Ravyn POV
Did Queen Ylavi know what they were planning? Ravyn had been summoned, and Queen Ylavi's instructions were clear: come alone.
But she wouldn't be alone. Queen Ylavi didn't know about the link with Jude--or about Hades, their hidden mate.
"Why do we still call you Hades when your name is Absalom, and you've used Absalom?" Ravyn thought while she walked up from the dungeon, making sure not to trip on the stone steps. After a few days of confinement, she felt ungainly and unsteady walking up stairs, and indeed, walking anywhere other than back and forth in her cell. Niall and Sparkler escorted her upstairs, with Harthorn and Delphinium leading the way.
Hades scoffed. "Is that really your focus now?"
"Just idle curiosity," she replied. "And distracting myself."
"Well, I have been Hades for so long that 'Absalom' sounds strange even to me," Hades thought. "Hades is my moniker now. But I will take back the Sinsworth name rather than 'Ombra.' Hades Sinsworth. And we need to have our wits about us now, Why did Ylavi summon you--without Jude?"
"An excellent question."
Ravyn wondered why Ylavi would desire to see her alone. Still seething with jealousy and resentment? Or was there something more sinister at work?
Her escort took her through long amber-and-silver corridors, up a flight of stairs, then another. Flame images and fire crystals were everywhere, a central theme in the castle's decor. Intricately carved statues, tapestries, and tall vases, as well as other priceless works of art, adorned the corridors and rooms.
"Where are we going?" she asked in a soft voice.
"To Her Majesty's favorite treasure room," Niall replied, tense. "Where she works with her dark crystals."
Ravyn's ears perked at the mention of Ylavi's treasure room, which Sparkler had gossiped about earlier. From what Sparkler said, Ylavi isolated herself in the treasure room, locked in her own dark despair. Well, not exactly her own. The Dark Goddess was stoking it, encouraging it, and feeding upon it.
This could be a golden opportunity to try and break the fiend's control ... but Ravyn ran the enormous risk of alerting the Dark Goddess to Hades inhabiting her body and Jude's.
"I say it's worth the risk," Hades thought.
"Idiot," Jude thought through the link. "Then what was the point of all this?"
"For me to find redemption--and become purified." Hades' voice reflected sincerity.
"I agree with Jude." Ravyn felt protective of Hades. "We cannot let her discover you."
"Am I to hide in fear forever?" Hades questioned. "Besides ... she wouldn't hesitate to kill you both to free me and just deposit me in a vessel of her choosing."
A chill swept through Ravyn, and Jude growled. "That would gain us nothing. It would be a pointless sacrifice."
Niall broke into Ravyn's thoughts. "We're here."
The blast of chill air coming from the door as it opened made Ravyn tremble, as if she would never be warm again. Worse still was the darkness she felt, as though a cruel hand reached out to try and choke her. Taking a deep breath, she grounded and shielded herself as best she could. Only energies permitted by her would get through the protection that surrounded her. On another deep breath, she said, "I'm ready."
Harthorn stepped inside, and Ravyn saw the stalwart soldier hesitate. "My queen, Luna Ravyn Faolan to see you, as requested."
Ylavi's imperious voice directed, "Well, don't dilly-dally. Bring her to me."
Harthorn pulled Ravyn inside, with Delphinium following, Niall powering his wheelchair after, and Sparkler zipping on ahead.
What a sight met Ravyn's eyes!
Queen Ylavi perched atop a deposit of dark smoky crystals in a chamber of midnight and despair, a shrine to desolation. Her black taffeta skirts, shortened and showing more leg than was proper for a queen, had rubies sewn into them. Her hair meandered loose and wild. She glanced up when Niall and Sparkler escorted Ravyn into the room. When she smiled, it was a painted doll's smile. A pretty, dark object.
"Ravyn and Jude," she said. "Welcome to my sanctuary. Thank you, Prince Niall and Lady Sparkler. Leave us now."
Niall wheeled away, throwing Jude and Ravyn a look that was equal parts nerve and desperation. Ravyn's heart squeezed, because she'd been the parent in a dark place while her daughter attempted to make everything better. Thank the Moon Goddess that she hadn't gone off the deep end of the darkness like Ylavi. But she very well could have.
A quivering live wire, Sparkler remained, hovering anxiously. "Mother--"
Jude mouthed, "Go," to her.
After a few moments, Sparkler sensibly followed Niall out the door, but they didn't close it. Not that Ylavi noticed. Her ominous death stare was fixed on Ravyn and Jude.
"Why don't we all sit down?" Ravyn glanced around at the sharp-edged crystals, hunting for a decent seat.
"Did I say you could sit?" Ylavi's voice lowered the temperature to subzero.
"Standing is just fine by us," Jude offered, dignified.
This was going to either be a very long meeting or a perilously short one.
* * * * *
Jude POV
Jude stood with dignity in front of Queen Ylavi. "Your Majesty--"
"And did I give you permission to speak, wolf?"
He kept his face neutral and said nothing. Now was not the time to grandstand.
"Let's flatten her," Hades advised, his voice a low buzz in Jude's mind.
"Too risky. We don't know what the Dark Goddess will do. Let's see how this plays out."
Hades' sigh was deafening through the link. "You know that she's plotting to just end you in the blink of an eye, after she makes you suffer first. And DON'T tell me you deserve it, because I am the one that orchestrated this."
"Then I suggest you find a way to stop her from torturing us," Jude replied.
Ylavi smelled like sweet-and-sour rotting fruit and flowers. "Alpha Jude. You HUMILIATED me. You rejected me for HER." She jabbed a finger at Ravyn. "She already controls the shifter packs. She doesn't need you."
"It's not about that. The Moon Goddess doesn't care about power or what we think we want," Jude said with his head bowed, while still surreptitiously watching Ylavi for any sign that she might unleash her dark powers on them. "I do apologize--"
"Tell me," Ylavi said, every word a crystal-hard attack, "what would you do to avoid unbearable consequences for your fellow wolves?"
Jude's muscles tensed, tighter than ropes around prey. "I thought there was nothing I could do to make amends."
"Hmmm, yes, but it is a queen's prerogative to change her mind." Her dark eyes pierced him. "Sparkler likes you. Niall refuses to give most people the time of day, and yet I had the sense he would run me over with his wheelchair."
"He's a fine man, and Sparkler is sweet," Jude said sincerely. "They must make you proud."
"They need a king. A father figure." Ylavi's eyes threatened to draw him in.
Jude found this role easy to play. "Of course. We spoke about this before. About the loss of our mates. No matter how old our children are, the loss of a parent burns deep. And the death of both parents--"
"What are you talking about?" Ylavi roared. "I am still here!"
"Yes, and Niall and Sparkler want you to stay that way."
Jude stepped closer to her, following his instincts. Although coal-dark and lethal-looking, the crystals held a strange beauty and fascination.
He had barely reached the makeshift throne of crystals when an invisible hand plucked him up by the scruff and lifted him. Accustomed to magic by now, he let himself be moved like a chess piece and deposited on the crystal lode. Ouch. The jagged edges cut deep, but he gritted his teeth against the yelp of pain.
Draping her arms around him, Ylavi said, "They will be happier when you set Ravyn aside and when we marry."
Jude did not need Hades' howls in his mind to spur him into action. One look at Ravyn's defiant, loving gaze told him what he needed to do.
"Reject a mate? NO! It goes against everything shifters believe in. Besides ... I love her."
He aimed his powers at the crystals, hoping to shatter them at just te right frequency ...
BOOM!