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I swoop down, picking it up. Unless I’m wrong—and I already know I’m not—this is from the raven that came screeching down toward us right before the Seelie in the shadows grabbed Jim.
Was it the same raven from all those weeks ago? Did it drop its feather on purpose this time, like it did then?
This is Faerie. I wouldn’t doubt it at all.
Just… why?
Rys eases right up behind me. “What do you have there?”
I show him.
“A black feather?” He frowns. “It all happened so fast. But, before the Dark Fae appeared, I thought I saw a bird flying—”
“It’s a raven.” When he gives me a strange look, I shrug. “Morgan told me so.”
“Yes. But I’ve been to the Shadow Realm plenty of times before, Leannán. I’ve never seen any birds—ravens included—flying these woods. It’s too dangerous. They rarely survive.”
I don’t tell him that this isn’t the first time that I’ve encountered that raven. Because, now that Rys says that, I realize he’s right. Except for the raven that always seemed to be flying overhead, I didn’t see any other wildlife. Sure, I heard the thunderous hoofbeats from the mysterious rider, but that was it. That raven… it has to be the same one that Grimly was interested in.
It gave me one of its feathers the day I confronted the shapeshifter who pretended to be both Jim and Rys. The feather fluttered right at my feet when I was ready to run away from the second apparition, but I was so grateful that I could escape, I never thought about it again after I handed it off to Grimly.
Did it gift us another feather tonight? Is it just a coincidence? Am I grasping at straws because I need this to make some kind of sense?
I don’t know. But, just in case, I don’t want it.
Right when I’m about to let it drop back to the ground, Rys stops me.
He holds out his hand. “If you don’t want it, can I have it?”
I don’t know why he’s so interested in it, but I place it against his warm palm anyway.
Rys slips it inside of his cloak. Once the feather is gone, he holds out his hand again. This time, I know exactly what he wants.
I slip mine into his, letting Rys tug me until I’m standing up again instead of crouching in the frozen dirt. He doesn’t even have to pull too hard before I shuffle toward him, falling into the cradle of his open arms.
And then we wait.
It feels like forever before we hear from either Nine or Riley again.
I’m ashamed to admit that I cling to him for much longer than I should’ve. When I finally realize just what I’m doing, I push away from Rys before starting to pace around the clearing.
Rys tries to get me to rest. It’s late, and I know I should’ve been asleep hours ago, but it’s just not possible. When I don’t know what happened to Jim, who took him, or why, the least I can do is wait for him to come back.
Even though I’ve only known them for a couple of days, I have all the faith in the world that the mated couple will do everything they can to find Jim and save him from the Unseelie.
I have to. Because the alternative is believing that Jim is lost and I’ll never be able to make this right between us again.
That can not happen.
Rys does his best to comfort me. I hate that it feels so completely natural to turn to him, that the last few weeks of distance he’s put between us disappears as suddenly as that. It only reminds me that our relationship is the way it is because that’s how he wants it. That, if he let down his guard around me for once, we could be together—and Jim would still be safe at home in the human world.
I don’t want to blame him. I know this is all my fault. But when Rys mentions that he brought some dust with him, I threaten to pull every single strand of tawny hair out of his head if he even thinks about dusting me right now.
After that, he just keeps in step with me as I pace.
Nine is the first to come back. He slips out of the shadows, searching the clearing as soon as he fully appears a few feet away from me and Rys.
His head swivels, his expression turning murderous for a moment before he demands, “Riley hasn’t returned yet?”
