The Raven and the Wraith Book 2 (Completed!)

The Raven and the Wraith 2 Chapter 37

The Raven and the Wraith 2 Chapter 37

At Luna's words, Talia's entire presence shifted. It dropped into purely lethal, the perfect predator, it's prey right before its merciless gaze. Then, she smiled, but it only added to the razor ice flashing in her eyes.

"And you would be the next Queen? Have you forgotten that you would have to face your Kahlraugh? Do you think you're strong enough for that, child?"

Lunas expression dropped from shock, to a sickly mask. She clearly hadn't considered that, whatever that meant. I wondered what it meant, to Blend with your Kahlraugh. Apparently only Talia, and myself, had ever accomplished that. And the idea of attempting it was nearly enough to put the fearless Luna to her knees.

Talia nodded slowly, her eyes warming slightly. "You are not ready to challenge me yet, little one. But I'll be here, waiting, when you're ready."

She turned to me. "And you. What could you gain by standing against me? Or did you say that simply to get a reaction, as Kavik would have done?"

I gave her a level stare. "I could gain my freedom of choice. For who my mate is to be, and what I'm going to do with my life."

"You act like being Prince of the Cha'el is a sentence to lifelong torture. I assure you, it is not. And you're extremely attracted to Luna already, I've seen it in your eyes, so being married to her certainly wouldn't be a trial for you."

I felt my cheeks heat up at that, and was very thankful Kiera wasn't in the room at that moment. I could feel Luna staring at me in surprise, and it was not helping my embarrassment. I carefully kept my face straight towards Talia.

"I am not Cha'el. Being Prince to the Cha'el would be endlessly difficult. And I know Luna's...other half, from my world. I don't trust her, so I don't trust Luna. They are one and the same, just like I'm one and the same as Kavik, right?"

"What! We just met and you already don't trust me?! Why?"

I heard genuine hurt in her voice, and it sent an unwanted pang through me. I clenched my jaw, anger at myself for even caring. Luna was a stranger, she wasn't even human. Why should I care so much about her feelings?! I found myself wishing once again for that detached indifference I had lived in before that day I had met Tad and his caravan.

Living alone, on the streets, while cold and lonely, was completely free of these situations, these confusing, difficult feelings. Where did my sense of responsibility and compassion come from? I resented it, yet knew it was very much part of me, integral to my very sense of self, and couldn't be set aside.

Luna didn't like my silence. "Talk to me! Don't just sit there like a pretty rock!"

"I'm sorry, Luna. You can't know what...what happened in my world, so I realize my distrust isn't fair to you. But it's real, it's there, and I can't forget what your counterpart from my world did."

Luna searched my eyes, and I saw dawning realization. "She hurt you. She really hurt you." She said quietly. It was not a question.

Memories of Genevieve rose up, a multifaceted specter, each edge sharper, colder, than the next. I blinked, hating the bars of pain rapidly closing on my heart, hating how time had only honed those cutting edges. The betrayal, the confusion, the bleeding sense of loss, had not left, it had been waiting in the corners of my mind. Now, facing Luna, who looked and sounded so much like Genevieve that she simply WAS Genevieve to me, I was helpless before those memories.

I stood abruptly, my hands in shaking fists, trying to use the points of pain in my palms from my own fingernails to anchor me.

"I'm done. I will see you on the battlefield tomorrow. We will let Fate decide what's to happen."

I spun and stalked from the room, gnawing on my bottom lip as I felt my eyes burning with an almost unfamiliar feeling. When was the last time I had cried? It was a foolish, useless thing, only serving to prolong the pain, and temporarily blur your vision, making you even more vulnerable.

Behind me, I heard Luna race after me. "Rahvin! Wait!"

I felt her reaching out to me, coming in fast, her outstretched hand moving towards my shoulder. I had had enough, I was no longer in any shape for others, it was why I had left the room. Now, my anger, my frustration, and old pain spurred me into action.

I spun in place, my hand flying out to latch onto her wrist. I pulled her towards me, rotating from the waist as she ran into me, spinning her around me and pinning her against the wall, my other hand pinning her other wrist against the wall, my face inches from hers.

Her eyes were wide with shock, and her chest was heaving like she had just sprinted twenty miles, and her scent was overwhelming. It reached right into something primal in me, and set it free.

She struggled for a second, trying to pull her hands out of my grip. I growled at her, making her freeze.

And then Kiera walked around the corner and froze, also.

"Rahvin...?"

Her voice was so tiny. I looked at her, and the crumbling betrayal in her eyes broke through the haze I was in. I quickly let go of Luna, and stepped back, taking a deep breath.

"That's...that's not what it looked like." I managed, then silently called myself thirty seven different filthy names for my idiocy.