Moon Raven Rising (The Moon Raven Trilogy #3)

48. Dax

Chapter forty-eight

“What did you do?” I growl through a wince, catching Raelle as she falls. My uncle steps back slack-jawed and wide-eyed, staring at her limp form as we both lower to the ground. I feel weak from my injury, but I will not rest until I know Raelle is ok.

I cup her face in my hand; the luminous white of her hair spills out across my chest, where I hold her back to my front. Her face is a painting of serenity, but her eyes flick back and forth in a fitful sleep. Where my thumb rests on her neck, her pulse is a steady gallop.

“Find us a place to rest. Somewhere the dragon can stay out of sight if that is possible.” I command. Osiris looks between Raelle and me, and I can’t help but narrow my eyes on him. If he even thinks of considering anything else, he will cease to exist. There is nothing in this world or the next that will remove me from Raelle’s side.

With a low rumble, he nods his agreement before storming toward his dragon. Cano helps Declan into a position where he can rest, leaning up against a tree, before making his way over to me.

“How is she?” He asks, bending into a crouch at our side. My initial reaction was to recoil. To strike the snake first, but then my eyes meet his as he folds his ink-dipped hands together, his elbows on his knees…The amount of concern I see on his face has my walls beginning to crumble. The fact that he is showing any ounce of compassion helps me remember who he was before. The man who was once my best friend.

“I think she will be okay. Whatever magic she just used must have been a lot. We need to rest.” I say quietly as I revel in the feeling of having Raelle in my arms at last.

“The others should be arriving soon. We will find shelter. Hopefully, the prince is more useful than his fancy title and knows how to hunt.” Cano’s lips twitch into a mocking smile, and he nudges me before standing and clearing his throat. The natural flow of conversation seemingly sparking some unease, he grips the back of his neck.

“Let me know if you need anything in the meantime.” He turns, beginning to walk away before I call his name.

“Cano.” Less than a shout but loud enough to cause him to turn back. “Thank you,” I say, keeping his eye. He doesn’t say anything but his brows drop just enough that I know he feels just as conflicted about our new truce as I do. He silently nods before striding off into the dark.

Declan is slumped against a tree, his chin is tucked to his chest, with long matted and filthy hair framing his gaunt face. If I didn’t know him before, I would never believe that he was once one of the fiercest warriors. Seeing him like this is devastating.

A low whistle begins in the distance before the trees around us sway and a gust of cold wind blows through the small clearing we rest in. Raelle shivers in my arms, and I pull her further up my chest, wrapping my arms as tight as I can manage around her. Using what energy I have left, I bring the warmth of my fire element to the surface of my hands and press it into her. She visibly relaxes, causing my worry to ease just slightly. I focus on the movement of her chest and the calming rhythm of her heart.

“If only your father could see you now.” Declan’s voice cracks as he attempts to raise it enough to reach me. I’m sure he is watching this all play out with a few things to say… though I don’t say as much. I just look between my uncle and the woman sleeping in my arms.

“I knew you would be powerful one day… but to be mated to the one chosen by the gods. You were chosen yourself. If only we had seen your magic for what it is…” His voice trails off and I watch as his eyes flutter shut and he loses his battle with consciousness.

Resting my head back on the rough bark behind me, I watch the darkness creep further in as the night settles fully over us. A stir of movement in the brush grabs my attention, and I brace myself. I am prepared to do anything and everything I can to ensure Raelle and Declan’s safety. Just as I am about to conjure a torrent of shadows, a black wolf bursts through the bushes, dropping several rabbits between us. I can’t help the laugh that escapes at the sight.

“You can hardly expect me to eat that…It’s already been in your mouth.” I try hard to contain the laugh swelling in my chest. Kait’s words from so long ago came so easy to me just now at Cano’s expense without a thought. He huffs, his wolf form shaking its fur out before leaping into the dense wood again.

“You know as well as I do that she ate every bit of the kills I brought in.” His smile as he emerges from the brush is genuine. Once again in his Fae form, and the expression is nearly foreign. I haven’t seen this man in so long that I almost say something, but the look in his eyes—I don’t have to. The light in them dims, and he swipes his hand down his face.

“Anyway, Osiris and the lizard found a cave close by that we can make camp at until the others arrive. She hasn’t woken yet?” He juts his chin out at Raelle, who still sleeps in my now cramping arms.

“No,” I say, looking down at her. “I could go the rest of my life without having to step foot in another cave…How far is it?”

“Maybe a twenty-minute walk west, along the tree line.” He cracks his neck before pulling a tunic on after his shift. As much as I’d hate to ever admit it, I don’t think I can carry Raelle for that long of a trek in my current state.

“Bracarva will carry us all.” Osiris steps out of the shadows as if my thoughts alone summoned him. “Also, if I hear you refer to her as a lizard again, I will feed you to her as a snack.” He says, pinning Cano with a glare.

Trent is going to get along great with Osiris. The thought brings a pang of longing for my brother. I shift with a grunt, pulling Raelle up across my lap and threading my arm under her legs. Cano runs to my aid, helping me stand, and out of habit I grunt my frustration and jerk away. His hand falls away, and a surprising ripple of regret washes through me.

The thumping wing beats of the dragon shift my attention skyward as she tucks her wings in tight and lands in the tight space we occupy. Getting as close as she can so we can mount. Osiris is the first on the dragon’s back and Cano crawls up next. I shift, letting my wings unfurl and launch into the sky.

With no other choice, I put Raelle into Osiris’s arms and glare at him with a promise of death and worse if he does anything to cross the line, but right now I trust him as a bond with her more than I trust Cano. I drop from the dragon’s back, and with a snap of my wings, I drift down and land at Declan’s side.

“I miss my wings.” Declan mumbles, and my brows pull to the center of my forehead.

“What do you mean?”

“He took them, but seeing yours… it doesn’t matter; in due time I’ll have no use for such a thing anyway.” He lifts his hand, reaching for me as I approach, and I help him to his feet.

“Can you climb to the dragon’s back?” I ask, unsure if I am to just throw him over my shoulder and take him up or allow him to try. He lets out a dry laugh, draping his arm over my shoulder.

“I think it best to leave the heavy lifting to the king. I wouldn’t want you to turn soft on your throne.” Shaking my head, I wrap my arm around his waist, and with a heavy downstroke of my wings, we are airborne.

It doesn’t take but a few minutes to reach the cave they scouted out. It is the perfect place. The sparse space in the trees around the mouth of the cave is large enough to place the dragon out of sight but also hidden enough to allow her to keep watch over us as we get some rest.

Everyone hurries to get out of the weather as a winter storm continues to worsen and now threatens to bury us in snow. The flurries beginning to accumulate will make it a little less easy to hide a huge black dragon, but at least at night, she blends into the terrain well enough.

Cano and Osiris already gathered wood for a fire, and while Cano prepares the rabbit, I lay Raelle down and get to work on creating a small pyre for roasting the meat. Once built, with a flick of my finger, I let my fire light the kindling.

“Do you think she will wake up soon?” Osiris comes to stand by my side.

“I think she requires more rest because of everything that she’s been through.” I bark out a little too quickly.

“I know that this alliance started out anything but conventional, but I give you my word; my intentions have never changed. I came here with one goal in mind, Dax, and stealing your mate or your kingdom is far from that.” I take in a deep breath as I think over what the prince is telling me. He told me of the plan that he and Raelle crafted. The stones that he thinks will help them both in the long run. The centuries-long deal that his family has carried with hers. It all makes sense in a way, but I still have questions as to how this came about in the first place. And what about the prophecy? What part does he play in the plans of the gods?

For as long as I can remember, it has been one question answered and two more formed. A never-ending cycle of why? I will still be searching for those answers, but for now, the only thing that matters is that we all get rest, and in the morning, when my queen wakes up, we will begin our search for the chamber he speaks of.

“Dax?” Her small voice cuts through any sound, any thought, and I run to her side.

“I’m here, love,” I whisper, lifting her head to cradle it in my lap.

“The moon,” she says softly, and my brows drop as I try to understand what she is trying to tell me. She lifts her hand, her delicate fingers wrapping around the collar of my shirt and pulling me down, but an inch from her lips. “Take me to the moon.” I kiss her forehead where it wrinkles.

“Of course, go back to sleep.” Lifting her into my arms, I walk past both of the men who look more concerned than I normally would like when it’s about my wife, but I ignore them. Finding a halo of light in between the tall canopies of trees, I sit down with her in my lap. Creatures of the night seem to hold their breath as the magic from the moon penetrates her skin, lighting it from within; she glows with healing. I feel it radiate from her and into my own body. The injury on my abdomen, already in the beginning stages of healing, starts to knit together further.

The deep soreness in my muscles washed away as though the moonlight was the world’s most precious balm. Raelle’s chest rises on a deep inhale, and she lets it out on a heavy release. “Thank you,” she breathes as she nestles further into me.

I allow her to bathe in the moon’s embrace as long as the night will allow, but when the clouds roll in and the snow becomes too thick, I have to make the decision to return to the cave where it is warm.

I’m not sure who prepared it, but off to the side of the fire there lies a bed of cloaks for us to sleep upon, and with Bracarva keeping watch and no other way into the cave, I curl myself around my mate and we sleep.