Destined Shadows (Silvercrest Academy #2)

by K.C. Kean

I might not have known then what secrets you were keeping, but I knew the fear in your eyes was real. If I ever saw that in the eyes of one of my own children, I would tear this world to pieces. - Rhys Wylder

Zane runs the back of his hand over my cheek and I whimper at his gentleness. There’s so much to understand, so much to discuss, so many questions, but none of that matters in this moment. He’s here, silently showing me the support he’s never wavered on. My Zane.

I launch myself at him, burying my face in his soft feathers as I cling to him. A harsh breath morphs into a sob as I bleed my soul into him. The world around us drifts away, my body craving his comfort, and I feel his beak nuzzle against my shoulder as he consoles me in a way I can’t even begin to acknowledge or explain. His comfort lets the world and time seep away. I’m not sure how long we stand there, but it feels like an eternity before I lift my tear-stained face from his coat. I don’t care that I’m raw, exposed, and vulnerable. I know he will protect me to the ends of the realm. I am him, and he is me.

Awe

Fuck following the sun. Fuck destroying the shadows. Fuck everything but my next breath.

Real. I feel this way about college

I can’t say my life flashed before my eyes, I was too focused on the fight to get out, but my efforts weren’t enough. Until a pink glow broke through the never-ending pit of emptiness and Raven’s angelic voice whispered in my ear. My Shadow, somehow chasing them all away and leading me back to her.

She glances back, her eyes instantly locking with mine, and she gulps. “Let’s go home, Shadow.”

I love the shadow nickname. Makes me smile.🫣

Dropping onto the sofa, I brace my head in my hands with my elbows on my knees. Despite leaving the mess behind at the outpost, I still feel a tightness inside me that won’t unwind. Peering up at Raven, who stands with her arms folded around her so tight I’m sure she’s going to suffocate, I know what I need. “Shadow, come.”

Yes sir🙋‍♀️🫡

It’s funny how my glare is supposed to spark fear in people, yet with Raven, it somehow manages to fuel her.

On the surface, am I alive? Yes. Will I get through this? Yes. Will I stand tall, take on any challenge, and fight with every ounce of effort I have to survive? Yes. But will every image live rent-free in my mind? Yes. Will the reminder of the pain I felt at seeing Brax’s lifeless body live inside of me forever? Yes.

Crying

“Go back to sleep, Shadow.” The murmured words against my skin make my body tighten and my mind clear of everything but him.

“I came in here to sleep, but you’re not making it easy, Shadow.” I open my mouth, a smartass retort on the tip of my tongue, but he beats me to it. “Not that you ever make anything easy.”

“I couldn’t sleep knowing I was only breathing because of you. I couldn’t sleep because you weren’t close enough. I couldn’t sleep…because despite how much I want to hate you, I can’t.” I can’t breathe. That was far more than I was expecting and likely the most raw and vulnerable thing I will ever hear this man say.

Twilight is my least favorite time of the twenty-four-hour cycle we call life, but right now, in this moment with him, it could just become my favorite.

My heart lept out of its chest.

“Go back to sleep, Shadow.” He finally speaks,

She looks at each of us with trepidation in her eyes, like she’s waiting for a witch hunt or something. By the end of the day, this woman is going to know that if a witch hunt ever came, we’d all be shoulder to shoulder with her, ready to bring this whole fucking place to its knees. I’m not stupid, I’m aware she’s spent a long time taking care of herself, but not on my watch. Not now. My little bird isn’t facing the world alone anymore, nor is she withering away in a cage.

Eldon and his little bird nickname🥰 these men would die for her

She’s mine, ours, and she’s going to learn what that actually means. Brax too. Whether he likes it or not.

Once we’re through the door and heading toward lunch, I lean in close, the smell of her vanilla shampoo consuming my senses as I press a kiss to her temple. I want to convey how I feel about her without words, which is hard as hell for me since I’m better at expressing myself that way, but her clasp on my hand tightens at the touch and fills me with hope that she understands. I’m here, and there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.

“How are you going to eat with me in your lap?” I grin, my hand finding the bare skin at the hem of her skirt, and I trail delicate patterns over her thigh. “Little Bird, what if I want to be eating you?”

Big fan of whatever this is💁‍♀️

“Do you want me to go and slay your family so you don’t have to see them tonight?” he offers, sincerity in the tension of his jaw, and I laugh. “Please. That would at least take one thing off my plate.” He stands tall as if to head for the door, but I grab his arm, holding his wrist and turning to face him. “I’m joking. For now, at least. I feel like there’s enough blood on our hands for a few days, don’t you think?” “For you, I’d take more.”

Here boy DAMN ✋( ) ✋

“I love you, sweet Raven. Never forget that. You can lie to them, lie to my face, lie to whoever you want, but I see it, I feel it, I know it.” Bile burns the back of my throat, my heart beating so hard in my chest I’m sure it’s going to burst. “I can see the change in your eyes, a sense of distress like never before. Your secret is safe with me. Take a deep breath, gather yourself, and remember what I said. Follow the sun, destroy the shadows, and survive another dawn.”

The motherly relationship is kind of push and pull but this was sweet

“Where’s my Dove flying off to?” I sag against Zane, not caring that we’re in a room full of people, as I let my heart calm and the tension ebb a little. “I was escaping my cage,” I murmur back when I can finally focus. “I’ve got you,” he breathes against my hair,

THE DOVE NICKNAME 😩

“We’ve got you, Dove. Always. The good, the bad, and the ugly.”

Yes

“I like your spark, Raven. Even when you were a young girl, you used to light up a room with your wit and presence.” My eyes widen at her remark and my body freezes at the mention of me as a child.

“I feel like I’m sinking and it’s frustrating as hell and not who I am at all.” His hand tightens on my thigh, grounding me without words as he lifts his other hand to my cheek. “I’ll never let you sink, Dove. Not alone, at least. And not because of something as incredible as this.”

“Brax is anger, not that you’ll be shocked. Creed is kindness, Zane is happiness and laughter, while I’m connected more with love.”

She’s a fucking goddess. Our fucking goddess. My little bird.

It’s difficult to come back from a loss of that magnitude. It’s even harder to wonder how your death could impact somebody else in that way. But it does. Whether we like it or not, whether I decorate this room or not, we all leave a legacy. We all touch the world in some way like no other has or ever will.

crying

You know if you’ve been in her presence, the fact will never leave you, right up until the moment death claims you and you’re left craving one more second of her. One more taste.

Looked at sebastian and sighed

“If you ever deny me the right to protect and defend you again, the consequences will be at your own risk. Do you understand me?” I snarl, letting my true feelings out, and she frowns. “But I⁠—” I grab the length of her tie and tighten the fabric so it sits flush against her throat and she gasps. “Do. You. Understand. Me?” I growl

Yes. Raw (and deep) next question.

“I said, quit your bullshit. I told you a necromancer had been sensed, and when I mentioned it the other day, you didn’t think to mention you knew who.” He cocks a brow, glaring at his son, while all I can do is gape at him. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. The silence extends between them, consuming the room for what feels like an eternity until Zane sighs. “It’s not my story to tell.” He’s not doing this right now, right? Handing me over so effortlessly. I’m fucked. “You’re right, it’s not, and you better keep your mouth shut. This information in the wrong hands would… fuck.”

I fear this may not end well.

“Who did you save, Raven? To activate the magic?” he asks, not answering my question, and I gulp, but the knot in my throat doesn’t budge. “It was me, Monarch Denver,” Brax states, and I grip his hand even tighter as I tilt my head to look at him.

He was worried it was zane I bet :(

“You’re sleeping with all of them.” “You’re damn fucking straight I am.” I don’t know if she was trying to make me feel embarrassed or expecting me to deny it, but the Bishops are mine and I want everyone to know it. “You’re a whore,” she snaps, rearing back like I’ve got the Lulum Plague from eight hundred years ago. Fool. “A whore having the best fucking time of her life.

yk what... HELL YEAH

But what I’m more concerned with is the little fucking creep that seems intent on watching me orgasm again and again and again. How did it feel when you took those photos, Genie? Were you hot for what you saw, or were you angry that you weren’t the one on the end of their dicks?”

Fuck all this talking and shit. LAY HER OUT NOWWWW

Rearing my hand back, I slam my fist into her throat, relishing the sound of her choking and gagging as she keels forward, struggling to breathe.

Standing ovation gagged her figuratively and literally!