Raven's P•O•V

After a week, everything had seemed to settle down. No one knew where DeMalo was and thankfully he had made no other advances towards Alec and the kingdom. Alone, he was defenseless and trying to come after Alec without his little Witch was suicide.

"Are you alright, Princess?" Alec asked, taking me out of my thoughts. He was turned around in his saddle. Diavol continued to walk through the woods with Lumină and I following him.

"Yeah, just zoned out for a second." I replied with a small smile. Alec smiled and pulled the reins on Diavol, turning him around so he now stood beside Lumină, facing the opposite way.

He held my neck and pulled me in to kiss him. I smiled and when he parted from me, he had that typical smirk planted on his face.

"Hold on." Alec instructed me and I barely had time to give him a confused look before he turned Diavol around quickly and nudged Lumină. Diavol started to run, causing Lumină to follow in suit.

I held on just like he said, although keeping in the saddle was another story.

Soon enough, both horses slowed down and we were in the clearing in which Alec had told me almost a month ago that I would have to be turned. For a second I recalled the memory with a heavy heart of how that had all turned out, but then I smiled and remembered how Alec and I had lied in the sun together on that rock.

It was the perfect time of day where the clearing was engulfed with sunlight and it warmed our skin. I got off of Lumină and held her reins in my hand. Alec came over and tied her to Diavol and let them graze.

"She's really starting to like you." Alec told me, looking at Lumină as she rubbed her neck against Diavol's. I smiled at her.

Suddenly, Alec stood behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. I giggled at him as he spun me around and picked me up bridal style. I held to his neck and let him carry me to the large rock slab. He laid me down gently and then proceeded to lie beside me.

I closed my eyes and let the nature around me be the only noise I heard. Alec breathed in deep and grabbed my hand. I squeezed his hand and sighed.

"Alec?" I said quietly, letting my mind speak. I opened my eyes and looked over to him.

"Hmm?" He hummed in response, his eyes still closed as he lied on his back.

"Do you think he'll ever come back?" I asked, turning on my side, propping my head up with my hand so I could see him.

Alec opened his eyes and looked at me with a subtly shocked expression. He looked back up at the sky and sighed.

"I don't know, Raven..." He paused, "I pray he never does."

By the curious look I gave him, Alec closed his eyes for a moment and breathed in deep.

"If he did come back, I'd be forced to kill him. There's no circumstance where he would come back on good intention. And I can't let him come after you again." Alec explained, staring at me with a saddened expression as he reached out and held my cheek.

I lied back down beside him without saying another word and I came closer to him. I laid my head on his chest and closed my eyes once again.

It was such a beautiful day and I wanted to cherish this place as a place of calm, not a place of bad discussions.

The sun felt amazing and the breeze sent a quiet wind throughout the forest. It was so peaceful and serene...

Until, I heard it.

Alec didn't seem to notice, but the sound of a crow flying over head sent me wide awake. I sat up quickly, out of Alec's arms and looked to the sky.

"What's wrong?" Alec asked in confusion. I looked up into the sky, furiously looking around for the sign of the black bird, but it was no where. Then I heard it again, and this time it was on the ground. All I could remember was the crow feathers adorning Akantha's neck and shoulders.

My eyes slowly went to the ground and before us was a crow.

A single crow about ten feet away from us, facing us with a tilted head, it's black, soulless eyes staring at us almost tauntingly. It crowed again and I swallowed hard, feeling it's sound engulf me in shock.

The horses had stopped grazing and had now become stirred. They shook their heads and backed away from the crow.

"Raven, it's just a crow." Alec tried to soothe me, but my body still shook. Something wasn't right.

"I think we should leave." I murmured, not losing eye contact with the midnight bird. It crowed again and I stood. It didn't move at the sight of movement like any bird would. Instead, it just faced us without fear and seemed almost like it was rooted there.

Alec stood up beside me and once he did, it flew away. I watched it until it vanished into the deep woods.

Diavol was stomping at the ground madly and Lumină tugged at him.

Alec started to walk towards them, trying to calm them as he held out his hand. They started to walk towards us as he beckoned them until, he suddenly stopped.

Alec stopped walking towards them. I turned to look at him, but his eyes seemed distant, almost like he wasn't seeing straight.

"Alec?" I stood in front of him. His face started to pale even more than his porcelain skin already was. He looked at me for a second before looking down at his chest.

"Alec what's wrong?" I asked, looking at his chest as well. I reached out and put my hand on his shoulder. His hands were shaking as he tried to unbutton his button up. He almost got the first button done before his legs gave and he nearly collapsed before me. I caught him and wrapped his arm around my shoulder as I helped him over to Diavol. I helped him up onto the saddle, adrenaline filling me and once he was on I rushed to get into the saddle.

I sat in front of him and wrapped his arms around my waist.

"Alec, just hold on." I nearly begged him. I made sure Lumină was tied to Diavol before I bumped my heel into Diavol's side, causing him to neigh. I had saw Alec do it before to get him to run, but he wasn't doing it.

"Come on." I muttered to myself and cracked the reins desperately like they do in the movies. This got Diavol to run.

I could feel Alec weakly holding onto me as we sprinted through the forest, my heart racing as I could see the lights of the palace ahead. I held his arms around my waist to keep him with me.

Once we were out of the trees, I started to call. Hoping - knowing that someone would hear me.

"Guards! Somebody!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. I sped past the barn and went through the courtyard. The guards at the door rushed to us as we came to a quick stop before the doors.

Piper, Irina, and Dimitri all came bustling out of the doors and watched as I got off of Diavol and tried to help get Alec's slumped figure out of the saddle.

"What happened?" Dimitri asked me urgently. I shook my head, running a hand through my hair shakily.

"I don't - I don't know. All of the sudden Alec paled and started shaking. He - he kept looking at his chest and tried to unbutton his shirt, but he just became unsteady and nearly collapsed." I answered him shakily.

"Take him to the west wing." Dimitri told the guards as they helped steady Alec. I never thought I'd see him look so ... sick.

In a second, they vanished and I knew they had sped him up to his room. I didn't wait around for someone to tell me to stop, I just ran. I didn't think I could ever run as fast as I did to get to Alec's room.

When I got there they already had him on his bed. His sheets were torn from where he had gripped and his whole body was writhing as the guards tried to hold him down.

"Get your fucking hands off me." He growled at all of them and they backed away instantly. I hurried over to his bed, wanting only to be with him when he needed me.

I held his hand tight and kissed his knuckles as he gripped so hard my fingers began to crack. I ignored the pain as he turned to look at me.

His eyes were bloodshot red as he stared at me.

"It's going to be okay Alec. It's going to be okay..." I murmured, not knowing what else to say. His body finally stilled and only his deep breaths rattled in his chest. He groaned and a grimace played out on his face.

As I looked over him, his body was drenched in sweat. Something I had never expected from him being a vampire, was for him to become overheated when his body was always so cold. Not even I could make him this warm.

"Can you take my shirt off?" He asked with gritted teeth. I nodded furiously, doing as he asked. I sat up beside him and unbuttoned his shirt.

When I pulled the fabric away from him, everyone stepped back. Irina gasped and held Piper as we all looked in terror.

Upon his chest was the gash from the dagger DeMalo had cut him with, pulsing purple and blue like a bruise, the veins around it lacing their way through Alec's body, black and raging. My hands began to shake as I looked at it in fear.

Alec threw his head back and growled a string of profanities, causing my body to quake uncontrollably. I placed my hand over his heart where the gash was the deepest purple and pulsed the most. Merely putting my hand against the wound sent my fingertips into a scolding heat like I had touched the top of a stove.

My eyes burned with tears as I looked over Alec in a pain I didn't think was imaginable.

"Dear God, what did he do to you?" I muttered, my voice cracking, tears dripping down my cheeks and onto his chest.

No one else dared to say anything further.

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