The Valkyrie Returns and Slays (Raven) novel Chapter 23

Chapter 23

The crew behind Jax stared at the phone on the ground, swapping confused glances.

They couldn’t figure out what kind of call could shake Jax enough to make him drop it like that. The guy always kept it together.

Next to him, Dane sat in his wheelchair, watching Jax’s stiff posture. A sick feeling churned in his stomach.

“Jax, what’s up?” he asked, his brow wrinkling.

Jax didn’t say a word, just stood there quiet.

Then he slowly turned his head toward Raven, his glare cold and piercing.

“You behind this?” he asked, voice low.

Raven looked back with a small smile.

“Told you,” she said easy, “I’d show you what regret feels like.”

Jax’s fists tightened, knuckles cracking from the pressure.

Dane caught their back–and–forth, and panic hit him hard.

“Jax, what’s going on?” he pushed, his voice jumping with worry.

Jax took a deep breath, his words coming out rough and gravelly.

“The Group–it’s finished,” he said, heavy and slow.

Dane’s eyes widened. He was dumbfounded.

He scrambled for his phone, pulling it out of his pocket in a clumsy rush.

It’d been on silent before they got here—he hadn’t even noticed till now.

When he got it out, the screen lit up with a call coming in.

He sucked in a shaky breath, his trembling finger tapping accept

“Sir, it’s over! The Group’s done!” the voice on the line burst out, frantic.

Dane’s heart stopped. He jumped in quick.

“What happened?” he snapped.

Everything was solid before he left–how could the Group collapse in under an hour?

“Our database got smashed,” the voice raced on. “Everything’s out–all the files. You know a ton of that stuff can’t hit the light. The cops are already moving in, and we can’t handle heat like this!”

Dane’s eyes went wide, shock all over his face.

Those files were locked tight. The Group had killer programmers–They were supposed to keep this from happening.

“They’re saying it was some world–class hacker,” the voice added, sounding helpless. “Our firewall was like paper to them.”

Dane sucked in a breath and cut him off.

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16:17 Mon, 14 Apr

Chapter 23

“Can we fix it?” he growled.

A few seconds of quiet dragged on before a shaky answer came.

“The Group’s cooked–bankruptcy’s a done deal. Maybe… you could hit up Mr. Jax Grayson to bankroll a new one?” they tossed out.

“Smash!”

Dane slammed the phone down in a rage.

Fury took over, and his phone smashed into the ground, breaking apart. It didn’t touch the anger burning in his chest, though–his breathing went ragged.

Years of work, wiped out in minutes. Hopelessness ate at him.

Even with all his guts, he couldn’t stomach a hit like this. His fists clenched hard.

Then he swung his head toward Raven, eyes flaming with hate, locked on her.

“Jax, kill her! Do it!” he bellowed, teeth grinding.

Jax gave a tiny nod, barely noticeable, then set his eyes on Raven and spoke slow.

“I wasn’t going to end you fast,” he said cold, “but you’ve pushed me too far.”

Raven heard that big–shot CEO line and shook her head, half–smirking, half–annoyed.

Dane had thrown around the same tough–guy talk back then–and she’d still snapped his legs like sticks.

Raven was tired of wasting words on Jax and got to the point.

“Look, I’m about out of patience,” she said, her voice cool. “Give me the ‘surprise‘ now, or I’ll take a little more from you.”

Jax’s eyes burned darker, his whole vibe turning ice–cold.

He fixed his hard stare on Raven, each word sharp as a knife.

“Let’s see what you’ve got,” he shot back, smirking.

Yeah, the Grayson Group was done, and the Grayson family would feel the sting–he got that.

But the family wasn’t just some one–hit wonder leaning on the Group.

The real strength behind their control in Bastion was the dirty muscle he ran–the Cloudshade Crew.

A hacker could trash the Group’s database all they wanted, but it wouldn’t touch his hold on that underworld power. Not a chance.

Jax didn’t buy that this girl could take down the Group and eat up Bastion’s whole underbelly.

“Oh, yeah?” Raven said, her tone soft.

“You’re talking a big game, so I’d hate to leave you hanging without something to prove it,” she added, calm as ever.

With that, she casually raised her phone to her ear.

“Brynjar, go for it,” she said, keeping it light.

Jax caught what she said, and his brow creased slow, a flicker of confusion in his eyes.

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16:17 Mon, 14 Apr

Chapter 23

“Jax, kill her! Now!” Dane shouted out of nowhere, his voice tight with fear.

Raven was way too weird for him.

He was genuinely spooked she’d pull another trick–his heart was pounding.

Jax didn’t think Raven had any more moves left, but he was done messing around. He lifted a hand to signal his crew.

But just as he was about to give the word-

Ring–a–ling–ling… A phone rang out of the blue.

The sound cut through the dead quiet again, breaking the tension wide open.

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