“I saidno!” My voice echoes off the glass.
“Seriously, Toby, what’s going on?” Taren touches my arm, but I jerk away.
Last chance.
I fist my hands. “I’ll never go with you!”
Another wave of white-hot anger. I clap a hand to the back of my neck.
You leave me no choice.
At that moment, a black and red wolf streaks across the driveway toward the house. I scream as the ravens dive straight for her.
“Ivy, look out!”
Ivy can’t hear me from within the house. I beat on the glass. “IVY!”
Ivy yelps when the birds pierce her pelt with their talons. She looks around disoriented, and one of them scratches her face.
I scream again. “LEAVE HER ALONE!”
Come out, and it ends now.
Ivy snaps at the nearest bird, ripping some feathers out. The ravens don’t stop attacking, cutting into her with their talons and beaks. Every yelp is a knife to my heart. Blood spurts from her side as she snarls, attempting to grab one of the birds, but they’re incredibly fast—unnaturally fast.
“Please, stop!” I cry, sheer panic tearing me open.
“Holy shit! Ivy!” Taren shouts, just now noticing the fight outside.
The front door opens and two wolves streak across the gravel toward Ivy, ears pinned back as they growl. Faster than I thought possible, the wolves lunge for the birds, but they twist out of reach. Jasmine narrowly misses the leg of one. Taren yelps as the other bird sinks its talons into her shoulder, then the ravens lift and take off together.
Rip’s voice reaches me just before he disappears.Next time, she dies.
I crumple to the ground, vision blurring.
Ivy shudders, feathers and fur floating around her. Blood drips down her legs, staining the gravel. She’s heaving hard.
“What the hell was that about?” Red mutters from the front door before taking off across the driveway to check on them.
I scream when a hand touches my shoulder, scrambling away.
Forest stares down at me, brows knit.
My whole body trembles. “It’s Rip,” I say through numb lips. “The raven is Rip. He’s been spying on Jericho. He… fuck, he saw me! And now—oh, gods.”
His face drains of color, and he seems just as confused as I feel. “That’s not possible.”
“I know, but it’s him. I swear. I know it’s him!”
Footsteps pound down the stairs a few seconds before Rowen appears in the entry. He scans the room, then rushes over, sliding on his knees beside me. “What the hell? I felt you upstairs.” He rubs his chest, as if he’d physically felt something.
“Your sister,” I say. “Go check on her.”
He doesn’t move.
I point outside. “Please, Rowen! Go! I’ll never forgive myself if she’s not okay.”
Rowen freezes—my panic hitting him full-force through our bond. And thenhe’s gone.
