The Hunter and the Mage (The Raven and the Dove #2) - Kaitlyn Davis Page 0,75

window he spotted the river running through Pylaeon, following it back and back, across the valley cast in gold by the setting sun, all the way to the brilliant white spot at the far end, Taetanos's Gate and the god stone hiding within. Now I'm not so sure, he finished silently. To Cassi he said, "I should go."

"Of course."

"I need to discuss this with my mother."

"Of course."

He willed his feet to move, but they adhered to the stone. "I—"

"Xander?"

Her hesitant question was the very excuse he'd been looking for, a reason to stay beside her for one moment longer. "Yes?"

"Before you go, I just want to make one thing clear. The gift, the lessons, the training—I'm doing it because you asked. I'm not doing it because there's something in you I find lacking. I'm not doing it because there's anything about you that needs to change. I'm not doing it to fix you or shape you or mold you. I'm just—I'm doing it because you asked."

He studied her as she studied him, the sincerity in her eyes, the slight clench of her jaw, the tense curve of her brow. A lock of hair slipped across her face, shining bronze in the sunlight, and he fought the urge to brush it back behind her ear. She was Lyana's best friend. Lyana was his mate. The lines were drawn, and he knew better than to cross them.

Instead, he allowed the edge of his lip to lift in an uneven grin. "And here I thought you were doing it for the books."

"Right." A bit of relief played in Cassi's smile. "Those too."

"Good night." He stepped back, forcing his feet toward the door and the responsibilities waiting on the other side of the threshold. "I'll see you in the morning."

After turning his back, he strode across the room and into the hall. His mother would want to see him. Helen and the advisors, too. This newest tremble of the isle made his departure all the more complicated. There was so much to do, and so little time. Plans whirled—orders and calculations and every kind of scenario. So distracted, he barely heard the words that chased after him. It was only later, as he lay down in bed, that they registered, and even then, he was sure he'd heard them wrong. Still, it sounded almost as though she'd whispered, "I'll see you in your dreams."

24

Cassi

Cassi was a coward.

As she let sleep take her, the magic stirring beneath her skin as her spirit slipped free of her body, the truth had never been clearer.

She was a coward.

An outside observer might not see it. They might be fooled by the suppleness of her muscles, the predatory grace of her wings, the bow leaning against her nightstand or the daggers resting on its surface, their metal polished and gleaming in the moonlight. But she saw the girl asleep before her differently. The bow was a shield, the daggers a pretense, and the toned body a carefully crafted disguise, all designed to hide the ugly truth—she was broken, and rotting, and above all, afraid.

If she were the strong woman she purported to be, she would dive into the Sea of Mist right now and spit at Malek's feet. She would refuse to go along with any more of his schemes. She would refuse to kill Xander. She would slip into Lyana's dreams and reveal her king's vile orders. She would expose him, and herself in the process. She would give her friend the honesty she deserved. After all that, she would go to Rafe and apologize for her horrible act, knowing all the while it would never be forgiven.

But she couldn't.

Invisible and free, not confined by walls or by the elements or by the gods, Cassi still felt stuck. Her fears were a cage she couldn't escape, and there was only one person she wanted to visit tonight, one person whose very presence made her feel brave and defiant and seen. Those sentiments were, of course, a lie as well. But they were ones she told herself, which made them a different thing entirely.

With the stars and the moon as her confidants, and the crisp air as her guide, she drifted outside and let a breeze carry her aloft. When Cassi slipped into his room, Xander was asleep with his left arm flung over his head and his right arm across his stomach, the rounded end tucked beneath the blankets. His onyx wings fell over either side of his