The Queen's Mate

SIXTEEN

Rebekah Ravena was the third and last of the Ravena siblings. She had walked the earth with them and fighting them at the same time. The three siblings had stuck together through thick and thin irrespective of their personal grudges and if anyone had suffered the most, it was her.

She had taken the longest time to adjust to the idea of immortality and after seeing everyone she loved, grow old and die, there came a point in her life when she restrained herself from any attachment with the mortal soul whatsoever. Her heart had been broken way too many times to be careless again.

Damien and Liam had a hard time consoling their sister after the last time she fell for a young man only to be separated from him in death. She stayed youthful and stout whilst her lover withered away to dust and bones.

The loss of loved ones plagued Rebekah so much that her soul was soon tarnished by malice and indifference; neither of which qualities did her brothers recognize in her.

The brunette had been estranged from the two brothers for the past few years now, meeting them only once in every few decades or getting her sources to check upon them. A major feud had separated her from them a few centuries ago and since then she had been used to living on her own.

Irrespective of the lack of conversation between them, Damien made it his duty to be aware of her whereabouts and her safety. He knew what happened between them was due to his own stupidity but he was too angry to apologize when the event took place and soon, it was too late to say anything from either side. And so, the three Ravenas led separate lives for a while, until now.

As Rebekah stood in Damien’s study listening to him explain the whole scenario to her, the only thought that kept moving in her mind was how, even after decades of being apart, she could still read her elder brother’s mind like she always used to.

And presently, all she could see was how ardently Damien wanted to save and protect the angelic beauty she had seen sitting outside. Eleanor’s face had seemed awfully familiar to her and when she saw the glint in Damien’s eyes, she remembered the exact instant she had seen her.

“It’s her, isn’t it?” Rebekah asked, interrupting Damien in his words as he stopped speaking abruptly and looked at her with a mildly offended expression.

“What are you talking about?”

Rebekah smiled. “I remember that painting you keep hidden from everyone, Day. She is the girl whose face has been in your dreams for centuries now, isn’t she?”

Damien’s eyes widened in surprise; he had no idea that she knew about the painting or the dreams. He was stuck and he knew that he would not get out of this situation until he told her the truth.

He sighed. “Does Liam know about the painting?” He asked but deep down he knew the answer to that.

Rebekah clicked her tongue to the roof of her mouth and shook her head before casually sitting on top of Damien’s desk whilst he stood facing outside the window in the far corner of the room.

“Liam is too noble to snoop around and violate your privacy, I, however, am not.” She uttered with a smirk making Damien scoff, “of course.” He muttered.

“Well, who is she then? I mean, aside from obviously being the queen of the supernatural world and utterly clueless about her abilities, who is she to you? Why do you get those dreams?” Rebekah enquired and Damien turned back to look at her.

“I don’t know yet. They started about a millennium and a half ago and haven’t stopped since. I have had warlocks and faeries try to look into it but none of them have been able to even see these visions.”

“Do you think she knows anything about them?”

Damien gave her a look of disbelief, “the girl barely knows anything about her own identity, Bekah.” He deadpanned making her nod and shake her head.

“Well, we can figure out the reason for your dreams later, for now, we need to save her life from the Mares, especially since our lives are joined with hers.”

“What?” Damien asked snapping his head towards her in shock. He had no clue about this particular detail.

Rebekah ran her hand through her shoulder-length brown locks, “I can’t believe you don’t know these things. You are hopeless without me!” She said throwing her hands in the air making him narrow his eyes at her.

“Just tell me already what you mean.” He demanded.

She gave him an impassive look, “it is said, that if the queen of the supernatural realm was to befall any harm or worse, death; then every supernatural being ever created would perish into dust, never to be seen again.”

Damien’s mind ran on an overdrive listening to this piece of information and the first thing that came into his mind was to inform Eleanor of the same. He knew that they all needed to be more careful after this.

Without saying anything to Rebekah further, the Ravena turned on his heel and began to briskly walk out of the door in order to find Eleanor.

Upon reaching the living room, Damien’s blood dried in his veins when he took in the scene in front of him.

The whole place seemed like a storm had opened its wings and swept away all signs of life and order from it. Blood was splattered on the wall, ashes covered the floor and the alarming stinge of danger teased Damien’s nostrils, making him lose his mind.

A movement of white feathers caught his sight in the corner of the room as he turned his head and was met with Adonis crouching on the floor, bloodied and bruised.

Damien immediately rushed to his side and placed a hand on his shoulder but that only made him regret his action when the angel hissed in pain. His wounds did not seem to be healing at all.

“What the hell happened here?” Damien spat wondering how could this have happened after every precaution he took in order to ensure Eleanor’s safety.

“The mares!” Adonis replied, coughing up blood before continuing breathlessly. “They had Volcanic ash. They took Eleanor and Liam with them.”

Damien felt like his soul left his body right at that moment. He could not understand what was happening. He had put up wards that couldn’t be broken by anyone who wasn’t a Celestial. He had made sure that all of his cloaking spells would work and keep the heiress hidden from any magic that the mares or Anderson had in store for her and more importantly, how did all this happen without him having a clue about it?

That was when his senses tingled and his head snapped in the direction of the study where he had left Rebekah. Suspicion arose under his skin like a second layer as he sprinted back to the room and Adonis hoping that the Ravena was onto something, got up and limped after him in his wounded stage.

On opening the door again, Damien’s fears were confirmed when he saw his sister standing in the middle of the room with her eyes shining blue with the magic in her blood, and in front of her was a swirling passageway which had opened though thin air.

“I am sorry, brother. She might be a part of you but I cannot allow her to live.” Rebekah whispered and Damien’s eyes widened with rage as he let out a loud yell and his own eyes flashed a magnificent cerulean color that was everything like the dark and stormy weather of the night just before a thunderous uproar.

Rebekah pushed her hands out in front of her and Adonis and Damien were sent flying back with the force of her powers right before she entered the passageway and disappeared. Adonis collided with a wall and his spine cracked, rendering him unconscious, whereas Damien’s body flew out of one of the glass walls, shattering the shards all around him and the last thing he felt was his body falling down into nothingness.