Page 165 of The Queen’s Shadow

“I called him a coward.” I told Conrad, guilt tearing through me. “The last thing I did before he threw me out of his mind was call him a coward. That can’t be the last thing I ever say to him, Conrad.” My voice cracked, and my eyes filled with tears. Conrad bit the inside of his cheek, frowning down at me in concern.

“Wi nah let har have him, Rayven. Wi have a plan.” Conrad said, reminding me that we were actively working on getting him back, while also securing allies and working against Ash Nevra. “Yuh trust me?” He asked. I let go of my mating stone, and placed my hands over his, where they lay on each side of my face.

I nodded. “I trust you.” I said, and forced my aura back into the shields I kept it in. My shadows settled back into the ground, returning to the objects that cast them. I took a step back from my friend, shaking my head once to dispel the remaining darkness that had threatened to take over my mind.

“Wi ‘gon get him back, Rayven.” He promised me. “Wi ‘gon get him back and we ‘gon kill har for taking him away.”

I wasn’t sure why, but hearing Conrad, who was normally the angel on my shoulder, promise me that we would kill the daemon responsible for every horrible thing that had happened in my life, meant more to me than words could express.

“Yes.” I breathed. “We are.”

“Mek wi forward, den.” He gave me a lopsided grin, effectively banishing the last of the darkness that had threatened to consume my broken heart.

I sat with Kael, for as long as it took, for her tears to stop. The sun was nearly setting by the time she was able to stand on her own two feet. She was barely responsive, when she finally agreed to let me take her back to her sister’s house. She hadn’t been able to bear returning to the shop, and I didn’t blame her. Her eyes were hollow when I dropped her off with her sister, and she barely acknowledged me when I left.

I knew so little about this world, and what it truly meant to be mated. I wondered if Kael would ever recover from Sabel’s death, or if she was now doomed to live as a half of a whole for the rest of her long, immortal life.

I prayed that wasn’t the case. If it was, then The Origin must be just as cruel as Ash Nevra, for cursing daemon kind with the possibility of such a horrific existence. Because I knew, if I didn’t get to Amon in time, and he died, I would not survive it. Since we had accepted the mating bond and promised ourselves to each other, we had become one. A life without the other would only be half of an existence, and that was not a life worth living at all.

Rycon

Itapped softly on Kasha’s door to wake her up. Raven had summoned me through the bond, and I could tell by the tone of her voice that something horrible had happened. The cold sadness that slipped down the magickal line that connected us was so much worse than her anger, and I grit my teeth against the chill of her pain.

Kasha pulled the door open just enough to peer through the crack, as if she were using it as a shield.

“Hey,” I said softly, trying not to be annoyed by the fact that she was basically making me talk through the door. “Raven called. She wants us in the common room.”

Kasha opened the door wider and nodded, her brow furrowing in concern.

“Okay, I’ll be there in a few.” She dismissed me and shut the door again. I frowned. Did she think I would be leaving without her?

Ya fucken right.

I snorted and leaned against her door frame to wait. Finally she reappeared and jumped, when she realized I was still standing there, waiting.

“For Origin’s sake, Rycon!” She gasped, putting a hand to her chest. “I thought you went to the common room.”

“I told you I would wait for you until you were done with your nap.” I said, shrugging. She frowned at me and gave me a once over before slipping past me and heading down the hall.

“I don’t remember you being so clingy.” She grumbled, and I threw my arms over my head to stretch as I ambled up to walk next to her.

“Don’t act like you don’t like it.” I smirked as we made our way through the East Wing. She threw an annoyed look at me.

“I’m fine, Rycon. I don’t need to be babysat.”

“Who said you’re the one who needs babysitting? I have a tendency to get up to no good if left alone without supervision.” I said, unable to stop myself from grinning at her like a lovesick idiot.

She glowered at me, clearly not amused. All I could think was how cute her nose looked when it was all scrunched up like that.

“No arguments there.” She sighed as we entered the common room.

I took one look at everyone’s grim faces and froze.

“Shit, who died?” I asked, and from the look the Obeah Man gave me, that was the fucken wrong thing to say. “Gods… someone actually died, didn’t they?”

Jeremy ran his hand down his face and walked up to me, shaking his head. “Did they teach you that greeting at asshole training school, or does it just come naturally?” He asked. I shrugged and gave him a ‘my bad’ face. Jeremy shot me a dark look before glancing at Kasha.

“Hey, we haven’t had a chance to properly be introduced. I’m Jeremy, Raven’s dad.” He held a hand out to her, but waited for her to come to him. I gave him an approving grin and wondered if he had worked with victims of sexual assault before. It was like he instinctively knew just how much space to give her.