16. Chace #2
Only, ever since I’d caused her to fall into the shark tank, her hatred for me had become more passionate than the adoration other females in our reaper class thrust upon me.
Given the feud between our families, and the deplorable who called himself my father, feeding Raven’s tempestuous emotions had served to keep her at a respectable distance.
Safely beyond Ubel’s reach.
And yet…
I contemplated my varied reactions to Winter’s presence. Did I truly find the male irritating on his own merit? Or had I been jealous from the start?
Shit. I didn’t want to think about these things. Raven was safe, behind fortified walls, protected by guards, at the palace. Where Winter resides.
A snarl vibrated at the back of my throat. I chose to ignore the animalistic response and, with another cleansing breath, pressed forward with more useful considerations.
Aldine had told us that the key to the curse should be found at the palace. And since Raven had worked some sort of deal with the queen, and was actually staying at the palace, she was hopefully working on that inside track. Making progress, finding answers. We would compare notes soon.
I swept my gaze to the castle overshadowing the surrounding city.
Large portions of the roof had become blanketed in black.
Crows. Hundreds, possibly thousands of them, had migrated to the city.
I had noticed their numbers growing ever since I’d witnessed Raven use the crow clicker.
Had the device worked as some sort of beacon, drawing the birds to our location?
The presence of the birds was a curious thought, but not one of my more pressing concerns.
The farthest tower of the castle drew my attention. The same tower I had eyed from the higher rooftop deeper in the citadel. And…the same tower that had snagged my attention when I was something other and here on a mission with my siblings.
An unusual glow, visible to my soul hunter senses, radiated from the highest window of the tower. And an unnatural amoeba-shaped shadow surrounded that same space in the structure. I somehow knew the shadow and glow were significant. I needed to get closer and investigate.
Of course, Raven currently stayed at the palace. I could ask her to take a closer look while I swept every inch within the citadel walls for my siblings. She might not be able to identify the glow, but the shadow… She’d see that, and she’d be curious.
I dipped my gaze back to the many buildings and streets filling the space between the castle and pub. People moved like ants along the maze of roadways.
My soul hunter sight locked into place, and I could easily distinguish the afflicted from the healthy. Distance hardly factored into my ability to identify one or the other. A muddy aura blurred the afflicted. The healthy were not blurred.
Below, the pub door squeaked and slammed.
Drunken mumbles and laughter followed—one male and one female.
I stepped to the roof’s edge and peered down.
A merrily intoxicated couple had made it a full five strides outside of the Bridge Crossings pub before partaking in public indecency, kissing and groping.
And now I was thinking about Raven. Shit.
Maybe I needed to head down to the pub and get drunk. Or…my eyes blinked wide. Remembering the crow-delivered message I’d received moments before jumping into the ring with Raven and the Killian, I pulled the scrolled letter from my thigh pocket.
My throat immediately thickened.
Maybe, instead of getting drunk, I’d read her message…and then, quite possibly, get drunk after. Maybe.
With my nerves strung too tight and my emotions warring in an arena unfamiliar to me, I settled into a seated position with my back pressed against the short surrounding rise of the rooftop and unrolled Raven’s correspondence.
Hello Curse Chaser,
Thank you for alleviating my many concerns. They have been weighing heavily upon me these past few days. I had begun to fear the worst.
Her many concerns? Weighing heavily upon her? Was I reading too much into her words? Given that they were part of the same small team tasked with an outrageous reap, unease would be understandable. But many and weighted?
I was clearly reading too much into her words. I continued with the rest of her message.
My perch, as you so called it, is a (hopefully) temporary necessity. It is not a gilded cage, and it does not confine me. Although, it does busy my days…for now.
I wonder if these “things” you say we must discuss should cause me to worry? I shall find you as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
Black Bird
Not a prisoner. That was good. Although I didn’t know what to make of the way the palace guards had pulled her off the street earlier. Glad they did, though, given what had happened next.
In fact, with all that had transpired—the appearance of the wicked bastard and…that other thing, our exchange…I preferred that she not try to meet me somewhere in the citadel but that she remained safe behind the palace walls.
With Winter.
Was the prince responsible for whatever had been ailing Raven?
A snarl erupted in my throat.
Still safer, I reasoned with myself.
We could correspond via crow delivery. That way she would be protected from experimenting evil torturers and me. At least until I stopped dwelling on the taste of her lips, the feel of her skin, the heat between her…
I groaned, then I slipped free a pencil and blank page I’d taken to keeping on my person for this very reason. Crow messaging with Raven.
After a moment of thought and composition, I dragged my teeth over my lower lip and began to write.
Hello Wild Black Bird,
And I use that term with the utmost respect. You were wild in the most unexpected and exciting way. I cannot recall any exercise or enthusiasm ever leading my heart to pound with such excess.
I wonder where things might have led had you not—
Ignore that last bit.
Are you all right? It is now my concern that is weighted greater than I care to admit. And yet, apparently, I am. Admitting. (Insert my sigh here.)
Per the circumstances: I recommend you remain near the safety of your new perch…for now. Walls can provide protection. Dangers are lurking in the surrounding spaces, and our eldest buzzard has been called upon by the al Sada. Our numbers have changed.
I rubbed my chin between my thumb and forefinger. She would know what the al Sada was, wouldn’t she? The death owl was part of our required learning, as another messenger to the god of death and the god of the underworld. Less common than the crows and ravens, but more specialized.
I pursed my lips and nodded. She would understand. I had faith she would.
But how should I ask her to give the shadowed window an investigative look from her vantage point without openly stating the request? I could wait, ask in the next message, but I didn’t want to allow more time to slip past us. I scratched my temple and decided to reaping hell with it.
Allow me to leave you with this before I go: A moving shadow upon the highest point of the jeweled peak draws the interest and the eye. What would you make of it?
Your servant,
Curse Chaser
I glanced over my written words and grimaced. Was the servant bit too much? No, I decided with a shake. The closing would make her laugh.
I rolled the message and extracted the crow clicker.
One push and the sky began bleeding black feathers.