Page 37 of Raven's Dawn

If Ezra had been taken here alone, he wouldn’t have made it out. No matter how strong he was, he couldn’t have fought off all of them. I may have been able to, but it would’ve been a gamble. Because we had each other’s strength to pull from, we were able to use that spell and wipe them all out at once.

Still, we were sitting on the enemy’s doorstep. Our guards were not down.

I was calmer than I thought I’d be, given the circumstances. Or, at least, I hadn’t panicked yet. I just sat there, back-to-back with Ezra, turning my head left to right, scanning for energy I didn’t recognize, waiting.

We’d only been sitting for a minute or two when Laila’s voice sounded in my head. There you are. We’re on our way.

We’ll be here.

It was only a few minutes later when the croaks and caws of ravens sounded. In the distance, over the treetops, my flock of them fluttered closer. Warmth spread through me at the sight of them. No matter how much they used to annoy me, I loved the little fuckers now.

But as one fluttered from the clouds overhead to the ground before me, then hopped up into my lap, I didn’t smile. It nuzzled its little head into my chest, croaking some more, and it melted my heart. This one always stuck closest to me. I called him Mohawk. He had a few feathers atop his head that never laid flat, always pointing to the sky, so… Mohawk.

This was his usual. Flying for a while, then landing in my lap. Cuddling against me like a stray cat I’d left food out for.

It usually made me smile.

With the fresh sight of that man in my head, there was no way I could smile.

“That wasn’t something we were aware of, was it?” Ezra’s voice was low to avoid alerting anything in the forest.

“These things chopping people up and eating their dicks?” I asked. “Yeah, no. Don’t remember that in the briefing.”

A half-laugh escaped him.

“I guess it makes sense though,” I murmured, the flap of wings in the distance calling my gaze to the tangerine sky. “Graham called them soul eaters. Why wouldn’t they eat people too?”

“Because there’s no logical reason,” he murmured, tone just as soft. “It’s got to be more than that. We Vampires consume blood. It serves a purpose. It gives us fuel. It’s food. But they have access to all the food in the world here. So why eat their enemies?”

Valid point. “Well, it can’t be a fear tactic. If Iliantha, the queen of this land, doesn’t even know, then they must be concealing it from the public. It’s not like they’re going around saying that they’ll eat your flesh and use your bones for broth.”

“It’s not a common ritual used to honor death in this culture,” he said. “From what I’ve read in their religious texts, there is no value to this either. Is this practice relevant magically?”

“If so, it’s dark magic I’ve never heard of,” I said.

Beyond the tree line ahead, high above the ground, Kilyn’s big, black wings came into view. Ezra must’ve seen them at the same time, because together, we stood, joined hands, and started in that direction.

Waving overhead, Ezra said, “It has to be something like that. I can see no other reason why they would do this. It must be for magic.”

“Maybe.” Still waving, the pulse of their energies coasted over me. It was odd: I barely noticed the power we all radiated back on Earth, yet I seemed to rely on it constantly here. “Or maybe it is religious.”

“But their gods are Jeremy and Laila. They don’t seem to have an affinity for cannibalism.”

“No, but I doubt any religion is true to its roots. They all get muddied by the people who follow them.”

“Perhaps. Or…” Squinting above, Ezra cocked his head to the side. “What in the world?”

The sun obstructed my view, so I, too, had to squint. Even then, I could barely register what was falling toward us. Or rather, who was falling toward us. Again, I relied on the vibration of his energy to recognize him.

Covered in muck that disguised his usual creamy skin, Warren fell to the ground like an atom bomb. Ezra and I produced a cushion of wind simultaneously, catching him only inches above the soil. He landed with a gasp, then rolled and thrashed like he was trapped in layers of blankets after a nightmare.

Before I could move, Ezra was at his side, leveling the air around him. Gripping Warren’s shoulders, Ezra helped him to his feet. Between deep breaths, Warren grasped his face, touching him all over. I only got a glimmer of that loving look in his eyes before he was in front of me, doing just the same. His blood crusted fingertips slid over my cheeks, then down my shoulders and my hips, checking me all over for signs of injury.

Most of the time, Ezra and Warren didn’t use their speed. They did their best to act as human as possible on Earth, so it really only came out when they were worked up. Still, it was mesmerizing. When Ezra did it, he was erratic and jerky.

But Warren was graceful. Always so graceful. His touch was as soft as the breeze between the trees, those pale blue eyes unusually warm.

One hand on my cheek, the other on Ezra’s bicep, his eyes flicked quickly between us. “What happened? Are you okay? Did they do something to you? Did they hurt you? Are you hurt?”

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