Chapter 140 — Desperate For That Cardinal

Chapter 140: Chapter 140 — Desperate For That Cardinal

~ Raven ~

"GET OFF ME!"

The Dreamwalker twisted in her wolf’s jaws, struggling to pull himself free.

The wolf tightened its hold.

Raven felt him fighting against it, his presence pressing against her mind as he tried to withdraw, but the enormous wolf refused to let go.

Its paws dug into the white ground while the chains stretched tight behind it.

Hold him.

The wolf growled and hauled backward.

The Dreamwalker lashed out.

Pain exploded through Raven’s head, so violent that she stumbled with a scream. She grabbed at her temples, and for a moment, the white around her seemed to darken.

The wolf’s chains rattled.

It refused to release him.

Another attack struck.

Raven fell to one knee, barely able to see through the tears gathering in her eyes. The pain was almost as bad as before, but she could feel the Dreamwalker struggling against her wolf’s grip.

He wasn’t trying to frighten her anymore.

He was trying to escape.

Raven pressed a hand against her throbbing head and fought against the Dreamwalker’s hold on her mind, pouring what little strength she had left into forcing him out.

The Dreamwalker thrashed.

The white around them flickered, and Raven felt his hold on her mind loosen.

She pushed harder.

"LET GO YOU BITCH!"

His voice cracked.

He wrenched himself sideways, and the wolf’s jaws slipped.

Raven felt the connection between them pull tight.

Then his body tore free.

The Dreamwalker stumbled backward, turning toward her.

For one brief moment, something passed between them before he could shut her out.

Hatred.

It was so intense that Raven recoiled. She could feel how badly he wanted to hurt her, to make her suffer for what she had done.

But there was something beneath it.

Something deeper.

Fear.

He was afraid.

Not simply of being caught by her wolf again.

He was afraid of something about her, and for one fleeting moment, Raven felt it as clearly as she felt her own heartbeat.

Then he was gone.

The foreign pressure vanished, and Raven collapsed onto her knees.

The white dreamscape trembled around her. She reached out blindly as her wolf moved closer, its enormous head lowering beside her.

Warm fur brushed her cheek.

"Hey," Raven whispered.

The wolf nuzzled her.

She pressed her hand against its fur, trying to hold on to the connection, but the familiar presence was already growing distant.

"No, wait."

The chains scraped once more, and the warmth beneath her hand faded.

Raven reached after it.

Then a burning sensation spread through her body.

She gasped.

It rushed through her chest, down her stomach and into her limbs, growing so intense that she jerked—

—and woke up.

"Raven!"

She sat upright with a strangled gasp.

Three figures were gathered around her bed.

Thalia. Tessa. Brielle.

Raven stared at them.

"Raven, can you hear me?" Tessa asked.

Raven scrambled backward until her shoulders struck the wall behind her bed.

Thalia reached for her.

"Hey, what’s wrong?"

"Don’t!"

Thalia stopped.

Raven looked from one face to another, waiting for their smiles to change or for the walls to fade into white.

Nothing happened.

Her head still hurt, and her body was burning so badly that she could barely concentrate on what her roommates were saying.

She lifted a hand to wipe the sweat from her face.

Her fingers came away wet.

Raven looked down.

Blood.

"Oh, Goddess," Tessa whispered. "Her nose is bleeding."

Brielle moved closer.

"Raven, let me see."

Raven jerked away.

The blood dripped onto her hand, and she wiped at her nose again, frightened by how much there was.

Something was wrong.

The Dreamwalker had entered her mind when she could hardly reach her wolf, and now she had woken up with a pounding headache, a bleeding nose and an unbearable heat spreading through her body.

Poison.

Her stomach tightened.

Someone had done something to her.

"Raven, please," Thalia said. "Tell us what happened."

Raven pushed the blanket aside.

"I need to go."

"Where?"

She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and stood, only to catch herself against the bedframe when the room shifted beneath her.

Tessa immediately reached for her arm.

"Sit down. We’ll get a healer."

"No."

"Raven, you’re bleeding. You can barely stand."

"I can’t wait here."

Raven pulled away before Tessa could stop her again. Her head was still pounding, and the burning beneath her skin was growing worse.

She needed help, but she couldn’t stay in that room another moment.

One name came to her.

Cassian.

She didn’t know where he was, but he was the only person she could think of who might be able to help her.

She had to find him.

"Where are you going?" Brielle asked.

Raven didn’t answer. She pushed past Tessa and hurried toward the door, ignoring Thalia calling after her.

"Tessa, get a healer!" Brielle called as Raven stepped into the corridor.

The corridor outside was crowded.

Students were moving between rooms and toward the stairs, talking over one another as they passed. A girl carrying a stack of books nearly collided with Raven before stopping short.

"Raven?"

Raven moved around her.

She was still wearing the rumpled academy clothes she had fallen asleep in. Her hair clung to her forehead, and blood was running from her nose again.

She wiped it away with the back of her hand, but another drop followed before she reached the stairs.

The heat was getting worse.

Her clothes felt uncomfortable against her skin, and every step seemed to make her more aware of the strange sensation spreading through her body.

She gripped the stair rail.

Cassian.

She had to find Cassian.

At the bottom of the stairs, a male Hale student stepped into her path.

"Raven, are you all right?"

She looked up.

He was tall, with dark hair and a concerned expression. Raven had seen him around the Wing before, although she couldn’t remember his name.

His eyes moved to the blood beneath her nose.

"You’re bleeding. Do you need—"

Something surged through her body.

Raven stopped breathing.

The heat changed so suddenly that she forgot what he was saying. She stared at his mouth, then at the open collar of his uniform, and an overwhelming urge to move closer seized her.

What?

She tried to step back.

Instead, she lunged toward him.

The student jerked aside.

"Whoa!"

Raven stumbled past him and struck the wall with one hand before she could fall.

The shock briefly cleared her head.

She stared at him.

He was staring back, one hand raised as though he didn’t know whether to help her or keep his distance.

Raven’s face burned.

What the fuck had she just done?

"I’m sorry," she muttered.

"What?"

She pushed away from the wall and hurried toward the exit before he could stop her.

The moment she stepped outside, she dragged in a breath of cooler air.

It did almost nothing.

What the fuck was that?

She had wanted to grab him.

A complete stranger.

She had barely been able to think of anything else while he stood in front of her, and the worst part was that the urge hadn’t disappeared.

It was still there, growing stronger alongside the heat.

Raven wiped her nose and looked down at her bloodied fingers.

What did he do to me?

Students passed along the path ahead.

She forced herself to keep walking.

Another male student approached from the opposite direction, talking to someone beside him, and Raven felt the same unwanted pull the moment she looked at him.

She lowered her eyes and hurried past.

Cassian.

She concentrated on his name.

If she could just find him, he would know what to do.

He had to.

A pair of students stepped out of a nearby building, and Raven changed direction before she got too close.

Her heart was pounding, and the heat was becoming so intense that she could hardly think.

Then the realization hit her.

Whatever had been done to her was making her sexually aroused.

Raven felt sick.

She had no idea what kind of substance could do this to her, but every time she passed someone, the urge to approach them grew harder to resist.

She clenched her teeth and kept walking.

No. Keep moving.

Someone called after her.

She didn’t turn.

There were too many people on the main path, and Raven couldn’t stand another moment of wondering whether she was about to lose control in front of them.

She turned into a narrower walkway leading away from the busier grounds.

It brought her to one of the quieter training courtyards, where the surrounding buildings blocked most of the noise from the main paths.

Raven stopped beside a wall and pressed a hand against it.

Her head throbbed. Her nose was still bleeding, and the heat spreading through her body showed no sign of easing.

"Fuck."

She bent forward, trying to catch her breath.

For a moment, all she could do was stand there and wait for the worst of it to pass.

It didn’t.

Cassian.

His name came again, more urgently this time.

She needed to find him, but she couldn’t keep walking through the academy like this. She had nearly thrown herself at a complete stranger, and she was terrified that the next time she saw someone, she wouldn’t be able to stop herself.

Raven looked around the courtyard.

Several doors opened onto individual practice rooms, and the nearest stood slightly ajar.

Raven hurried toward it, barely glancing inside before pushing through the door and shutting it behind her.

She leaned against the door, breathing heavily, relieved to be away from the students outside.

The room was quiet, with practice mats covering part of the floor and a rack of training equipment along one wall.

Raven barely looked at any of it.

She pressed the back of her head against the door and closed her eyes, trying to gather herself.

Another wave of heat spread through her body.

Raven gripped the edge of the doorframe.

She had to get out of here.

She had to—

"Raven?"

Her eyes flew open.

That voice.

Raven slowly turned.

Alaric Blackthorn stood a short distance away, staring at her.