Page 10 of Raven's Dawn

Brows raising, she glanced between them, then me. She let out an odd sound as she gave me a once over. “Wouldn’t have guessed that.”

I did my best to keep my expression neutral, but that was rude. Unless I had a big green monster sitting on my shoulder.

But no, upon reviewing the interaction in my mind, it still felt rude.

Tracing her tongue along her teeth, Laila looked at Amara, and then at me, and then back at Amara. “How do you guys know each other again?”

“Oh, we were neighbors,” Graham said. “You came to Dinora when we were, what? Three or four?”

“Aye, something like that,” Amara said. “Best friends all through our younger years. Until ye ran off, anyway.”

“But it all worked out, didn’t it?” Graham smiled a mile wide. “Here we are again.”

Here we were, indeed.

4

WARREN

“Alright, I’m glad you guys have reconnected and everything,” Jeremy said, “but we need to go over our mission here.”

Good thing, too, because I was ninety-nine percent sure that Rain and Amara would try to kill each other if the reunion went on much longer.

“Right.” Laila zipped up her puffer coat and squatted to dig in her backpack on the ground. She straightened back up with a large green blanket. Supposed it was more of a cloak, though, because she situated it around her shoulders and fastened a purple brooch at the throat. “In Vulla up north, there was an attack. We know it was the life eaters. So that’s where we’re headed.”

“They’re common in that region because of the Elite population,” Amara said. “My army managed to take out a chunk of them, but they’ve got to have a base nearby. There were at least three dozen of them.”

“They target places with high populations because of how powerful Elites are, right?” Rain asked.

Graham opened his mouth to speak, but Amara was faster. “They’re after power. Obviously, they’re going to attack people with a lot of it.”

Rain narrowed her gaze, though not enough for Graham to notice. Typical straight guy. Completely oblivious to the tension between two creatures who communicated fifty percent in body language.

Ezra and I glanced at each other, our eyes wide.

“That’s what I assumed,” Rain said. “But sorry, I’m not from here. I’m still learning.”

“So are we.” Laila’s tone was firm, expression no different when she looked at Amara. “That’s why you’re here, you know. So you can explain things that we might be a bit misinformed on.”

When Laila spoke, Amara’s stiff jaw softened. “Oh, of course, do gràs.”

And that was why. She knew who and what Laila was. Mother goddess. Creator of worlds. Physical embodiment of the tree of life. The only person capable of granting it to Amara.

Laila had not.

There was a certain smell that came with immortality. I hadn’t known it as such until Rain and Graham became eternal. Their scent was still the same, but there was a youthfulness to it after they had taken from the tree of life. It was similar to how a newborn baby smelled.

Amara smelled like candy. Just like every other Fae I had met. But she didn’t smell like Rain or the other freshly made eternals.

Laila had yet to give her the tree, if she ever would. Given her attitude, I couldn’t even begin to imagine why.

“But since this is the first time that you guys have been in a position like this, let’s go over some basics,” Laila said. She held up three fingers. “Three primary rules. Stick to them, and we’ll all make it back here in one piece.”

“Rule number one,” Jeremy said. “You pick one person, and you stick with that person. You and this person count on one another to protect your lives. This is what they mean when they say, ‘I have your back.’ If we need to run, you make sure you have that person’s hand. If we need to fight, you fight with your backs up against each other’s. If that person needs to shit, you stay in shouting distance while they do.”

“Thank you for that mental image,” I said.

Luci chuckled. “Get used to it.”