Chapter 107 — You Pushed Him Out?

Chapter 107: Chapter 107 — You Pushed Him Out?

~ Raven ~

Raven swallowed.

The blade moved with her throat when she did it, and she felt exactly how little room there was.

"Who the hell are you?"

Nothing.

"What do you want?"

Nothing.

The arm across her chest tightened instead, hauling her back until there was no space left between them at all, and Raven’s breath went out of her.

Her wolf came up hard.

It hit so fast that her vision went white at the edges, and Raven braced for the fury that should have followed.

The instinct to fight.

To turn on whoever was holding her and make them regret it.

It didn’t come.

There was no rage.

No fear.

No urge to tear herself free and go for his throat.

What came instead was warm.

Relief.

It spread through her chest as her wolf pressed toward the body behind her with a familiarity that made Raven’s breath catch.

Like it knew exactly who was holding her.

Raven’s eyes widened.

No.

No, absolutely not.

She stopped struggling.

It took her about two seconds to get from that to the answer, and the answer made her so angry that the blade stopped mattering.

"You have to be joking."

She lifted her hand.

He made no move to stop her.

Her fingers reached the side of his face and found the edge of the mask. Even then, he stayed completely still.

He could have caught her wrist easily.

But he didn’t.

Please be wrong. Please be anybody else.

She pulled it away.

Cassian Blade looked back at her.

His eyes were glowing, pale silver-blue burning brighter in the dark, his wolf so close to the surface that Raven could feel it looking back at her.

And the instant her own wolf saw him, it surged.

Hard.

Not with fear. Not with anger.

With recognition.

It surged with that same impossible pull toward him, so sharp and certain that Raven felt it beneath her ribs like something inside her had finally found what it had been searching for.

For one stupid second, Raven could only stare at him.

Her wolf was still reaching toward his, warm and certain, and the sheer familiarity of it left her completely wrong-footed.

Then Raven became aware of everything else again.

The warmth inside her curdled beneath a rush of anger.

Cassian slowly lowered the blade.

Raven saw his hand drop and caught the slight change in his expression as he read whatever had just crossed her face.

He had exactly enough time to realize she was furious.

Raven lunged at him.

Cassian moved.

Her fist cut through the space where his jaw had been. He had already stepped off the line before she could correct, and when Raven came back with her elbow, he caught her arm, turned with the strike and sent her weight in a direction she had never intended to go.

Raven caught herself and attacked again with a curse.

That attempt lasted even less time.

Cassian caught her at the shoulder, stepped behind her and turned her momentum against her. By the time Raven realized what he was doing, both her arms were crossed and pinned against her body.

"You absolute—" She threw her weight sideways. "Get off me."

"Stop."

"You put a knife under my throat, you—" She kicked back at his shin and hit nothing. "Prick. Bastard. Let go."

"Calm down."

"Don’t tell me to calm down."

She fought him for another few seconds anyway.

Not because she thought it would work.

Because she was still angry enough to try.

Cassian did not tighten his grip or force her to the floor. He simply held her there, steady and effortless, while Raven twisted uselessly against him.

Somehow, that only made it worse.

Raven finally stopped.

Cassian released her at once.

She stepped away from him, putting a little distance between them before turning back around.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?"

Cassian said nothing.

"A dark room. In an empty corridor. With a blade." Raven’s voice rose despite her best effort to keep it down. "It’s been two days, Cassian. Two fucking days and you—"

She stopped.

The rest caught behind her teeth.

Her hands were shaking.

Raven curled them into fists before quickly putting them behind her back.

Cassian’s frown deepened.

For a moment, he simply looked at her.

Then he said, "Dreamwalker."

Raven went still.

"...What?"

"Dreamwalker," he said again.

He hadn’t moved from where he was standing. The mask was somewhere on the floor between them, but his gaze was on her.

"What do you know about them? Why is that word on your page? And why are my name and Prymont’s written underneath it?"

The anger drained out of Raven all at once.

Her brows pulled together.

"What? I—" She stopped, searching for an answer that wasn’t there. "I don’t know."

Cassian looked at her.

"I don’t. I wrote it during a lecture. I wasn’t paying attention, I don’t even remember putting your—"

Raven stopped.

Something had changed.

Cassian’s eyes were brighter.

Not much, but enough that the pale silver-blue looked almost lit from within. Then thin lines appeared beneath the skin of his hands and disappeared beneath his sleeves, faint at first before sharpening into a pale glow.

Raven had seen those lines before.

In the forest.

Her sleeve fluttered, and Raven looked down.

There was no open window, and the door behind them was shut, yet another current moved through the room and lifted a loose strand of hair across her cheek.

A second later, the air sharpened.

It brushed over her skin with enough force to sting, first across her cheek and then the back of her hand. Raven sucked in a breath as the hairs along her arms rose.

Cassian still had not moved.

He was still standing several feet away, arms loose at his sides, but the room no longer felt still around him. The air seemed to gather closer, tightening until every instinct Raven possessed started screaming at her to run.

Her pulse jumped.

A minute ago, he had held a blade beneath her throat.

Somehow, this felt worse.

Because now she understood what had changed.

Cassian thought she was lying.

And whatever patience he had brought into this room was beginning to run out.

"I don’t—" Raven sucked in a breath. "I don’t fucking know, Cassian."

The pressure did not stop, if anything it surged higher.

That was what finally broke through Raven’s anger.

Panic climbed up behind it so quickly that when she spoke, the words came out faster than she could control them.

"There’s someone in my head."

Cassian’s expression did not change.

"The fucker has been in my dreams. Twice. He went through my memories—I felt him doing it."

The words were already out, and Raven couldn’t seem to stop them now.

"I don’t know who he is. I don’t know what he wants or why he keeps coming after me. I don’t even know how he gets in." Her breath came quicker. "Nobody will tell me anything, so yes, I came here looking for answers. I wanted to know what a Dreamwalker could do and find some way to stop him before he comes back."

Her voice cracked, but she kept going.

"I got him out last time. I pushed him out, but I don’t know how I did it. I don’t know if I could do it again, or how long I have before he comes back, or whether next time he’ll actually manage to take something, so I don’t fucking—"

The pressure vanished.

Raven stopped.

The air that had been tugging at her clothes went completely still. Her sleeve fell against her wrist, the strand of hair beside her cheek settled, and the sharp little stings against her skin disappeared with it.

The pale lines beneath Cassian’s skin dimmed.

His wolf was still there in his eyes.

But Cassian himself had gone very still.

Not the controlled stillness Raven was used to seeing from him.

This was different.

He was staring at her.

Raven swallowed, still breathing too quickly.

"What?"

Cassian didn’t answer immediately.

His glowing eyes remained fixed on her, something close to disbelief finally breaking through his expression.

Then he said slowly,

"You pushed him out?"