Page 32 of Rage of Her Ravens

“Did you see her use white magic?” Blaze asked me.

“No, but—”

“Her sister has already used white magic to kill several of our fire mages,” Blaze interrupted.

My shoulders caved inward as I looked at both of my brothers. How had this happened? Blaze and I had come here to defend Shirina. Now it seemed I was the only brother who cared for her safety. “What if Shirina is right? What if her parents aren’t lying. What if Malvolia killed our parents?”

Drae snarled at me like a cornered, wounded animal. “Now who’s the special kind of stupid?”

I should’ve known better than to suggest our queen could be capable of murder when my brothers had their heads so far up her ass.

“There were witnesses, Nikkos,” Blaze said to me, fire flashing in his eyes. “Flora and Derrick killed our parents when they refused to hide them.”

“Are you forgetting Malvolia thought she captured and beheaded Flora and Derrick, but clearly she didn’t?” I asked him.

Blaze nodded. “She obviously killed their decoys.”

I gave him a long, cool look, wondering if he was being willfully ignorant. “And what if those same decoys killed our parents?”

“Maybe,” Blaze said, “but why didn’t the decoys confess they weren’t Flora and Derrick before they were executed?”

The vein above my left brow began to throb. “Maybe they thought they were Flora and Derrick.”

Drae shook his head, snickering. “How?”

A thought occurred to me—Flora’s friend, the mind spinner! “Maybe their memories had been changed.”

“The mind spinner?” Blaze paced the ledge, looking lost in thought.

“He was Flora’s friend,” Drae said. “Maybe she had him do it. She obviously has no issues using him to erase her daughter’s memories.”

I heaved a groan, hanging my head in my hands. “This is starting to hurt my head.”

“Look at the evidence.” Blaze’s eyes lit up like they were swimming in starlight. “We’ve only known our queen to be kind, despite her sister’s betrayal. Have Flora and Derrick been kind to their family? And why do you think they erased their daughter’s memories?”

What kind of monster had I created? I should’ve never brought up the mind spinner. “I don’t know.”

“Because she refused to go along with their plans to overthrow Malvolia,” Drae answered for me. “They resorted to changing her memories so they could control her and her magic.”

My heart felt like it would implode as I stared into my brothers’ eager faces. They were going to go through with their plan to persuade Shirina to join Malvolia’s forces. No doubt our queen would love to have a witch with the siren’s call on her side. Then what? Would our mate have to go to battle against her twin?

“Maybe,” I finally answered, “but we cannot be sure.”

Blaze threw out his hands, his wings snapping open. “Open your eyes, brother.”

I dragged a hand down my face, the breath expelling from my lungs. “I’m tired. I’m going to sleep.”

Blaze grabbed my elbow, his eyes as sharp as blade points. “You know I’m right.”

“What I know is the elements have chosen Shirina as our mate for a reason, and I don’t want either of you breaking her trust in us.” I shook him off me. “And I don’t want her stuck in the middle of this war.” Disgust rung in my words. “Speaking of our mate, we’ve left her alone long enough. I’m going back to her.”

“Wait.” Drae snatched my shoulder, an expectant look in his eyes. “Aren’t you going to heal my nose?”

“No.” I backed away from him with a sneer. “Let the pain remind you not to treat our mate with disrespect.”