“I went and found sea glass and seashells for her. I left them on her bed with Ziggy’s help.” I turn my gaze toward the dragon dorms in time to see her landing on the balcony of her room, her wings spread like dark silk against the stone walls. The sight of her makes my chest tight with possessive satisfaction.
“Her mom was obsessed with weapons. Raven loves pretty things. The beach is her favorite place to go to think. Cora got her hooked on collecting sea glass.” Thauglor smiles as if reliving some memory, his expression soft with paternal affection. “We gave Raven the childhood Mina wished she had. Raven trained when she wanted to—she and her siblings were never forced.” He tilts his head, looking at me with those sapphire eyes so like his daughter’s. I came to train as many days as allowed just to be close to my mate, the pull so strong it overrode everything else.
Thauglor had told me what his mate went through, so I would understand why Mina originally wanted the Shadowblades to die with her. The knowledge makes me protective of Raven in ways that go beyond mere instinct. “I’m going to go check the dorms before I head to my room.” I extend my hand, and we shake, his grip firm and warm, before I walk off.
There are so many moving parts between now and winter break, plans, and possibilities that make my head spin. This year at the winter formal, all of their children will ride in the processional. The girls will be escorted into the ballroom by their dads, and the thought of seeing Ravenin formal dress makes my mouth go dry. The rules for the dance have changed over the years—ladies’ choice, the guys may refuse if they wish.
After what happened today, I doubt Raven will ask me to dance. The memory of her pulling away from me, thinking I’ve found another mate, makes my stomach clench with bitter regret. I enter the lower level of the dorms and check the halls, my footsteps echoing softly on the polished stone floors that smell faintly of cleaning solutions and teenage anxiety.
Moving to the second floor, I find some students out in the hallway, their voices carrying in the quiet air. “It’s past curfew—get in your rooms.” Two out of the three leave immediately, but the third one, a dragonel female, stares at me with eyes that hold invitation and challenge.
“Want to join me?” She leans in her doorway and reaches behind her, opening the door with a soft creak that sounds unnaturally loud in the silence.
“No, thank you. Go in your room—it’s past curfew.” I say firmer this time, my voice carrying the authority of someone who has never been tempted by anyone other than his mate. She nods before entering, and I can hear the lock engage with a decisive click. I shake my head, amazed at the boldness.
Some of these females amaze me with how bold they are, though none of them affect me the way a single look from Raven can. I hesitate before heading up to the third floor, each step making my feet feel heavier as I approach her sanctuary. I check the entire third floor, then move to the room that houses Raven and her sisters, my heart hammering against my ribs like a caged bird.
I knock on the door and wait; the sound echoing in the hallway like gunshots. Lily answers the door, then pulls me inside with a grip that speaks of dragon strength barely contained. “Well, hello to you too.” I laugh, and I watch Raven stiffen hearing me, her entire body goingrigid as a bowstring. She thinks I have a mate, and the misunderstanding cuts through me like a blade.
“Checking on everyone?” Lily asks as she offers me a soda from the fridge, the can cold and slick with condensation.
“He has a mate,” Raven growls, and I watch her eyes blaze a brilliant sapphire like molten jewels, beautiful and terrible in their fury. She bares her teeth before turning back to the sea glass I left her, the treasures spread across her bed like scattered jewels.
“Looks like you’ve got one too,” I say gently, hope and desperation warring in my chest. Raven growls again and wraps herself in her wings, the black membranes creating a barrier between us that feels like a physical blow.
“She’s in a weird mood,” Thorne says, and I arch a brow, stepping closer. That’s when the scent hits me—musky and sweet and utterly intoxicating—and I have to step back quickly before my control snaps entirely. “What’s wrong?” Thorne follows me as I go out the door, her concern evident in every line of her body.
“She’s coming into season.” I pull out my phone, my fingers trembling slightly as I shoot her mother a message, the implications making my dragon roar with possessive need.
Corvis: We have a situation... Raven is going into season.
Mina: Shit, it’s too soon... I’m sending Ziggy to retrieve her.
Corvis: Okay, I’ll stay until he can collect her.
I return to the room to see Raven in a standoff with Ziggy, her posture predatory and dangerous. She looks downright feral, beautiful and terrifying in equal measure. “No, I’m not leaving—my mate is here somewhere...” She growls, and I move to get into her line of sight,every instinct screaming at me to claim her, to end this torment once and for all.
“You need to go to ground before you accidentally attack some male that isn’t your mate.” I allow my dragon’s presence to fill the room, power radiating from my skin like heat from a forge. Deep down, I hope it soothes her enough to allow Ziggy to take her home, though every fiber of my being rebels against the idea of her leaving.
I feel the air displace around us, reality warping slightly, and Ziggy reappears next to me and rests his hand on my shoulder. “Come on, Raven, your mom has a room ready for you, and the tonic is there too.” He extends a hand to her, and she stares at it like it might bite her.
“Corvis,” she turns and looks at me with fear in her eyes that makes my heart shatter into a thousand pieces. “Will you be close by?” Her hands reach up and hold her head, and she growls deeply, a sound that vibrates through the air and into my bones. We watch the black scales ripple up her neck like dark water.
“It’s getting too close—we need to go,” Ziggy says, looking at me with an urgency that makes my scales prickle. He knows she will follow me anywhere because of what I am to her; the bond pulls us together like gravity.
“I will stay with you until you wake up. We need to leave now.” I extend my hand out to her, and she looks at it, then takes it. Her skin is fever-warm and slightly damp, and the contact sends electricity racing up my arm. Before I can blink, the world feels like I’m swimming through warm honey, reality becoming thick and distorted. I can’t tell which way is up or down, only that Raven’s hand is still in mine.
The next thing I know, we’re in a place that feels super dangerous to me, ancient power radiating from the very stones, and my scales rise in instinctive response.
“Shit, he can’t be here,” Mina says as I watch her dragon’s eyes flare with protective fury that makes the air shimmer with heat.
Raven spins to face her mother, her wings extending fully with a sound like unfurling sails, and she clacks her jaws at her in a display of aggression that makes my blood sing. “He stays...” The rumble is unlike anything I’ve ever heard from Raven in all the years I’ve spent around her, primal and possessive and utterly magnificent.
“I have a solution. I dug a separate chamber on the other side of the nest,” Klauth says as he takes Raven’s arm and starts leading us out of Mina’s area, his touch careful but firm.
Before I can say anything, Raven’s talons extend with a soft snick of keratin on air, and she reaches for me. She has a death grip on my leathers, her claws pricking through the material to the skin beneath, as she drags me along with her. We pass the rest of the family and the youngest of Mina’s clutch, their faces blurring together in my peripheral vision.
Klauth moves to the living room and shoves a bookcase out of the way, the heavy wood scraping against stone, and it opens to reveal a tunnel that smells of deep earth and dragon musk. We follow it into another cavern with a small hot spring in it, steam rising from the water like ghostly fingers. “This should work nicely for now.” No sooner does Klauth say that than Ziggy phases in with an armful of furs and starts making a bed, the rich pelts soft and warm-looking.
