The Hunter and the Mage (The Raven and the Dove #2) - Kaitlyn Davis Page 0,77

think?"

Xander frowned.

Cassi eyed him curiously. "What?"

"Nothing."

"You can tell me."

He shook his head.

"If you tell me one of your secrets, I'll tell you one of mine."

Facing the horizon, he absently drew a circle in the sand, over and over, until finally, with a sigh, he folded his arms across his bended knees. A rolling wave washed the shape away. "I don't want to be like Tassos. I don't want a love born from sacrifice. I want to be able to give as much as I receive."

"This is about Lyana?"

"No, it's about me."

She put a hand on his arm. "I wasn't talking about you when I said those things."

"If not me, then who?"

This wasn't the conversation she wanted to have. Cassi turned back to the sea and studied the reflections glittering across the surface of the water. "Let's just say you're not the first man to step into one of my dreams."

"I thought this was my dream."

The ghost of a smile passed over her lips as she collapsed against the shore, letting the water soak her hair and her back, enjoying the scratch of sand in her feathers. Xander fell beside her.

"You owe me a secret," he said.

She dropped her head to the side. "Ask me a question and I'll give you an answer."

"Promise?"

"I do."

He studied her face as though it were a map with no labels, searching each groove, each curve, for a path to the hidden treasure. "What are you so afraid of?"

Cassi flinched.

Before she could look away, he took her hand. "There. I see you doing it again, putting a guard up, raising your walls, as though afraid I might see. But what? What are you so worried I'll see?"

She held his gaze unflinchingly. "Me."

I'm afraid you'll see the real me.

A wave rolled over their legs and up their chests, then splashed against their faces, washing the conversation away. Cassi jumped to her feet and pulled him up, a laugh on her lips as she kicked at the water. This was a dream. Xander didn’t have magic. He wouldn't remember this night, not the way she would. And she'd been right before. He made her feel brave—brave enough to let him see a part of her only one other person ever had. She had, after all, promised him a secret. It wasn't her fault he'd forget it as soon as he opened his eyes.

"Imagine something, Xander. Dream of something wonderful, and whatever you dream will come to be."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't you remember being a child, when every shadow held a secret and every sound a story? When your blanket was a fortress, and the candle by your bed a fire-breathing dragon, and your pillow a shield while you slashed at the air with a sword no one else could see? Pretend with me. Play with me. Please, Xander. I want to forget the world for a little while. It’s been so long since I've had fun, I'm not sure I remember how."

"I'm not sure I ever did."

"Not even in the pages of your books?"

A secret smile played across his lips.

Cassi squeezed his fingers, enlivened by the spark burning behind his lavender eyes. "Show me."

He glanced to the sea, lips pursed and determined, his thoughts poking at her hold on his dream. She relented, giving him the option to take over. As a girl, her favorite game had been to see what dreams another mind might weave. With Malek, it had been almost a relief to give him the reins, to not have to fight for dominance every second she lived inside his head. But Xander was more hesitant, as though asking permission, his thoughts gentle and probing. She cajoled him closer, inviting him in.

The first shift was small, little more than a test. A warm breeze blew in from the east, wrapping around their torsos and making their feathers flutter. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw his mouth gape open in wonder. Then the sea before them transformed, no longer a deep blue, but a golden citrine. Xander bent down and dipped his palm in the liquid before raising it to his lips. Hummingbird nectar, she realized as it fizzed above his fingers. Cassi laughed and dropped to her knees beside him to take a long drink. He put his hand on her shoulder, and a ripple pulsed across the air. He didn’t need to touch her for the magic to work, but she didn't correct him. She just lifted her face to the sky