A Game of Wings and Marks by Rebecca Crunden

Author:Rebecca Crunden [Crunden, Rebecca]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-02-20T06:00:00+00:00

Two nights later, as rain hammered away the snow from the streets, Raphael returned.

He landed in the middle of Octavia’s sitting room and smiled in stark relief when he saw her. The anger and disgust she had felt at learning what he had done dissolved into dizzying relief as she ran over to him and threw her arms around his neck. He smelled like woodlands and mountain air and he felt like home as he lifted her up in a powerful embrace.

‘I was worried,’ he said against her neck. ‘Has anything happened?’

The guilt she felt at lying to Raphael trumped the fear of what would happen if his laws required him to hand her child over — or hand her over. The akero would do it, too; they might even lock her away.

‘I, ah —’ Her throat closed as she drew back and she looked away, not wanting to do it. She didn’t want to lie to Raphael. She wanted to trust him more than she wanted anything else. It felt wrong to lie to him.

‘She had a miscarriage,’ said Jack from the doorway. ‘Two days ago.’

Raphael looked at her with utter sympathy and she wanted to scream. He wrapped his arms around her, whispering words of comfort. None of which helped.

‘What’s wrong?’ said a familiar silky voice from behind her. ‘What’s happened?’

Octavia heard Jack repeat his words to Zev. The noise Zev made broke something inside her and she turned around, looking at him through blurry eyes.

He moved towards her, stricken, mouth twisted in anguish, and he pulled her away from Raphael and into his arms.

Octavia met Jack’s gaze over Zev’s shoulder. He was doing his best to give nothing away, but the sympathy on his face did not extinguish the necessity in his eyes, reminding her of what they had learned, of what now threatened her.

‘How?’ asked Zev, leaning back and cradling her face in his hands. ‘What happened?’

‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘We didn’t — we didn’t know if I could go to a doctor. Jack took care of it.’

Zev blanched and he looked over at Jack who nodded grimly, lips turned down in sorrow.

‘I’m so sorry, Zev,’ he said.

It was hard to believe it wasn’t real.

Zev’s hands were crackling with purple lightning and he looked ready to explode. Octavia took his hand — the magic felt like heat from a candle and sent waves through her bones — and she pulled him back into her arms. The guilt of what she had done threatened to overwhelm her and she was close to telling him the truth.

Zev looked from Raphael to Jack. ‘Can we have a minute?’ he asked, voice brokering no room for refusal.

Raphael nodded respectfully and walked over to Jack. He wrapped an arm around his shoulders and they disappeared.

The expression on Zev’s face when he looked at her left her feeling like someone had punched through her chest. ‘Are you okay?’ he rasped. ‘You’re okay, aren’t you?’

‘Not really,’ she said. ‘Not at all, actually.’

Zev reached out and put a hand on her cheek, stroking gently with his thumb.

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