Chapter Text
Raven’s eyes fluttered open, but for several seconds, she remained perfectly still against the floor, staring upward while her mind struggled to understand what she was seeing.
There was no familiar ceiling above her. No trace of her bathroom in Smallville. No Chelsea hovering nearby, asking a thousand frantic questions before Raven could answer the first one.
Instead, deep green walls rose around her, lined with framed family photographs, while polished wooden floors gleamed beneath her. The familiar burgundy sofa sat in the center of the living room beneath the soft glow of a Tiffany-style lamp, while the staircase climbed along the far wall behind its white railing. Even the coat rack beside the front door remained exactly where Raven remembered it.
She was back inside her family’s old San Francisco home.
Raven slowly pushed herself upright, pressing both palms against the rug as her eyes moved through the room.
“Mama?” she called, her voice carrying toward the staircase and disappearing into the silence.
No footsteps answered from above. No pots clattered in the kitchen. Nothing disturbed the unnatural stillness surrounding her.
“Daddy?”
Again, the house offered her nothing.
“Cory?”
Raven rose onto unsteady legs and turned toward the staircase, half expecting her little brother to come charging down it with another questionable business proposition. Everything looked exactly as it had before the Baxters left San Francisco, but it did not feel like the home she remembered. The warmth was there. The furniture was there. Every photograph, lamp, and cushion occupied its proper place.
But the life had been drained out of it.
The silence pressed against her from every direction until even the sound of her own breathing felt too loud.
“So,” a familiar voice drifted through the unnatural silence behind her, smooth and mysterious, “we meet again.”
Raven’s entire body went rigid. Recognition crawled slowly up her spine, and her shoulders sagged beneath a wave of exhausted disbelief before she even turned toward the speaker.
“No,” Raven muttered beneath her breath. “Please don’t tell me I had another heart attack.”
She turned slowly, already bracing herself for whatever waited behind her.
A beautiful African American woman stood several feet away, draped in pure white light. Silver-white patterns shimmered across her body, moving delicately against her skin as though they had been woven from moonlight. Behind her, enormous feathered wings stretched high and wide, nearly touching the ceiling as they framed her glowing form. Every part of her felt otherworldly, graceful, ancient, and unmistakably angelic.
She was the same woman who had guided Raven through the Void and helped lead her consciousness back to her body.
The angel released a small, sheepish laugh. “No, Raven. It isn’t that.”
“Then what is it?” Raven demanded, throwing both hands outward. “Because the last time I saw you, I was trapped inside my own head while my body was lying in a hospital bed. So excuse me if seeing you again does not exactly fill me with confidence.”
“Your body is not in danger,” the angel reassured her. “You fainted from the shock of what you had just experienced. I merely used the opening to reach you.”
Raven’s brows drew together. “So you didn’t make me pass out?”
“No.”
“And my heart is okay?”
“It is.”
Relief loosened the tension in Raven’s chest, allowing her to release the breath she had unknowingly been holding. “Well, you could’ve led with that.”
“Your concern is reasonable.”
“Is it?” Raven challenged. “Because I’m standing inside a house my family doesn’t even live in anymore, talking to a woman who only seems to appear whenever my life goes completely off the rails. Who are you?”
The angel’s expression tightened almost imperceptibly. Her gaze drifted away from Raven for a brief moment, as though she were carefully arranging every word before allowing herself to speak.
The hesitation was subtle, but Raven caught it immediately. The brief shift in the angel’s expression, coupled with the guarded way she avoided Raven’s eyes, made it clear that whatever answer she was preparing to give would not be the complete truth.
“See, that hesitation right there?” Raven said, pointing toward her. “That is not helping.”
“I am something of a guide,” the angel finally explained. “A protector. A guardian angel, per se.”
“A guardian angel?”
“Something like that.”
“Something like that?” Raven repeated incredulously. “Either you have wings and dental insurance or you don’t. I need specifics, Miss Angel Lady.”
The corner of the angel’s mouth threatened to lift, but the concern in her eyes remained. “We may have underestimated how much guidance you were going to need.”
Raven’s mouth fell open. “And what exactly is that supposed to mean?”
“Your path has carried you much farther into danger than anyone anticipated.”
“My path?” Raven planted one hand against her hip. “Lady, I don’t even know what path you’re talking about. Nobody gave me a map.”
“That is why I am here.”
“Then start guiding.”
The angel glanced around the living room, her attention briefly moving toward the ceiling and the empty staircase as though she wanted to ensure they were truly alone. The movement was subtle, but it sent another prickle of unease through Raven.
“I do not know how to tell you this,” the angel began, stepping closer, “but I am not appearing now for the reasons you believe.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Because you haven’t noticed it yet.”
The irritation in Raven’s face slowly gave way to uncertainty. “Noticed what?”
“My dear, your visions.”
Raven studied the angel’s expression, searching it for an explanation that was not immediately offered. “What about them?”
“When was the last time you had one?”
Raven opened her mouth, certain the answer would come easily, but the words lodged somewhere behind her tongue. Her mind retraced the past two months, moving from the morning of her heart attack through the coma, the hospital, her return home, and the shooting involving Tina inside the school cafeteria. The longer she searched, the more terrifying the silence became. Nothing surfaced—not one vision anywhere in that stretch of time—and the realization slowly unfolded across her face.
“Oh, my God.”
The angel remained quiet, watching as Raven discovered the truth for herself.
“I haven’t had one,” Raven whispered. “I haven’t had a vision since the incident.”
“Since your heart attack,” the angel clarified gently.
“Are they gone?”
“No.”
The answer came without hesitation, slicing through Raven’s rising panic before it could completely overtake her.
“Your visions have not disappeared,” the angel continued. “They have withdrawn and are lying dormant inside you. Your body and mind have endured an extraordinary amount of stress, Raven—more than either was meant to withstand in such a short period. Your gift has retreated because your mind is attempting to protect itself.”
Raven stared down at her hands as though the missing visions might somehow reveal themselves beneath her skin. “But they’re still there?”
“They are still very much a part of you.”
“Then how do I get them back?”
“You cannot force them. They will return in due time.”
“In due time?” Raven’s attention snapped back toward her. “What does that mean? Tomorrow? Next week? Next year? It’s already been almost two months.”
“I understand why you’re frightened.”
“No, you don’t.” The sharpness in Raven’s voice cracked under the fear she had only just begun to recognize. “I’ve had visions practically my entire life. They get me into trouble, they make my head hurt, and half the time they don’t show me enough to stop anything, but they’re mine. They’re a part of me. How am I supposed to stand around waiting and hope they eventually decide to come back?”
Compassion softened the angel’s features as she regarded Raven. “I was there when the gift of clairvoyance was bestowed upon you all those years ago. I have watched over you ever since.”
Raven blinked several times, momentarily forgetting her fear beneath the weight of the new revelation. “You’ve been watching me my whole life?”
“For many years.”
“Then where were you when I had to take over Cory’s birthday party as Reptile Raven after Reptile Rick got sick?”
The angel’s lips pressed into a thin line, her expression becoming noticeably less celestial and far more judgmental.
“Or when Chelsea and I crashed an Astro Force 5 convention in disguise because I thought Devon was cheating on me?”
“I said I watched over you,” the angel reminded her. “I did not say I approved of your decisions.”
Raven’s eyebrows rose as she reluctantly accepted the correction. “Fair enough.”
“I can take human form through a vessel,” the angel explained. “You may have crossed paths with me without ever realizing who I was. During your years in San Francisco, you became involved in several unusual situations, but rarely did those situations place your life in true danger.”
“And Smallville does.”
“Constantly.”
Raven folded her arms across her chest. “Well, when you put it like that, I probably should’ve stayed in San Francisco.”
“You were meant to come here,” the angel assured her. “But the danger surrounding you has become greater than anticipated. Your life has already been placed in jeopardy more than once, and I could no longer remain completely removed—much to the dismay of those above me.”
“Those above you?”
“My superiors.”
“You have a boss?”
“Several.”
Raven grimaced sympathetically. “That sounds terrible.”
“Our encounters are monitored, and my time with you is limited. I am only permitted to reveal myself or intervene under particular circumstances.”
“So somebody is listening to us right now?”
The angel’s mouth closed, and the heavy silence that followed supplied Raven with an answer more clearly than words could have.
“What happens when you say too much?”
Before the angel could respond, a sharp bell tolled through the house.
The sound did not seem to come from a clock, telephone, or any single room. It vibrated through the walls themselves, deep and commanding, causing the light surrounding the angel to flicker.
Her entire demeanor changed.
The calm authority slipped from her face as her eyes darted toward the ceiling. Her enormous wings drew closer behind her, and for the first time since Raven had seen her, genuine nervousness flashed across her ancient features.
“Oh, dear.”
Raven looked around, unease crawling along her spine as the bell’s echo lingered through the empty house. “What is that?”
“My time is up.”
“That’s it? We just started talking.”
“I have already remained longer than I should have.”
Another toll rolled through the room, louder and more insistent than the first.
“They know you’re here, don’t they?” Raven realized.
The angel did not answer.
“Wait.” Raven hurried forward as the white light around the woman began spreading across the floor. “What am I supposed to do about my visions?”
“Be patient. Allow your body and mind time to heal.”
“I am not a patient person!”
“I am painfully aware.”
The edges of the room dissolved beneath the growing light. The green walls, staircase, and familiar furniture faded as if they were being erased from existence, leaving Raven and the angel suspended inside an expanding white emptiness.
“Remember this, Raven,” the angel urged. “Trouble does not last always. What belongs to you will return when you are prepared to receive it.”
“How will I know when I’m prepared?”
“You will.”
“That is extremely vague!”
“If you truly need me, close your eyes and call for me. I may hear you, but you must understand that I cannot always answer. Whether I am permitted to come to you is not solely my decision.”
“So even if I call, you might not show up?”
“I may not be able to.”
“That is somehow even less comforting.”
Despite the urgency surrounding her, a hint of mischief touched the angel’s face.
“Oh, Raven,” she called as the light began swallowing her glowing form. “Tell that little boyfriend of yours, Clark Kent, that I said hello.”
Raven’s eyes widened. “How do you know Clark?”
The bell tolled one final time, and the remaining pieces of the San Francisco living room vanished within a blinding flash of white.
“Raven!”
Raven’s eyes flew open as Chelsea’s frightened voice dragged her violently back into consciousness.
“Raven, get up!”
A hand tapped urgently against her cheek while another gripped her shoulder, shaking her just enough to make the bathroom lights swim into focus above her.
“Oh, my goodness. Raven!”
Raven blinked rapidly until Chelsea’s face sharpened above her. Raven was sprawled across the bathroom tile beside the bathtub, one arm folded awkwardly beneath her while the discarded pregnancy test lay only a few inches away.
“Girl!” Chelsea exclaimed. “Why would you pass out? You’re not even pregnant!”
Raven groaned and lifted a hand toward her pounding forehead. “Chelsea, please stop screaming.”
“Stop screaming?” Chelsea slid one arm behind Raven’s back and helped pull her into a sitting position against the side of the bathtub. “I just watched you read a negative pregnancy test and collapse like somebody shot you!”
“It was the shock.”
“The shock of not being pregnant?”
“Yes!”
Chelsea stared down at her in open disbelief. “Raven, we need to start putting pillows around you. You keep hitting the ground entirely too much.”
“I’m okay,” Raven assured her, shifting until she was more comfortably supported against the tub. “My heart’s fine. I know it wasn’t that.”
“You better be okay. I was two seconds away from calling Clark, your mama, your daddy, the ambulance, and probably the National Guard.”
Raven opened one eye and peered up at her. “Why would you call Clark before my parents?”
“Because Clark could get here faster.”
Raven considered the undeniable truth behind Chelsea’s answer and decided she couldn’t argue with her logic.
Once the fear began leaving Chelsea’s face, she lowered herself onto the bathroom floor beside Raven.
“But this is good news,” Raven said, looking at the pregnancy test. “Praise the Lord.”
Chelsea leaned closer, still studying the small plastic stick with suspicion. “You’re sure that thing said negative?”
Raven reached across the tile, retrieved the test, and held it between them. One line rested inside the result window, confirming that she was not pregnant.
Chelsea released a long breath as the last of the tension left her shoulders. “Praise Him twice.”
Raven rested her head against the cool porcelain of the tub, allowing the relief to settle over her.
“So,” Chelsea began, watching her closely, “what are you going to tell Clark?”
“The truth.”
Chelsea nodded as though she had expected nothing less. “Do you want me to go with you for moral support?”
“Chile, while I love you dearly and appreciate everything you’ve done for me today, your presence would make the conversation ten times harder than it already needs to be.”
“How?”
“You would sit there making faces, interrupt every five seconds, and accidentally tell him details I wasn’t planning to share.”
“I would not.”
Raven slowly turned her head and gave Chelsea a long, knowing stare.
Chelsea thought it over. “Okay, I might.”
A smile briefly touched Raven’s face before disappearing beneath the thoughts crowding her mind.
Chelsea immediately caught the shift. “What?”
“I may have a bigger problem.”
Chelsea glanced toward the pregnancy test. “Bigger than thinking you were carrying Clark Kent’s super-baby?”
“Chelsea, Clark and I told you and Eddie about his powers in confidence,” Raven reminded her, lowering her voice despite the empty bathroom. “You sure are comfortable yelling ‘super-baby’ like that’s public information.”
“I whispered it.”
“You whisper louder than most people talk.”
“Fine. Bigger than the situation we just handled?”
“I saw the woman again.”
Chelsea’s remaining humor disappeared. “The one from the Void?”
“Yes. She appeared after I passed out.”
“What did she want?”
“She made me notice something I hadn’t even thought about before.” Raven’s attention dropped toward the pregnancy test in her hands, but her mind had already traveled somewhere else. “Chelsea, I haven’t had a vision in almost two months.”
Chelsea’s forehead creased. “What do you mean? What about what you saw with Tina?”
“That happened inside the Void. It wasn’t a normal vision,” Raven explained. “Out here, in the real world, I haven’t had one since the day of my heart attack.”
The words struck differently now that she had spoken them aloud.
Inside the Void, it had been a discovery—another strange piece of information delivered by someone who already seemed to know everything about her. Sitting on the bathroom floor beside Chelsea, it became real.
A part of Raven had been silent for nearly two months, and she had been so busy surviving that she had not even noticed it was gone.
Chelsea’s expression softened. “So they’re gone?”
“She says they’re not. They’re lying dormant because of all the stress my mind and body have been under. They’ll come back whenever they’re ready.”
“Whenever they’re ready?” Chelsea echoed, a trace of concern entering her voice. “Girl, I wouldn’t know what to do with that either.”
“Neither do I.” Raven tightened her fingers around the plastic test. “I’ve had visions my whole life. Even before I understood what they were, they were always there. Now it feels like a part of me has gone quiet.”
Chelsea rested a hand against her shoulder. “Maybe it really does need time.”
“That’s what she said.”
“And you want to talk to Clark?”
“I need to.”
“What is Clark going to do that I couldn’t do?”
Raven gave her a sideways glance. “Chelsea, the things Clark can do, you and I definitely cannot do.”
“I mean, technically we could,” Chelsea replied, her tone turning far too suggestive for Raven’s liking.
Raven’s eyes widened as she slowly turned her entire head toward her, disbelief spreading across her face.
Chelsea lifted one shoulder in a shameless little shrug. “But it wouldn’t be friendly-like.”
“Chile, please.”
A grin stretched across Chelsea’s face as she waved Raven off. “Okay, okay. Go see your little boyfriend.”
Raven held the pregnancy test out toward Chelsea. “Here. Get rid of this before somebody finds it.”
Chelsea accepted it and tucked it out of sight. “Your secret is safe with me.”
Raven shook her head, though the corner of her mouth betrayed the laugh she was trying not to give Chelsea. Bracing one hand against the side of the tub, she carefully pushed herself onto her feet and paused long enough to make sure the room had stopped tilting. Once she felt steady, she collected her purse from the counter and made her way downstairs.
She found the keys to the black Ford Explorer resting on the table near the entrance, snatched them up, and headed for the door before Chelsea—or anyone else—could stop her with another question.
The drive to the Kent farm gave her entirely too much time alone with her thoughts. The angel’s words repeated inside her head with every mile—her visions were dormant, her mind was protecting itself, and they would return in due time. Raven’s hands tightened around the steering wheel as the statements circled one another, offering reassurance without giving her any real answer about when she would finally feel whole again.
She had spent years wishing her visions came with an off switch. She had complained about the headaches, the confusion, and the way they frequently dragged her into situations she had never asked to be involved in.
But now that the visions had gone silent, the emptiness frightened her more than their unpredictability ever had.
By the time she turned the Explorer onto the Kent property, she had managed to work herself into an entirely new panic.
Raven parked near the farmhouse and climbed out. Jonathan stood several yards away beside the fence, working to secure a loose section of wood. At the sound of the car door closing, he glanced over his shoulder and set his hammer aside.
“Well, hey there, Raven,” he greeted warmly. “It’s good to see you. How’re you feeling?”
“I’m doing good, Mr. Kent. Is Clark home?”
“He is. Last I saw, Martha had him helping with some supplies.” Jonathan nodded toward the farmhouse. “Go on inside. She’ll know exactly where he wandered off to.”
“Thank you.”
Raven climbed the porch steps and knocked before easing the door open.
“Mrs. Kent?”
Martha appeared from the kitchen, wiping her hands against a dish towel. The moment she spotted Raven, her face brightened.
“Raven, honey.”
She crossed the room and welcomed Raven with a warm hug before pulling back to study her face.
“What brings you all the way out here?”
“I’m looking for that man of mine.”
Martha laughed softly. “I should’ve known. He’s out in the barn finishing a few things for his father. You can catch him there.”
“Thank you.”
“You want anything before you head out? I’ve got tea, lemonade, water—”
Raven considered the conversation waiting for her. “Actually, could I have two bottles of water? I have a feeling we might need them.”
Martha’s eyebrows lifted, but she retrieved the bottles from the refrigerator without pressing for an explanation. “Everything all right?”
“It will be.”
Raven tucked the water against her side and headed across the property.
She found Clark inside the barn, shifting supplies near the stairs leading into the loft. His back was turned when Raven stepped through the open doorway.
“Clark?”
He turned so quickly that the wooden crate balanced between his hands tilted dangerously to one side.
“Oh. Raven.”
An immediate smile crossed his face before he could hide it.
Raven walked farther into the barn, amusement breaking through the heaviness she had carried from home. “Did your heart just skip a beat?”
“No.”
“Oh, Clark. It’s okay. You can admit you’re excited to see me.”
“I am excited to see you,” he answered, placing the crate safely on the floor. “My heart did not skip.”
“It did.”
“You can’t hear my heartbeat.”
“No, but I can see your face.”
Clark stepped closer and accepted one of the bottles of water she offered him. “What are you doing here?”
The teasing slowly left Raven’s face. She shifted her weight between her feet, searching for a way into the conversation she had rehearsed throughout the entire drive.
“Clark, I need to tell you something.”
His smile disappeared. “What happened?”
“Nothing happened. Well, something almost happened. Technically, I thought something had happened, but then it turned out that nothing happened.”
A brief laugh slipped out of Raven, but the sound never reached her eyes.
Clark caught the difference immediately. His expression softened as he reached forward and touched her arm. “Raven, what is it?”
“Sit down.”
Her seriousness erased any remaining humor from his face. Clark crossed toward the old couch and lowered himself onto it, his eyes never leaving her.
Once he was seated, he looked up at Raven, who remained standing directly in front of him.
“You look like you need to sit down too.”
“I’m already sitting.”
Clark glanced pointedly at her legs. “You’re standing.”
“I’m emotionally sitting.”
He reached for her hand and gently guided her onto the cushion beside him. “Now you’re physically sitting.”
Raven settled beside him and drew in a breath.
“Clark, do you remember my birthday party?”
“Yes.”
“And do you remember when we did the—”
Raven gave her shoulders a small, suggestive shimmy, her eyebrows lifting as she waited for him to understand.
Recognition dawned across Clark’s face. A quiet grin pulled at his mouth as he copied the motion, rolling his own shoulders in an intentionally awkward imitation.
“When we did the—”
“Yes,” Raven confirmed. “That.”
“What about it?” His eyebrows rose. “You aren’t trying to do it again out here, are you?”
“Oh, Clark, calm down. Your teenage hormones are at an all-time high.”
His grin widened. “Then what’s wrong?”
“We may have had an issue.”
Clark straightened beside her. “What kind of issue?”
Raven drew in another breath. “I had a pregnancy scare.”
Every trace of amusement disappeared from Clark’s face. His entire body went unnaturally still, as if even breathing might prevent him from hearing what came next.
“You had a what?”
The question exploded through the barn, echoing through the rafters and sending a pair of birds fluttering from somewhere near the roof.
Raven slapped his arm. “If you get any louder, they’ll hear you in Paraguay!”
“Okay. I’m sorry.” Clark immediately lowered his voice, although the panic remained written across his face. “Are you?”
“No, dummy. If I were, we would be having an entirely different conversation right now, and my daddy would probably be kicking down the barn door. I took a test. It was negative.”
The breath Clark released seemed to empty his entire body. He dragged both hands over his face before turning back toward her.
“Okay,” he murmured. “That’s good.”
Clark reached for her and pulled her into his arms. “You came all the way over here just to tell me?”
“I didn’t feel right keeping it from you.”
“Aw.” A soft smile touched his face. “You care about my feelings.”
“Don’t make me regret it.”
His arms tightened around her. “If you had been pregnant, we would’ve figured it out. You wouldn’t have had to handle it alone.”
“I know. That’s why I came to tell you.”
“You can talk to me about anything. I am your boyfriend, after all.”
“Well, duh, Clark. Why do you think I’m here?”
“I can hear you and Chelsea now.”
Clark lifted his chin and slipped into an exaggerated, syrupy imitation of Raven’s voice.
“Oh, Chelsea,” he drawled dramatically. “You know I just had to tell Clark. I simply would not feel right if I didn’t.”
Raven burst out laughing. “I do not talk like that!”
“That is exactly how you sound.”
“No, it is not. Chelsea and I do not talk like Southern belles.”
Clark laughed with her, but as the sound faded, his attention remained fixed on her face. The humor had lifted some of the weight behind her eyes, but not all of it.
“What else is on your mind?”
Raven’s smile gradually faded. She lowered her gaze to their joined hands, watching Clark’s thumb move slowly across her knuckles as she gathered the courage to explain.
“When I was in the coma, I went somewhere called the Void.”
Clark nodded. “The place where you saw what was coming with Tina.”
“There was a woman there who helped guide me out. At first, I thought she was part of the coma—some kind of hallucination my mind created to help me wake up.”
“But she wasn’t?”
Raven slowly shook her head. “When I passed out today, I saw her again.”
Clark’s posture immediately stiffened beside her. “You passed out?”
“The test came back negative, the shock and relief hit me at the same time, and I fainted. I’m fine. She told me my body wasn’t in danger. She only used the opening to reach me.”
Clark continued staring at her, his unease refusing to lift simply because she had offered him reassurance.
Without warning, he leaned toward her and lowered his head until his ear rested gently against her chest.
Raven looked down at him in surprise. “Clark, what are you doing?”
“Checking.”
“With your ear?”
“Be quiet for a second.”
Raven closed her mouth, though one skeptical eyebrow remained raised as she allowed him to listen.
Clark focused his super hearing beyond the fabric beneath his cheek, filtering out the sounds of the barn, the animals outside, and the distant movements inside the farmhouse until Raven’s quiet, steady heartbeat became the only sound filling his ears. Each beat arrived evenly and exactly when it should, and only then did the tension begin to ease from his shoulders.
“Your heartbeat is steady.”
Raven lifted one hand and brushed her fingers gently through the hair at the back of his head. “I told you I was okay.”
“I wanted to hear it for myself.”
“Satisfied?”
“For now.”
Clark lifted his head, but Raven allowed her hand to linger against his cheek for another moment before continuing.
“She told me she’s something like a guardian angel. She’s been watching me for years and was there when I first received my visions.”
Another detail suddenly surfaced through the confusion crowding Raven’s mind. Her eyebrows lifted as she turned more fully toward him.
“Oh, and before I forget—the angel lady told me to tell you she said hey. Called you ‘Clark Kent’ and everything.”
Clark’s face immediately tightened with confusion. “She used my full name?”
“That is exactly what the woman said.”
“Why would she send me a message?” His forehead creased as he tried to make sense of it. “How does she even know who I am?”
Raven opened her mouth, then slowly closed it again. Until that moment, she had been so consumed by everything the angel revealed about her visions that she had not stopped to consider how strange the message itself had been. The woman had not only known Clark existed—she had spoken about him as though she had been keeping an eye on him too.
Raven released a tired breath and lifted one hand before Clark could tumble any farther down that particular rabbit hole.
“Clark, honestly, with everything else going on right now, that is gonna have to be a question for another day.”
He continued staring at her, visibly unsettled, but eventually gave a reluctant nod. “Yeah. Probably.”
Neither of them sounded particularly convinced.
Clark sat with the strange revelation for another moment before returning his attention to the larger problem. “Why did she come back now?”
“Because the danger around me has gotten worse. And because she made me realize something.”
Raven raised her eyes to his, allowing him to see the fear she had been trying to keep buried since leaving the bathroom.
“I haven’t had a vision since my heart attack.”
Clark’s brow furrowed before understanding slowly settled across his face. “What you saw involving Tina happened inside the Void.”
“Exactly,” Raven confirmed. “It wasn’t one of my regular visions.”
His fingers tightened gently around hers. “Do you think they’re gone?”
“She says they’re still inside me. They’re lying dormant because of everything my body and mind have been through, but she couldn’t tell me when they would come back.”
Raven held on to him as she tried to put the emptiness into words.
“I know I’ve complained about my visions before. I’ve wished they would leave me alone more times than I can count. But now that they’re actually quiet, I don’t feel like myself.” Her voice trembled despite her attempt to control it. “Without them, I don’t feel like one hundred percent Raven.”
Clark moved closer and wrapped an arm around Raven, gently pulling her against his side.
“I understand.”
Raven looked up at him. “You do?”
“I know what it feels like to have something inside you that makes you different from everyone else. Something you don’t always understand and sometimes wish you could turn off.” His gaze remained steady on hers. “But it’s still part of who you are.”
Raven softened and leaned into him, resting her head against his shoulder as his arm tightened around her.
Clark pressed a kiss against her forehead. “You’ve had a long day.”
“You can say that again.”
“You’ve had a long day.”
Raven lifted her head and gave him a look. “Clark.”
He laughed, stood from the couch, and reached for her hand, pulling her up beside him.
“What are you doing?”
“We’re going to the mall.”
Raven blinked, studying his face as though she was waiting for him to explain himself. “The mall?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I realized we haven’t spent much time alone lately without Eddie and Chelsea tagging along, or Pete and Chloe joining us.” Clark moved closer, a smile tugging at his mouth. “And while I do love our friends…”
He leaned down and pressed a soft kiss against her cheek.
“I want to spend some time with my lady.”
“Well…” Her smile turned knowing. “That kind of alone time is what got us into this situation in the first place.”
Clark tried to sound stern, but the laughter gathering in his throat made it nearly impossible to sell the warning. “Raven.”
“I’m just saying.”
He shook his head, still fighting the smile threatening to break across his face. “We’re having a Claven date.”
Raven pulled back slightly, her face twisting with immediate disapproval. “A what?”
“Claven,” Clark repeated. “Clark and Raven.”
Raven couldn’t contain the laugh that escaped her. She looked back at him, still smiling. “Why does your name have to come first? Why can’t we call it Rark?”
Clark stared at her for a long moment. “Rark?”
“Yes.”
“Raven, that sounds like something a mountain climber would yell while falling off a cliff.”
She rolled her eyes. “Fine. Claven.”
Clark smiled, grabbed his jacket from nearby, and slipped it on before holding his hand out to her.
“Let’s go.”
As Clark led Raven out of the barn, they crossed the property hand in hand and made their way toward the black Ford Explorer parked near the farmhouse. Once they climbed inside, Raven pulled away from the Kent farm and headed into town, leaving the quiet farmland behind as the rural roads gradually gave way to crowded streets, bright storefronts, and the steady movement of afternoon traffic.
Inside the mall, Raven slipped easily into the familiar rhythm of glowing display windows, bustling stores, and Clark’s hand wrapped securely around hers. They laughed whenever Clark attempted—and failed—to understand why two nearly identical handbags were, according to Raven, “living entirely different lives.” They stopped at the food court long enough to grab something to eat, although Raven spent most of the meal stealing fries from Clark’s tray after insisting she was not hungry.
From there, she pulled him through store after store, her earlier fear temporarily surrendering to racks of clothing and the possibility of a brand-new wardrobe.
A metallic green-and-silver cargo ensemble immediately caught her attention, its structured pieces shifting between emerald, turquoise, and flashes of silver whenever Raven tilted it beneath the store lights. She followed it with a deep burgundy embroidered crop top and matching fitted pants, topped by a dramatic fur-trimmed coat that she declared made her look like “the rich villain who survives the whole movie.”
Her final major find was a black plaid corset with matching trousers and a sweeping silver-gray trench coat. Clark admitted it looked exactly like something she would wear while investigating a government conspiracy, which Raven chose to interpret as the highest possible compliment.
The remaining selections followed in a blur of denim, metallic fabrics, dramatic silhouettes, and enough accessories to leave Clark questioning whether they had entered a clothing store or Raven had quietly purchased the entire collection.
By the time they emerged, shopping bags covered both of Raven’s arms while Clark carried twice as many. The worry that had consumed her earlier had not disappeared, but it had softened into something she could finally breathe around.
They continued walking until a warm golden glow spilled from one of the storefronts and stretched across the polished floor ahead of them.
A necklace and matching ring rested inside the window, both set with large, sharply faceted stones unlike anything Raven had ever seen. Their color appeared deep golden at first, as though sunlight had been trapped inside crystal, but every change in angle transformed them. Honey shifted into amber. Amber dissolved into pale yellow. Brilliant flashes of gold danced beneath the surface whenever the overhead lights struck the stones.
Raven came to a complete stop, her eyes widening as the jewelry display captured her full attention.
“Oh, my God,” she breathed, the words slipping out before she could contain them.
Clark, still carrying several of her shopping bags, nearly walked straight into her back. He caught himself at the last second and followed the direction of her transfixed stare.
“What?”
Raven lifted one hand and pointed through the glass. “That.”
She stepped closer to the glass, captivated by the constantly shifting light inside the necklace.
“It’s beautiful.”
Clark studied the set. “You want it?”
Raven reluctantly lifted the shopping bags hanging from her arms. “Clark, I already spent all my money.”
“I didn’t ask how much money you had left. I asked whether you wanted it.”
She turned toward him. “I would love it.”
“Come on.”
“Clark—”
Before she could finish protesting, he took several bags from her and steered her toward the entrance.
A jeweler approached them almost immediately, his attention following Raven’s toward the golden set inside the display.
“You have a good eye,” he remarked. “That set only arrived this morning.”
“What kind of stone is it?” Raven asked.
“That is the unusual part.” The jeweler unlocked the case and carefully lifted the necklace beneath the brighter counter lights. “Our appraiser could not conclusively identify it. Even the color seems to originate from somewhere inside the stone. He described the shade as almost unnaturally vivid.”
As the jeweler turned the necklace, its color transformed again, deepening from brilliant gold into a rich amber before brightening around its edges.
Raven leaned closer. “So nobody knows what it is?”
“Not yet.”
“You’re selling jewelry made from a rock you can’t identify?” Clark questioned.
The jeweler offered him a diplomatic smile. “An exceptionally beautiful unidentified rock.”
Raven reached forward and brushed her fingertips across the central stone.
A gentle warmth immediately spread into her skin.
Her eyebrows lifted as she held her fingers against it. The sensation was not painful or intense, but it felt deeper than heat from the display lights—as though something inside the jewel had responded to her touch.
“It’s warm.”
“The lights may have heated the setting,” the jeweler suggested, although uncertainty flickered across his own face.
“And you said the color was unnatural?” Raven asked.
“Unnaturally vivid.”
A slow grin spread across her face. “That makes me want it even more.”
Clark shook his head, though he was unable to hide his amusement. “Of course it does.”
Several minutes later, they emerged from the store with the necklace fastened securely around Raven’s neck and the matching ring tucked inside a small velvet box.
“Clark, you really didn’t have to do that.”
“I know.” He glanced at her. “I wanted to.”
Raven touched the golden stone resting against her chest. Even away from the display lights, it retained the same subtle warmth beneath her fingertips.
“Thank you.”
Clark opened the small box and handed her the ring. “You’re welcome.”
Raven turned the band slowly between her fingers, watching the stone change from honey-gold to a bright, almost luminous yellow. Her gaze then shifted from the ring toward Clark’s bare hand.
“You know what? I think you should wear this.”
“Me?”
Before he could object, Raven caught his hand and slid the ring carefully onto his finger.
The instant the yellow stone settled against his skin, warmth spread through Clark’s hand. His fingers flexed instinctively as he studied the jewel.
Raven watched his reaction. “You feel it too, don’t you?”
Clark moved his thumb across the band. “The warmth?”
“Yes.”
“It feels like it’s coming from inside the stone.”
“That is exactly what I felt.”
He raised the ring toward the light, watching its color shift against his skin. “It isn’t uncomfortable. Just strange.”
“Strange bad or strange fabulous?”
A faint grin curved across his mouth. “Probably fabulous.”
“That’s what I thought.”
Raven slipped her hand into his and laced their fingers together, admiring the way the ring caught the light between them.
“Now, even when I’m not around, you’ll have something to remind you of me.” Her free hand rose to the necklace resting against her chest. “And vice versa.”
Clark tightened his fingers around hers. “So how are you feeling now?”
Raven took a moment before answering, honestly examining the emotions still moving through her.
“I’m still sad about my visions,” she admitted. “And I’m scared they might not come back. But I have faith that they’ll return eventually.” Her expression warmed as she looked up at him. “And thank you for being such a great boyfriend. This was a good date.”
Raven lowered her shopping bags to the floor beside them while Clark gathered the handles of his into one hand and drew her against his chest with the other. She settled against him, closing her eyes as she listened to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat beneath her ear.
“Maybe you have to clear your mind,” he suggested quietly.
Raven groaned against him. “That is so much easier said than done.”
“Just try. Steady your thoughts and push everything else away.”
“Clark, my mind has never been steady a day in its life.”
“Try anyway.”
Raven kept her eyes closed as the noise of the mall continued around them—distant conversations, footsteps crossing the tile, registers opening, and children laughing somewhere near the food court. She pushed against each distraction until her attention settled on the silence within her, concentrating on the empty place where her visions had once lived.
“Please,” she whispered. “Let me have a vision.”
Nothing happened, and Raven pressed closer to Clark as though his nearness might somehow help her reach the missing part of herself.
“Let me have a vision.”
Silence remained inside her. She drew one final breath, forcing herself to focus harder.
“Let me have a—”
Her back snapped upright as every muscle in her body locked at once. Her eyes flew open, wide and unseeing, while a violent rush of images tore through her mind.
VISION:
A man dressed entirely in black stood beneath a darkened sky, his face hidden beneath a deep hood. One hand gripped the long handle of a curved scythe that rose beside him like the weapon of the Grim Reaper.
The darkness shattered.
An unfamiliar young Black woman appeared within a circle of trembling candles. Long dark hair moved around her shoulders as though disturbed by an unseen wind, while strange energy gathered around her body. The flames bent toward her, stretching unnaturally as her eyes darkened with power.
Another image cut through the first.
Chloe stood in front of Pete, her face filled with an emotion Raven could not immediately read. Without warning, Chloe grabbed the front of his jacket and pulled him toward her, leaving only a breath of space between their faces before the image disappeared.
Eddie emerged next, standing across from Lois, whose sharp eyes matched the challenge in his smile. She curled her fingers into the front of his shirt and drew him slightly closer. Instead of pulling away, Eddie’s grin widened as they stared at one another.
The four images returned in rapid succession—the man in black beneath his dark hood, the unfamiliar woman surrounded by bending flames, Chloe pulling Pete close by the front of his jacket, and Lois tightening her fingers around Eddie’s shirt.
They came again, even faster this time: the curved scythe, the woman’s blackened eyes, Chloe and Pete with barely a breath between them, and Eddie leaning toward Lois as her challenging smile sharpened.
The dark hood, trembling candles, Chloe’s grip on Pete’s jacket, and Lois drawing Eddie closer flashed through Raven’s mind faster and faster until the images blurred together so violently that she could no longer separate one from the next.
Then, without warning, everything stopped, and Raven’s knees buckled beneath her.
END OF VISION:
Clark reacted immediately. The shopping bags slipped from his grip and scattered around their feet as he caught Raven before she reached the floor, gathering her securely against his chest.
“Raven?”
She gasped for breath, her fingers clutching the front of his jacket while the final remnants of the vision continued burning behind her eyes.
“Raven, are you okay?”
“I don’t know.” Her breathing remained uneven as she struggled to steady herself. “It was so intense. There were so many things at once.”
Raven slowly lifted her head from his chest, excitement and fear tangling in her voice as she began breathlessly recounting what she had seen. The words spilled out in a hurried jumble, but Clark gave no indication that he was listening.
His arms remained locked around her, yet every trace of color had drained from him. His gaze stayed fixed somewhere beyond Raven, staring through the busy mall as though the world surrounding them had disappeared.
Raven’s explanation gradually faltered. Her excitement gave way to unease when she realized he had not responded to a single word.
“Clark?”
At the sound of his name, his glassy gaze slowly shifted back toward her.
Raven tilted her head, searching him. “What’s wrong with you?”
Clark swallowed, still struggling to make sense of what had just happened.
“Your vision,” he said. “I saw it too.”
For several seconds, neither of them spoke. They remained frozen together amid the moving crowd, each trying to understand how Raven’s vision had somehow entered Clark’s mind.
Neither of them noticed the faint golden glow pulsing from the ring on Clark’s finger and the necklace resting against Raven’s chest.