Page 126 of Queen of Thorns
Rev steps forward, his expression equally as perplexed. “She’s human...”
“She is,” Blane says mater-of-factly. “But somehow, she’s retained some of the magic from this realm.” He shrugs one shoulder like this isn’t a big deal.
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Rev whispers.
My eyes remain wide, but I look up at the canopy of leaves. “How soon will she come back?” I ask quietly.
Aurora shrugs. “Probably a few minutes. But she likes to fly, so maybe a bit longer.”
“Thousands of humans have been to the fae realm and interacted with all kinds of magic. None have ever absorbed any. How—”
Blane sits beside a large tree, leaning back against the mossy side casually. “Honestly, you’d know more than we would. We know she somehow has magic, but it happened before us.” He wiggles his finger at us. “That’s all you guys.”
Rev turns to me. “What—did you do anything particular with her? Magically, I mean.”
I shake my head. “I turned her into a raven or owl pretty often during the Trials. She was a bird almost the entire maze challenge. She was off on her own a bit during that time, maybe something happened then? I don’t know. Because then—”
“She died as a raven,” he whispers.
Aurora whips her head toward Rev. “What?”
“During the final trial,” he says slowly, “Brielle snapped her neck while she was still in bird form.”
Everyone in the clearing stills.
“She was dead,” I echo. “Lifeless.” I don’t even want to remember that moment. How incredibly awful it was to believe that my friend was dead because of me. I should have never brought Raven into the fae world. I should have... I don’t know, done so many things, probably. And she died.
Rev, my barely ally, still an enemy in many ways, saw my pain, and he healed her. But he’s right. She was dead.
“You brought her back to life,” I whisper. “You gave her some of your magic.”
Rev
Less than a minutelater, the little blackbird soars down from the treetops and seamlessly leaps back into human form. I stare wide eyed at Raven. An adolescent human girl. Her hair and eyes are a pretty brown, but dull. No sign of magic. No sign of anythingmore.
“What?” she asks innocently, eyes darting between all of us. We’re all still watching her. Though, Blane still appears surprisingly at ease. He leans back against the mossy tree, shoulders relaxed.
