Page 214 of The Queen’s Shadow

“Only if you want to, though. I’m not going anywhere, so you can take as long as you need to figure out if that’s something that you want to explore.”

He pulled me into him, wrapping his arms around me and I breathed in his rainforest scent, as he held me against his chest. He ran his hand up the back of my neck and tangled his fingers in my hair, kissing me firmly on the top of my head.

“There’s nothing wrong with you, Kasha. You’re fucking perfect, just the way you are.” He assured me, and for a second, I let myself believe him.

Raven

Jeremy had always told me that first impressions matter. If that was true, then Dossidian’s brothers had pretty much fucked up my first impression of them before I had even properly met them. Now, as I hovered before them, dripping in shadows with eyes as black as onyx, I had to assume I was making an equally shitty first impression on them.

I was tired, thirsty, and living in constant agony unlike anything I had ever experienced. It had been well over two weeks since I had any connection to Amon, and it felt like I was burning alive.

My breathing was tight, and I was truly starting to worry that I might actually be slowly dying. Some days I felt as if my soul might flicker out if I didn’t reunite it with its other half.

Being attacked like that had nearly broken the last thread of control I had over my power. It was burning so hot within me that I knew it was likely damaging my corporeal form. It was not good for daemons to operate with their energy levels this out of control for so long, but there was nothing to be done about it.

I was unraveling, and all I could do was my best.

Put one foot in front of the other.

Keep moving forward.

Keep following the plan and hope that it would bring me back to him. Because the reality was, no matter how awful I felt, no matter how bleak things got, until my mating stone went black, I would never stop.

“This is the new Queen?” Darianth asked, eyeing me up and down incredulously.

“She looks meaner than Ash Nevra.” Balthion observed cautiously.

I turned my head to look at him but didn’t answer. I didn’t know how to explain to these two strangers that it wasn’t that I was meaner than Ash Nevra, I was merely the product of what she had made me.

“Raven has been through a great deal. Let’s get her to Mother and Father so we can explain why we’re here.” Dossidian interjected once he realized I was not going to be able to respond.

Darianth and Balthion exchanged a look, but finally nodded. With a snap of their fingers, a massive city appeared before us, as if they had simply lifted the curtain of a mirage.

“Ah, clever trick.” Conrad grinned, glancing at Meredith. “Dat some strong illusion magick if I ever saw it.”

Meredith looked intrigued, her own eyes lighting up in interest, the way they always did when she was presented with a new piece of magick. She looked like she was itching to ask Dossidian’s brothers questions about the mirage, but Dossidian subtly pressed her away from them. She frowned at him but pursed her lips and remained quiet.

I didn’t have it in me to be impressed. I was furious that we had been this close to Fury’s Point and hadn’t known it.

Fucking waste of my time.

I felt someone lace their fingers through my hand, and glanced down to find Jeremy looking up at me from where he stood on the ground, concern etched on every feature.

“We’re here, Kiddo. Want to take a deep breath? We need to make a good impression with the Prince and Princess of Wrath and you’re… scaring people.” He winced as he said it.

I stared at him for a moment, my shadows curling down my arm and swirling around our joined hands. He didn’t shy away from them. He seemed to have grown accustomed to my command of the darkness. Finally, I nodded.

He was right. I needed to get this over and done with as quickly as possible. I needed them to agree to align with me, so I could use their army to get to my mate. I couldn’t afford to have them not trusting me because I looked as ready to burn down the world as I felt.

I lowered myself to the ground to stand next to my father, and with an enormous amount of effort, I released my hold on the shadows and swallowed back the overwhelming swell of power that was beating through my chest. I felt my eyes bleed back to normal and my hair fell back down around my shoulders. I reached out a hand, offering it to Balthion, who seemed to be the kinder of the two.

“Hi, I’m Raven. I’m sorry if I have come off as… aggressive. We have been through a lot and we’re tired and hungry. Thank you for accepting us as guests in your Court.” I said.

Darianth narrowed his eyes at me, as if he wasn’t buying my sudden change of heart, but Balthion grinned.

“No sweat. The Viridian Desert brings out the worst in everyone. You should see how grumpy Darianth gets when he comes back from patrols.”

“Shut up Balthion. I do not get grumpy.” He muttered. “I come back irritated at best.”