Page 89 of Rage of Her Ravens

“Of course you can,” Draevyn said as he stood, his eyes crinkling as he smiled. “And we’ll get you any color gowns you like.”

The girls gasped. “Thank you!”

He tucked his wings behind him while stealing a glance in my direction. “You’re welcome.”

“How come you’re nice now?” Aurora asked him.

I sucked in a sharp breath, almost tempted to scold Aurora. Almost. It was a fair question; one I’d been too afraid to ask.

Shoving his hands in his pockets, he rocked on his heels. “I suppose I’ve come to my senses.”

Aurora wagged a finger at him like my mother preparing to launch into a lecture. “You weren’t nice before.”

“I know.” He hung his head, his cheeks coloring. “I’m sorry.”

He couldn’t be serious. My heart pounded against my ribcage when he looked up at me from beneath thick lashes. Sorry? For what? For the way he treated the children and me or the fact that his brothers and I refused to tolerate his behavior?

Ember pressed her dolls to her chest, lovingly stroking their backs like I’d done many times with her and Aurora. She blinked up at him with glossy eyes. “Do we call you Uncle Drae now?”

“That’s enough questions, girls,” I blurted, patting the pillow beside me. “Time for sleep.” I gave Draevyn a sharp look. “If you would excuse us, Lord Draevyn.” I didn’t know if it had been a slip of the tongue when I’d called him by his formal title, and I didn’t care. Did he think he could just hand my nieces a few dolls and all would be forgiven?

Aurora and Ember laid back down on my other side, giving me space to curl up next to Nikkos. “Goodnight, Uncle Drae,” they said in unison before sucking on their thumbs.

Ohh, what little traitors.

“Goodnight,” Draevyn said, giving me one last lingering look.

Turning on my side, I punched my pillow into submission while refusing to look at Draevyn, only exhaling when I heard the audible click of the door. I hadn’t bothered to return his ‘goodnight,’ for I knew my night would be anything but good while I watched over my mate, praying that he’d wake and return to me.

* * *

Blaze

Chasing after ghosts. That’s what I felt like I was doing, for there were no signs of Nikkos and the girls anywhere. Ignoring the burning pain in my wings, I’d flown everywhere, from both caves to the lake and everything in-between, my supernatural speed carrying me thrice as fast as a normal Ravini. The only other place I hadn’t looked would be the shifter stronghold. Dread coursed through my veins at the thought of what the shifters would’ve done to Nikkos had they gone there. But, no, I remembered Shirina telling the girls the shifter stronghold was no longer safe. I prayed to the elements they’d listened. Just in case, though, I decided to circle close enough to the stronghold to see if I could scent them.

My wings felt weighted with stone as I flew in the direction of the shifter town. The morning sun was barely peeking over the horizon. With my magical speed, I might be able to fly in and out undetected, but my brother wouldn’t be able to escape as easily. With each flap of my wings, I began to reconsider my fool’s plan, knowing I should return home first. What if they’d somehow ended up there? Then I would’ve risked my life breaching the shifters’ walls for nothing.

Though every fiber in my body screamed at the thought of retreat, I knew I had no more options. I had to return to Abyssus, and if Nikkos and the girls weren’t there, we’d have no choice but to mobilize an aerial army to save them. During my long search, I had plenty of time to think about Shirina and my role in Malvolia’s army. I could no longer in good conscience try to coerce our mate to join with the witch who’d been hunting her family. How could I expect Shirina to go to battle against her own sister, against Ember and Aurora’s mother? Which meant I would be branded a traitor to the crown and Malvolia would soon hunt all of us. Would Shirina be able to defeat the sorceress queen with her siren’s call? Or would we all be doomed to suffer the fate of my parents? And if Derrick and Flora didn’t kill my parents, who did? Had Malvolia been so cruel as to treat my brothers and me as her own children after murdering our parents?

So consumed was I in my dark thoughts that I didn’t notice the line of fire mages flying in my direction. For the first time in my life, my veins iced with panic at the sight of my own countrymen. What if they were Malvolia’s personal mages coming after me? But then a shaft of morning light struck the mage at the lead, highlighting his silvery hair and wings. Romulus. The captain of the aerial guard. They were coming for me, but why? Had they found Nikkos and the girls? I flew faster than I’d ever flown in my life, ignoring the pain in my wings as I furiously flapped toward them.

Romulus let out a sharp whistle and I flew after them toward a narrow ridge along the base of the nearest mountain overlooking the valley of trees.

Once we landed, I bent over to catch my breath, the muscles in my wings burning from straining all night. “What news?” I finally asked, wiping sweat from my brow.

“Your brother and the children have returned to Abyssus,” Romulus answered.

I threw back my head, letting out a joyous howl as a wave of relief washed over me. “Thank the elements!” A shudder coursed through me when I looked back at Romulus and saw the pity reflecting in his eyes. “Are they alright?”

Romulus gave me another look of pity before averting his gaze. “The children are well. Your brother is unconscious. There are nurses tending to him.”

My world tipped then spun. Unconscious? I gritted my teeth. “Then let’s go.”

Despite the tenderness in my wings, I pushed off the ledge. Fatigue threatened to overwhelm me, but I didn’t want to rest until I was back at Abyssus. I only prayed my brother would be alive when I got there.

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