Page 111 of Rage of Her Ravens

I shook my head. “If my sister killed their brother, these mages could be out for blood.” And more innocents would get caught in the crossfire.

“No doubt, but Malvolia pulls their strings.” Draevyn crossed over to me in a few long strides. “They won’t do anything without her blessing.”

I tensed, craning my neck to look up at him when he stood over me. “And you don’t think she’ll order them to kill me?”

The look he gave me made me want to crawl out of my own skin. “I think once Malvolia realizes your power, she’ll want you to serve in her army.”

I balled my hands into fists, not liking the direction of this conversation. “Against my sister?”

I pressed into my mates when he knelt in front of me. “Shirina, with your siren’s call, you could stop a war before it starts.”

My mates said nothing as they stiffened beside me, their wings protectively pressing into my back, their hands on my knees. They didn’t need to speak, though. Their silence spoke volumes. They wanted me to serve the evil sorceress queen, too. I wondered if that had been their plan all along.

I glared at Draevyn. “So you want me to serve Malvolia, the woman who put a price on my head when I was in the womb?” Had he lost his mind?

His brow creased, and I could practically feel the tension radiating off him, the bond between us thrumming and shaking like a rope stretched too thin. “What I want is for you to be safe, and siding with Malvolia will be the safest bet.”

I somehow found the strength to stand, slapping my mates’ hands when they reached for me. Then I bolted out of the room like I was being chased by dragon fire.

“Shiri,” Blaze called at my back.

“Shiri!” Nikkos hollered.

I refused to turn around. I ran up the stairs, ignoring my mates’ calls, the flapping of their wings behind me nearly drowning out the enraged roars inside my head. I reached my bedchamber and slammed the door in my mates’ faces. I ran to my bed, which had been stripped of all sheets and blankets, left with nothing but bare feather pillows. I fell onto the bed and screamed into a pillow, furious with my mates for expecting me to serve that bitch, and even more angry with fate, because I feared I wouldn’t have a choice.

* * *

Blaze

Even though my muscleswere sore from all the flying I’d done this week, I flew like I was being chased by Malvolia’s choking magic. I landed on the balcony to Shiri’s room—our mother’s room—and Nikkos landed soon after. I understood the significance of Drae letting her stay here. Though I was glad he’d finally come to his senses and accepted her as our mate, I feared he’d realized it too late, for I was starting to worry that Shiri wouldn’t have him. Not that I blamed her after his behavior, but there was a reason why powerful witches took on more than one mate, and it wasn’t just because of their demanding sexual appetites. The more powerful the witch, the more threats they faced. Shiri would need all three of us to help keep her safe. And now I feared her safety was in jeopardy more than ever.

A blade pierced my chest at the sound of our mate’s soft cries echoing from inside the bedchamber. Nikkos and I shared a look before going to the open doors, the gossamer curtains blowing in the breeze. The servants had thankfully cleaned out the room. The strong smell of sage incense chased away the foul stench of Nikkos’s sickness. The bed was devoid of bedding. I hoped the servants had burned it. The room was slightly cold as the hearth fire had gone out. I worried our mate was cold, but she might fight me if I tried to warm her.

Wings pinned behind me, I cautiously approached the bed. I didn’t fear our mate hurting us, but I did worry about saying the wrong thing and driving a wedge between us. She was lying face down on the bed, her shoulders shaking as she cried into a pillow.

I sat beside her, gently placing a hand on her back, tensing when she flinched at my touch.Shiri,I called through thought,please don’t push us away.

You don’t have to face this alone.Nikkos sat on her other side, running his fingers through her hair.Please talk to us.

She sat up, swiping the moisture from her eyes while crushing the pillow to her chest. “Do you agree with him?” she asked aloud. “That I should serve her?”

I loosed a long breath. I’d been dreading this conversation, but we couldn’t put it off any longer, not when Malvolia’s dogs were circling the gate. “If Bertram and Sol are here, it’s only a matter of time before Malvolia finds you.” I swallowed back my apprehension. I wouldn’t be able to contain my raging inferno if they tried to harm her or the girls. “Then what?”

She gave me an accusatory look. “You didn’t answer my question. Do you want me to serve her?”

Did I? In my fantasy world, we would live out our days peacefully at Abyssus. The world could burn around us, but we would ignore it while living in our protective cocoon. Unfortunately, the world wouldn’t work that way. Malvolia and Fachnan would both come for our mate, and if I had to pick one sovereign, it would be Malvolia. “We want to keep you safe,” I finally said on an exhale. “This might be our only option.”

Her eyes narrowed, and our bond burned between us like I’d set it on fire. “You said you’d bring us someplace safe.”

“We did,” I answered.

“There is no place safer than Abyssus,” Nikkos added.

She arched away from both of us, using that pillow as a barrier when I reached for her. “You said you wouldn’t take us to Malvolia.”

Nikkos and I shared a look, and I knew if either of us said the wrong thing it could jeopardize her trust in us.

I swallowed back a lump of nervous energy while refusing to break eye contact. “And we didn’t.”

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