The Valkyrie Returns and Slays (Raven) novel Chapter 18

Chapter 18

The crowd burst into chaos.

Jonah’s words dropped like a grenade, blowing up everyone’s thoughts.

For a second, they all just stood there, totally caught off guard.

They couldn’t believe what they just heard.

Raven–the screw–up Margaret had dumped in prison five years back, the family’s reject daughter–was Vyrdenia’s youngest general?

No way.

That was just too wild to be true.

Nobody fell that low could climb back, not mentioning clamb that high.

Every Henderson was still stuck on five years ago. Back then, Raven was the doormat who wouldn’t even whimper when they laid into her.

But that same pushover had done five years in the clink and walked out a general–someone the Hendersons could only dream of being in the same league with.

No matter how they twisted it, they couldn’t choke down that reality.

Raven shot a chilly glance over the stunned crowd, then turned to Jonah.

She said, her face giving nothing away, “Why bother explaining to them?”

Jonah’s chest tightened, and he threw a quick hand signal at the soldiers. “Clear them out, now!”

“Yes, sir!” The soldiers jumped into action.

“No, you can’t do that…” Margret yelled.

All the Hendersons stumbled over their words, eyes bouncing to the troops closing in.

It finally hit them: Raven was the real deal–a general.

Regret slammed into them like a crashing building.

Raven wasn’t even twenty yet.

A general under twenty? She’d be a legend.

The Hendersons wanted to kick themselves harder than ever.

Even a dimwit could tell she’d end up running Vyrdenia someday.

Forget the long haul–even now, maybe just a Brigadier General, the bottom rung, she could still lift the Henderson family up a few notches.

Too bad they were too dumb to see it. Instead of cozying up to Raven and hitching a ride on her rise, they’d torched that bridge to the ground.

Now the Hendersons were staring down the barrel of rock bottom.

1/3

ZZ:32 PM, 11 Apr

Chapter 12

The flip from hope to despair made Margaret and the others feel like they’d rather off themselves right then and there

But then Margaret spotted the soldiers moving in on her. Regret turned to straight–up panik.

– She whirled toward Raven, her face begging

“Raven, she slurred through her gum, ‘Grandma screwed up. I’m sorry, alright? After all those years the Hendersons took care of you, can’t you cut me some slack–let the family dider

Raven just stared, her eyes icy, like she was watching a bad comedy routine

Margaret felt the soldiers‘ hands clamp down, ready to drag her off.

Raven didn’t twitch and panic flipped Margaret’s pleading into a high–pitched screech “You little punk I’m your grandma! Throw me in jail, and you’re trash–karma will catch you soont

Her words echoed, but Raven didn’t blink. Margaret’s cool shattered completely,

Then something clicked, and she screamed at Kaven, her voice breaking, “The Jennings family! Their hotshot general’s a lieutenant general now!”

She barreled on, frantic. “Gerald Jennings died because of you. If he finds out you’re free, he’ll come for your neck.“”

“Let me go,” she hollered, “and I’ll smooth things over–get him to back off, alright?”

Jonah’s mouth twitched into a half–smirk at Margaret’s meltdown.

Raven might be young, but her battlefield cred was untouchable in Vyrdenia.