They lifted a few feet until I shifted my claws back into hands, and they went crashing to the ground. I landed on the earth beside them in a crouch.
The night was quiet, save for the flames still blazing in the stables.
I turned to face Devora, my wings dragging along the ground. Hair hung in my eyes, and dried blood crusted my arms. I could taste the blood of the men I’d killed smeared across my face.
I looked like a beast. A wild, unhinged monster that Scarven so desperately wanted to create.
But it was forher. To keep her safe.
She stared at me, lips parted and chest heaving. Her shadows melted into her skin.
“Come on,” I said gruffly. “We need to find Kieran.”
Blinking twice, she gave a small nod. I turned to stalk into the surrounding forest when she gripped my elbow.
“Nox, wait…” She tugged at her bottom lip with her teeth, her eyes flitting between mine. The blue-green pools were just as bright, even in the dead of night. I swallowed as her fingers squeezed my arm before releasing me.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
36
Devora
Our impromptu rescue mission at the stables was one of the most successful ones the Ashen Order had ever attempted, according to Tessa. Fourteen prisoners. All of them were Illusionists and Striders who had been captured by Scarven’s men and carted across the empire for more of his experiments.
The Keep wasn’t equipped to take on over a dozen more residents, but we made do. Makeshift beds were set up in the bunk rooms, and we moved some of the groups to the upper floors with the older ones and families. Tessa and Arowyn slept in my room for a couple of nights to free up their chambers. The newest additions to the Keep wouldn’t be staying long, however; we were sending them back to their provinces once they recovered. It was a miracle none of them had any lasting effects—physically, at least. Dehydration and a few cuts and bruises were the worst of it, but I knew the mental and emotional toll from this trauma would remain long after the scars faded.
I was exhausted, but in a good way. Having so many mouths to feed and children to watch and people to care for helped keep my mind off what happened at the Hollow.
And the fact that tonight, I was going back.
“Miss Rora?” a sweet voice said behind me.
Turning from the basin I’d been washing dishes in, I found little Luna with her scraggly teddy bear in hand. I wiped my hands on a towel and smiled. “Isn’t it your nap time, little girl?”
When I crouched, she ran forward to hug my knees. “Can’t sleep. Phina keeps kicking me.” She reached up to twirl a finger in my hair, then tried to pluck the glasses off my nose.
Luna and Seraphina were two young Strider sisters who had been in the carriage Kieran pulled all the way from the Hollow to here. They’d both latched on to me pretty quickly. Based on the tint of red in their hair, I wondered if their mother had hair like mine, and that was why they gravitated to me.
I scooped her up, and she rested her head on my shoulder. “Alright, you can come nap with me. Just this once, okay?” I tapped her on the nose.
We both knew I was a liar. I’d never been around kids much before to know if I liked them, but I was literally wrapped around this little girl’s finger.
I carried her out of the kitchen and to my room. The little puffs of warm breath on my neck indicated she was already fast asleep. I shook my head with a smile as I reached for my door handle, then froze.
Nox leaned against the doorframe to his room down the hall, watching me with an intensity that burned through my skin. I hadn’t seen him much in the last couple of days, what with our hectic schedules.
“Hello,” I said. A small package with a letter was tucked in the crook of his elbow, and I nodded toward it. “What’s that?”
He shifted on his feet. “Something from Clarissa.”
At the sound of her name, I looked down and tightened my hold on Luna. I wondered if the empress still hated me. If she sent messages to him to keep up with my “imprisonment,” or if she’d simply forgotten my existence—the lady’s maid who stabbed her in the back, thenmoved on.
“She said she hopes you’re doing well,” Nox added, and my neck jerked up.
She hoped I was doingwell? The last time I saw her, she practically spat in my face. My brows knitted together as disbelief swarmed me.
“She doesn’t know the details, but I’ve told her things are getting better. That you’ve been a huge asset here.” The side of his lip quirked into a small smile as he spoke. “Guess it’s a good thing we didn’t leave you in Mysthelm all those months ago.”
