An icy chill runs down my spine at the thought of my poor mate being mounted by a massive unicorn with its enormous... The implications hit me like a physical blow, and suddenly I feel lightheaded. Blood drains from my face as my mind tries to process the logistics. “She... he... There’s no way!” My voice cracks as I try to put the pieces together. Every mental image ends in disaster and Raven being seriously harmed.
“Exactly why he’s waiting for the full moon. They’ll need to be outside for the moonlight to bind his unicorn side and keep it controlled.” Leander says this calmly, as if discussing the weather, while tilting his head to look at me with barely concealed amusement. “Don’t worry—Mina is having that talk with Raven as we speak.” His smile tells me he knows full well he’s shot my day to hell.
A frantic banging at his office door draws our attention, the sound echoing through the room like gunshots. Within moments, Raven bursts in and stares wide-eyed at both of us, her sapphire eyes wild with panic. “I’m gonna die...” she gasps, rushing over to me and diving into my arms like I’m the only solid thing in a world gone mad.
Mina comes waltzing in slowly behind her, a knowing smirk playing on her lips. “You are being so dramatic. You are not going to die. Once you are fully mated and have exchanged bites, it becomes a non-issue.” Mina shakes her head and winks at Leander with the confidence of someone who’s survived similar circumstances.
“Easy for you to say—you don’t have a black unicorn for a mate,” Raven huffs against my chest, her breath warm through my shirt.
“No, I have a nightmare,” Mina replies casually, leaning against Leander’s desk and crossing her arms under her chest.
Raven goes deadly still in my arms, every muscle tensing like a bowstring. She turns so slowly to look at her mother and nest father that I can hear her neck creak. The color drains from her face until she’s pale as parchment as she stares at the two of them. She opens her mouth to say something just as Hemlocke walks through the door.
Her attention snaps to him, then back to her parents, and she simply... faints. I move as fast as I can, catching her before she slips off my lap and hits the hardwood floor.
“Raven!” Hemlocke yells, immediately kneeling beside my chair while I cradle our unconscious mate. His pink eyes are wide with concern and confusion. “What happened?” He looks from Raven’s pale face to Mina and Leander.
“I explained to her what might happen if she doesn’t wait for the full moon,” Mina says matter-of-factly while Leander rolls his eyes and shakes his head in exasperation.
“Oh, shit... I left it as ‘it’s tradition.’ I didn’t want to scare her half to death.” Hemlocke’s voice carries regret as he brushes a rogue strand of black hair away from Raven’s face with gentle fingers. “An equine’s member is quite... considerable.”
The clinical way he says it makes my stomach churn all over again. “She was planning on hunting you down and completing the bondtonight,” Mina tells us with a casual shrug. “It was better for her to know what’s at risk if she rushes.”
Hemlocke goes pale, the color draining from his face as he looks from me to our unconscious mate, then back up at Mina. “Thank you for intervening.” He leans down and kisses Raven’s forehead tenderly before standing back up. “I need to lead the ride-out this morning—the new cavalry is useless on horseback.” He shakes his head with professional frustration as he moves toward the door. “I have three healers on standby, and everyone signed the waivers.” He looks over at Leander, who nods his understanding before Hemlocke leaves.
Raven slowly comes to, her eyelashes fluttering as consciousness returns. She looks around disoriented, her sapphire eyes unfocused and confused.
“Shhh... take your time, sweetheart.” I kiss her forehead, tasting the salt of nervous sweat on her skin, and help her sit back up in my lap.
“I have to get to the politics class Klauth enrolled me in. Then after that is royal protocol, and finally back to Shadowcarve.” She says this while pulling out her phone, the screen’s glow illuminating her still-pale features. “Oh, I almost forgot.”
Raven reaches up into her hair, and I hear the soft whisper of a blade cutting through strands. She pulls down a long braid of her obsidian hair—easily two feet long and thick as my pinky. Without hesitation, she reaches up into my white hair and begins braiding her dark strands into mine with practiced efficiency. The obsidian tresses stand out dramatically against my platinum locks, creating a striking contrast.
She kisses me softly, her lips warm and reassuring, and smiles with recovered composure. “I’ll see you this afternoon.” She stands up gracefully and hugs Mina, breathing in her mother’s familiar scent, then embraces Leander with equal affection.
“Bye, Mom. Bye, Dad. Love you, everyone.” With a flutter of her black wings that stirs the papers on Leander’s desk, she turns and leaves the room, her footsteps fading down the corridor.
I pull her braid from my hair and hold it up to examine it in the morning light. The strands catch the sunlight like spun obsidian, and a smile creeps across my lips as I stare at this piece of her she’s given me. The gesture feels profoundly intimate, more personal than any jewelry.
“All that’s left is the scale exchange, if you choose to do it,” Mina says as she moves closer to inspect the braid with maternal interest.
Leander unbuttons his shirt and shows us a scale embedded in the skin over his heart—green and silver like Mina’s dragon form, but somehow alive and pulsing with faint light. “Her scale will live on her other mates if she chooses to gift it to them.” He smiles as he touches Mina’s scale with reverent fingers. “It strengthens the bond and makes it possible to sense each other better across distances.” He buttons his shirt back up, hiding the intimate marking.
Nodding, I head toward the door, my mind already racing with additional concerns. “I have a weapons class with the third years to help Abraxis with.” As I walk out into the corridor, my thoughts drift in a thousand different directions.
Who severed the drow’s head and left it for Raven?Will she be safe completing the bond with Hemlocke under these dangerous circumstances? Mina mentioned five mates total—who are the other three, and what other challenges await us?
The braid in my hand feels heavier than it should, weighted with the significance of belonging to someone so precious and complicated. Whatever comes next, I’ll be ready to protect her through it all.
Something hasAbraxis pissed off with the way he’s conducting the class today. His usual controlled demeanor is replaced by sharp, clipped commands and an edge to his voice that makes even the most confident students step carefully around him. The afternoon air is thick with tension that has nothing to do with the weapons training taking place in the courtyard.
When I have the chance, I step closer to him and bump his shoulder with mine, the contact brief but supportive. “What happened?”
He arches a scarred brow looking at me, his dark eyes carrying the weight of someone bearing bad news. “Figures you’d figure it out. Lily drew a cursed egg card this morning.” The words hit the air like stones dropped into still water.
“Which class is that happening in?” I watch two of the blink hounds sparring while trying to process this information. Their movements are fluid and predatory, but I’m barely paying attention. The third blink hound, Keir, is sparring with Balor, their wooden practice swords creating sharp cracks as they connect.
“Politics. There are five eggs left—only two of them I’m concerned about. The orange egg and the green one. The others are not as problematic based on species.” Abraxis’s voice carries the weight of someone who’s seen too much ancient history firsthand. We watch as Keir disarms Balor with a particularly clever feint, the older warrior’s sword clattering against the stone.
