The Hunter and the Mage (The Raven and the Dove #2) - Kaitlyn Davis Page 0,130

walls to stop me."

Now, all she had were barricades.

The bed sank as Elias took a seat at the far end, the smallest ounce of his body balanced on the edge, as though he might spring up at any moment. He turned toward her, something soft about his gaze, like the barest sliver of sunlight slipping through a break in the curtains to welcome the day.

"I should apologize to you," she said, holding onto that warmth. "I was a bit of a bully, I'm afraid, in my stubborn pursuit of adventure, especially during those last few days. I should've never forced you to dance with me when you'd wanted to go to bed. I should've never tricked you into drinking all that hummingbird nectar, until you didn't know which way was up or down or which foolish promises you were agreeing to. I probably never should've snuck out of the palace at all. If I hadn't, maybe none of this would've happened."

Even as she said it, she knew it wasn't true.

Malek would have found her, one way or another. He was even worse than she when it came to getting what he wanted, and his Queen Bred of Snow was the one thing he wanted most of all. But no matter their magic or the prophecy or the desires of his people, it wasn't his lips that she still felt on her skin, or his touch that haunted her sleeping mind, or his voice she sometimes heard on the wind. And when she closed her eyes, it wasn't his face she saw.

No matter what she told Elias, she would never take it back. Not her sneaking out. Not the dragon fight on the sky bridge. Most of all, not those hours spent surrounded by firelight and magic, healing a boy with the deepest, bluest eyes who'd completely changed her world.

"Lyana?"

She swallowed and blinked the images away. "Yes, Elias?"

"Are you really…"

He trailed off, leaning forward as he studied her, the caramel highlights in his eyes glittering as they caught the fire. She willed him to believe her, to trust her, to let go of his prejudices and know that even with magic she was the same person he'd grown up with.

For a moment, she thought it had worked.

Then the curtains snatched closed, leaving him in darkness. The light in his eyes went out and his face sealed off. Spine jolting straight as a blade, he jumped to his feet and backed away.

"Get out."

"Elias—"

"Get out," he shouted, voice cracking. "I don't know who you are. I don't know what magic this is. Please, please, just get out."

She'd lost him.

"Eat something, Elias," she said as she stood from the bed and walked slowly toward the door. "I'll leave you in peace, I promise. But your body is weak, and you need strength to heal. So please, eat something."

After Lyana stepped outside, she collapsed against the wall, her legs going weak. The rough edges of the stones scraped against her feathers as she slid down, her body falling with her spirit, until she sat slumped against the floor. Drawing her knees into her chest, she let her head fall back and closed her eyes. It did nothing to stop the silent tears from slipping out the corners and sliding down her cheeks.

She'd been close, so very close, to breaking through his defenses.

But she'd failed.

No, Lyana thought, drawing a shaky breath through her nose. No. I can't see it like that, like a loss. I almost got through to him. And next time, I will.

Hope.

That was what she needed to hold on to, for herself, for Elias, for her world above the clouds and these souls within the mist—hope that if she just tried hard enough, eventually she'd make a difference. If she could change just one mind, then maybe she could change them all. It was like learning her power all over again, or learning how to fly, or learning anything at all, really. She just had to take it one step at a time. Malek had written her people off, but she couldn't. She wouldn't.

Not yet.

Lyana repeated the thought, over and over again, until it became part of her. She repeated it like a prayer, slowly falling asleep to the lullaby in the words, a song made of hope and promise. She repeated it so thoroughly that when a nearby spike in spirit magic saturated the air, raising the hairs on her arms and tickling her skin, she hardly noticed. The outside world ceased