Sneak Peek Number Two

Holy massive snowballs, Batman! Winter really dropped a load on us, didn’t she? *insert giggle here* One would think being snowed in would provide ample time to write–and one would be wrong because one didn’t count on the kids being so awfully needy. Math question? Ask mom, even though Dad is 4 feet away. Art project help? Beg Mom even though Dad offered to help. What’s for lunch, you ask? Whatever you make yourself, big boy, Mommy’s at work … yeah, yeah, I’m in my room, but I’m still working. Plus, teens and preteens are capable of sandwich-making. I’m over food prep, anyway.

But I’ve ventured off topic so I could bitch a little. Thank you for staying with me. Moving on–in my last post, I included the opening chapter of Shadow’s Raven. I had to build those characters from scratch, so it took me a while to write. Chapter 2, which I’ve included below, went much faster because these are the characters I created for book one. And might I say how much I adore them? This book is draining me, but I’m chugging along slowly. Cas held charm for me in Shadow’s Lyric. Now that I’m telling his story, I might have to push him to the brink. It can’t all be sunshine and rainbows, ya know? Okay, yes, Chapter 1 included scenes of torture. But I think it would be fun to see how a typically congenial male might act when life gets under his skin, especially in the form of a female he can’t get out of his head.

Happy reading, y’all! Stay warm and stay safe!

Six months later …

“You look like shit, Cas.”

I frowned at Draven’s First Advisor, one of my oldest friends who had long ago become like a sister to me. Only family could get away with saying such things to my face.

“Thank you, Talia. As always, you are most eloquent.”

“She’s right,” Draven seconded. “You’re not sleeping.”

I reinforced my mental shields against my cousin, the Shadow Lord. His mindreading capabilities were problematic. Usually I was good about safeguarding my thoughts. Burnout was making me sloppy.

“Draven, it’s not polite to dip into others’ heads whenever you feel like it,” his mate chastised. I could always count on Lyric to call him out on his bullshit.

“What?” he asked innocently as his palms lifted into the air. “I’m concerned. I get protective when I’m concerned.”

“No way? Really? I had no idea,” she replied acerbically, rubbing her growing bump. Overprotective was putting it mildly.

Lyric was only six months along, about halfway through a normal demon pregnancy. Lyric wasn’t fully demon, so we weren’t exactly sure if it would shorten or lengthen the gestation period. Her asshole of a father, Gabrian, had said her mother’s pregnancies lasted about eleven, so that was what we were going with.

Gabrian was a Fortis demon, a branch of Other known for their physical strength. Lyric’s other half came from her late mother, who was Adrestian. She sometimes sprouted wings of pure energy. Her sister, Kree, could do the same.

Kree, my inner voice bemoaned. I needed to put that female out of my head. She’d made it quite clear she wasn’t interested in me and I’d respected the space she’d requested. Life had started weighing on me ever since. The coincidental timing was not ideal.

Hence, the current intervention.

I’d been called to the Council Room under false pretenses, thinking we’d be going over the new rotation of security at Embour, the Shadowlands’ stronghold. Since I was in charge of such things I’d made a schedule and came prepared to discuss the changes.

Lyric had started the meeting with a little speech about how much they all loved me and how this was a safe space. Kree was noticeably absent.

Phalen leaned over the table, resting on his forearms. The jokester of our group was looking rather grim.

“It’s like this, Cas. You’re not sleeping. We know you’re not because the bags under your eyes are bigger than Lyric’s ass cheeks.”

“Hey!” she protested.

Phalen winked at her and continued on. “It’s affecting your reaction time. Everyone sees it during our sparring sessions. It’s also affecting your decisions. You’ve never been slow with an order.”

He was right. Indecision was not something I experienced. Well, not until recently.

“Your personality is different, too,” Lyric said softly. “You’re moody. Usually, you’re quite charming and adorable.”

Draven scowled at his mate, but held his tongue.

“Annd,” Talia drawled, “it has to be mentioned that your beard is out of control. It’s crooked, for fuck’s sake. I fear something might crawl out of it any second.”

Lyric gagged dramatically. Everything made her nauseous these days.

My sword hand self-consciously ran over the length of the bushy growth, mildly offended. I typically kept it short and neat. Admittedly, I had been neglecting its care.

Phalen nodded his agreement. “You can’t even sit through a Council meeting without wishing you were anywhere else but here, especially when we’re all in attendance.”

Wonderful. Now they were bringing Kree into it.

I looked at Draven. “Am I off the Council?”

“No.”

“Am I no longer the head of Embour’s security?”

Draven hesitated. Lyric’s hand fell upon her mate’s, squeezing.

“Not yet,” he finally stated.

“So, this is you putting me on notice then.”

“We’re just concerned,” Lyric insisted. “This thing with you and Kree–”

“There is no thing with me and Kree.”

“–has affected you deeply in a negative manner, which is now affecting Embour in a negative manner.”

I shifted my chair, squaring my shoulders with my cousin-in-law. “You think I’m hanging on to some unrequited love for your sister? That it’s wrecked me to the point I can no longer do my job?”

Her eyebrows lifted. “Hasn’t it?”

“No, godsdamnit!” My fist hit the table.

“I don’t buy it,” Talia said.

“Me either,” Phalen added.

“I don’t give a fuck what any of you buy,” I snapped.

“Watch. Your. Tone,” Draven warned. “This is what family does. We call each other out on our bullshit and we have each other’s backs. No matter what.”

Well didn’t that just take the tempestuous winds right out of my indignant sails. My posture sagged, the anger waning. I was tired. So damned tired. A slow leak was draining me from the inside.

“You don’t tell us anything, Cas, when you used to be an open book. This whole I-am-an-island garbage is over. Got it?”

Lyric squeezed her mate’s hand again, this time her knuckles whitened. “What I think Draven is trying to say is that you need to lean on us. Whatever this burden is, we’ll carry it with you.”

My head dropped into my hands. They all thought I was moping over Kree. Maybe, at one time, I had been, but that was done months and months ago. It wasn’t the root of the darkness eating away at my soul.

I couldn’t protect them from this. Keeping it to myself wouldn’t protect them. As much as I wanted to lock them all up in the basement’s spelled rooms and place a thousand soldiers in front of the door, it wasn’t a solution. It was time to fess up.

Lifting my head, I met each of their eyes before I spoke.

“Ravens.”

“What do you mean ravens?” Draven asked.

“It’s not that I’m not sleeping. It’s that I can’t stop dreaming. Every night I dream of them. I dream of ravens.”

There. I’d said it. It was out. No one so much as blinked.

Night after night they came to me, ravens with varying shades of eye-color. Some were green, some were pinkish-purple. Occasionally it was just one watching me, following me wherever I went in the dreamworld. This was the one that worried me the most, the one with violet irises.

More recently, a dark-haired female started joining these dreams. The first night she appeared, and every night since, she stood with her back to me on a dirt path leading out of a wooded area and down towards a body of water while an unkindness of ravens circled above her head.

They swooped and pecked at her long, dark hair. I’d tried to warn her but she merely laughed. The sound was a sensual melody and I’d run after her, needing to see her face, to watch her mouth produce that sound again.

She disappeared when I was close enough to touch her. The ravens still circling above emitted gurgling croaks and I believed they, too, were laughing. Nothing about her had felt nefarious, yet it had rocked me to the core.

For some unknown reason, I decided to omit this part of my nocturnal experiences. I convinced myself the female wasn’t important; the fact I was dreaming of ravens was. For a demon, dreams were more than mere fantasy, especially ones that repeated.

Draven’s big hand splayed on Lyric’s belly, as if the act alone could protect the babe inside. “How long has this been going on?”

“Six months.”

A variety of curses erupted around the table. Even Emile, who was usually quiet, got very creative with his f-bombs. We all knew what it meant. Dreaming of ravens was a bad omen. It foreshadowed betrayal, death, and misfortune.

“You should have said something,” Draven gently scolded.

“And what would I have said? Hey, cousin, the night we found out your mate was pregnant, I started having visions of the harbinger of bad luck?”

“He has a point, Mr. Overlord. You’re smothering enough as it is.”

The look Draven gave Lyric screamed, Deal with it. They were good for each other, evenly matched in opposing temperaments. Try as I might to stop it, the teeniest tiniest morsel of envy attacked my conscience. I squelched the slip immediately. I was happy for Draven and I would never begrudge him this happiness.

Unlike me, Draven deserved it.

“What have you done about it?” Talia cut in. “I know you, Cas. Even if you’ve not been forthcoming, you wouldn’t just let it go.”

“We have plenty of security already stationed at Embour. I only made a few adjustments to increase response time if someone were able to breach the outer wall.”

After Lyric and Kree had both been taken hostage, barely 18 months ago, Draven had agreed with my extended protective measures. We’d steadily added new defenses and protections since, especially now that Lyric was pregnant.

“I also sent a missive to Vera, asking her to visit Embour to reinforce the wards. She’ll be here within the week. When she arrives, I plan to ask her if it would be possible for the coven to scry on our behalf.”

We did business with Vera quite often. Her magic was strong and her intellect even stronger. She might be able to read my aura or know something about fending off bad omens. I hadn’t gotten a chance to speak directly to her yet, but I was confident she would assist, especially considering our friends-with-benefits history.

Phalen crossed his arms. “You should have come to me. I would have put feelers out.”

My mouth twisted.

“You already did it, didn’t you? Damnit, Casimir.”

“I have access to the same intel you do, to the same soldiers. I was trying to get a handle on things without alarming anyone.”

“Yeah, and how’s that working out for you?” Draven mocked.

“The omen is meant for the one who dreams it. It’s my own ill fortune coming this way. Not yours. You feel responsible enough for everyone as it is. I refuse to add to your worries. If something comes for me, I’m as ready as I can be.”

“Something terrible befalling you is ill fortune to me,” he retorted.

“I am the one who will be hurt by this. You guys are bystanders. I’ve worked to ensure that’s all you have to be.” I would not allow them to come to harm.

“So we’re all just collateral damage?!” he bellowed. “You think what happens in your life doesn’t affect us, when you know damn well when one of us bleeds, we all bleed?”

“I was trying to protect you! I know you, all of you, would fight for me, but I can’t bear the thought of something happening to any one of you. If things get bad enough, I’ll leave. I would never knowingly endanger any of you, never drag you down with me. I’ll take my own life before it comes to that.”

Draven and I were both breathing hard, staring one another down. We were always taking digs, like brothers might. This time, I knew under all that anger was something far more dangerous.

Fear. Draven didn’t handle the emotion well, not that I was much better.

“You talk of taking your own life again and I’ll fucking kill you myself, understood?”

“Yes, Lord Draven. I understand. If I want to commit suicide all I have to do is tell you and you’ll kill me. Thank you. Also, I’m pretty sure you stole that line from your mate. Very unoriginal, but points for trying.”

His mouth twitched. Then he launched his big body out of his chair and had me in a bear hug before I could blink.

This is new.

“If it were me,” he spoke softly, “or any of the others, you would be all up in our business. Don’t pretend otherwise. You’re not alone in this, Cas. Let us help. Please.”

My lungs constricted and not because Draven had a death lock around my torso. He was right. I wouldn’t have allowed any of them to push me away, no matter the consequences.

“Holy fuck,” Lyric wailed. “That was so beautiful. And you’re hugging. The big boys are hugging.”

My cousin and I both turned to look at his mate, the female designated as the Shadow Blade. The master swordsman was crying like a baby.

“Don’t look at me like that! It’s these stupid hormones. If you don’t like it you can both go fuck yourselves.”

“That’s two fucks in ten seconds, Angel. Maybe try to space them out a little further, practice using your filter before the babe arrives.”

Lyric flipped off her mate and we all laughed. It had been a number of months since I used those particular muscles. For just a second, I allowed myself to lean on them. I feared a mere second was all I could afford.