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I thought that over. “Malec would’ve known about it. He could’ve told Isbeth. But did it stop because the gods went to sleep?”

“That would be a plausible reason.” He folded his arms, giving the chamber a not-too-discreet glance.

“It has to be related—why the gods took the third sons and daughters,” I said, staring at the ledgers. “And how they can become Revenants.”

Chapter 5

An hour or so past dawn the following morning, I walked across the vine-smothered remains of one of the buildings situated among the pines that crowded Cauldra Manor. A gust of chilled wind swept through the decaying pillars, ruffling the pure white fur of the wolven prowling the length of the crumbling wall of the structure.

Delano had followed when I left the manor, staying only a few feet behind me as he continuously scanned the ruins that had either been destroyed by time or the last war.

Thirty days.

The shudder rolling through me had nothing to do with the cool temperatures. The sharp swell of pain deep in my chest made it difficult to breathe and blended with the nearly overwhelming need to escape this haunted place and go to Carsodonia. That was where he was. That was what the Handmaiden had told me, and I didn’t think the Revenant was lying. How could I free him if I were here, trapped amid the skeletons of a once-great city? Held captive by the responsibilities of a Crown I hadn’t wanted?

My gloved fingers trailed down the buttons of the woolen sweater coat to where they ended at the waist. I reached between the flared halves and closed my hand over the pouch secured to my hip, clutching the toy horse.

My thoughts calmed.

Near the bushy, yellow wildflowers growing along the foundation, I sat on the edge, letting my legs dangle off as I eyed the landscape. Waist-high weeds had reclaimed most of the road that had once traveled to this part of the city, leaving only glimpses of the cobbled streets beneath. Thick roots had taken hold among the toppled buildings, and the sweeping pines’ heavy limbs climbed through broken windows in the few walls that still stood. Sprigs of lavender poked through abandoned carriage wheels, the sweet, floral scent following the wind whenever it blew.

I had no idea how old Duke Silvan had been, but I was sure he’d lived enough years to clean this part of Massene up. To do something with the land so it no longer resembled a graveyard of what once had been.

The Chosen who will usher in the end, remaking the realms.

A shiver accompanied the memory of Vessa’s words. As far as I knew, neither Naill nor Emil had been able to find her chamber, but she was locked away, fed and safe in a room two doors down from the Great Hall.

“You shouldn’t be out here,” a gruff voice said from above, causing me to jump.

Delano hadn’t been the only one to follow. Reaver had, too, taking to the air as he tracked us through the pines. He glided so quietly above us that I’d forgotten he was up there, circling.

The voice could belong to no one but him.

Tilting back my head, I looked up a dozen feet or so to where the draken perched on the flat surface of a pillar. Warmth crept into my cheeks.

Seeing Reaver in his mortal form was already an utterly unexpected experience. But seeing him completely, absolutely naked whilst crouched on a pillar took the oddness of the situation to a whole new level.

Reaver was a…blond.

With his somewhat grumpy disposition, I’d conjured up a much darker-haired image of him.

I tried not to stare, but it was hard not to. Luckily, any areas that would’ve been considered highly inappropriate by most were hidden from view, given how he was positioned. Still, there was a lot of exposed, sinewy, sand-colored flesh. I squinted. Skin that carried the faint but distinct pattern of scales.

“You’re in your mortal form,” I said dumbly.

A curtain of shoulder-length hair obscured most of Reaver’s features except for the angle of his sharp jawline. “How observant.”

My brows rose as I felt Delano brush against my thoughts, his imprint springy and featherlight. Following that unique sensation, I opened the pathway to him, and his response was immediate. He is an odd one.

I couldn’t really argue against that at the moment. He probably thinks we’re odd.

He probably wants to eat us, Delano replied as he slid past one of the pillars.

I almost laughed, but then Reaver said, “You are filled with worry. We can all feel it. Even those on their way here.”

My attention jerked back to him. We. As in the draken. The wolven could sense my emotions when extremely heightened because of the Primal notam. “Are the draken bonded to me?” I asked since Nektas hadn’t exactly said they were. Just that they were now mine.