Raven's Blood

by Cassandra Lawson

Chapter Thirty-One

  Raven watched with a satisfied smile as Connor rubbed his wrists. He’d been cocky about this training, just like the others. They’d gotten even worse when Norah had shown up. Everyone had insisted it was a bad idea because Norah wasn’t much of a fighter. Norah was a fast learner, and she’d quickly put the others to shame. Her wrists were sore, too, but she wasn’t rubbing them. Raven was feeling pretty proud of her new friend.

  She knew Norah was still having a hard time adjusting to life without Rand. Norah also felt somewhat left behind by all her childhood friends. They were all part of the council that ruled this vampire locality, except Norah. While she’d fought with them during the initial revolution, she’d always felt she was more of a liability than an asset.

  It seemed Norah was tired of hiding in her house and letting others take care of her. Raven knew this was a way to give her friend some confidence. Even if Norah never fought a real opponent, she would know she could. Her friends, who’d been coddling her since the death of her husband, would know she could fight, too.

  “You did great!” Raven told Norah, giving her a one-armed hug.

  “I’ve changed my mind,” Simon announced. “I wouldn’t keep her tied to my bed all the time. I’d take the badass nymph out to fight with me.”

  Ian gave a genuine smile as he studied Raven with Norah. “I’m surprised you aren’t fantasizing about both of them. They look pretty damn hot.”

  “Ew!” Simon shuddered as he looked at Norah. “Norah’s like a sister to me. That would just be gross.”

  “That didn’t stop Connor,” Shelby chimed in.

  “I’m pretty sure incest is the least of Connor’s sins,” Ian said in a light tone, catching Raven off guard.

  “Um, hello,” Norah interrupted with a hand in the air. “Did you idiots forget we’re standing right here?”

  “They’re acting like douche sacks,” Raven stated.

  Everyone burst into laughter. Connor wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.

  “I didn’t get that one right, did I?” she asked.

  “Close,” Connor assured her, trying to control his laughter. “I like it better the way you say it.”

  “It’s not nice to tease me,” Raven complained with a pout.

  “Yeah, Con,” Ian began, his lips twitching. “Stop being a douche sack.”

  They all quickly sobered when Raven asked, “What did you find out from the turned vampires you questioned yesterday?”

  “What makes you think we learned anything?” Simon asked casually.

  “Lucky guess,” Raven replied dryly. “You’ve all been dancing around this subject when I’m in the room. As much as I like seeing you work together on something, I’m not thrilled about you working together to hide things from me.”

  “Nothing concrete yet, but there is something off about all of this,” Connor admitted. “We think the newly turned vampires are being controlled by someone, but we don’t know who or why. We’re taking Mitchell, the turned vampire we captured, over to see Dr. Moon as soon as we clean up. Hopefully, he can come up with some answers.”

  “We all felt it was better to put off telling you any of this until we had more information,” Simon added.

  Raven glared at Connor and worked hard to resist the temptation to smack him with one of her sticks. Without thinking, she stepped away from him and widened her stance. “You all decided to lie to me? I get that I’m not one of you, so I’m not on the need to know list, but why were you avoiding telling me? What am I missing?”

  All three men looked at their feet, while Shelby pretended not to hear the question.

  Finally, Norah spoke. “This is the first I’ve heard about any of this, but I’m guessing they think your human settlement might be at risk.”

  Raven gasped. “If it is, then what?” she asked with a shaky voice.

  “That’ll be up to you,” Connor replied.

  “Don’t say something stupid,” Ian warned. “Just keep your mouth shut until you’ve thought this through.”

  Connor ignored him. “If they are at risk, we can try to send them a message, but they likely won’t get it. Even if they do, they probably won’t believe us.”

  Raven nodded. “They’ll think it’s some sort of trap. They don’t even know there’s a difference between born and turned vampires.”

  “The other option is to send you back to warn them,” Connor explained.

  “You would just let me go back?” she asked.

  Connor nodded. “I don’t want to, but I’ll let you decide. That’s only if we find strong evidence your human settlement is at risk. Keep in mind, they may not believe a word you say.”

  Raven wasn’t sure what to say. She’d wanted to go home from the beginning, and now she might get her chance. Of course, that would mean her friends were in danger.

  “I want to go over to see Muriel and the baby,” Raven said softly.

  “I’ll walk you over now,” Connor offered.

  “Norah can walk with me,” Raven insisted.

  She saw the hurt in Connor’s eyes, but he quickly masked it.

  “Fine,” he agreed. “I’ll pick you up after we come back from seeing Dr. Moon.”

  Raven nodded and walked off with Norah by her side.