Page 44

Cedar

T he Court of Ice was fucking freezing. While I knew that was a ludicrous thing to complain about, given that the damn court was named after its frozen tundra and Drustan’s, the first ruler of this court, magic. But still, it was cold.

I’d been flying around, finding odds and ends to do for work, and seeing what I could learn about the so-called ruler here for almost a full moon cycle now. So far, I had little to nothing to report back to Silv and Raiden. Part of me felt stupid for insisting I stay, but I couldn’t leave her behind.

Something about her and the look in her eye? I had to ensure she was truly okay here. I had to ensure she wasn’t being treated the way Silvana had been. However, I hadn’t laid eyes on her since she escorted us to the dining room that first night. She all but disappeared from that moment on. I’d even looked before Silv left the next evening—nothing.

Shaking off the bit of snow that had accumulated in my hair, I shifted forms and took flight.

It had taken a few nights of full flying before I was more accustomed to the colder climate. Nothing was worse than frozen feathers. It made sense why my feathery counterparts steered the fuck away from this city.

I took a wide circle around the castle of Whitbourne when I felt eyes on me. I glanced down, and that’s when I saw her. Looking up at me through an open window in the castle below. Before I could think better of it, I flew down, landing on the edge of the windowsill.

I’d never been this close to the castle. Some people could feel if an animal was indeed an animal or actually a shifter. I wasn’t sure if those Keres had employed as guards were powerful enough to discern the difference. The last thing I needed was to be spotted as a spy.

I looked up at the female now seated beside me and tilted my head to the side in question. Her deep sapphire eyes said so much, yet gave away nothing. Her hair was half down today. The top half pulled up into a delicate bun and the rest left in soft curls around her face. Her dress was made of velvet and somehow almost matched the shade of her eyes perfectly. The seamstress should be given a raise if she was able to match the dye that well.

She peered down at me, a slight frown on her face now.

“Oh, Cedar. You shouldn’t have come here. You should be off with Silvana, keeping her safe and away from this place,” she whispered. “You need to leave here and stop acting so impulsive. I’ve worked so hard to keep her safe, and you’re putting it all in jeopardy by playing on feelings that aren’t even real. Go. Now. Leave, Cedar.”

She stood up then and scooted me out of the window before closing it tightly. I soared through the sky and back to the inn where I’d been renting a small room. I shifted when I was close and played the words over in my head.

Thinking when I was shifted wasn’t always the same as when I was in my vampire form. When I was shifted, I was a raven. Sometimes, too much of a raven. It was easy to let the animal instincts take over and block out the rest of the world. But right now, I needed to understand what she’d meant.

She knew my name, which wasn’t exactly expected. I’d stayed shifted the entire time we were with anyone outside of our party. I knew Silv hadn’t talked to her. She said I’d acted on feelings that weren’t real. I assumed she meant the feeling to ensure she was safe?

Shaking my head, I walked into the inn and up to my room. It was almost dawn now, and I could get a few moments of sleep before I helped Caitrin, the owner of the inn, with some of the cooking for the other guests. She was kind enough to find me random jobs around the place to help pay for my room. She thought I was a sad lost male in need of a new and fresh start. If only she knew.

I fell into the small cot that acted as my bed and closed my eyes for what felt like a few brief moments, but I was jolted awake by a pain in my left side and then my hands were bound. I tried to shift, but my magic wasn’t responding. I tried to fight my way free, but my eyesight was black.

Someone lifted me into the air and threw me across their shoulders, and before I could form another thought, everything was gone.

* * *

I woke up with a small cup of blood next to my face and shadow stone cuffs around my hands and ankles—which meant I couldn’t shift.

I wiped my eyes of sleep while I tried to figure out where I was and who’d taken me. But I smelled her before I could do so. Citrus and lilies.

She was leaning against my cell door, her hands clasped in front of her. She appeared exactly as she did when I saw her before sunrise. Her face gave away nothing. I glanced around the rest of the room quickly, noting that the walls were made of dark stone, there was a small cot in the corner made of straw, and a window that actually allowed sunlight in. That would be problematic.

“I told you, Cedar. You didn’t listen,” she whispered.

I slowly pushed myself to my feet and stared at her. Had she set me up? Sent guards after me?

“You should drink the blood. It’ll help your body finish healing your wound,” she continued.

“Why are you here, Cora?” I asked, my voice quiet and angry.

She stared out the window for a brief moment. “I’m not sure. I just needed to ensure you understood that I tried to warn you. Tried to tell you that you needed to go, but typical male. You didn’t listen to me. You didn’t heed my warning.”

I quickly crossed the dungeon, grabbed her by the throat, and threw her against the wall. “Did you send them after me, Princess?” I growled.

She let out a small gasp but didn’t even seem alarmed. Her scent was fading, though, as if she was somehow covering it up.

“I didn’t send them, Cedar. You flew too close to the sun. Even the most intelligent of birds can get burned when they do so,” she said. “Drink the blood, Cedar. Don’t give them any more power over you. What comes next is of your own doing.” Then she was gone. Like a ghost. One moment there in my grasp and then she vanished into thin air.

I stepped back, staring at the spot she’d been in. I turned around, kicked the cup across the room, and screamed.

Suddenly there were guards in the room, a pinch in the side of my neck, and I knew I’d been injected with the fucking wolf venom. As I felt my mind shut down, all I could hope was that they put me on the stupid straw cot, and not near the window that would be filled with sunlight before I’d awaken again.