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“We’re not going to steal it from the magick folk. Not when we might need them to ally with us if it comes to war.” He turned to Conrad, “Do you think Patricia would be willing to petition The Board on our behalf?” He asked, referring to Conrad’s grandmother. Conrad thought about it for a minute before answering.
“Mi can talk wit her. Like mi say, wi nevah did know that Ash Nevra was involved in slavery. Mi kind take dat sort of ting very seriously y’kno?
“As they should.” Amon agreed.
“My father, Walter, is also on The Board.” Meredith chimed in. “He too will be unhappy to hear about this and will want to help.
Amon smiled at her, nodding. “Great. First thing tomorrow, I will take Conrad and Meredith across The Veil to speak with Patricia and Walter.” He turned to Dossidian and Kasha, “I need one of you to begin training with Raven, and I need the other to begin research on the remaining two artifacts. I’ll leave it up to you two to decide who does what.”
“I call training,” They both said at the same time, before immediately launching into an argument.
“I got stuck doing the research last time,” Dossidian grumbled, “Plus you're way better at it than I am. I can barely keep my eyes open when I read.”
Kasha rolled her eyes. “There’s a term for that, you know, it's called weaponized incompetence.” She shot back. Though, I could tell she didn’t really mean it. “But fine. I’ll take research duty this time. Only if you agree to take the next one.” He nodded, grinning at her.
“Deal.” He said, his massive hand enveloping hers in a handshake. “Hope you’re ready Raven, I’m going to make you sweat. I promise, you’ll thank me when you’re face to face with Frira in the next few weeks.” He winked at me. I shuddered. Taking in Dossidian’s huge hulking form, I somehow felt like the next day was going to be even more of a challenge than this day had been.
14
Our unlikely little group dispersed, and Amon walked me to my room. We said our goodnights to everyone as we passed through the main intersection of the East Wing. We made our way in silence down the hallway where our rooms waited for us. I paused at my door before turning to him, suddenly feeling awkward.
It felt different between us than it had that morning. I wasn’t sure if it was because I had agreed to work with him out of a moral sense of duty. Or if it was the fact that I had learned so much about him and how much he was willing to sacrifice to save his people. Either way, as usual, if I wasn’t angry with someone, it was difficult for me to know how to act around them.
“Um. Good night,” I said, looking up at him from where I stood before my open door. His eyes met mine, something about the way he looked at me felt incredibly intimate. I felt myself blush as I took a step back towards my room, my heart suddenly pounding.
“Good night, Raven.”
I wasn’t sure how he always did that, made it feel like his voice was a living thing, rubbing against my bare skin. “You did great today.”
“Thanks.” I murmured awkwardly, somehow still unable to look away from him.
“My room is right there if you need anything.” The corners of his eyes creased as his gaze travelled lower, landing on my mouth, where I suddenly realized I had been biting my lip. “Anything at all.”
My heart was pounding so loud I was sure he could hear it.
“Um - thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.” I blurted, before turning on my heel and scurrying away. I slipped into the adjoining bathroom, and out of sight. I could hear him chuckling softly as he slid off, presumably to his own room down the hall.
I turned on the shower in the clawed tub. The armor Kasha had helped me get into seemed to come alive and slide on its own accord off of my body. I jumped in surprise as it pooled on the ground at my feet.
Wow. That was convenient.
I picked up the armor and hung it on a hook that was fastened to the bathroom door. I took a long, relaxing shower before padding to my armoire to choose another luxurious black silk slip to curl up in. I relished the way it felt sliding over my skin and slid between the cool green sheets of the oversized bed and settled in.
I was exhausted, and for a moment I worried that I would be up all night, reliving the trauma of Clair’s death. However, as soon as my head hit the pillow, my eyes began to feel heavy, and I drifted away.
My mother was crying, holding her chest as blood poured out from the open wound. A knife in her heart.
“Mom!” I called out to her, running across the dark echoing expanse of space where we were trapped. This room, I knew this room. A bare lightbulb swung back and forth in the dark, making the shadows slither and twist as if they were alive. My mother was still crying, and I couldn’t get to her. “Mom! Mom, I'm coming.” I panted.
She finally looked up at me from where she huddled around the fatal wound, but it wasn’t Clair that looked back. It was Marcus’ face, looking up at me from my mother’s body. Blood began streaming from his eyes as he laughed.
“What’s inside?” He asked, as his face began to crumble into the bloody mess I had made of it. Brain matter slid down the front of my mother’s robe as he continued to chant, “What’s inside, what’s inside,” My whole body began to burn, I felt as if my bones might melt the flesh from my body. I was screaming. I couldn’t stop screaming.
“Raven!” Someone else was shouting my name. My eyes flew open, my throat felt raw and I suddenly knew it had been a nightmare and I had been screaming in my sleep. “Raven, it’s a nightmare. You’re having a nightmare wake up.” As I came to, I realized Amon was kneeling next to the bed, shaking me awake.
“Amon?” I asked, still feeling disoriented. He let out a sign of relief and nodded.
“Yes, it’s me. You’re in your room in The Court of Pride. You’re safe here. Your friends are down the hall. Do you want me to go get them?” He asked. He was keeping his tone intentionally calm, the way you would speak to someone you were trying to coax off of a ledge.
