The Raven and the Dove (The Raven and the Dove #1) - Kaitlyn Davis Page 0,16

then his body stopped here, where the concentration of the blood is the highest.”

As far as Xander knew, dragons had never taken their kills as prizes or hostages. In all the stories, dragons came to wreak chaos for their god and either perished or fled. But they didn’t collect bodies.

“This print, it’s not Rafe’s,” he told Helen, glancing up at her as the others leaned forward with perked ears. “Someone must have come and stopped the dragon. I don’t know who, or how, but there’s no other explanation. Someone took him.”

In any other house, the soldiers might have raised their brows, looked at their heir dubiously, questioned him. But the House of Whispers was loyal, perhaps to a fault. They’d kept Xander’s disability a secret from the rest of the world out of love for him and his family. And they’d keep his hope alive until there was evidence to the contrary—they’d do whatever it took to prove him right, even if every one of their instincts insisted that he was wrong.

“Five of us will go left,” Helen announced, taking the lead as she divided the guards into groups. “Five to the right, three to the other side of the bridge, and three under it. We’ll search all day for any sign of your brother, and we’ll report back to you at the House of Peace tonight."

“Good, go,” Xander ordered. “I’ll search for more clues here while I wait for my mother and the rest of our flock.”

Not needing to hear more, the guards dispersed.

Xander hovered over the blood a few more seconds, and then landed on the other side of the pool, unable to look at it any longer. He walked slowly across the bridge, pausing in the center to lean his forearms against the rail, his attention drifting down the channel, beyond the cliffs to the Sea of Mist far, far below.

Where are you, Rafe?

Where’d you go?

I can’t do this alone.

I need you.

A gust of wind struck Xander in the back, pressing against his wings forcefully, almost shifting him off balance. He clutched the stones for support, his head turning as though searching for a cause of the sudden blast, searching for a sign. But there was nothing, just empty air. The wind was just that—wind.

A flurry of feathers lifted into the sky, pulled aloft by the air. Xander watched them drift over the edge of the bridge and flutter this way and that as they fell in black ripples. Raven feathers. His brother’s. Ripped and bloodied.

A bright spot caught his eye.

Xander leapt over the side of the bridge, diving headfirst into the channel, left hand outstretched for that bit of white that didn’t belong. When his fingers closed around the item, he spread his wings to stop his fall and took a moment to look at what he’d snared.

A single ivory feather.

One that couldn’t belong to a raven.

One that must have come from a dove—and he’d find out who. His brother had survived dragon fire once before, and he would again.

Rafe was alive.

Xander knew it for a fact. And he had to find his brother before anyone else uncovered their secret.

7

Lyana

“Where have you been?” Luka seethed under his breath as Lyana came skidding into the royal chambers, off balance in her haste.

He was standing just inside the foyer with arms folded, wings uplifted, and deep wrinkles etched into his forehead. Clearly, he’d been waiting there, pacing, too worried for his own good.

“I was in Cassi’s room,” she whispered. Washing the blood from my wings and changing into one of the dresses I keep stashed there…just in case.

But he didn’t need to know that.

“The first house arrived fifteen minutes ago,” her brother announced.

“The ravens are here?” Lyana squealed.

Luka grabbed her by the arm, gaze darting around the room in search of any eavesdroppers. Or perhaps in search of their parents, who were undoubtedly waiting for her somewhere. But the gilded doors to their private chambers were closed, and the guards were stationed outside. She and her brother were, for the moment, alone.

“You saw them?” he asked.

Lyana met his questioning gaze but remained silent—suspiciously silent.

Luka squinted, trying to read her expression. “What do you know?”

“I don’t know." She shrugged, her features blank. "What do you know?”

“Ana.”

“Luka.”

They stared at each other, frowning.

Lyana relented. The more she revealed, the less he’d assume she was lying. “There was a dragon at the sky bridge, Luka. A dragon!” She tried to rein in the excitement leaking into her tone, but the feat proved