A Court of Souls and Shadows

16. Raven

Cassian didn't laugh at me, just as he had promised. But the look of pity he gave me when I told him everything was almost worse.

"Don't look at me like that," I said. "Please." I was still dripping wet, and I sniffled, swiping at my nose. Cassian grabbed my wrist, forcing me to look at him.

"I'm sorry," Cassian said quietly. We were silent for what felt like forever before he broke it. "Want to get out of here?"

"Yes," I said immediately, getting to my feet. "Give me a second to change." He nodded before pulling me into a hug. "I love you, you know," he whispered in my ear. "Not in that way.. obviously. Ugh, you know what I mean." I laughed and hugged him back.

"I love you too, Cassian," I said. "Now get out of my room. I'll meet you on the balcony." He grinned and left the room, and I rushed to dry myself off and pull on a dry set of my fighting leathers. I'd had more made when I started gaining weight and muscle. The ones I'd worn to training earlier had been slightly too big, but this set fit me perfectly. I strapped my favourite dagger to my thigh before rushing to the balcony to meet Cassian. He raised a brow when he saw me, a smirk on his face.

"That's what you're wearing?"

I looked down at my leathers. They looked good. "What's wrong with it?" I asked, my hands on my hips in annoyance.

"Thought you'd go for a dress or something," he said with a shrug.

"I'm not a dress kind of girl," I quipped, sticking my tongue out at him. He laughed and pulled me to him, before flying us down into Velaris. We walked side by side along the Sidra, meeting up with Feyre along the way. We fell into easy conversation, and Cassian didn't bring up anything to do with Azriel. We were crossing the bridge, when a strange feeling overcame me. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, and every warning system within me started screaming at me danger. I stopped walking and closed my eyes, unfurling my power, searching for souls, for anything that could be the cause of the strange feeling.

"What is that?" Feyre said, and my eyes snapped open. I followed her gaze, and saw a cloud of darkness on the horizon, but it wasn't a thundercloud. It stretched too far, was shaped too oddly. I gripped the edge of the bridge and extended my range, forcing my power out of me in waves, towards that cloud in the distance. As my power unfurled, I sucked in a breath. It wasn't a cloud. It was souls. A mass of swirling, black souls. The souls were inky black, and the feel of them was like nothing I'd encountered before. They were slick and slimy, like oil, and my stomach lurched at the feel of them.

"It's souls," I breathed, just as Cassian's armour unfurled from the red siphon on his chest, covering his entire body from head to toe.

As the black mass of souls drew closer, I realised with horror, that it was Attors, thousands of them, racing towards the city. They were the ugliest things I'd ever seen. Grey skin stretched across their serpentine snouts and long limbs, some carrying soldiers with them. I sucked in a gasp as Cassian cracked his siphons, forming a hard wall around the entire city. I reached for the dagger at my thigh just as Cassian's gaze landed on me.

"Raven, you shouldn't be here," he said, a touch of panic in his tone. "It's Hybern. He can't know we have you."

"I'm not leaving you," I said between clenched teeth. "We are in this together. Don't try and stop me." His eyes widened slightly but he nodded, turning his attention back to the approaching forces.

"Besides," I said. "They can't know about me if they are all dead." Cassian's mouth curved into a menacing smile that matched mine as he reached for the twin swords on his back. He withdrew both and handed one to me.