The Hunter and the Mage (The Raven and the Dove #2) - Kaitlyn Davis Page 0,162

though the answer might be written upon his skin. But there was no right or wrong, no simple choice. All he knew was that he couldn't let Cassi die like this.

"I do."

Lyana released a heavy breath. "Me too."

"Then follow me."

They raced across the city, stopping to help the injured along the way. Lyana moved toward them before he even heard them cry out for help, as though she could feel their spirits and knew where they were without needing to speak. One after another, they knelt together as Lyana worked her magic, healing his people and praising their gods, until even he started to believe she was working with some divine power. He was beginning to see what Cassi had told him. Magic and the gods were one and the same—all that mattered was how the information was framed. If they could come up with a convincing story, his people might think Lyana a messenger of the gods. After this, they would need something to believe in, and she could be that something, if they played their cards right. She could guide them through the storm.

"Xander!"

He was so entrenched in his thoughts, he didn't notice as the ground heaved, sending a cascade of debris off the side of a building. Lyana threw her arms up, and the rocks stopped in midair. With a flick of her wrists, she tossed them to the side. Invisible power raised the hairs on his neck. This magic was different from her healing. This magic made him question the very foundations of what was possible. But when he met her gaze, she was still the girl he knew, strong willed and brave, her expression daring him to say something.

"Thanks."

Her lips twitched. "No problem."

"We're almost—"

He broke off as the ground gave way again, but this time, there was no steadying push back, no gentle sway. The land tilted, slipping farther and farther to the side, until they had no choice but to take to the sky.

"What's happening?" he shouted.

"We're out of time," Lyana said, worry lines digging into her forehead. "I'm not strong enough to keep the isle from sinking. It's been bobbing in the ocean, trying to find its balance, and I think it just did."

"It’s going over?"

She rolled her lip between her teeth and nodded.

"Do we have time?" he asked. The castle courtyard was visible through the fog, the stone wall normally hiding it from sight crushed beyond repair. Below those grounds, Cassi was locked behind bars with no avenue of escape, exactly where he'd put her. If the isle sank, she'd sink with it, and if she died, he might as well have put the blade through her skin himself. "Lyana, do we have time?"

Determination hardened her features. "We'll make some."

54

Cassi

It’s a fitting way to die, Cassi thought as she watched her body roll across the moist stones of the dungeon, limp and lifeless, while the ground gave way beneath her. Alone in the dark. Undone by my own lies. A creature of the sky swallowed by the sea.

What a metaphor for her life.

She couldn't even be mad—she had no one to blame but herself. Her decisions had ruined lives. Her choices were the reason she was here. If she'd done what Malek had asked, she'd be in Da'Kin right now, safely by his side, still his favored spy.

She'd rather be dead.

At least this way she wouldn't go to her grave a liar.

Her one regret would be in not finding the courage to visit Rafe, to tell him to his face how sorry she was. She didn’t expect forgiveness. She simply felt it was something he deserved to hear, and now he never would.

Of course, in these final minutes she could try to race across the sea and dive into his dreams. It would probably be a better use of her time than this—hovering over her body, watching it slam into the wall as the isle tilted, unable to do anything. A cut split her forehead and the blood dripped down the side of her face, but she didn’t even feel the pain. She wanted to. She'd rather feel the breaks in her bones and the cuts along her skin. She'd rather feel the burn of life in her lungs when the water rushed in and pulled her under. She'd rather anything than this horrible detachment.

Maybe that was why she couldn't leave. Even traitors and spies didn’t want to die alone, and she couldn't bear to abandon her body to face the end