The Raven Queen

by Emma Jayne Mills

  Marco, who hadn’t left Ireland, had been in constant contact with them since the tournament, keeping them updated on Melaina’s condition. She was out of control. He, Darius and Iolar, with the backing of the Laignach Faelad team, were doing everything they could to bring her back. In her few moments of coherence, she spoke only of revenge and pain and finding a man named Elijah. The remainder of her time in human form, she attacked anyone who approached her. Marco had gotten closer than the others, it seemed she acknowledged their mate bond, but was still wary of him and wouldn’t allow him to get within touching distance. In animal form, she ran from them. Her cat had tasted human blood and wanted more. She spent much of her time in animal form and her warriors feared she would soon forget how to shift back if they couldn’t reach her. Finn trailed them at a distance, they assumed because he was also bonded to her. He refused to make contact though, so although they gave him the benefit of the doubt, they also watched him closely.

  “Addie explained Mel’s situation a little more. There is no such thing as evil magic, only evil witches. However, a witch can be persuaded to use her magic for evil. There is scope for her to be turned either way before she gains full control,” Aurora explained to Jax. “I got the impression she went through something similar herself, but we didn’t have time to talk properly.”

  “What about you?” Jax’s concern for her showed through his mask of humour. “As much as the idea of tracking you appeals to me, I don’t want an evil mate. You’re vicious in the bedroom, let’s keep it there, yeah?”

  “Apparently, I somehow already decided, unconsciously, before my magic manifested. I also had no outside influences or trauma to sway me either way.” She shoved his shoulder in response to his joking. “Mel, because of her past, has reason to rebel against everything. She doesn’t know how to trust and she wants revenge for what has been done to her.”

  “Have you thought any more about how we’re going to get her back?” Jax asked.

  “Not yet,” she sighed. He reached out to enfold her in his arms and kissed her forehead. Feeling his worry, she reassured him, “I’m ok.”

  “I know you are. I can feel it. I also know you’ll only show me when you aren’t.”

  “Show off.”

  “You love me.”

  “Yeah, I do.” She kissed him then, pulling him towards her and wrapping her arms around his neck. He returned the kiss, filling it with his love. Until they were interrupted.

  “Got the book.” Cole marched into the room with Hunter on his heels.

  “Are you two going to be eating each other’s faces all the time now?” Caspian moaned, as he wandered into the room with Lykos and flopped into a chair.

  “Every chance we get.” Jax grinned, holding out a hand to fist bump Zane, who had entered the room behind Lykos.

  Caspian, still being the Stratitori pack’s beta, was dividing his time between the pack, Lykos, and Melaina’s warriors. His new bond troubled him and he was moving between the three to allow himself time to deal with it. It seemed he had undergone a personality transplant since the tournament and had found a sense of responsibility. He’d “pulled it out of his arse reeking of shit” according to Jax, who was adamant his brother still shouldn’t be trusted. Aurora wondered how things would work out with both him and Finn as Melaina’s warriors. Two obvious fuckwits on her team could prove catastrophic. Only time would tell. For now, she was happy to have Caspian where she could keep an eye on him, taking the pressure off Marco.

  “We need to look at our histories,” Aurora said, as she sat. Jax pulled her chair close to his, his intention to keep her stress levels low with his touch. While she was beginning to gain control of her magic, strong emotions were still a major trigger for her.

  “There must be near a thousand pages in this thing, but we found the pages that might help.” Cole laid the thick book on the dining table and flicked through the pages, while they waited for everyone to take seats.

  “Here.” He pointed at the text and turned the book around so the group could see. “Each heading is a warrior’s name. Underneath, is their connection to the original raven queen.”

  “There’s a weird rhyme for each one too,” Hunter provided. “Nothing that makes sense, mine is something about a king without a reign but still a king. I can’t remember exactly, but it’s pure gobbledegook.

  “I never did get your story,” Aurora thought out loud.

  “It’s nothing complicated,” Hunter offered. “My parents were killed by another pride and I refused to take the throne.”

  “You’re an alpha?” Aurora gasped.

  “No, lions don’t have alphas the way wolves do. We have a dominant male within the pride, sort of royalty. I was my father’s eldest son, next in line, but I didn’t want it. I left it to my younger brother and went in search of the Laignach Faelad.”

  “You’re a king!”

  “I’m a warrior,” he corrected.

  “Your rhyme makes perfect sense,” she said. “A king without a reign.”

  “I think the rhymes could be significant,” Cole remarked. “They’re going to take some figuring out though.”

  “Let’s just stick to the history for now then,” Aurora decided. “We can unravel riddles later.”

  “All of our family names are listed,” Lykos observed, reading the passage below his name, confirming what Veronica had told them. “It’s all true, the dagger came from my grandmother’s family.”

  “Here’s Marco, the Byrne line descends from shifters on his father’s side, which we knew. And witches, namely the Cleary Coven, on his mothers.” Cole looked at Aurora. The entire pack was feeling Marco’s absence, but knew he was where he needed to be. “It shows your connection to him too.”

  “And there’s my grandmother, she has a connection to witches through the mate bond,” Aurora pointed out.

  “True,” Cole acknowledged. “I can’t believe Aislinn hid her identity from you for so long, that must have taken some effort.”

  “Hmm,” Aurora agreed, leaning into Jax’s arm.

  Aurora had deliberately avoided thinking of Aislinn since the tournament. She would have to face her betrayal eventually, just not yet. Though they had never been particularly close as mother and daughter, she had thought her to be a good person. Aislinn had always doted on Marco and that she could be so cold to him angered Aurora greatly. She had hidden her true identity for so long. Addie had told them Aislinn had been cloaked, in much the same way Aurora had been as a child, but with a spell that projected a shifter rather than a witch. Had Connell known?

  “Cole, your parents are doctors, right?” Hunter asked, looking at the writing underneath his teammate’s name.

  “That’s right, they work in human hospitals. Mama is a homeopathic practitioner and Papa is a chemist,” Cole confirmed.

  “It says your parents are both descended from the Triora witches of Italy,” Hunter read. “The witches of Triora were burned in the trials that came to be known as the Salem of Europe.”

  “You descend from William too,” Lykos pointed out. “Didn’t Drake say he was a lion?”

  “He did,” Hunter nodded, feeling a little overwhelmed at the revelations.

  “And Zane, your mother’s side is connected to the Harrington witches, through marriage.” Lykos looked to him.

  “That’s correct,” he confirmed. “One of my great grandfathers was bonded to a Harrington witch, I don’t know if the bond was true.”

  “You knew?” Aurora asked.

  “I did. I found out when we were first assigned to Veronica, but I had no idea it was significant. Does it mention a true bond?”

  Aurora looked at the page and nodded. “It was a true mate bond. All your parents have true bonds. So, theirs was like the one Elouise had with Gren.”

  “And you and Jax, and Marco and Mel. You’re all mixed species mates,” Lykos stated.

  “Well, shit!” Jax said, letting out a long whistle.

  “Your name
isn’t here,” Lykos flipped the pages.

  “We know my story,” Jax told them, with a shrug and Cole nodded.

  “What do you mean?” Lykos asked.

  “I’m the queen’s mate, I get a whole page to myself. I took it from the book when I left the fen,” he bragged. The rivalry between him and Lykos was very firmly back in place in recent days. “My biological father was killed by the vampire king shortly after my mother became pregnant. They had a prophecy, to conceive the raven queen’s mate. I’m descended from William on my mother’s side and witches on my fathers.”

  “Caspian isn’t your brother,” Lykos observed, looking between the two shifters. Caspian shrugged, as though it didn’t matter to him.

  “Half-brother,” Jax felt the need to correct.

  Caspian was a shit, but they came from the same mother and were brought up with the guidance of the same father. His feelings for Caspian were uncertain at best and at times he wished him harm. He had broken any trust they had as bothers by putting Aurora in direct danger. Jax was unforgiving in that respect. Yet, that blood connection was still there and he couldn’t deny it. It also meant that although there was no mention of Caspian in relation to the raven queen, he did have a connection to witches, which was relevant to his bond with Melaina.

  “Drake did say each queen has their own book,” Zane mused, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

  “That would make sense,” Cole agreed.

  “Where is Melaina’s book though?” Caspian spoke the words everyone had thought.

  “And Gisele’s,” Cole mentioned the woman they believe would become the vampire queen.

  “Remember the lion in Greece? He said the book wasn’t yours. What if it was Melaina’s or Gisele’s?” Lykos speculated.

  “But the pages are blank,” Cole contended.

  “Could be a spell?” Jax said. “And it would have to be Mel’s because Drake said that Leo had Gisele’s book.”

  Picking up on Aurora’s stillness Jax turned his attention to her. “Rory, what are you thinking?”

  “Something about the Morrigan legend has bugged me all along. She was the Goddess of war, right?” Aurora answered him quietly, having been silent for much of the conversation. “We thought we were here to end a war. Empower the races and unite them to bring peace, but there is no real war. There hasn’t been for centuries. This isn’t about ending the war, not directly.”

  “Go on,” Zane encouraged with a nod, latching on to her train of thought.

  “The witches either died out or were taken prisoner. The only way to free the witches who are left is to de-throne the vampire king. The book shows we all descend from witches. We already know at least two of Mel’s warriors have that same connection. A witch’s only supernatural allay is a shifter. We’re also shifters. So, that tells me it takes a witch to free a witch and a shifter to fight alongside her.” She looked up, having made the final connection. “We’re not here to end a war, we’re here to start a war. We’re here to bring back the witches.”

  Epilogue

  How had this happened? How had he come this far to be met with yet more hurdles and secrets? Leo turned on the messenger, lashing out with his hand and slicing skin with his nails. The messenger’s chest at once fused together, the power of magic flowing through the blood and healing the open wound.

  “You keep too many secrets from me!” Leo bellowed and immediately calmed himself, returning his voice to a quieter tone. “I can’t even kill you… but I can drain you!”

  “My lord, things are still on track for the raven queen to come to you.” The ever-present witch spoke. “The tournament was merely a bump in the road. We have the second queen’s identity. She is unstable and is likely to end herself before the warriors have chance to save her. It is only a matter of time before the vampire is turned. Everything is coming together.”

  “A bump in the road that we didn’t see coming. You were supposed to control the proceedings. She was supposed to be with me by now, instead we have no clue as to her whereabouts. I want the second queen. That will bring the little bird out of hiding.” Leo looked at the messenger. “Make it happen!”

  “Yes, my lord,” the messenger bowed and left hurriedly, no longer wishing to be in the vampire king’s company.

  “You know what to do,” Leo told the witch, who nodded and hurried away.

  Leo retired to his chambers, relishing the quiet its underground location offered. The raven queen’s whereabouts were not what concerned him, he had faith that she would come to him. The witch hadn’t been wrong in his predictions yet. It was that her parents had revealed themselves that bothered him, or rather the fact that they were her parents. Those witches had caused him all manner of problems many years ago. He ought to have known all roads would all lead back to them. The vampire ruler had seen many prophecies in his lifetime, enough to realise that one always led to another. A prophecy, whether a success or a failure, always laid a path to another prophecy. Either to support what went right or fix what went wrong with the previous one. Adaline and Alexander had succeeded in theirs, their daughter would not.

  Book Two Coming in 2020

  A Toast!

  Let me begin by thanking you, the reader. Without you, I’d just be a crazy woman who talks to the voices in her head and drinks lots of wine. Wait… okay so maybe there is a bit of that too, but it’s nice to know you’re out there, so cheers, me dears. *raises glass*

  For my regular readers; I’m not an author who writes quickly, real life doesn’t allow it, and you continue to stick with me while I get the words down. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you for that. *raises glass*

  For those of you who haven’t read my work before; welcome, thank you so much for joining us. I hope you stick around. *raises glass (are you seeing the theme yet?)*

  This book. What can I say? Well, quite a lot actually, but I’ll try not to ramble- that’s a whole other series. Put simply, this book contains my heart and soul. These characters have been in my head for longer than I care to remember. I’ve spent years falling in love with them. This is the book I always intended to write. I don’t quite know why I ended up beginning with the Frost Ford series and leaving this on the back burner, but in a way, I’m glad I did. It meant that when I got to them, Aurora and her pack knew exactly what they wanted and I was ready to give them my undivided attention. They deserved nothing less and I sincerely hope you loved them as much as I do.

  *raises glass*

  Huge thanks to my Dark Hearts. Your twisted humour, blood thirsty enthusiasm and ability to help a girl bury a body keeps me sane. You make me smile every day and I adore every single one of you, my dark hearted little beauties. *here comes the glass again*

  Now, is everyone’s glass full? Because I have a few special people to mention.

  First, remember that crisp butty scene? I know that entire scene may have thrown the American readers among you, so I’ll explain. Crisps are in fact, potato chips and putting them in a sandwich is a very English (and Irish) thing to do. It’s also something, I’ve discovered on my travels, that Dutch people just can’t get their heads around “Crisps in bread? Why?” they ask in confusion. Why not? That’s what I say!

  Anyway, you have my wonderful friend Jenny McGee to thank for that one. She knew me back when I was just a sleep deprived new mum trying to find her way in the world. Also, I have major living room envy of her. She’s awesome and can be found here Scouse Wife's World

  *raise those glasses*

  As you may have noticed, Aurora and her pack like nothing better than to come up with new ways of insulting people. Well, thanks to the random and weird (she won’t mind me saying that) Kalli Bunch, you have experienced the delights of “Crap Monkey” and “Son of a monkey’s mother” isn’t she brilliant? Also, she has a Bookstagram, you should follow her, she reads all the best books.

  *upends glass, drains it, and refills it*

  Let’s drink to all the bloggers, Bookstagrammers, arc rea
ders, pimpers and just generally bloody nice people who have helped get The Raven Queen out there for all to see.

  *we’re going to need another bottle*

  Okay, here comes the big one. My obligatory apology. There’s one in every book and it’s for my wonderful husband, Felipe (that’s not his name) and my Dandelions. When I write, you see, I tend to forget they exist. They very helpfully remind me as often as they can- usually by draping themselves over my laptop and crying “I’m hungry” or in Felipe’s case, “I’m not dead, you know. I’m still here, we’re still married.”

  I think I did better this time. I mean, yeah, there were a couple of days that teetered on the edge, but I think it was better. Was it better? Please tell me it was better?

  I’m sorry!

  *drinks from bottle*

  About the Author

  Emma had a dream. It took a long time to realise that dream and when it finally happened, it came via a career as a pre-school teacher, becoming a Mum of three, and 15 years as an army wife, following her husband from posting to posting across the UK and Europe as he served his country. Emma and her family have now left the army bubble and settled in their forever home of Spain, where she has fully embraced her inner hippie and at last, sat down and listened to the voices in her head.