14. Fevered Revelation
14
FEVERED REVELATION
T he raven was back, perched on one of the unlit scones that lined the hallway.
It was at that moment, Luella realized the raven was not a mere bird.
Piercing, deep blue eyes stared right at her.
Her brow furrowed as she sat up, and the plush blanket that Bastian had left for her fell to her waist.
No .
It couldn’t possibly…
The eyes. Like lapis lazuli. Twin orbs of the most shining and pure, rich, deep blue—familiar to her. Mind snapped back to the memory of Graves’s eyes evaluating her heavily through the thick, shadowed folds of his cloak.
A raven shifter?
The King’s silent shadow was a raven shifter ?
She scoffed.
Of course.
Her heart stuttered in her chest as she remembered him from the night that started it all. He was there, watching her, perched upon her windowsill as she disrobed. He had seen her in a way that no one had seen her before. He had been there like a warning of what was to come. If only she had known.
If only.
She tried to match the image of the shadowed figure Graves to the raven perched in front of her. The eyes were the same. Scarily so. Even down to the cool, contemplative, and detached look—it was just like Graves had stared at her, without a word and without real feelings showing… as if trying to figure out some puzzle.
And he had seen her nude.
Her face flushed at the violation that had happened without her knowledge.
The fae were pious and viewed innocence as something to be held in the highest regard. Though the dominium were known for their exploits with their maturity, the heirus were held to much higher standards. Must adhere to a strict set of rules to maintain their purity. These roles were even more heavily enforced for Luella as her parents wanted her to be the purest. The most sacred.
No one had ever seen her that way, and the moment had been robbed of her.
Anger rose within her. She couldn’t stop it.
"Hey," Luella whispered into the night, the sound of her voice bouncing off the walls. The cool air stole the word from her lips and carried it to the awaiting raven. Wings fluttered as she spoke. " You . I know it’s you." She let out a ragged breath in indignation.
The raven’s head cocked to the side. An eerie motion. Her skin tingled.
She stood in a daze, and she caught Az’s attention with her movements.
The demon turned his head to see what had entranced her.
"What the fuck," Az growled. Luella turned her head to him, startled at the pure look of anger marring his usually soft features. It put a fright in her bones to see such a sight. Her heart sped up, and Az must have sensed it, for he immediately tempered his rage. "No, no, angel. I’m not mad at you." He jerked his head. "I’m mad at him . For coming here. For thinking he can lay claim on you. Well," he called out. "She’s mine . You can’t have her. Not after how you’ve treated her."
A wave of emotion crested over her.
Her fists clenched. Impulsively, she bent to lift the small, empty tin that had held her water. Hand wrapping around the handle before she could talk herself out of it, she flung it.
The tin hit the bars with a loud clang, and the noise reverberated throughout the cell and into the hallway. A ringing echo that did nothing to match the fury she felt.
The raven didn’t even budge. Stoic and still as a statue, the male she knew as Graves perched in his shifted form, the raven’s wings fluttering as clawed feet gripped the sconce. Those deep blue eyes never broke away from hers.
This sharp, stinging rage she felt… it was directed toward Graves.
But also toward herself. For not knowing. For not seeing the signs that had been so clearly laid out in front of her the whole time. Little breadcrumbs leading right to the plan simmering, ready to be put into motion. Her future, awaiting at the end. If only she followed the clues to see it all, know it all, discover it all.
She was angry, yes. Angry at him, at herself, at the King, and even angry at her parents for being so cruel.
Luella fell to her knees in realization, barely registering the thud as her bruised skin hit the ground.
Deception stung the worst of all.
She had no clue why this male’s lies hurt her soul so greatly when he had been nothing but indifferent and threatening to her.
But it hurt . She rubbed a hand over her chest, the yawning pit of nothingness in her soul weeping.
"Haven’t you hurt me enough? Leave." Luella’s voice cracked as the anger gave way to grief.
Anger and grief. Two extremes, often closely intertwined. One giving way to the other, the lines all blurry and distorted. She felt grief as she raged and rage as she grieved. The weight of it slammed against her and caused her chest to crack open and release all that pent-up emotion in a drowning wave—the bluest of melancholy lined with scarlet-tinted fury.
Her temple fell against the cool stone ground, and tears dripped from her eyes. She barely noticed Az calling out to her, soothing platitudes and kind reassurances as he did all he could trapped behind the bars.
And Graves did not falter in his watchfulness.
Luella didn’t feel too well.
After her somewhat cathartic crying session, she passed out, still knelt on the ground with her head lowered. She had awoken to Az pacing along the length of the bars separating them. She was barely awake long enough to drag herself to the bars and twine her hand with his before she fell back asleep.
Now awake, she felt far too nauseous to entertain the idea of attempting to rest.
Az curled a hand over her shoulder. "You need a healer. Even after eating what the vampire "—he spat, not even deigning to use Bastian’s name—"brought you, you’re not getting better. You’re too warm." He scented the air, nose ghosting over the top of her head through the bars. "And you smell ill. Like crushed fruit."
Luella was not sure of the logistics of scenting amongst demons. She had never read anything about it in her books, but he kept smelling her, finding it vital to keep her covered in his scent, his nose pressing along her wrists or touching his own wrist to the skin of her neck.
The whole thing was confusing to her, and she didn’t have the energy to understand.
Weakly, she pulled his arm further through the bars, as far as it would go, before she nestled underneath it, humming under her breath as she tried to get comfortable. She kept shifting, the rolling in her stomach, the stuffiness to her nose, and the scratchiness in her throat not allowing her to settle long enough to attempt to sleep.
However, she must have dozed off because the next time she opened her eyes, she was curled on the ground, her hand still held tightly in Az’s as continuous shivers wracked through her. Her whole body trembled. She rubbed her cheek against Az’s arm, bleary and nauseated, as she tried to soothe herself with his rich, melted cocoa scent.
A cool hand pressed to her forehead, and she rolled her head to the side, starting at the sight of Bastian kneeling beside her. The vampire looked haggard, frazzled. Worry painted his face with slashing edges and thick strips of shadow. His brow was downturned, as were the corners of his plush lips.
He spoke, but it sounded funny to her, like she was underwater. She could make out only a few words as she watched his mouth move, but the sound wouldn’t travel to her ears, and she couldn’t grasp the whole picture of what he was saying.
" Healer…King…Medicine…Fever… "
She was suddenly lifted, strong arms lodged under her knees. She fit her head in the crook of Bastian’s neck, inhaling bergamot and spice.
As Luella was taken away, a sudden wave of clarity hit her, and she reached out a hand, fingers weakly stretching out toward Az, who followed as far as the bars would allow, watching with bated breath as she was taken away from him.
The demon’s words carried to her on the frigid wind blowing throughout the dungeons. A soft and pleading: "I’ll come for you."