Page 61 of Rage of Her Ravens
Ember pointed her straw doll at Adrean. “You’re our other pappo.”
Adrean lifted his gaze to her, the pain reflecting in his one good eye like a flare pulsing off him. “I’m nobody’s pappo.”
The girls flinched as if they’d been struck, and my heart imploded. I wanted to lash out at the old fool for hurting my nieces, but I felt too sorry for him. With the exception of the girls, he’d lost his entire family. I wanted to tell the old shifter to have hope, that his sons might still be alive, but what if I was wrong? Or worse, what if Malvolia’s mages had already killed them? I swallowed back my sorrow. “Will you not at least acknowledge your grandchildren?”
His jaw hardened. “They’re better off not knowing me.”
The girls gasped, and I wrapped my arms around them, my heart breaking for them and their pappo.
Blaze sidestepped around him, ushering us forward. “I’ve secured us adjoining rooms. We can eat in there.”
“Good idea.” I grabbed the girls’ hands. “Come on, darlings.”
We walked around Adrean as he stood there in the center of the tavern, his gaze on the floor.
We followed my mates toward a crooked, dark staircase. Wings tucked behind them and fire in their eyes, they glared at any shifter who stared at us overly long.
Just as we’d reached the landing, Ember pulled out of my grasp. “Wait,” she called.
“Ember!” I pulled Aurora with me as we dodged grumbling shifters and chased after her.
My mates let out a string of curses and followed after us.
By the time we reached Ember, she was standing beneath her pappo’s long shadow, and I swear my heart imploded as I watched this sweet, innocent child, completely unflinching as she looked up at this big, bad wolf.
“Here.” She tried to hand him her doll. He refused to take it, so she hooked the end of the straw foot around his extended claws.
I finally reached her, grasping her shoulder and gently pulling her back. “Em,” I whispered, “what are you doing?”
“Giving Pappo Bethamy.” She nodded toward her grandfather who stood as still as stone, the straw doll dangling from his limp hand. “She makes me feel better when I’m sad.” She wiped her eyes. “He needs her more than I do.”
I knelt beside her, looking into her glossy eyes. “That’s very kind of you, Em,” I said as I wiped a tear from her cheek, “but you don’t have to.”
“I want to.” She bit her quivering lip, and I could tell it was taking all her willpower not to ask for that doll back.
I scooped her up, and she straddled my waist, wrapping her arms around my neck. Nikkos took Aurora, and we backed up a step from Adrean as he stood there completely immobile, his gaze still fixed on the floor. A blade pierced my chest when the old wolf curved his claws inward, hooking the doll in his grasp.
Ember silently cried against me as we carried the girls upstairs. I cursed King Fachnan for what he’d done to shifter-kind, how he’d torn apart my family, and I swore with my last dying breath, if I ever had a chance to confront him, I’d make him carve out his own blackened heart.
* * *
Our rooms were sparselyfurnished, each with a bed, table, and dresser that had been crudely fashioned out of rough wood. A few of the floorboards were starting to curl, rendering themselves hazardous lumps beneath the threadbare carpets. I had already pointed them out to the girls, but they were so clumsy, I prayed they didn’t forget and trip over them. Our rooms were separated with a warped door, each with a bed that was infested with fleas. One jumped onto Aurora the moment she climbed on top of the lumpy straw mattress. Blaze and Nikkos had to smoke the bugs out and then open the windows when the heat and smoke became unbearable.
The servants added a few extra chairs to the wobbly wooden table, the wooden floorboards creaking with their heavy steps, and we dined in our bedroom by firelight. My mates had left the curtains drawn, revealing a bright, half-moon outside that helped add light to our dark room.
I smiled to myself when Blaze cut an extra slice of bread for Aurora and buttered it for her and when Nikkos leaned over Ember, wiping sauce from her chin. As I looked from the girls to my mates, I realized how much we felt like a family. The girls had quickly taken to my mates, and my mates had readily assumed the roles of surrogate fathers. I silently thanked the elements for sending my mates to us when we needed them most. Even if Draevyn hadn’t worked out, at least I had two loyal and protective mates to call my own. I was by far luckier than most Fae women.
The stew was delicious, a savory, thick broth of meat, root vegetables, and spices. My mates and I drank a heady spiced wine that made my head float like a cloud, and for the first time in days, the tension that had coiled around my spine started to unwind, even though it took too much prodding for me to get Ember to eat.
“What if she’s hungry?” she asked me while picking at her stew.
I gave my mates a helpless look.
“I can go get her if you’d like,” Blaze said to her. “I’m sure he’ll give her back.”
She vehemently shook her head, more tears springing to her eyes.
Nikkos squeezed her hand. “I’ll go downstairs and make sure he knows to feed her, okay?”