The Hunter and the Mage (The Raven and the Dove #2) - Kaitlyn Davis Page 0,21

him to keep it a secret. The House of Prey is notoriously solitary. No one else was with us in the woods. We lived alone with my parents, my aunt, my brother and my cousin. I could control it, I promised. No one would ever have to know."

Despite his cool exterior, Rafe's stomach flipped. His magic had made itself known after the dragon attack, and only luck and the love of his brother had kept his fatal secret from being revealed. "How were you found out?"

"I wasn't," she said, a puff of air escaping her lips as a deep-set hurt flashed across her eyes, the sort he recognized—betrayal. "That night my uncle, my aunt, and my parents pulled me from my bed. We didn't live far from the edge and they were worried if our king found out, the entire family would be punished. It had happened before. We're a particularly brutal house. As I recall, my mother and father held me down while my uncle cut off my wing. I screamed and begged to no avail. The entire night is mostly a blur, except for the moment I glanced through my tears to hold my mother's resolute gaze. She turned her back and walked away as my uncle dug his foot into my spine. One push and I was falling."

"Your magic caught you?" he asked, turning to study her profile. The tight clench of her jaw could have crushed rocks.

"The same way it caught you." Her eyes met his, the color so blue they were nearly white, reminding him of the gleaming edge of a blade in the sun. He wasn't yet sure if the weapon was delivering a fatal blow or defiantly raised to protect his life. "I was lucky, too. There was no ship waiting in the depths to save me. If I'd landed in the sea, I'd be dead, dragged down by the one useless wing still attached to my back. But I landed at the edge of a city and despite the darkness, another aero'kine sensed my magic and drew me in."

"Who?"

"I believe you know him as Patch, though to me he'll always have a different name." She looked over her shoulder toward the man behind the wheel, her first mate. A warmth he hadn’t seen before filled her face, not romantic but affectionate just the same.

"How did you end up here?"

She stood abruptly, the openness of her expression closing so quickly Rafe almost winced with the impact. "That's a story for another time, and maybe one day you'll earn it. My point was this. You're not the only one on this ship to have lost things. You're not the only one on this ship to want. But you are the only one wallowing in self-pity, which I'm afraid I can’t allow."

"I'm not a member of your crew," he challenged, his growing sympathy gruffly quelled. "You can't order me around."

"Should I toss you out to sea then? And we'll see how well you fare?"

He didn't know her well enough to discern if it was an empty threat or a real one, but he couldn't stop himself from fighting back. "Go ahead. No fire has killed me. No sword. No dagger. No arrow. No wound. Even a building falling on my head did little to slow me down. I'm almost curious to know if drowning will finally be my magic's undoing."

The captain paused, swallowing her words, or maybe her shock at his. An empty threat then, which was good to know.

"How about a bargain?" she asked slowly, studying him. "If I remember correctly, the ravens put their faith in a trickster god. Maybe a game of chance would do you better."

"There's nothing you have that I want."

"That may be true, but I know a lot of people."

"There's nothing they have that I want."

"No?" She arched a brow. "Not even wings?"

He jerked upright. "Who? How?"

"That's for me to know," she said slyly. "I need a ship full of people pulling their own weight, and you need something to live for. Make me a deal and maybe we can both walk away from this arrangement unscathed."

"Anything," he rasped. "I'll do anything."

"Did Brighty tell you what we're doing out here in the middle of the ocean?"

"She said I'd find out eventually."

Captain Rokaro's lips quirked. "This is no trading ship. We sail for one purpose, and one alone—to hunt dragons."

"Dragons?" Rafe turned to her sharply. "You actually go out looking for them?"

"You will too. That's my end of the bargain.