The Hunter and the Mage (The Raven and the Dove #2) - Kaitlyn Davis Page 0,152

now in a foreign world, held hostage by some hideous king, abandoned and left to rot. And while Rafe had been down there, Xander had been up here letting the very person who'd condemned his brother to that gruesome fate wriggle her way into his heart.

How many lies had she told?

How many lives had she ruined?

All for what?

Xander tightened his hand around the ancient text he'd found in her rooms, buried at the very bottom of her trunk. It was bound by a thick leather string, the cover soft and worn, the text inside so old he couldn't read it. She'd stolen it, he knew, on the same night she'd pressed that gentle kiss to his neck. She'd looked into his eyes and lied through her teeth, the same way she'd done countless times before. His anger was a palpable thing, a bubbling, boiling fury he wasn't sure how to cool, but beneath that was a bottomless pit of hurt. He'd trusted her with his life, with Lyana's life, with his kingdom, and she'd betrayed everyone.

But she hadn’t killed him.

In the end, she'd confessed.

Despite everything, he couldn't help but hope that might mean she wasn't beyond redemption after all. What sort of fool did that make him?

"My prince," Helen said as she landed by his side, pulling him from his thoughts. He hastily stuffed the stolen book into the folds of his jacket, pocketing it out of sight. "You should return to the safety of the castle. Too many dangers lurk under the cover of chaos."

"Is there anything more we can do to help them?" he asked, not taking his eyes from the city.

"Every guard is helping to clear the streets. Every healer is searching for more wounded. All the stores have been emptied and the servants are delivering food as we speak. There's nothing left to do until morning."

"So I should return to my silk sheets, rest my head on my soft pillow, and dream while my people suffer? I should run away and hide while they stare their greatest nightmare in the face?"

"What else can you do?"

"You don't—"

Xander stopped short, gritting his teeth to keep from revealing too much. It was a loyalty Cassi didn’t deserve. But maybe the loyalty was to Lyana, this queen of prophecy who had for a brief moment in time been his mate. She'd saved his life. Given the chance, maybe she'd return and save his people too.

With a sigh, he studied the stones beneath his feet. I'm the worst kind of fool, he thought, answering his own question. I'm the fool who chooses to believe even when all the evidence tells me otherwise.

"I don't what?" Helen asked.

You don't understand. Our world is going to end. Our kingdom is going to fall. There's an entire civilization made of magic hiding beneath the mist, and somehow I have to make my people believe the thing that terrifies them most in the world is the very thing that will save them.

Of all the ravens, she was probably the one who would respond best to the news. On some level, she knew what Rafe was, and she'd still trained him when no one else would. But she'd also dragged men and women kicking and screaming down the streets of Pylaeon, her knife at their throats as she led them to the executioner's block.

"Nothing, Helen," he murmured. "Never mind."

"What did the owl tell you?"

The edge of his lip lifted—the woman missed nothing—but this was a secret he wasn't ready to share. As Xander turned to bid her good night, a distant squawking caught his ear.

"Do you hear that?"

Her golden eyes narrowed. Together, they turned toward the noise. Across the broken city and at the very end of the river, above the cascading waters of Taetanos's Gate which glistened silver beneath the moon, the darkness shifted. Xander leaned forward, his toes scooting over the edge of the wall as he strained to see.

"It sounds like—"

"Ravens," he cut her off as the dark cloud moved rapidly across the sky, revealing the subtle sheen of obsidian feathers catching starlight. For a moment, he thought he saw a man within the mix, but as the flock rose, the shadows fell away and he was gone. A trick of the eye. "There."

"What are they doing out of the sacred nest?"

"I don't—"

The ground lurched and dropped fifteen feet. His wings caught him before he fell, but nothing could prevent his stomach from sinking all the way to the base of his floating kingdom.