Rayven’s head pounded as the yellow glow faded and she her eyes adjusted back to normal. She was back in her human form, fully clothed, and she glanced around her. Creek and Scout had Kala cornered, fighting her way out of their grasps but clearly not succeeding. They seemed to have a handle on her.

Rayven turned her head, looking for her brother. Her eyes widened as she saw Onyx lying on the ground in his human form, and she crawled over to him.

“Onyx?” she called him. Her brother lay motionless on the floor, and she pulled him into her arms, cradling him as best she could. “Onyx, come on,” she nudged him. “Come on, brother, get up,” she pleaded, her eyes filling with tears at the complete lack of response from Onyx.

“Pin her down, Scout!” Creek called out to Scout, but their voices sounded muffled and far away. The only sound Rayven could hear was that of her heartbeat drumming in her ears.

A sharp shooting pain erupted inside her chest as she pulled Onyx’s body close to her, sobbing into the crook of his neck. She remembered that pain all too well. She had felt it when she and her mother were separated from her father and brother; when she realized they were never coming back; when she had found her mother on the floor of their house in Texas; and now she felt it again. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she shook Onyx’s body, calling out to him in agony. “No, Onyx, wake up. Please, please, don’t leave me again!”

Onyx said nothing. He didn’t move.

Rayven glanced up at the chaos in front of her. Scout had managed to pin Kala down to the ground with both of his arms. Kala tried to fight him off, but she had spent enough energy fighting Rayven, Onyx, and trying to extract both of their abilities. She was tired, and her strength was failing her. Creek placed his hands on either side of Kala’s face, forcing her to look directly at him. His eyes, just like Kala’s had, began to flash a bright yellow.

Rayven’s eyes widened in terror as she realized that Creek was also an extractor. She willed Scout to look at her, and when he did, he nodded his head reassuringly. He knew about Creek, and he, unlike Kala, was on their side.

Rayven watched Creek extract everything out of Kala: her memories, her abilities, and her life force, leaving her with nothing but a big black abyss in which she could spend the rest of eternity. Her grip around Onyx loosened.

“I’m so sorry that I couldn’t save you, Onyx,” she whispered against his hair. “I will always love you.”

Her eye caught a small flicker of yellow light traveling through the air, landing on Onyx’s chest. She followed the origin of the flicker back to Creek, who seemed to be willing those flickers in their direction. They looked like fireflies circling above Onyx’s body, growing brighter as they sunk down into his skin. The flickers all disappeared into him, and he started to glow from the inside.

“Watch your eyes,” Creek warned. Rayven looked away and closed her eyes. Just like before, the entire basement was lit up with an intensely bright yellow light that would’ve blinded her if she had been looking at it directly. After a moment, when the light had diminished, she opened her eyes and glanced down at Onyx.

“What just happened?” she asked. Creek and Scout rushed to her side.

“Creek killed Kala,” Scout said.

“Technically, we all did,” Creek added.

“So, you’re an extractor now?” Rayven asked him.

“I always have been, but it’s because of people like Kala that we don’t exactly advertise our skills, you know.”

Suddenly, Rayven felt Onyx shift in her arms, and she looked down at him to see him groaning.

“Onyx?” she whispered, gently touching his arm. Onyx, to her surprise, slowly opened his eyes.

“Rayven?” he asked groggily. “What… what the hell happened?”

Rayven let out a sob of relief and burst into renewed tears, hugging her brother with all her might. Onyx returned the embrace, though she could feel his head glancing from Scout to Creek, probably wanting an answer to his question.

“Kala’s dead,” Scout said, and his words seemed to have a finality to it that Rayven really appreciated.

Onyx sat up and looked over at Kala’s lifeless body. “Was she really our aunt?”

“She was,” Rayven confirmed. “Listen, I’ll tell you all about it later, okay?” She threw her arms around Onyx once more. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

“Me too,” Onyx said.

“I think all of us are,” Scout said. He knelt down in one knee to put his hand on Rayven’s shoulder. “I’m just relieved that this is finally over.”

Almost as if the universe wanted to prove him wrong, police sirens could be heard in the distance.

“Shit,” Scout muttered under his breath. He helped Rayven get Onyx to his feet and then turned to her. “We have to get you out of here.”

“That… actually won’t be necessary,” Rayven said, a smile slowly overcoming her mouth. Scout frowned at her.

“What do you mean? You’re technically still a fugitive. The cops think you’re a murderer!”

Rayven smiled and fished her phone out of her pocket. She swiped across the screen a few times and played back the recording of her conversation with Kala in the kitchen. The four of them listened carefully to every word, and Rayven lowered her gaze in a mixture of pride and embarrassment when Scout stared at her with an impressed smile. Finally, Kala admitted killing Anton Lombardo, and Rayven heard the three men exhale with nearly palpable relief.

“That should take care of that problem, right?” she asked.

“Let’s hope so,” Scout said.

He, Rayven, Creek, and Onyx went back upstairs, and she heard the shocked and horrified groan Scout let out at the state of his living room and kitchen. Rayven cringed apologetically.

“I’ll clean it up,” she said. “I swear.”

Scout smiled slightly and pulled her close to him. “As long as you’re okay, then everything is fine.”

“I love you,” Rayven whispered against his mouth before kissing him.

The sirens grew louder until they were right outside Scout’s home. Three police officers with pistols burst through the smashed door of the living area.

“Freeze!” one of the officers called out. “Hands where I can see them!”

Onyx and Rayven immediately held their hands up, followed by Scout and Creek doing the same. Rayven narrowed her eyes as Detective Morris stepped into the house and smirked at her. “So this is where you’ve been hiding.”

“I haven’t been hiding,” Rayven said. “I’ve been proving my innocence.”

“Is that so?” Morris asked.

“Yes,” she assured him, slowly pulling her phone out of her pocket. “Here’s the proof that I didn’t kill Anton Lombardo.”

“And does your proof include who killed him?”

“I think you should know the answer to that by now, detective,” Rayven replied, throwing him her phone. Morris caught the device in his hand and stared at it, no doubt wondering why Rayven wanted him to hear the voice memo recorded.

“Detective,” Scout called him. “If you’ll allow it, I can escort you to the basement, where you’ll find Mr. Lombardo’s murderer.”

Morris glanced at the three police officers accompanying him. Although he showed some reluctance, he nodded at them to lower their weapons and followed Scout down to the basement. The five or so minutes they took felt like an eternity to Rayven, but when they finally returned to the living room, Detective Morris headed straight to the door.

“Let’s go, gentlemen,” he said. “There’s nothing else to be done here.” He glanced over his shoulder at Rayven. “I’ll make sure to return your phone after we’ve heard your proof, Miss Stark.” Then he walked out.

The officers looked at each other, puzzled, before following him out of Scout’s house. Rayven, baffled by what had just happened, turned to Scout with a perplexed frown.

“What the hell did you say to him?” Onyx asked him.

“Well, I showed him Kala’s body,” Scout answered. “And I told him that if he kept pursuing Rayven, he would end up exactly like her.”

Rayven stared at him in astonishment. “And that worked?”

“Are you saying you doubt my persuasion skills?” Scout asked.

“No, I’m saying that I can’t believe a Crescent would back down against you.”

“He is the alpha,” Creek pointed out.

“Exactly,” Scout said. “And the alpha always protects his pack.”

“You’re amazing,” Rayven murmured to him with a proud smile.

Scout smiled back at her. “Come on. Let’s go outside.”