Page 71 of Shadows of Fate

“Just be with me, here, now. Please,” I replied, trying to will the tears in my eyes away. I needed to feel him, to feel as if this could be real again. As if it would be—I needed something to hold on to so when I woke up again, I would feel a little less lost.

He nodded and kissed down my chest, pulling my nipple into his mouth and rolling it between his teeth and tongue. Dipping my hands into his hair, I gasped as I felt his fangs graze against me.

“Please, Raiden,” I pleaded.

The moment his fangs broke the skin around my breast, I closed my eyes, letting the mix of pain and pleasure take over. This was what I needed—to be grounded in a space without everything else. I needed to just be here with him.

I felt him drinking from me, felt the connection that I’d been longing for, for the past few days deepen. I opened my eyes, looked down at him, and smiled. He released my breast and came up to kiss me, my blood still coating his lips. His touch was gentle at first, our lips barely touching. But a moment later his lips were crushing against mine, and I hoped with every fiber of my existence that it was real.

I pulled his bottom lip into my mouth, my teeth sinking into his flesh. He groaned as I sucked before pulling away to look into his dark eyes.

“Tell me this is real,” I whispered, our mouths so close I could smell my blood still on his tongue.

“It’s always been real, Silvana, and it always will be,” he whispered back.

Before I could think about it any more, I had my legs wrapped around his hips, my back arching to meet him. He wasted no time, pushing his cock deep inside of me in one swift thrust. Being joined with him, one being, one soul, was everything. We moved together, my fangs aching to sink into him, but I didn’t want this to end. I needed more.

I told him so—through whimpers and whispers against his skin. We came together as one, his hands buried in my long hair, tears still gathered in my eyes. I sank my fangs into his shoulder as he did the same to me. Our essence mixed on every level possible as I welcomed him and every bit of pleasure and pain he could dish out for me.

And when I woke up, in the small inn Cedar, Bastian, and I were staying in, I wiped the tears off my cheeks that I couldn’t hold back anymore. I tasted him on my tongue, and I felt the bite marks on my skin, willing them to stay longer than I knew they would. But I knew my soul would be back with me soon.

I was trusting the threads of fate.

* * *

The Court of Ravens was nothing but sky. Wide open midnight blue skies filled with stars. The moon was only half full tonight, but she let off plenty of light for us to ride along the bumpy road into the city of Cainhorn where the ruler of the Court of Ravens lived.

I sent a quick prayer to any of the three Fates who may be listening that this went well—I’d been doing that a lot recently. After Cedar told me about his grandmama and what she believed, everything Allie had been saying made a lot more sense. Trusting the threads. It made me anxious, though, putting my faith into something like that. But at the same time, I was willing to do anything to make sure he was safe. Even if that meant trusting something I wasn’t fully convinced was real.

Paine, the ruler in the Court of Ravens, came to my mind. I hadn’t met him yet, but Bastian spoke highly of him and his bonded mate Arabella. Apparently, she was scarily powerful. At that point, I was gracious for any help I could come across. Especially in the form of people we could truly trust and according to everything I’d been told so far, we could trust them.

I shifted slightly atop my horse, watching as Cainhorn came into view in the darkness. Torchlight around the town let off a soft glow. I’d been to Cainhorn many times before, but never on this side of things—meeting with the ruler, being welcomed in as one of them. It felt… odd, to say the least.

The Court of Ravens wasn’t like Darkmoor. Where Darkmoor was a vast array of Gothic stone houses and cobblestoned streets, Cainhorn was soft rolling hills of green, vast open skies, and homes built into the landscape. It was a collection of small wooden houses along the Mistral River, and the castle Paine and Arabella resided in was truly a castle this time.

With light gray stone and rounded towers reaching toward the open skies, decorated with small openings that served as windows, it sat on a slightly towering hill above the rest of the town. One thing I did quickly take note of, though, was the lack of walls between the castle itself and the town. While their home was massive compared to those below it, there was no barricade of a wall holding the citizens of Cainhorn back from their rulers. They were within the town limits, together. Unified, as one.

It reminded me of the manor, where the only thing separating us from the city of Darkmoor was a small bridge over the river.

Swallowing back the small level of anxiety I had as we neared the castle, I glanced over at Cedar. He’d been taking shifts between shifting and taking flight to see ahead, and riding beside me. Having him as a constant source of comfort had been a life raft I wasn’t aware I needed until we’d left Darkmoor behind.

“Don’t be anxious, Silv,” Cedar said gently, reaching over and squeezing my hand.

“I’m fine,” I replied quickly.

He smiled sadly. “You’re not, and that’s okay. No one would blame you for that. Paine will understand, though, Silv. You’re not alone in this pain. Please don’t forget that.”

He didn’t press it after that, and I was thankful. I couldn’t talk about it anymore, and the only one who seemed to understand it was Bastian.

The male who’d thrived on chaos and bad jokes hadn’t spoken much since he’d woken up from the venom sleep he’d been stuck in. I missed his jokes, but I understood. I hadn’t been myself either. He was here, and he was ready to do whatever was necessary to help us find Raiden. That was all I needed from him right now.

“Is there anything else I need to know before going in, Bastian?” I asked as we crossed into the official line of the town. More houses came into view as we rode by.

Bastian didn’t reply for a moment, and I wondered to myself if he’d heard me. He looked over at me before finally speaking. “Just be yourself, Silvana. Don’t put on a front with what you believe they want to see. You aren’t a meek little female, so don’t act like it. Speak your mind, be straight with what you’re after, and don’t hide your love for him.”

I thought over what he’d said.Be yourself.

“What if being myself ends up having the opposite affect?” I asked, my tone giving way to the anxiety I felt in my gut.

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