Chapter 20
Wisdom
Cora
When the door slammed behind him, I’d found myself staring at the now empty space, unsure of how to proceed. My fingertips grazed across the healing bruises, the pain fading. I was unsure if I was pleased or upset by the given facts.
The guards I’d become accustomed to within Whitbourne wouldn’t so much as walk with me without fear that Keres would kill them for standing too close.
Something about the difference when compared to Cedar made my heart race—his inability to feel fear when he touched me the way he did.
The way his hands brought such pain, yet pleasure all at once.
How he’d tried to fight the instincts to not kill me over and over again, instead of succumbing to his natural instinct to do so.
He had every right to kill me, if I were being honest with myself.
My teeth sank into my bottom lip as I looked around the room, trying to shake off the feelings running through my mind right now.
The manor here in Darkmoor was completely unlike the castle I’d called home for over four hundred years.
There were no golden polished floors, instead stone floors went throughout the manor.
There were no lavish gossamer curtains or drapes, no.
Instead the windows were made of stained glass that overlooked the city on one side, and the forest and rose gardens on the other.
Thick fog wrapped around the manor instead of snowcapped mountains, and the air lacked a sense of dread that I’d become accustomed to.
Absolutely nothing here reminded me of the castle back in Whitbourne.
I walked over to the bed, pushing back the dark blankets and crawling into the fresh sheets. I knew I should try to eat, find clothes, attempt to get a layout of my current home, maybe even find Silvana. But, I couldn’t seem to make myself do any of those things.
Closing my eyes, I let out a deep breath, trying to get comfortable, and I began pleading for clarity.
Instead of clarity, I found sleep.
What could have been years or mere moments later, I opened my eyes.
Blinking a few times, the vast empty chamber I found myself in peered back.
Slowly standing, I looked down to see that I wasn’t dressed in my black tights and Cedar’s shirt anymore.
Instead, a long white gown cascaded down my thighs.
The sleeves coming down snug around my wrists, the cut framing my hips perfectly, and a delicate floral pattern interlaced within the fabric.
“Hello?” I called out, but only my voice echoed back to me.
There was no one around. The only thing within sight were bushes the same height as me, but instead of lush green leaves, the entirety of the plants were also pure white.
The leaves, vines, grass beneath. Even the roses growing along the stems were white.
I reached to touch one, but the closer my hand came, the more the nerves thrummed through my body.
Taking a step back, my hand fell to my side.
“Is anyone here?”
“Hello, Cora,” a melodic voice came from behind me.
I spun around, nearly losing my sense of balance.
She was tall, elegant, and power reflected deeply within her eyes.
Dressed in the same gown as me, the pure white fabric set perfectly against her stunning dark skin.
I wanted to say her eyes were brown, but they weren’t.
They were the color I think Keres wanted his castle to be.
Shining gold with flecks of silver throughout.
I knew without asking that this was Eirdis, as if instinct kicked in and my inner witch sang of the power before me.
“I-I— You… You’re…” I stuttered before I dropped to my knees before her. I was standing in the presence of a Goddess, and I was mumbling incoherent words in front of her.
She chuckled, and the warmth of it flowed over my skin like a cool summer breeze.
“You may rise, Cora. Please. We do not have much time, unfortunately. It took a great bit of power to bring you to me, and I’m unsure of how long it’ll last,” Eirdis stated.
I stood, rising back to my unsteady feet, my gaze rising with me to meet her glowing eyes.
“Now, tell me what it is you wish for my aid in,” she said gently.
I wasn’t sure what I was expecting when confronted with Eirdis herself. Honestly, nothing, because never in all of my dreams did I expect to find myself here—in front of her.
“I-I-I—” I paused, releasing a slow breath in an effort to calm myself. “I just wish for more clarity. I’m unsure of where to go, how to proceed… I’m sorry. I never expected you to answer me.”
“Mmm, yes. I can imagine your concern.” Her voice was soft, yet powerful as she ignored my self-deprecating thoughts. “It is quite the predicament you’ve placed yourself in, is it not?”
She tilted her head to the side for a moment, carefully regarding me. “You and the raven shifter are connected in many ways, Cora, even without the blood magic you have begun to dabble in. I feel you must know this to hold some truth, yes?”
I swallowed roughly, my mouth feeling dry. I did know this. I’d felt the draw the moment I’d walked into that room in Whitbourne and his raven circled above my head, my magic urging me to lift a hand for him.
“I can’t… He would never accept it, and I don’t wish for it,” I whispered, refusing to meet her eyes. In order for that to even take place, he’d have to accept me, want such a thing, and we both knew he did not. He wanted me dead.
“Mmm, yes. I fear you have a great deal left to learn. Lean on your family, Cora, all of them. Listen to those around you. Trust them.” My gaze felt stuck on the floor, as if I couldn’t bear to look her in the eye and outright lie, so I just said nothing.
“You asked for my guidance, Cora. That is it. If you want this? All of it? That is the wisdom I’m offering. ”
Before I could open my mouth and form a response, everything went blinding white again, and I opened my eyes back in my chambers. Raiden’s shadow magic had already covered the windows fully. The sun had risen, and yet I felt no more or less rested.
I rolled over, only to come face to face with him.
He was shirtless, wearing only a pair of loose black trousers. The light from the small candle next to him reflected warmly off of his chestnut skin while his toned body was sprawled across his side of the bed.
His side? This was my room.
Rolling my eyes at the mistake, I pushed down thoughts about him being on guard duty for their newest prisoner away.
We’d clearly traded places rather quickly.
Although, the more I thought about it, the more I’d realized I’d been a prisoner since I was ten years old.
It only took me being traded to someone else to grasp that fact.
Shaking off those thoughts, I used the time to take in the male beside me. I’d never been able to truly look at him like this before now. He was either trying to kill me, fuck me, or I was trying to keep him alive. It didn’t leave much time left for gazing upon him in such a leisurely way.
His hair was cascading down one shoulder, the long dark locks looked cleaner. As if he may have gone elsewhere to bathe before coming back. I fought back the urge to reach forward and run my fingertips along the scar that dipped down across the side of his face.
Keres had always said scars made people imperfect, less-than, yet with Cedar… they made him look more. More dangerous. More intriguing. More powerful. The image of me running my tongue along—no.
My gaze dipped to the scars down his side, and I pondered how he would’ve gotten an injury like this.
The only way for it to have lasted was with a shadow stone blade after he was turned.
They hadn’t been present when I’d watched him become a vampire.
Which meant he’d been attacked, and with a wound like that he could’ve easily died.
The sense of unease that hit me over the thought was unexpected and as my gaze returned to his face, I found myself staring into his dark eyes.
“Enjoying the view, Princess?” he questioned, his voice still groggy from sleep.
My hand reached forward before I could stop it, my fingertips grazing along the scar down his side. “This could have killed you,” I whispered. He was frozen, not breathing, his eyes searing into me as my fingers moved along the old wound. “How did it happen?”
Unsure if he’d answer me, I made no move to stop.
He eventually started slowly breathing again, and I wanted to ask if he was affected by me the way I was by him, but I held back.
“I couldn’t leave you there, Cora. I owed you.
” His words from earlier floated through my head like a fiery burn and I pulled my hand back.
None of this was real, and the sooner I remembered that, the better.
I was alive because I was Silvana’s sister. He blamed the sex and the blood magic, nothing more. Maybe everything Eirdis had said was wrong. Maybe Cedar and I were working against the Fates’ wishes and anything that would have been couldn’t be any longer.
I was taken from the Court of Ice because he felt bad for me and like he owed me some sort of life debt. I needed to remember the truth of it all. This was repayment in his eyes. Nothing more, nothing less.
“I’d been looking into who sired me,” he began, his voice startling me from my inner rampage. “The only thing I can assume is that I was getting too close to the truth of it all.” He shrugged, his gaze up on the ceiling now that my hands weren’t on him.
“Have you ever figured it out?”