Page 16 of Rage of Her Ravens
The girls gasped. “Pappo!”
I placed a finger to my lips, stiffening. “Em, take your sister’s hand,” I said as I grasped both of their hands. I looked into Aurora’s wide and trusting eyes. “Take us to the meadow.”
* * *
Isucked in a scream, squeezing my nieces’ hands when we were pulled into a dark, spinning vortex. We tumbled through space for a moment and fell into the tall meadow grasses. I landed with a grunt, then grunted again when my nieces fell on top of my chest.
Moaning, they rolled off me.
“That hurt, Rora!” Ember swatted her sister with the end of her straw doll.
“Sorry.” Aurora sat up and hugged her sister. “I didn’t mean it.”
I pushed myself up and reached for Aurora’s hand. “You did fine, Aurora.” I smacked a stalk of grass out of my face and blinked up at the night sky. “We made it in one piece, and that’s what matters.”
Aurora looked at me with bright, trusting eyes. “Now where, Auntie?”
“I don’t know yet.” I chewed my lip. “Let me think.”
Where could we go that my parents wouldn’t find us? My father had been all over Caldaria, trading goods and secrets. He knew every inch of the countryside and had a network of friends and spies. Then I remembered my father saying the girls’ fathers were in Thesan and that Tari was heading in that direction, too. They also said something about Tari going to Peloponese, but no. Tari wouldn’t go to Fachnan’s kingdom, not after the evil Fae king had ordered the slaughter of her mates and their entire shifter village. I certainly wasn’t taking my nieces there. Their sharp incisors would give away their shifter blood.
If we could make it to the northern shore and find a Thesan merchant ship, we could barter passage to the island. I fingered my cloak’s silver clasp around my neck, worrying it wouldn’t be enough to buy passage. I’d use my siren voice if necessary. But how would we get all the way to the northern shore? It would take weeks, even months, on foot. I couldn’t ask Aurora to bring us there. She hadn’t teleported since she was a toddler, and then she could only teleport to places she knew.
“Auntie?” Ember whispered, tugging my skirt.
“What, Ember?” I snapped, regretting it when she flinched. I cupped her smooth cheek. “I’m sorry, Em. Auntie is stressed.”
She visibly swallowed. “The bad men are coming to set the house on fire.”
I repressed a groan. I didn’t have time for her imaginary friends tonight. “What?”
She pointed to the starry night sky above. “They’re up there.”
I gasped when I saw three winged shadows overhead. “Get down!” I whispered, hovering over my nieces. I heaved a sigh of relief when the shadows flew past us. Then I inwardly swore. Fire mages. Malvolia’s mercenaries.
“They can fly like Pappo,” Aurora said, a note of awe in her voice.
Ember’s eyes filled with tears. “They’re going to kill Pappo and Yaya.”
Fuck. My father didn’t stand a chance against three other fire mages, and my mother couldn’t summon fire. “Aurora.” I squeezed her hand. “Take us back.”
Aurora’s lower lip quivered. “Will they kill us, too?”
Magic raced through my veins as my spine stiffened. “No, baby. I won’t let them.”
* * *
Pain lanced up my legwhen we landed on hard, damp earth. I grunted and rolled onto my side after my nieces broke their fall on my stomach and chest. We’d landed between the shed and the house. The pigs grunted their disapproval. Our dog yelped and ran under the porch with surprising speed for such old bones. What a great protector. Aurora and Ember scrambled to their feet, blinking at my parents who stood there staring at us as if they’d seen ghosts.
“Girls!” my mother cried when Ember ran to her, tucking her face in her grandmother’s skirts. “You nearly scared me out of my skin.” The irony of my mother’s expression wasn’t lost on me, since she could literally shift out of her skin so that she resembled an entirely different person. Right now she looked like herself—tall, dark hair, amber eyes, and fair skin.
My father latched onto Aurora’s arm with a scowl, a strand of his long, dark hair falling out of its queue and over one eye. “Did your Tau stone come out?”
Aurora looked imploringly at my father. “The bad men are coming.”
He ruffled his black, feathered wings. “What?”
“Three fire mages,” I said, stumbling to my feet.