Ravage by Lacey Andersen (ebook reader online txt) 📕

is a bad idea,” she tells me, and then she looks up. “So many times I wondered if it’d be better if my family knew what my sister did. For a while, I was so angry, I just wanted her to pay for what she did, and I wanted the justice I deserved. But after Rayne died, it finally hit me that knowing the truth wouldn’t help anyone. My parents already lost one daughter. They didn’t need to lose another.”

I open my mouth and close it. Does Abigail realize what she’s saying? Most ghosts remain on this earth because of unfinished business. If she’s found peace with her murder, she can cross over…to wherever ghosts go. It’s been so long that she only needs to find the path and the door will be open for her.

After I knew where my brother had died, I promised myself I’d help her find the door. As much as I liked her company, she deserved to move on. Even if I couldn’t.

“I’m glad you found peace,” I say. “Truly I am. But I’m not like you, Abigail. My kind aren’t capable of things like forgiveness and feeling peace. We’re all anger, vengeance, and cruelty. There’s no acceptance in this, only destruction of my enemies.”

She looks uncertain but points to the left.

I continue on.

But she keeps speaking. “I don’t believe you, you know that right? Everyone acts like light fae are all goodness and joy, but we have darkness within us too. Like my sister. No one would ever think she was capable of murdering me, but she did. So I have to believe dark fae have goodness in them too.”

“We don’t.” And there’s no hesitation in my voice. “Whatever monsters are down here, I guarantee you I’m worse.”

“And yet you’re risking your life to find your brother’s killer.”

My stomach twists. “That’s just revenge, nothing more.”

As if the creature that stalks us hears, it pauses. But continues a second later.

Ahead of me, I sense anticipation, anger, and hunger. So many minds that wish for my death. So many minds that will soon be disappointed.

“Why did you clean up my gravesite?”

I hesitate, but push myself on. “I don’t know. A habit perhaps.”

“No. It wasn’t. You did that because you know how important graves are to ghosts.”

I don’t confirm or deny her assessment. So what if I did it to be kind? That doesn’t mean I’m kind. Even a tiger will submit to a pet every now and then, but they’re just as likely to rip a throat out. If anyone should let their guard down with me, they’d see. Like Dwade, Bron, and Lucian.

My gut turns, and I push away the thought of them. I did what I had to do to know the truth. I wouldn’t feel guilty over using them for information.

We come to another place where the tunnels divide. She points to the right with ease. We walk for a while longer, going left, then right, then right again.

“There used to be a lot of traps and even spells to confuse people, but Rayne removed all of the ones this close to the surface,” she explains, and there’s a smile in her voice.

I’m not surprised. My brother was always good with spells and magic in a way that most fae weren’t. He even sought out apprenticeships with the witches that lived near our home, for reasons I never understood.

His death was…such a waste. Not just because I lost him, but because the world lost someone with so much…potential and knowledge. I have no doubt that one day my name will be forgotten, but Rayne would’ve changed the world.

A tear runs down my face, and I wipe it away before Abigail can see. Will the pain of losing Rayne never leave me? I hated this…weakness inside of me. A dark fae shouldn’t be crying in the dark. She should be coming alive in the shadows.

My need for revenge should quench my sadness. Shouldn’t it?

I didn’t know. Rayne was the only person to ever help me figure out my emotions. Without him, I felt like an alien trying to mimic human emotions. Where one person should be sad, I was angry. And where they should be angry, I was sad. I didn’t know if it was because I was a dark fae, or because I was broken, but I hated never knowing how I should feel.

We’re halfway down a tunnel when I see the blood smeared on the wall. I swear my heart stops. I swear I’m drawn to that blood like a moth to a flame, and I’m reaching for it even though every instinct within me is screaming to stop. My fingertips graze the dark mark, and suddenly I know deep within myself that this is Rayne’s blood.

I’m shocked when I crumble to my knees. I’m shocked when tears fill my eyes. Somehow seeing his blood makes it hit me that this is truly the path my brother took as he died, and the meaning of that changes within me. I’m not just following in his footsteps to find his killer, I’m reliving what my brother saw as he fought for his life. I press a hand to my chest, panting, tears streaming. I see flashes of him that night on my bedroom floor, his gut ripped open. He was attacked here. He staggered down this very tunnel.

The blade that delivered his death blow was here. Here in this very place.

He must have been so afraid. My brave brother knew that his wound meant the end for him.

“Blood of my blood,” I whisper, curling over my chest, pressing my fist harder against my chest. “May I avenge each spilled drop of scarlet with a thousand of my own.”

The words burn within me, and my anger uncoils. Around me I sense a dozen hungry minds. How many of them could I kill with a single thought? How many last screams of death could echo through these halls?

I’m trembling. I want to lash out. I