Moon Raven Rising (The Moon Raven Trilogy #3)

7. Trent

Chapter seven

It’s been long enough. I can’t pretend I don’t know that Cano is lying in the infirmary, receiving care and attention from Ginny and Claire that he doesn’t deserve. I couldn’t kill the man while he was laid out already dying, but according to my check-ins over the last few days, it’s clear that he is well enough to die now.

“Mr. Ravendene, wait!” Ginny calls out as I ignore her pleas and push open the door to his room. Cano sits in the center of his bed, his spine straightening as I enter the room.

“I was wondering how long it would take you to come.” He dares to look me in the eyes as he speaks.

“Shut the fuck up. You don’t get to talk.” I bark as I stab my finger through the air in his direction. To my surprise, he listens and doesn’t say anything else. It doesn’t matter, though. I loose my fury like an arrow, slamming my fist into his face with every ounce of hate fueled rage I have. He flys backward out of the bed and lands heavily on the floor, only to be wrenched up as I pull him by the collar of his tunic and haul him out of the room. His feet scramble to walk at my side as I pull him past Ginny, and she stares with her eyes wide with worry and her hand covering her mouth.

“Where are you taking him?” Claire asks, looking between me and the dead man walking.

“To his grave,” I growl. Her brows drop before she turns, hurrying in the opposite direction. The Loema castle has many rooms, so by the time they find anyone to try and stop me from doing this, it will already be done.

I’m not changing my mind.

Door after door, I push Cano along. Each step brings him closer to taking his last breath. Shoving open the cellar door, the scent of wine and aged liquor in wood barrels fills my nose. The smell brings back memories of times I snuck into just the same sort of room back in Ravendene, following my brother and his best friend in to find out where they stole their stash. It feels like a lifetime ago, but I push the thoughts away and throw Cano past the guards who were there to fetch a barrel.

“Give me your swords,” I demand. They look at each other puzzled. Already on edge, when they take too long to oblige, I lose my patience. “Give me your godsdamned swords, NOW!” The one with clearly more sense hands his over first. I push it at Cano’s chest by the hilt. “You will fight for your life. You may be a monster, but that doesn’t make me one. If fate sees that you should win, then so be it.” I grind out through clenched teeth. I take the sword from the other guard and snap at them to leave. Turning back to face the center of the room where Cano stands, I narrow my eyes at him, not caring if the audience still watches. Cano stands with his sword at his side, waiting for death to come for him…

I trail my blade menacingly behind me; the sound of the metal scraping across the stone floor echoes through the empty room as I circle my prey. My lip pulls back, exposing my teeth as I swing the blade in a wide arc with a snarl. Cano lifts his blade at the last moment to block my hit. The metal on metal clangs louder than any other time I remember. I continue to advance, and my anger vibrates through me with each blow I deliver. Cano still doesn’t fight, though. Only blocks each attack of my sword.

He grunts with the force it takes to keep my hits from cleaving away his flesh, but I relentlessly keep them coming. Each one has him further deteriorating. Exertion from the fight eventually takes him down, and he falls to his knees. Sweat drips from his hairline, and his eyes and shoulders sag with exhaustion.

Seeing him so… broken makes me even more enraged. I spit, trying to dispel the pity I feel clogging my throat. I know I didn’t waste any time getting him on his feet, but he’s had this coming. We both knew it would happen. As soon as I was told that the dark magic no longer had its hold on him, he knew I would get my revenge for everything he’s done to my family. Just because he is showing weakness doesn’t mean anything!

My sword flies end over end as I send it over his head with a growl. The sharp end pierces a sack of grain, letting the contents spill out and fill the room with their earthy scent.

“GET UP!” I bellow down at him. He tries to lift his body, one foot coming up to bring him into a kneel, but as soon as his gaze lifts to meet mine, my fist comes down with more strength than I’ve ever put behind any punch. Something cracks, and the pain in my hand tells me it could have been my bones, but as Cano slides across the ground and stops with a loud thump hitting the wall at his back, I have a feeling it was his face.

“Go ahead and kill me, Trent.” He wheezes, the first words since we have been down here. I slam my boot to his side, ignoring him. “But you have to know…I can help you fight him.” The laugh that rips from my throat is not like any I have ever laughed. The sound is void of all gaiety.

“Help?” I ask as I latch onto his tunic, pulling him in close, so we are nose to nose. “Don’t you think you have helped enough?” I say through clenched teeth. We breathe the same air for multiple breaths before I shove him back down and turn my back to him, aiming to leave him where he lies, only stopping short when I see the female who blocks the exit. Her arms folded over her chest, she eyes me with open distaste. The look she pins me with only causes my anger with the man at my back to elevate, and I turn back around with a growl. I move to land another kick to him, but my foot is snagged on nothing, tripping on air, and my hands come up to stop my face from hitting the ground. Cursing, I catch myself as I fall face-to-face with Cano and quickly unsheathe the dagger at my chest.

I’m going to kill him. There will be no stopping this now. Now that he is healed enough to speak. Healed enough to know it is me who takes his life from him for everything he has done. For Dax, Raelle, Kait, Melani… Miles.

My arm comes rearing back, aiming to plunge the dagger anywhere that will land a killing blow, but then cool air wraps around my wrist, wrenching it backward and twisting it at my back until my hand is forced to drop the blade.

“ARRRRRAAGGHHH!” I bare my teeth at Cano, held back by the magical force. He says nothing in response, only closes his black eyes as his head rolls to the side, losing consciousness.

“STOP!” Ambriel shouts as I thrash uselessly against her magic.

“HE KILLED HER! I’ll never see her again! His every breath pollutes the air around us! Each word he spouts is poison.” My yells begin losing ferocity as I let the words out. “He tortured me. Tortured Kait. Scarred her face and her soul. Don’t stop me from doing this…” My words trail off as I lose my fight. My body goes limp, and I let my forehead fall, resting on the cool stone floor.

Ambriel lets her air magic fall away and steps forward, first checking the pulse in Cano’s neck, then signaling to a guard to follow her in. I watch as Flynn drags Cano’s limp body from the room. Blood, sweat, and dirt caked across his face and clothing. I roll to my back and look up at Ambriel as she stands over me. My head falls to the opposite side, and I look past her to the dark walls and nothing particular as my mind cycles through everything that we have been through. My erratic breathing and the thoughts of everything we know and don’t know. It’s dizzying.

“We need to go back to Ravendene. I need to ensure my people are okay. Being here is making me fucking crazy.” I whisper, more to myself than to her.

“I think that is the first smart thing you have said in days.” When my eyes flick up, she’s smiling softly. My face furrows thinking about what she said. Crouching down, she brushes my hair from my face. “I’d like to come with you if you’ll have me.”

“You think you want to be around me like this?” I say, propping myself onto one elbow.

“I think I’ll always want to be around you. Like this, or in any other way. You are hurt, Trent. I don’t fault you for wanting vengeance for your sister, or even the mutt.” She quirks a half smile. “But, I know you well enough to understand this is not how you will feel better. Taking his life is not worth the pain it will cause you later.” I let her words sink in. Hearing more than the words, but the woman in front of me. Her words sink into my ears, into my brain, and fill my heart. The muscle in my chest calms with each word she speaks. I trap her hand under mine when she moves to brush the hair from my face again.

“Be mine,” I say with my eyes locking to hers. “Say you will be my everything. You will be there to bring me back from the edge every time my temper gets the best of me.” I pull her down at the same time I pull myself into sitting. She straddles my lap, putting her free hand on the other side of my face. When she starts shaking her head, I close my eyes, not ready to see the denial in her eyes.

When her warm lips press against mine, I ravish her. Plunging my tongue into her mouth, I devour the sweetness and spice that is this beautiful Fae. Even if she tells me no, I know that at least—in this moment—I will be hers, regardless of what comes next. The hand that isn’t trapping hers wraps around the back of her neck as I hold her to me. She only stops kissing me to speak into my lips.

“I will be here. Right at your side. I knew since the moment I couldn’t get a read on you that I couldn’t be without you. Your lighthearted kindness, stubbornness, and temper speak to my soul even without the words of fate or the gift of magic. I would know my soul’s match. I don’t just want to be yours. I want you to be mine, for us to be each others. I want you to be the end, the beginning, and everything in between.” She says, her lips brushing mine with every word. It’s not until the salt from her tears touches my tongue that I realize she is crying. When I push back to capture her eyes, they widen as she swallows, her lips parting on an inhale, and my brows rise as I realize why.

Magic sizzles through the air, the feeling blanketing both of us, then warm wind circles around us, leaving the room just as fast as it came. Only the warmth on my arm and the thundering in my chest tells me what I already sensed.

“My mate.” A weight lifts from my shoulders as she begins nodding, then pushes back the sleeve of my tunic, revealing the bond mark on my forearm. A choked sob is covered by her hand. I remove it and push the sleeve back to reveal the matching mark on her own forearm.

“I’m yours.” She cries, thrusting her fingers in my hair and crushing her lips to mine.

“I’m yours,” Ambriel jumps back when I think of the words while we are locked in a kiss.

“Did you…Did you just…do it again!” She exclaims. Laughing, I try to kiss her but she pushes at my chest.

“How am I to do it again if you push me away?”

“What did you think… while we were kissing?” She asks, shaking her head with a huge smile on her face. I want to keep that smile in place as long as I can.

“I was thinking a lot of things. Devilish, dirty things.” I try to pull her to me again.

“No, no, not that…You said something.” My brows dip as I think back.

“I’m yours?” She screeches, and I laugh even harder. “What is going on?”

“You spoke to my mind!” she says, clasping my face in her hands.

“I didn’t mean to.” I smile sheepishly, and she laughs again.

“I suspected there was a reason why I couldn’t read you before. Now I know it was divine intervention.” She smiles when my brows shoot up at hearing her voice in my head for the first time. “It seems the gods of fate wanted us to come together on our own accord. We needed to work past something to discover the bond.” I pull her to me, wrapping her in my arms, and I bury my face into her shoulder and breathe deep.

“You can’t deny fate has a thing for theatrics.” I laugh, and when she sighs, melting into me, I know I will do anything in my power to have this feeling every day for the rest of my life.

For her.

She was right about Cano. If he lives past the beating I delivered him, he will live with the decisions he’s made in life, and it will be up to fate to deliver his damnation.