Page 72 of Moon Raven Rising
He pulls me closer, and I bury my fists into his leathers, careful not to jar the blade and cause him undue pain. Darkness descends all around us, a cloud of shadows filling my mind, my vision, and nothing makes sense.
“You saved him.” I say, through confusing tears, and his deep onyx eyes screw shut before he coughs, spraying my hands and chest with more dark blood.
“I deserve—far worse—than the—warrior's death—the gods—are allowing.” He coughs and sputters the broken sentence, and though war and destruction is happening all around us, it feels like time stands still where we sit in a shroud of darkness.
I wanted him dead.
At one point, I would have done it myself. I would have killed him with my bare hands, but I saw how he was changing. I saw glimpses of the man who was once my best friend, who I shared fears, truths, and memories with. I sawCanoagain.
Kait slides to our side on her knees, looking down in shock at the man in my arms. She shakes her head in disbelief, her hands frantically shaking around the injury to his chest.
“I’m sorry—” Cano chokes on the words, and Kait lifts his blackened hand into her lap, winding her fingers through his. “You deserve so much more than I could have ever given you. I’m sorry I wasn’t better. Perhaps fate will be kinder to you in the future.” Confusion puckers the skin on my forehead as I watchKait sob and fall forward, slamming her lips down on his blood-stained mouth.
“No, please, no!” She begs, cupping his face as his features fall slack. Tears streaking down her scarred face, contorted in pain and covered in filth of war. “Shift! Dammit you stubborn prick! SHIFT!” She screams in his face as ripples of magic like a shockwave seem to come directly from her words and causes us all to stumble back some. Shaking out of it, I turn to Maki as he reaches for Kait. She turns on him, throwing her hands anywhere she can land a blow.
“This can’t be happening!” She screams to the sky as she relents on her attack and falls into his chest. “This can't be happening.” She says again, much quieter, looking down at his still body with her face contorted in something far more raw than I have ever seen my best friend show. Maki holds onto her like an anchor.
“Maki,” I run my hand down my face, noticing that through everything that has happened, the soldiers are retreating. The fight dwindling as the number of bodies left standing shrinks. “Get them both out of here. Somewhere safe.” He solemnly nods, then barks orders at some of his men to gather Cano.
“Let me.” Trent presses in where the guards are beginning to lift Cano from the ground. “It’s the least I could do.” The line of his jaw is hard, and his eyes even harder, but when my little brother looks at me, his wings unfurling at his back, he is my father reincarnate. Although he appears strong and absolute, I see the same darkness that darkens my soul. Another thing I wish I could have saved him from. The broken edges that all Ravendene men have now sharpen him too. Maki lifts Kait into his arms as her fight gives out, and she buries her face into his chest.
“They will be safe.” He assures me before taking to the sky. The scene cleared, leaving only the dark stain of Cano’s blood in the snow and a new shadow on my soul.
A sensation crawls up my spine and forces me to turn to face the mountain at my back. Relief makes my heart drop at the sight. Raelle stands fierce, her stark-white hair billowing around her in a storm of waves. I can tell from here that the dress she wears is fit for a warrior queen. Her eyes glow like the moon, and as she raises her hand, I see a man at her side I instantly recognize as Osiris. The look of raw aggression on his face as he lifts the opposite hand of Raelle in unison. Massive power vibrates through the entire field of ruin. Black darkness consumes the early night as the sun’s waning light is snuffed out completely. Pandemonium remaining in its wake.
Chapter fifty-five
It's said that beforeyou die, you see your life flash before your eyes. In my case, that couldn't be further from the truth. In the seconds it took for Cano to push me out of the way and take the sword in my place, I saw the lives of the ones I love most flash before me. I saw their hearts broken and bleeding with my death and the fact that Cano now lies in my arms, losing his battle against death, and no family left to mourn him… It does something to me.
I nearly took his life, and if I had, I would have been meeting him on the other side today.
The wind rips at my hair as my wings carry me as I hold tight onto the wolf shifter in my arms. Kait’s gaze continually reaches over Makis shoulder ahead of me, and the pure devastation on her face nearly breaks me in half. If anyone would want to seeCano dead more than me, it would be Kait, but the further we fly, the more her eyes deaden. As though Canos leaving the world is taking a detrimental piece of her with him.
By the time we are halfway to the cave, night has fully encroached on us. Luckily, we don't have a long way to travel. A groan comes from Cano as we land heavily; the war we’ve raged has seeped deep into my muscles and left me more than exhausted. I can almost not hold myself up, let alone the both of us.
“Help me get him inside,” I tell the wolf, who is pulling his shirt over his head coming from the brush. Flynn steps into me and helps take the bulk of Cano’s weight as we make our way into the cave. Maki and Kait are already there, preparing a place to lay him. When we lay him down, his head rolls to the side. Flynn looks at me as Cano’s eyes shift to the back of his head.
“If we remove the blade…” He says, looking between me and the dead man before us. He isn't surviving this. There is no way. We brought him here to get Kait from the battlefield. We brought him here to say goodbye.
“Remove it.” Kait growls. “He needs to shift.” She says, her icy eyes ablaze like a wintery ice storm. “Now, Trent!” Closing my eyes, I lay my hand around the blade that protrudes from his back, and with a quick jerk, the sword pulls free. The suctioning squelch that comes with it twists my insides.
“May you finally find peace.” I say, placing my hand over the wound in his chest, and Kait runs from the cave with a sob. Maki goes to chase after her, but I stop him before he reaches the exit. I think this is something I need to talk to her about. I look down at my hands covered in the dark ichor that is Cano’s blood and wipe them across my stomach with a clenched jaw. I'm sure he thought he was already dying.
“Don’t come out here talking about peace and the fucking gods, Trent.” Kait growls over her shoulder.
“I wouldn't think of it.” I tell her as I come to a stop at her side. Together we look out into the night. Neither of us seeing much past the dark expanse of woods in front of us and the thoughts that are running through our heads.
“You have no idea how conflicting this is for me.” Her voice barely penetrates the space between us. “Either way this could have ended—” She doesn't continue, but she doesn’t have to. I put my arm over her shoulders and pull her into me. She wraps me in a tight embrace around my waist and she cries. The vicious warrior—who always has a quip or smart remark—utterly breaks.I don't say anything as she continues to let the flood of emotion run rampant out of her. Minutes tick by, without anything but her heartbreak filling the silence. We both know its been enough time that he is very likely gone from this world. As though she senses my thoughts, she finally stops, takes in a deep shuddering breath, and pushes back to look me in the eyes.
“I can't stay here. I was planning on leaving already—now it just makes that decision much easier to bear.” She says, and I don't respond. Nothing I say could be enough. I know that she has made her mind up, and I will support her decision.
“When will you leave?” I eventually say, after a breath. She blinks slowly, and as what looks like the last of her tears rolls down her blotchy cheek, I already know the answer. Lifting my hand
, I press it over the scars on her face. She doesn't retreat; she doesn't flinch or cower. She closes her eyes and presses into my touch. “I love you, Kait. You are my sister in all ways but blood. Please take care of yourself.” Leaning in, I press a chaste kiss on her forehead before she steps out of my arms.
“I love you too, Trent. Tell Dax, will you? Tell him I love him and I'm proud of him and Raelle. I will write when I have time. If my heart will let me. Tell Alaric I'm glad he's here. Tell him it'sup to him to keep you in line now.” She laughs, but it lacks all joy as her chin trembles and she nudges me with her elbow. I nod, rolling my lips between my teeth. I swallow back my emotion as she puts more space between us. The brush becomes thicker at her legs as she finally breaks the tree line.
“I'm sorry, Kait,” is the last thing I say before she shakes her head, turns, and bolts. She shifts midair, her white wolf turning her into a wraith, and she disappears into the snow-covered ground.
