Page 86 of Heiress of Fire

“Leave me be,” she bristled.

“Let her go, D,” Beacon suggested.

Davina turned back to the rest of them. They all seemed to agree as they nodded along with the oldest Levina. She loosened her grip and watched the way Snow’s pearl skirts cascaded over the stoned staircase of Castellum.

“Can anyone explain who this Landon guy is?” Cara asked shyly.

“I don’t think it’s our place to say.” Caleb pursed his lips.

Leilani agreed, “It’s not. It’s a sensitive subject for her.”

Beacon sighed as he scratched his beard, wrapping an arm around Valerie’s shoulder, while Val rubbed her eyes. “I shouldn’t have mentioned him.”

“Well, who is he?” Davina asked. “What was he to Snow?”

Valerie shook her head. “It’s not my story to tell. She’ll explain it to you one day.”

Davina nodded.

“You know with everything going on, I haven’t thought about Lan in a while. I miss him,” Beacon said. He stared at a distancing Snow while he recollected the ghosts of his past.

“I do too, Bea,” Val muttered.

Beacon and Val held onto each other, memories of Landon silencing them and taking away their momentary joy.

“There go our plans to eat dinner at the cavern!” Caleb exclaimed, flopping his hands over his thighs with exaggeration.

Leilani slapped the back of his head. “Caleb! Is that what you’re thinking about right now?”

“I’m hungry, I just came back from training!” Caleb argued.

Cara put a hand over her stomach. “I have to agree with Caleb on this one.”

Leilani rolled her eyes.

Davina looked back at an impassive Snow, who kept walking toward her native Bridge. Her white hair disappeared among the crowded Bridge of Neptulus and Davina was left wondering about Snow Morozov's past.

TWENTY-TWO

Davina tightened her grip on the hood, stalking closer to the scene with her head low. Heavy drops of rain fell onto the crown of her head and over her shoulders as the figures over the dim field became clearer. With each step, her boots became heavier with mud.

As she approached the thorny shrubs, she ducked behind the bushes once Raven snapped her gaze in her direction. Davina cursed under her breath, not allowing herself to breathe until the voices began ringing again.

Davina lifted her gaze to the silhouettes that flanked Raven. Their clothes were inky black leathers with long capes flowing with the breeze. They were the new set of Predators that had appeared in Bellatorm since the first battle against Raven. People called them the Main Predators. The Bellatormans that would transform into the undead were considered the Lowly Predators.

The Main Predators were not brainless like the Lowly Predators. Main Predators had a mind of their own and self-control, they had chosen out of spontaneous free will to fight for Raven’s cause, while the Lowly Predators were the Bellatormans that Raven would inhabit with her dark magic.

That night, as she was locking her front door, she glimpsed large bodies of shadows flying past the trees that were near her land.

Davina decided to trail after the shadows, in hopes of finding some kind of information that could bring an end to the war.

For the past couple of months, Raven had worked tirelessly and successfully to bring division among the Bellatormans and Castellum island. Many of the islanders have chosen to completely renounce the King and Castellum, choosing to rather live with inactive powers than believe in a King who supposedly allowed his people to suffer at the hands of the Dark Mistress.

Davina had visited the King enough times to know that it pained him that his people were choosing to follow Raven’s ideals, again. In the Era of Silence, he was able to move on from Raven’s betrayal, but she was more than certain that the betrayal of the people hurt him even more.

“Allaway,” Raven called.

Davina heard footsteps on the grassy plane through the droplets of water falling from the sky.

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