Page 66 of Sticks and Stones and Broken Bones

I rubbed my forehead, willing the image of him to reappear. “But what is his name?”

“I cannot speak it aloud, it is forbidden. But it will come to you when you are ready.” Corvus snapped his wings. “He will be freed and you will meet again.”

“Can you… No, it doesn’t matter.” I started but stopped. It was a ridiculous thought.

“Can I what?” he asked.

He was going to think I was crazy. “Can you send messages to him?”

The giant bird nodded, and his beady eyes watched me closely.

“I thought I’d dreamed it. To be honest, I’m not sure I know what’s real and what isn’t anymore.”

“Raevyn, he is real. I am real. This world is real. My purpose here is to protect you, aid you and help you understand the new world you’re in. Don’t be afraid of asking me anything.” He bucked his head against my hand, and I returned to stroking his feathers.

“Okay, Corvus,” I said with more bravado than I really felt. “Please ask him to visit my dreams. I’d like to remember him again.”

“Of course. Anything else?”

I thought for a moment, and I only really had one burning question. “Do you know how I can access my magic?”

He squawked and I was sure there was an excited little gleam in his eyes. “It’s not just magic. It’s power.”

“What do you mean?”

“Witches pull magic from the world around them. Power comes from within.”

“But I don’t understand, Corvus. How can I have power? My mother was a witch.”

“I think you need to speak to your father.”

My heart sank. “But I don’t know who that is.”

“I’ve a feeling that you might find the answer to that sooner than you think.” Then he bucked my hand with his head and flew out the window.

The door to the room opened and Rook popped his head around it.

“Hey, Lilac,” he said softly as he came over to sit down next to me on the sofa and handed me a cup of tea. “How you doing?”

I shrugged my shoulders and sniffed, grief hitting me again. I was sick of crying too. It just kept coming out of nowhere and wouldn’t fuck off.

“Oh, little darling.” Rook pulled me into his arms, and I curled into his embrace. He’d been wary of touching me after the biting incident but I’d kind of forced my need for cuddles on him. He was fine after that. We still hadn’t talked about it. I was just hoping he’d forget, and we could move on, much like most things in my life at the moment. I hadn’t even asked Korbin about the conversation they’d had with my mother before she’d died, but after that chat with Corvus I knew I needed to find out what they’d dicsovered. I sighed. There was quite a bit racking up that I kind of needed to face. I just couldn’t quite bring myself to do it.

“It will get better,” he said softly. His long green hair was up in a bun on top of his head today and it accentuated the lines of his cheeks and jaw. He really was gorgeous, and my heart did a little flip in my chest as I looked at him.

“Will it?”

“Time heals all wounds. It might not feel like it now, but I know we are all here to support you through it. Whatever you need, okay?”

I nodded and tucked my head under his chin. He wrapped a fluffy blanket around us, and I instantly felt safely cocooned away from the real world.

We stayed like that for a while, long enough for me to doze off, but I awoke with the press of soft lips against my temple. I blinked my eyes open and found the soft white gaze of Korbin looking back at me.

“I’m sorry to wake you, but we need to talk.” Korbin’s lips were pinched together, and his expression was grave.

“I know.” And I did. There was, in fact, quite a lot we needed to talk about.

“I’m sorry we didn’t get a chance to tell you we’d been to see your mother,” Korbin started, a softness in his voice that I found soothing against my frayed nerves. “We hadn’t meant to deceive you, only find out more about who your father had been.”

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