Page 22 of Voyage with the Reclusive Billionaire

“The wings were?”

“Yes. The wings were real. They’re mine.”

She backs herself up against the wall and wraps her arms around her legs, curling up into as small of a ball as she can. She’s cold again, I think. And because of my raven blood, I could be warming her up. Raven’s run warmer than humans because of the different temperatures their bodies have to accommodate. And thank fuck I inherited that, too, otherwise I’d have been of little help in getting Eliza warmed up earlier.

Until the orgasm, at least. I’m sure that had her blood heated.

Eliza shakes her head. “I… don’t understand.”

It’s no small thing to me that the expression on her face isn’t one of fear—it’s just confusion. Clearly, she has no idea what’s going on. She’s probably wondering if any of this is even real.

Carefully, I sit down beside her. She doesn’t flinch away, but she doesn’t curl into my side like earlier, either. That’s fine—I get it. Honestly, her reaction so far has done nothing but given me hope. When Jade learned about my heritage, the first thing she did was run right the fuck away.

Then she did some research on the mythology of it all and came back when all the lore said that we’re nothing more than advanced humans, if you will.

Eliza blows out a long breath and says, “It’s impossible. I mean, animal DNA and human DNA don’t mix. I’m a scientist, for fuck’s sake. How come there aren’t any studies? Why hasn’t it been discovered before?” She shakes her head. “It doesn’t make sense.”

“For starters,” I say, “Shifters aren’t just human DNA mixed with animal DNA. It’s like… humans are a species, ravens are a species, and raven shifters are a species, too. Different things.”

“So that’s what you are?” she asks, head tilted to the side as she speaks. “A… a raven shifter? You just sprout wings at will?”

“Sort of,” I say, shrugging. “I can just will the wings into place. But mostly I just have the second form of a raven.” After a moment, I add, “And, secondly, people have discovered us. We’re not exactly the best kept secret. You’ve heard the mythology on shifter’s, right?”

Slowly, she nods.

“Right, well, it’s the same shit. Just not myths. Some people still know about our existence. Still believe. Most people just think we’re fables. No matter what, humans don’t tend to trust us.”

“What? Why?”

“Because we’re more powerful. Because there are a lot of unknowns still. People don’t like what they can’t know, and they sure as fuck don’t like something that might be better than them.”

Eliza nods slowly, eyes wide as she tries to process everything. “So… this is the big secret you’ve been keeping from me. That you’re a raven.”

“Raven shifter,” I correct.

“Right,” she murmurs. “Raven shifter.” Her eyes snap to mine. “I’m not going crazy, am I? This conversation is actually happening?”

I try to smile at her and nod. “Yes,” I say. “It is.”

Eliza stares at me for a long moment before, oddly enough, she breaks out into laughter. It echoes throughout the cave and combats the thunder still cracking outside. “I’m sorry,” she says, “I was just thinking about how obvious it is. I mean, your name is Corvan—which is derived from corvus, the Latin word for crow.”

I smile and nod. “My parents were very pragmatic. It’s kind of the ‘John’ of raven shifters.”

Eliza laughs again. “Holy shit. This is fucking insane.”

Another nod from me. “Sure as fuck is.” We’re both quiet for a long moment. Then, carefully, I ask, “How are you feeling about all of this, Eliza?”

“I’m feeling like it’s… absolutely unreal. And yet I know it isn’t because I saw your wings with my own two eyes. It’s just…”

“‘Absolutely unreal’?” I quote.

She laughs, nodding. “Yeah. That.”

“Does it… change anything for you?”

She stares at me for a long moment, head tilted to the side. “I don’t know.”

My heart starts pounding wildly. “Eliza, I’m still me. Still Corvan. Still the guy you’ve been with on the cruise, the one who picked you up when you fell, who saved you twice and bought you a breakfast burrito. I’m still—”

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