They slithered.

  “No!!” Raziel shouted and he reached for my arm.

  “I accept,” I snarled, before I even realized he was there.

  Chapter 42

  (Raziel)

  I was pacing in my brother's room trying to figure out what the hell to do, how to find the gate and stop my devious brother from completing the mating ritual with the woman I loved. When suddenly, I felt it, Rayne was using magic! That meant the barrier was down, she was no longer hidden!

  I materialized to her in an instant, just in time to hear her ask the shadows to remove the mark. I knew the price, it was a bond for a bond. A price that was too steep, especially if I were her intended mate. Even though the chances were so slim, it was a possibility I wasn't willing to give up.

  “No!!” I shouted, as I reached for her arm, but it was too late. “I accept” She snarled. And before I could get to her, she was engulfed in Shadows. They were only on her for a second before they started disappearing into nothing, and everything.

  I materialized in front of her and inspected her. Her face was perfect, nothing of Raphael's mark was left, not even a trace. It was as if it was never there.

  She had a deep emptiness in her eyes though as she fell to her knees, and I could almost feel the mate bond shattering in her scream. Tears came rolling down her face in waves, she clutched her chest, and it was as if all the air were sucked from her lungs.

  She was struggling to breathe. I watched in agony because I couldn’t do anything to help her. She had just given up her mate bond, for me. Guilt flooded into my chest. I should have gotten here sooner, I should have stopped her, I should have done more.

  She let out another scream, and It felt as if I could feel the bond breaking right along with her. I caught her as she fell all the way to the floor in a crumpled mess. I held her while she wept and mourned the loss of her future mate.

  I could hear Wynters agonizing cries and realized that she was not only dealing with her own loss, but Wynters too. She put her hands on her head and I held her while she mourned.

  Raphael’s eyes were wide in shock at the scene. He hadn’t moved a muscle from the space he was standing in, shirtless, which made my anger even worse. But right now I wasn’t worried about him, I was only worried about her.

  Raphael walked over, “Rayne, I’m.. I'm so sorry.” He said as he fell to his knees in front of us. She didn’t acknowledge him, she was too lost in her agony. I locked eyes with him, my glare was deadly.

  “You did this! You are the cause of this!” I snarled. My anger seemed to make Rayne weep harder. I stopped and took a deep breath in, while trying to calm her.

  "You have been fucking with the time, speeding it up and thinking no one noticed. You've been calling the shadows, getting yourself mixed up in their prices which I'm sure wasn't beneficial to you. Using them to try and force an innocent into loving you…and not just any innocent, MY innocent. Who the fuck are you Raphael?" I spat.

  “I swear Raziel, I honestly never once thought she would give up her mate bond to rid herself of my mark. I never would have done this had I known she was that attached to you. I honestly thought she was just a fling or maybe her feelings were easily swayed. I didn't know her feelings for you were this deep. I swear, brother.” Raphael stammered.

  He ignored most of my questions, but I could tell he was being sincere. It still didn’t make me feel any better. “This isn’t over, brother." I said and materialized myself and Rayne to the only place I could think of to keep him away from us. The gate to the grotto.

  I took the gold key and opened the gate. I picked Rayne up, closed the gate and started towards the entrance to the grotto. She was still weeping but softer now. I walked the short path with her in my arms and moved the vines overhanging the entrance.

  I brought her inside and set her softly on the purple and blue grass. She looked up at me, her eyes were bloodshot from crying, and her cheeks were tear streaked but she was still the most beautiful woman I had ever laid my eyes on.

  “I’m so, so, sorry” She said softly. More tears falling from her eyes. “I couldn’t let him make the mark permanent, I couldn't be with him.” She whispered. “He used the shadows to stop me from being able to use magic, and they gave him complete control of my body. My mind was there, but my body wouldn’t do anything I wanted it to, only what he wanted. I know it was drastic, but I had no other choice.” She said with longing and sadness in her eyes.

  I could tell she was distraught over the entire situation. My blood was boiling. I wanted to materialize to Raphael and slit his throat right then and there, brother or not. I didn't even fucking care. But I couldn’t leave her right now, not after this.

  She buried her face in my chest again, and just wept. I told myself I never wanted to witness a mate bond shatter, ever again. It was the most excruciating experience. I was helpless, watching the woman I love hurt so badly.

  My mind instantly went to Alpha Drake, a
nd wondered if this is what he was like too. When I got to him he had an empty expression on his face, but I could see the hurt and emotions in his eyes.

  I wondered if Rayne would be like that too, and how long this would continue to affect her. I snapped to speed up time in hopes that it would lessen the amount of time she had to endure this agonizing pain. After what seemed like forever and she couldn't have possibly had another tear to shed, she stood up.

  She grabbed my hands and helped me up so we were face to face. She still looked distraught, and I bet if she had any moisture left in her body she would still be crying. She did however have something new in her eyes, a fire? Something was different.

  “I don’t regret it, and I would do it again if it meant I could be with you.” She stated. It was in that moment that I realized just how deep her feelings ran. I already knew, but this really confirmed it.

  Even after knowing how it felt to lose her mate bond, and being in this kind of agony she was still willing to do it again. I still felt guilty as hell, and I'm not sure I would ever get over it.

  Giving her mate bond to the shadows means she wouldn't be eligible to find a mate when she turned 21. It was gone for good. No getting back in the mating pool later on. I couldn't help but feel that it was my fault.

  My fucking brother, I could strangle him. “I know you would, darling. But you will never have to go through this again” I said back, caution in my voice.

  Something felt different, I was getting a different type of energy flowing from her delicate body. “I want you to mark me, Raziel.” She said, with more conviction. “I want the world to know just who I belong to, and I want to make sure that Raphael can never fucking mark me again.” She spewed that last part, anger clear in her voice.

  “Darling, wouldn’t you like to wait a while? You know, until you start feeling better?” I asked curiously. I mean she had just been through an extremely traumatic experience due to being marked, I had thought she wouldn’t want to jump right into it again this fast.

  “Now, Raziel, fucking mark me” She commanded. Her tone caught me off guard, but also turned me on. I looked deep into her Platinum Silver eyes, she was in there, but there was also an emptiness, a darkness brewing. It was coming and I was planning on being there through it all.

  “Ok, Darling. Whatever you wish” I purred.

  Chapter 43

  I placed my hand on the right side of Raynes face, she closed her eyes and let me do my work. Within seconds her face was marked. I stood back to admire my work. God she was so goddamn beautiful, even an angry, dark, empty mess.

  And she was all mine now, my mark was a gold crescent moon adorned in filigree and vines that flowed around the crescent and down her neck. It was large, much like Raphaels mark, but different in many ways.

  It was glittering as she moved around in the sunlight and I couldn't help but fall more in love with her knowing that someday that mark would be permanent. “Your will is done, my love” I purred to her.

  I thought I saw a sparkle in her eye for a second, but it quickly returned to the darkness that I was starting to grow accustomed to. I knew what the mark did to her, how it affected her, especially when I was around, so it didn't surprise me when she pulled me in for a deep kiss.

  Lightning bolts struck through my entire body at her advance. I gripped her harder, pulling her into me. She was unaware, but the mark works both ways. The feelings she feels I also feel.

  The mark originally works in two ways, intensifying what’s already there or creating new feelings if there were none. This is why I never marked her previously, I wanted her to choose me on her own, not because of a stupid mark. Now that she had chosen me, the mark would just intensify those feelings.

  Though marking someone did ensure that even if their feelings faltered in the future, they would be replaced by false feelings. I was trapping her in a way, but isn’t that how the mate bond worked too? Like a thick cord that attached 2 beings, and forced their lives together?

  The mate bond... A pang of guilt flooded back through me at that thought. My thoughts were interrupted when I felt that familiar tingle of Rayne using magic! She pulled away from the kiss and held out her hands palms up, showing they were glowing green with fire.

  This was the second time she used magic recently and I was starting to wonder if she had figured out how to control it, or some of it at least. “Raziel, teach me to control this. I need to learn to control my Reaver abilities” She asked softly, and for a minute It sounded like she was back to her old self, but the darkness returned immediately and she was gone.

  She was fighting an internal battle that I wasn’t sure she would win. Having this amount of unbridled power at her disposal while she was in this fragile state scared the hell out of me. But who was I to tell her no?

  “Of course, darling.” I said as I took her hand in mine palms up and started her first real lesson.

  (Rayne)

  I couldn’t explain to you the pain and agony I was feeling. Who had known that losing your mate bond would affect you so hard? I never fathomed in a million years that I would be this distraught over it.

  No matter what I did I couldn’t stop crying over my loss. Even knowing that I could choose my own mate, I could mark anyone I wanted, I still couldn’t step out from this dark place.

  Wynters agony topled with mine was a volatile mix of emotion that neither of us could escape from. I never thought the tears would end. It seemed like hours upon hours before I was finally able to gather enough composure to sit up and apologize to Raziel for what I had done.

  He had to know that I had no choice, I couldn’t become Raphaels high Priestess, I couldn't become his mate. It was everything I had to keep composure long enough to explain what he had been doing to me before I broke down again.

  The thing is, feeling like a part of you is missing, gone forever, and knowing you will never get it back, is something I wouldn’t wish upon my worst enemy.

  After what seemed like more hours of losing my shit I finally decided enough was enough. I stood up, grabbed Razields hands and pulled him up with me, and looked straight into his beautiful gold eyes.

  “I don’t regret it, and I would do it again if it meant I could be with you.” I said and I meant every word. I would do it 1,000 times if I had to, in order to be with him. I hoped he honestly knew how deep my loyalty to him ran.

  I knew exactly who I wanted to be with, no questions asked. I thought I saw something flash in his eyes, guilt maybe? He thought this was his fault because Raphael was his brother. That made my blood boil, he couldn’t choose his brothers actions, or control them. This was not his fault, not even a little bit.

  “I know you would, darling. But you will never have to go through this again” Raziel said carefully. As if not to anger me. I wasn't sure why he would be worried about angering me, but we were just in a delicate situation, maybe he was being cautious.

  That’s when I felt it, an icy chill, not as cold as the shadows, but it also had a warmth to it. It was like a cold chill that filled my entire body, but also warmed it. I can’t explain the feeling, but it was something I had never felt before.

  “What is that?” Wynter asked, she was as curious as I was. “I have no idea?” I said back, “but it’s sort of, comforting? How strange..” I said, more to myself than anything.

  I had decided just then that it was time for Raziel to mark me. I wasn't about to let myself get marked by anyone else, especially Raphael if he were to try again and I wouldn't even put it past him. I wouldn’t ever be put through this agony again.

  Wynter agreed, the time was now. “I want you to mark me, Raziel.” I stated. “I want the world to know just who I belong to, and I want to make sure that Raphael can never fucking mark me again.” I spewed that last part, I was pissed even saying his name.

  I felt the icy warmth wash over me as I said it, and felt somewhat better. “Darling, wouldn’t you like to wait a while? You know, until you start feeling better?”
Raziel asked curiously. I know he was just being sincere and looking out for my best interest.