CHAPTER 184: Revenge of a Dark Fae Scorned.

Ravyn POV

The first inkling that this plan might not succeed was Ylavi, standing unscathed when the sparkles and dancing light faded away in the air. Her eyes still glowed red, her mouth was all sharp teeth and snarls, and she looked even darker, if that was possible. Completely consumed by the shadow. 

Cyran was able to shake off the shadow. So was Hades. But Drannor Glynthyra wasn't, because the Dark Goddess completely corrupted him. Ravyn had the sinking feeling that Ylavi was lost. 

She sniffed and sensed Ylavi's essence. Dark. Dank. Bitter. To make matters worse, all the shifter guards lay stunned and motionless on the floor.

Hades shrieked in her mind, "What more proof do you need?"

She gripped Jude's hand and thought, "TRANSFORM. Let's get out of here."

They shifted, Jude becoming a black wolf with silvery fringes and Ravyn's form changing, acquiring lean, powerful wolf muscles. The better to get out of this chamber alive. Their claws scratched and skittered across the black marble floor as they raced away. 

The fur on her body stood out, spiky in all directions, as she felt the energy crackling in the air. Behind them, Ylavi gathered all her energy for another shot at them. They'd thwarted her spell, maybe slowed her down for a few precious moments, but they hadn't stopped her. 

The exit appeared so close. Just a little bit longer, a little bit farther. Jude knocked aside one of the guards with his paws. Ravyn avoided the fae wings, which were the most sensitive and delicate, yet strongest, parts of the fae. An attack on a faerie's wings was like going for the throat or the belly of a wolf. Instead, she bit the fingers or the forearms. The tang of blood and the yelp of the guards made her senses swim.

Her stomach churned at causing anyone any pain, but it couldn't be helped. Besides, it wasn't as if she'd always used magic in nonviolent ways. Magic could be ruthless and brutal and destructive. That was why she wielded it with care. 

Ylavi had no such reservations. 

Jude hit an invisible wall and howled in agony. An earsplitting howl that shook Ravyn right down to her bones. In a double whammy, she felt his pain in every inch of her body, from the tip of her nose to the tip of her tail. Her vision blurred and her neck went stiff. Her paws felt like lead.

Even Hades' spirit convulsed in agony because he shared their pain.

Ylavi said in a cold voice, "I know how shifter bonds work. Whatever I do to Jude, I do to Ravyn." No titles now. "And Ravyn is pregnant. Do you want to risk losing the child?"

Oh, Moon Goddess! Ylavi had them dead to rights. Jude couldn't sacrifice their pup.

She sent out an urgent message through the mind-link. "Patch. Bram. Anneliese. Garnet. Jiro. Cyran. Naomi. Kyon. Azandra. Anyone. Please--"

Jude's submissive howl interrupted her emergency communication. Wracked with pain, she willed herself to move, to look at him. She couldn't. Her vision was hazy and she felt dizzy.

But she felt Jude shift back to human form. His voice was strangled, hoarse, a frog's croak. "I surrender. Please. Stop this. Don't kill my pup."

Ravyn willed herself to shift ... and felt her human legs and arms once more, jelly-like and wobbly. Collapsing on the floor, she lay with her cheek on the stone. 

The pup's energy hummed within her, and she could still feel the little one. By some miracle of the Moon Goddess, Ylavi hadn't harmed the child. 

Gasping for breath, she reached out for Jude, groping across the slick, hard stone. "Jude, where is your hand?"

His warm, strong human hand gripped hers. "Here, my love. Always." 

Ravyn drifted in and out, trying to hold on to consciousness, but the dizziness and pain and trauma overtook her, and the obsidian floor opened up and swallowed her whole. She fell into oblivion.

* * * * *

Jude POV

He'd never known such pain. Not even when Melisande/Hades hit him. 

"Naturally," Hades said in a strangled voice in his mind. "Dark Fae magic is even more potent than mine ever was. And she is not resisting the Dark Goddess like I did. She's just a hollow vessel at this point."

Ravyn's excruciating pain doubled in on him, and he feared for the baby. So, he did the only thing an Alpha and a loving mate could do.

He howled in surrender, for real this time, and shifted back to human form. Needles piercing him. Fur being pulled from his body. Neither of these could be more unpleasant than shifting back to himself. His limbs wobbled like a newborn pup's. 

His guards, despite Ravyn's magical protections, lay in furry heaps, still and out cold on the obsidian floor. Thank the Moon Goddess they'd left some of the guards outside--and Ravyn had tried to alert their family in the three packs. But he still needed a little extra help to break free from this trap.

"Hades, help," he begged.

"Do you want me to fight her off or do you want me to protect the child?" 

Hades' voice was raw and gritty and fierce, and Jude felt the strain. 

"Don't waste time, then," Jude ordered through the mental link. 

Instantly, he felt a deluge of powerful, protective energy that took his breath away. He could feel the pup's energy, so strong, thanks to Hades. 

"Even if I die--"

"You idiot, don't distract me," Hades snapped.

"Listen. I don't want Ravyn to hear this. Even if I die ... you have to protect Ravyn and the pup."

"NO, you fool, you'll kill me," Hades roared. "Or as good as. If you die, I'll be naked. Out in the open. And SHE will find me."

"Sorry, sorry, I didn't think. I'll stay alive," he promised.

He could feel himself shutting down, and Arcturus coiling around him, joining with Rsvyn's wolf to protect them. He could feel himself fading fast. The silver and black in the room and in Ylavi's magic seemed to overwhelm him.

No longer able to fight, he lost the battle with dizziness, and he blacked out.

* * * * *

Hades POV 

When they got out of this, he had to have a serious sit-down with Ravyn and Jude, figuratively speaking. Jude couldn't spout off such self-sacrificing folderol, especially since he'd heard some Faeries could read shifter minds. He didn't know for sure. 

In any case, Jude had to protect himself--and protect Hades. And Ravyn might not be able to survive the severing of such a powerful bond. But Ravyn should look after herself better. Oh, he knew that their pack, and Evenhide and Crimsontail, would swoop in to protect them. Maybe they'd sent covert warriors to follow Ravyn and Jude?

They had better, because the Dark Goddess' power sent Jude and Ravyn into unconsciousness. Hades hid as best he could. If he had anything to do with it, the Dark Goddess would never discover him! 

All-consuming, her dark influence spread throughout Ravyn and Jude, but Hades hid, protected by Ravyn's and Jude's wolves. Moon Goddess! He understood why the Dark Goddess stole shifters' wolves. The wolves' raw power definitely threatened her control. She could never hope to overcome their majesty and courage and selflessness. 

Such irony. He, who had stolen Cyran's and Naomi's wolves three years ago, now counted on the ferocity and nobility of the wolves to protect him, and to help him awaken Ravyn and Jude. He could--

They were being carried to the dungeon. Along long corridors, unending, and then down flights of stairs. Hades had to try to reawaken Ravyn and Jude before they reached the dungeon! He must save them. He loved them both, and by the goddess, nothing would take them from him. 

But he didn't have much time to pull off a miracle!