Page 63 of Heart of Night
“Never seen a stray bird?” he barks at one of them, who cringes against the golden ornamentations on the wall like he slapped his face.
It would have been comical, if not for the panic coiling my stomach into a tight knot at the thought of Myron down in the dungeon. Herinor didn’t allow me a glimpse at my husband before he carried me out of the chamber, effectively blocking the view with his massive torso. As he does now.
All I can see is the dark floor ahead, the gold and sepia walls, the ceiling full of filigree, and the large window at the end of the hallway—until he turns left and walks up the stairs and my gaze falls on the female form approaching at a busy pace.
I recognize the servant’s uniform before I recognize her face.
“Kaira—”
I realize I called out to her in my mind when her head snaps to the side, searching the space for any sign of me.
“Ayna? Where are you?” She slows her pace. Stops, gaze finding Herinor cradling me in his hands. Her face twists as if in an effort to keep any sign of distress tucked away behind a mask of confidence. “I can’t see you, Ayna. Where. Are. You?”
Behind me, Herinor seems to grow an inch as he throws back his shoulders, gait turning more energetic at the sight of the part-Flame.
“Find me in her room,” he whispers at her as he casually strolls past her, not bothering to look at her twice, but I can sense the heat rolling off the female as we pass by, the way Herinor’s muscles quiver as if in self-restraint.
There is something going on here, and it has nothing to do with the fact that Kaira isn’t supposed to be anywhere but the kitchens and servant areas.
Kaira’s chin drops an inch as she steps aside as if clearing the warrior’s path. For every other person, it must have appeared like a fae guard almost walking over a human servant, but for me… For me, it seemed those two have been spending more time together than just those few days in the carriage on our way to Meer.
“Ayna?” Kaira’s voice fills my small bird-head, and I wonder how it fits in there. I’ve stopped wondering how I’ve turned into this form, though. Musing about the whys won’t change anything.
“I’m the bird.” It sounds so ridiculous that I want to take it back because I’m human, not fairy or fae or Flame, or any other creature. Yet, I’ve shifted.
“Fuck—” Kaira’s footsteps click down the hallway so fast I am certain she’s running. A door creaks, and I can hear her turn. “How did that happen?” The distress in her voice makes my heart race even harder. “Did they put a spell on you?”
“Crows don’t put spells on people.”
“How do you know? I’ve seen them do all sorts of horrible things.” She sounds farther away, as do her footsteps as they fall along a set of stairs I can’t locate. My new senses are incredible, but that is beyond their capability.
“So have I,” I remind her, because I have. “They can’t put spells on people.” Another reason I am so certain is that I feel it in my bird bones like a truth I was born with.
“Almost there,” Herinor murmurs as we round the final corner into the hallway leading to my room.
I want to ask him why he tries to make it sound like a reassurance when there is nothing he can do other than execute Ephegos’s orders. All he can do is take me to my room and leave me to my fate the way he’s always done—even before I broke the curse, at the Crow Palace.
“Hold on, Ayna,” Kaira calls before her voice fades entirely. “I’ll be there soon.”
Another reassurance that has no meaning. Even hearing her voice in my head hasn’t made her an ally I can fully rely on, no matter how much I want to.
Herinor ignores the guard at my door saluting him like an officer and kicks the door open, not deigning to explain why he’s carrying a bird around.
“Make sure the stairs are clear,” he hisses over his shoulder before he slams the door in the man’s face.
He doesn’t stop to set me down until he reaches the window, which he closes with his magic before placing me on the table and sitting in the chair in front of me, bringing his face level with mine.
“I know you’re afraid, Ayna. It’s scary to shift for the first time, even for a born Crow.” His voice is gentle, soothing as he keeps his hands on either side of my body, bracing me or keeping me from hopping off the table and trying to fly away, I don’t know.
“Can you change back?” He strokes his thumb over my back.
I need to talk to him if I want to understand what’s going on, so I’d better try.
I have no idea how, but I visualize myself in my human body, hoping it would be that easy.
Apparently, it is. Because a moment later, I sit on the polished wood of the table, my legs tucked under my naked body and pushing Herinor aside with an expanding shoulder.
He leaps off the chair, blindly grabbing for the blanket resting at the foot of the bed and throwing it over my form before turning his eyes back on me. “Good, now let’s figure out how to get you out of here.”