Chapter 5 #2
“Corvis,” she turns and looks at me with fear in her eyes that makes my heart shatter into a thousand pieces.
“Will you be close by?” Her hands reach up and hold her head, and she growls deeply, a sound that vibrates through the air and into my bones.
We watch the black scales ripple up her neck like dark water.
“It’s getting too close—we need to go,” Ziggy says, looking at me with an urgency that makes my scales prickle. He knows she will follow me anywhere because of what I am to her; the bond pulls us together like gravity.
“I will stay with you until you wake up. We need to leave now.” I extend my hand out to her, and she looks at it, then takes it.
Her skin is fever-warm and slightly damp, and the contact sends electricity racing up my arm.
Before I can blink, the world feels like I’m swimming through warm honey, reality becoming thick and distorted.
I can’t tell which way is up or down, only that Raven’s hand is still in mine.
The next thing I know, we’re in a place that feels super dangerous to me, ancient power radiating from the very stones, and my scales rise in instinctive response.
“Shit, he can’t be here,” Mina says as I watch her dragon’s eyes flare with protective fury that makes the air shimmer with heat.
Raven spins to face her mother, her wings extending fully with a sound like unfurling sails, and she clacks her jaws at her in a display of aggression that makes my blood sing.
“He stays...” The rumble is unlike anything I’ve ever heard from Raven in all the years I’ve spent around her, primal and possessive and utterly magnificent.
“I have a solution. I dug a separate chamber on the other side of the nest,” Klauth says as he takes Raven’s arm and starts leading us out of Mina’s area, his touch careful but firm.
Before I can say anything, Raven’s talons extend with a soft snick of keratin on air, and she reaches for me.
She has a death grip on my leathers, her claws pricking through the material to the skin beneath, as she drags me along with her.
We pass the rest of the family and the youngest of Mina’s clutch, their faces blurring together in my peripheral vision.
Klauth moves to the living room and shoves a bookcase out of the way, the heavy wood scraping against stone, and it opens to reveal a tunnel that smells of deep earth and dragon musk.
We follow it into another cavern with a small hot spring in it, steam rising from the water like ghostly fingers.
“This should work nicely for now.” No sooner does Klauth say that than Ziggy phases in with an armful of furs and starts making a bed, the rich pelts soft and warm-looking.
Mina enters with two purple vials in her hand, the glass catching the dim light. “This will help you sleep through the cycle. You’re a full four months ahead of schedule.” She offers the vials to Raven, and she stares at them like they contain poison rather than relief.
“Great, still an overachiever,” Raven mutters.
She pops the top and drinks the first vial quickly, the liquid disappearing in two quick swallows.
The face she makes tells me the flavor must be horrible, her nose wrinkling in disgust. I can tell the minute it starts to work—she wobbles on her feet, her perfect balance deserting her.
“I’m so tired.” She yawns, and I help her lie down, my hands gentle on her shoulders as I guide her to the makeshift bed.
Thauglor has joined us, and he looks beside himself, his usual composure cracked with paternal worry.
“You need to drink the second one, Raven—you’re too strong not to.
” His voice is soft as he takes the second vial from me and offers it to his daughter, the glass clinking softly against her fingers.
“Okay, Daddy...” She sips it slowly, her movements becoming increasingly sluggish, and turns and looks at me with eyes that are already growing heavy. “Don’t leave, I’m scared.” A single tear rolls down her cheek, catching the light like liquid silver, as her eyes get heavy with approaching sleep.
“I wouldn’t dare,” I whisper, the words a sacred vow that settles into my bones like truth.
We watch as her eyes close, long lashes casting shadows on her cheeks, and I lay her down the rest of the way, my movements careful and reverent.
Thauglor shows me how to place her wings so I don’t accidentally damage them, the membranes delicate as silk despite their strength.
“You’re a good male, Corvis. Abraxis and Balor will cover your classes until this is all over.
” He looks around the interior of the cavern, taking in the rough stone walls and the gentle steam rising from the hot spring.
“I thought about killing you when you were young.” He arches a brow, looking at me with an expression that’s part confession, part warning.
It explains why he pushed me harder than the other males, testing me in ways that went beyond normal training.
“You never gave up or complained. You are just the male my little girl needs.” He rests his hand on my shoulder.
The gesture is warm with acceptance and approval before brushing a strand of obsidian locks away from Raven’s face with infinite tenderness.
“We’ll bring food and drink and switch out when you need a break.
” His eyes drop to his daughter, and his expression softens with paternal love.
“Thank you.” He stands and leaves before I get the chance to ask for what, his footsteps fading into the tunnel.
Three days is the average a female stays in season, three days of protective vigil ahead of me.
Here goes the first break I’ve taken in twenty years, though watching over my mate hardly feels like rest. I choose to lie down in front of Raven and rest my hand on her forearm, feeling the steady pulse beneath her skin and the warmth that radiates from her sleeping form.
Raven is the embodiment of everything I could have ever hoped for my mate to be.
She’s smart, with a mind that cuts through problems like a blade through silk.
She’s strong in every sense of the word, her body a weapon and her spirit unbreakable.
And she has a good heart, generous and kind despite the predator’s training that runs in her blood.
I’ll stay with her until she sends me away, and even then, I’ll never be far.
For now, I’ll enjoy being close to my mate, breathing in her scent and listening to her steady breathing, even if she doesn’t know what I am to her yet.
Soon, very soon, she’ll be twenty-one, and then nothing will keep us apart.
The thought makes my chest warm with anticipation and my dragon purr with satisfied possession.
Mine. She’s always been mine, and soon, she’ll know it too.