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I softened my features and my voice. "Are you marked with the full brand, Little Bird?"
Raven stared so intently I thought she might be seeing through me again. Her eyes changed, swirling from bright violet into a purple so dark it was almost black.
"Raven?"
Without so much as blinking, she lifted her palm and showed me my nightmare come to life.
There, clear and bright and unmistakably real, was the mark of the Double Daggers.
‡
My lungs ceased working. My heart arrested.
What had I fucking done?!
My mate accepted the soulbinding and tied her life to mine. I could never die or she would die with me.
How could I have been so reckless? So unclear with my desire to never tie ourselves in such a manner?
The pressure of grief and agony swelled and distended inside my chest, bloating like a corpse. I was about to erupt. I couldn't be here.
Gods help me, I couldn't be here.
Shifting, I flew away from my mate and into the dark of night where I belonged.
Chapter 29
Raven
“You might want to tell the shifter to stop staring at you so fixedly.”
Phalen’s suggestion caught me off guard and his bokken tapped the sensitive place under my armpit. The Shadow demon wasn’t even looking over to where Nik and Draven were speaking in low voices.
“Point to Mr. Big Mouth,” Lyric announced from the edge of our sparring circle in the main courtyard. The outer wall was as far as I was allowed to venture and we were just inside it.
"Raven," she huffed, "don't let him distract you. I'm here to be entertained and Phalen not getting a beat down is not entertaining."
Glancing at the female lounging nearby, I wondered how long she'd last sitting still. She was a little ball of energy and idleness would have been torture to someone like her.
Draven had carried down one of the comfy outdoor chairs from the terrace so she could rest and keep her blood pressure steady. The little blonde didn’t complain at all, surprisingly.
In fact, she’d flashed him a saucy grin and asked if he’d bring her a stool so she could prop up her feet. And he did.
Wiping the sweat from my brow, I adjusted my grip on the wooden sword. "Nik can take care of himself."
One of Phalen's brows arched.
"He's not doing anything wrong. Besides, it's not my job to manage him," I disputed.
I knew exactly why he was watching so intently and I wasn't going to open my mouth about it. I hadn't wanted to involve Nik in my plan, but his skills were necessary.
The conversation I'd had with Vera and Henderson over breakfast this morning had been a productive one. They'd found Nik and spoken to him on my behalf since he wasn't staying inside the walls of Embour–and I wasn't about to walk outside of the protective barrier.
Not yet, at least.
Phalen lazily twirled his weapon. "Cas is going to skin that male and turn his pelt into a rug."
My lips rolled between my teeth.
