Page 86 of Claws of Death

Tata rewards him with a clipped smile. “Your unholy Crow magic will certainly make sure it’s not that much longer after all.”

From the open window, humid evening air drafts inside, playing with loose strands of my hair and carrying the scent of hay and grains. The stables are visible across the yard of grass where two horses graze despite the late hour.

We sit and talk until the moon comes up and Andraya ushers us into the bedroom where the big males cram their bodies into too-short beds on the bottom of each bunk, and the females climb to the top beds. Andraya and Pouly shuffle off to take care of the dishes, but I’m not tired. A million thoughts run through my mind and a million emotions through my chest.

“How about a brief flight?” Myron whispers into my ear when he’s done watching me fidget on the spot before the bed. Herinor is already snoring, and Tori and Clio are whispering something, the female’s head dangling over the side of the bed as she watches him roll around without finding a comfortable position.

I nod at Myron, focusing on the feeling of wind carrying my wings, of freedom and wide waters.

My body shrinks, and my feathers slide out of my skin, replacing the leathers that belong to the Queen of Askarea. I can’t lose them when shifting back, but I don’t think about that now. With a few hops on my bird feet, I’m back at the kitchen door, fluttering toward the window and out into the night.

Myron is right behind me, his powerful wings bringing him level with me fast, but he doesn’t stay by my side, leading the way to the steep roof of the stables. There, he hops to the edge, already shifting back, and sits down on the old gray tiles. I land next to him, remaining in my bird form but close enough for him to touch. His warmth seeps into my feathers, making my little bird heart flutter. I want to shift back, but I’m worried what I’ll say.

We haven’t been alone much, and the few moments we have were loaded with the unspoken words and the ache for closeness I haven’t been able to give in to.

“Look at that moon.” Myron tips back his head, hair shifting to reveal his ears as he observes the almost perfect yellow circle above. “Isn’t it beautiful?”

He doesn’t wait for me to answer, not that I could give him more than a caw and a nudge with my beak.

“When I was a youngling, I’d sometimes sit on the top of the tower with Royad. We’d dream of a world where my father didn’t think pain was the only way to learn how to be a leader. We’d dream of flying east, back to Neredyn. Sometimes we’d talk about the places we’d visit, the wild forestsalong the western coasts, the islands scattered along the coast before it which my people once called their home.”

I stay still, afraid he’ll stop talking, but he sighs, brushing back his hair and rubbing his hands up and down his face a few times like he can chase the memories away.

“I’ve been waking up every night since the Flame estate, wondering if I should knock on your door. Just to talk,” he adds before I can wonder what he hoped to get out of a visit. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about so many things.” He pauses, lacing his fingers together and resting his hands in his lap. “But it all seems irrelevant in the face of a war we don’t know we’ll survive.”

I don’t know where he’s headed with this, but I can’t ask him either, so I nudge his elbow with my beak, hoping he’ll get that I want him to tell me more.

“I’ve been thinking about my promise to Tori, that I’d take my people and leave when all this is over.” Again, he pauses, and I can sense a question in the air. And again, I nudge him. “You’re a Crow now, Ayna.” He clears his throat, eyes lingering on the moon as if it holds all the answers in its swollen belly. “I don’t know where we’ll go or what we’ll find there, but it’s possible my promise to Tori won’t be fulfilled unless you come with me.”

Heat and cold rushes through my bird body, shaking it so violently I lose control and slip out of it, shifting into my human form. Thank the Guardians, my leathers are there, but I’m half sitting in Myron’s lap. On instinct, his arms close around my waist, preventing me from slipping off the roof. His mouth is by my ear, hot breath familiar and excitingas it tickles my skin. “I don’t need an answer right now. I just need to let you know there is a chance the magic of the deal will not be satisfied.”

He means it. He’s leaving it up to me if I want to join him wherever he goes.

“Then there’s Tavras.” He doesn’t let go of me, sliding me fully onto his lap as he lies down against the tiles, bending a knee and bracing his foot on the edge of the roof to hold both our weights while my own legs dangle over the edge left and right of his thigh. My back is pressed against his chest, one of his hands resting idly on my stomach. It’s comfortable. Safe. And for once, I don’t think about what it used to feel like with him. I only feel how it is now.

“What about Tavras?” My eyes find the moon once more, wondering if we’ll ever be like this again.

Myron’s voice rumbles through my body as he answers. “You’re queen of two realms. That of Crows and the very one we’re in right now.” His fingers find my hair, absently stroking down the side of my head. “You can’t both leave with me and stay in Tavras unless I become King of Tavras.”

It’s not a question but a fact. “Technically, you’re as much the King of Tavras as I’m the Queen of Crows. We’re married, Myron.”

“We are.” Beneath my spine, his heart slams hard against his ribs. “Married and mated. What’s mine is yours. You’re nottechnicallymy queen; youliterallyare. In every sense of the word. You can rule our kingdom in my stead. I trust you with our people. With body, heart, and soul.”

I can’t breathe as his fingers splay on my stomach, the light touch turning proprietary. “I’m yours, Ayna.”

But his hand says what his words don’t. ThatI’mhis.

The armor is suddenly too tight, the leather too thick. I want to feel his warmth skin to skin.

“Let’s destroy Erina’s weapon first. We can talk about everything else tomorrow.”

It’s the response of a coward, but I’m not ready to say I’ll be his again if only he makes me.

“There are things that can’t wait until tomorrow, Ayna.” His lips are close to my ear once more, brushing the shell of it, and I shudder against him. “If things go wrong tonight, there will be no tomorrow where I can tell you I can’t bear another day without you knowing that I feel you through our bond. It might not be as strong as it used to be, but it’s there. I can feel your pain and your joy. And I can feel the heat flowing from you right now, Ayna.” My skin tingles where his finger traces down the side of my neck, sweeping my hair aside to place a kiss to the sensitive skin right beneath my ear. My body reverberates with pleasure at that simple touch. “I need you, Ayna. All of you. If you’re not ready, I can understand, but I need you to know that I’m ready to give you my all. And if this is the last night we have, I need you to take it.”

His lips still below my ear, lingering, waiting for an answer I can’t speak.

But I turn my head to the side, meeting his mouth with mine in a kiss that equals the storm brewing in my chest. A moan slips from his throat, deep and sensual,the sound running straight to my core. His tongue slides against my lower lip, followed by a nip of his teeth, and I open for him, inhaling his breath, his scent. Like honey over fire, his taste melts on my tongue, the brine of the ocean, sage and rosemary, but there’s a sweetness to it that I’ve never noticed.

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