11. Vera
Vera
SEVEN YEARS AGO
The scream had nowhere to go except these walls, ricocheting off every inch of stone. It didn’t even sound human. It was harsh and piercing, reverberating through my head as a shadow appeared outside the bars. Long, thin, and upturned, with scalloped edges that looked like—
Wings.
I froze. My mother’s beautiful, shining black raven’s wings soared through the air. Her sharp beak aimed toward my cell, and she came barreling through the small bars faster than I could think.
“Mama!” I cried as recognition hit me, hope swooping in with it. She had come, she was really here, and she and Nox were going to take me back.
Mama shifted into her human form, black feathers morphing into smooth skin and blonde hair streaked with gray. She instantly enveloped me in a bone-crushing hug that smelled like rosemary, baked bread, and her.
“Oh, my baby girl,” she said through choked sobs. She pulled back and gripped my shoulders, those navy eyes scouring me from head to toe. “I’m so, so sorry. What have they done to you?”
“It doesn’t matter. Mama, what are you doing here? Scarven will catch you!”
She shook her head. “Nothing could stop me from coming to get you. Your brother forced one of the guards to tell us where you were, and I came as quickly as I could. Now come on, let’s get you out of these.” Anger flashed across her features as she took in the shackles around my wrists and ankles.
“I can’t use my magic,” I said, lifting one of the chains. “I don’t know how to get out of them.”
Thoughts moved quickly behind her intelligent eyes, looking back and forth to every crevice of the cave.
They landed on the wall where the chains were nailed to, and she grabbed the end of it.
With a mighty heave of her Shifter strength, she yanked at the chain until we heard a tiny crack from inside the stone.
“You’ve almost got it!” I said excitedly.
“Songbird?” Swift’s whisper drifted from the hole in the wall.
My heart dropped. Swift. I’d only just met him, but I couldn’t leave him here.
“Mama, there’s someone else we have to help,” I said hurriedly as she pulled even harder at the chains. “This boy in the cell next door, he—he’s my friend, and I can’t leave him down here.”
“One thing at a time, sweet girl,” Mama huffed out. “Just hold—”
Pounding footsteps broke through her words. My entire body went numb as shouts reached our ears.
“The wards were activated!”
“Someone breached the cells.”
“He said it was down here!”
At their cries, I gripped Mama’s arm. “You have to get out! They’re coming for you.” My breaths came out in ragged pants. “Shift back before they lock you up, too.”
“Not without you. Don’t argue with me,” she said firmly, those fierce eyes willing me into submission as if she were simply telling me to clean my room. “Work on getting these chains out of the wall.”
The guards drew nearer. I cried out when one of them stuck a key into the padlock. “Mama, go! There’s no time!”
“I’m getting you out of here, sweetheart!
” she yelled back. Before I could stop her, her body shortened into her raven form, a beak and talons replacing her limbs.
Beady, navy eyes held mine for a split second before the cell door banged open.
Guards converged on her, and I leaped as far as my chains would allow me to swing at them.
“Get away from her!” I screeched, bashing one in the shoulder with my cuff.
Mama’s squawks cut through the cell as she soared above us. Fixing her gaze on the guard fighting me, she turned midair and dove straight for his face. With a flash of her beak, she pecked at his eyes until blood streamed down his cheeks.
Another one swatted at her with his sword, and she barely maneuvered in time to avoid being flattened by the edge of it.
I screamed her name, throwing my arms wildly in a fit of desperation.
She gave a pained squeak, and several black feathers rained down.
“No!” I shrieked as hands reached up and grabbed her from the air.
“Take her to Scarven!” one of the guards roared.
“Don’t hurt her!” I cried. I lunged forward with all my might, nearly snapping my ankle on the shackles. Two guards rushed in and forced me back into the wall. I yelled until my throat was raw, thrashing and kicking against their hold.
“Mama!” Sobs wracked me as they yanked her little raven body out of the cell. A low, mournful squawk sounded from her. Her eyes found mine one last time. They were full of fear, but there was something else. An apology. As if she thought she’d failed me.
“No,” I choked out, shaking my head so hard it hurt. “No, Mama, it’ll be okay. I’ll find you—”
The cell door slammed shut behind them, boots thundering back down the hall until there was only silence. A single black feather drifted to the ground in front of my cell.
My heart shattered. I couldn’t see through the tears streaming down my face. As the guard restraining me pulled a syringe from his uniform, I didn’t even try to fight.