by Ella Grey
The images shattered as fingers laced into her hair and lips brushed against hers. "Come back to me, Cassandra." She flinched, snapping her eyes open. He kept his fingers in her hair, holding her in place until she centred herself. "What happened, are you okay?"
"I don't know. This time it was different." She couldn't look away from him, and she liked the way he held her, a mixture of need and gentleness. When he released her, she instantly missed his touch. He gave her his full attention and she breathed through the emotional pain the vision had created. "I saw things, my parents and the crash that killed them." Tears welled in her eyes and trailed down her cheeks. "What's happening to me?" She squeezed the words out, barely able to breathe as she brushed the tears away. It had been horrible, having a vision of her dead parents. There was no doubt in her mind that was what happened; even she couldn't come up with something that gruesome and horrible on her own. Why was she thinking of it now when there was nothing she could do about it? She held onto the kitchen counter, her knuckles ached under the strain of her grip. Her life was spiralling out of control. Now she had this man, something barely human, who wanted to keep her safe, who inspired emotions, which astound her with their intensity.
Cassandra didn't want to fall apart in front of him, but it was hard to stop the tears. She took a few deep breaths and kept her focus on her knees until the tears gradually stopped. A hand on her knee had her looking up. She had to look a mess, red-eyed, but heat travelled through her body from the spot he touched her.
"What are you doing?" The words left her in a whisper.
"Giving you some of my strength," he said simply. "I've never tried it before, but I've heard of the ability to transfer energy between...people." The way the sentence sounded awkward made her think that hadn't been the word he'd originally thought of using. "Do you feel better?"
She nodded. "Thanks. I'm sorry about crying. I don't usually fall apart like that."
"Don't ever think you have to apologise, you've been through a lot, Cassandra. You're entitled to lose control. I shouldn't have kissed you, especially after you mentioned your fiancé."
"Why did you...?" She paused a little unsure of how to say it. Raven hadn't moved his hands from her knees and intense pressure was building again. If he kissed her again, she wouldn't say no. The memories of his kisses were seared into her memory. She didn't think she'd ever forgotten.
For a second she didn't think he would answer her as he glanced down at their hands and interlaced their fingers. The movement was so perfect and natural; Cassandra didn't dare breathe.
"Kiss you? Because it felt as natural to me as breathing, but it was a line I shouldn't have crossed and I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable." He pulled his hands free.
"Will I always be like this?" Panic crept into her voice at the terrifying path her gift was taking her.
Raven reached out and brushed at her hair, cupping her face. There was a steel determination to his eyes. "There's nothing wrong with you Cassandra, but I promise we'll find answers. You have my word."
***
Raven wanted to soothe away her worries, to take her into his arms and never let her go. They would find the answers together if need be following her in both forms to make sure she remained safe. The thought of anything happening to her physically hurt him. There had been plenty of time as he laid on the couch to think about her, to think about what they were. The truth of the matter was simple; she was his mate, the part that tied him to his human form. The side of him that was alien. "Will you be all right? I need to talk to Nicolai and get the information about whoever hired me for the job, and then I'll be back. You can make yourself at home. The only thing I need you to do for me is don't go wandering off."
As she glanced up, he brushed the remaining tears off her face. The kiss was like a burn in his memory. He hadn't been able to stop himself, even if he knew it was a bad idea. Only last night she'd told him she was getting married, but as soon as he saw the desire in her eyes as she watched him, he wanted her even more. The Goddess brought them together, which meant she played a hand in their future. Any other assassin would have killed her without a second thought, something inside of her reached out to him. To the part of him, that was more human and less raven.
"Are you sure you will be okay?" He didn't want to leave her like this, but he didn't have a choice.
She nodded. Even though the smile she gave him was weak, he didn't press her about it. He ached to kiss her again, but it might set off another vision. Instead, he turned on his heels and let his magic envelop him. The change between human to bird was effortless, all he felt was a physical pop, like travelling on a plane and he fluttered his wings. A gasp came from behind him as he beat his wings and disappeared in the wooden rafters, startling a few pigeons as he flew from his home and the woman who meant more to him than she would ever know.
Nicolai Castillo had a face worn by the overconsumption of whisky and a voice raspy from smoking too many cigarettes. He was also one of the only men, Raven considered a friend. Raven flew through one of the gaps in the roof and changed into his human form in the attic. This time instead of the black jeans and T-shirt he wore the night before, he changed into a black suit, shirt, and tie. He preferred to be dressed for business when discussing it.
"Is that you, boy?"
Raven rolled his eyes. Nicolai was the only man who called him a boy if anything it should have been the other way around. Raven might have looked like he was in his twenties, but he wasn't anywhere close to it and he was older than the man calling out for him.
"Yes, Nicolai. It's me."
Nicolai sat at his kitchen table, which doubled as his workspace. A wide range of guns, in several stages of dismantlement, littered the table. Oils and cleaning equipment laid nearby. The man wore a white vest, stained with patches of black oil, across his forehead was a smudge of it. He hadn't shaven yet and there were bags under his eyes, Nicolai always had a problem with sleeping. Raven didn't know why for sure but figured it had something to do with the jobs he didn't tell Raven about. The man had black stains against his souls, ones that he couldn't miss.
"If you want a beer there's some in the fridge."
Raven shook his head. "It's too early in the day for me, thanks."
Nicolai glanced up in surprise. "It's that the time already? It certainly gets away from you. So, what brings you to my door? Did you complete the assignment?" Nicolai laughed. "What am I saying? Of course, you did. Are you looking for another job? I don't have anything on the books at the moment."
He pulled out the chair opposite him, unbuttoned the suit jacket and sat down. "I need to know who hired the hit on my last target."
The older man frowned. "You've never asked before."
"I've never needed to ask before. You've still got the information?"
Nicolai looked at him like he'd grown another head. "Of course I've still got the information." He grunted as he pushed the chair out, the wood scraped against the floor. "Give me a second while I navigate my complicated filing system. You sure you don't want that beer?" Raven smiled, Nicolai had sarcasm down to a fine art.
"I'll pass, thanks."
Raven drifted his eyes over the guns as he waited and tried hard not to focus on the woman he'd left in his apartment. His life was supposed to be simple; get a target, kill the target, and move on. Cassandra had spun his world on its head.
A purple folder dropped to the table in front of him. "Here. It has information about the target and the man who asked for the hit in it." Nicolai sat back down and turned his attention to his guns. Raven flicked the folder open and read the tiny print. Cassandra was a third-generation seer, her powers came through her mother's line, but wouldn't come to their full power until she hit her twenty-sixth birthday. Well, that made sense; her last attack was flashes of her parent's death. It meant the date was soon. He flipped to the first page and nodded as he took note of the date, her birthday was next week. So, whoever wanted her dead, wanted it bef
ore she came into her full powers. Why?
He scanned the rest of the information, searching for the name of the client. "Who's Patrick Graw?"
The old man shrugged. "I don't know. I met him once when he gave me the information, but that's about it. It was strange though, he didn't seem like the typical client."
"Why?"
"He seemed normal, dressed in a beige suit. He could have been a doctor, lawyer or teacher. Not our usual client by a long shot, but he had the money."
Something tickled at the back of his mind, but he couldn't put a finger on it. "Is there a picture?"
"There are two slipped in the back, one of her and the client."
Raven flicked through the papers and pulled out two pictures. The first one was of Cassandra. Maybe one the client had collected of her. It looked personal, like one from Cassandra's wall. The sun gave her skin a fresh, healthy glow and damn she looked beautiful. He had no place in her world, his darkness to her light. The flashes she caught because of her gift were enough darkness. He glanced up to see Nicolai looking at him and quickly picked up the next photograph. Now in the next one, the subject had no clue he was being studied study.
Recognition burned through him and he dropped the photograph, stumbling back to his feet.
"What's wrong?" Nicolai asked confused. Raven had never panicked before, never like this.
"I've got to go."
The other man snatched out and grabbed his arm, stopping him in his tracks. "Raven, I can't help you if you don't talk to me."
He shrugged the hand away. "I'm sorry, Nicolai. I've got to go."
Chapter Five
Cassandra was reading one of the books on Raven's shelf when she heard the familiar ringtone of her phone. She closed the book with a snap and searched for it. Raven hadn't been kidding when he said he'd packed a little of everything. She slipped the phone out of the side pocket of her bag and checked the name. Patrick? She wasn't supposed to be seeing him today. What did he want? A stab of guilt hit her like a physical blow.
She took a deep breath, steadying her heart before she clicked the connect button. "Hello?"
"Cassandra?" There was no mistaking that he sounded surprised. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"
"I came to see you today and you're not at home, where are you?"
She glanced around the room; she couldn't tell him that she was in the same home as the man hired to kill her. It sounded crazy even to her. "I'm at a friend's."
"You don't have any friends."
The quick reply made her angry. "I have friends. What do you want, Patrick?" Her anger made her reply snappier than usual.
"Father Michael got in contact with me, he wants us to go in today and settle on last-minute arrangements. Tell me where you are and I'll come and pick you up."
"No, I'll meet you at the church." She double-checked the clock on the wall, "In about an hour?" That would give her enough time to figure out where she was. She knew Raven wouldn't be happy about her leaving, but it was Patrick.
"I'll see you soon."
"Okay." She disconnected the call and decided to leave Raven a note. There was no point in leaving without doing it. He might worry since he'd asked her to stay. The thought nearly made her laugh. She was worried about hurting the feelings of the man hired to kill her. She gingerly touched her lips, she still felt him there.
The church wasn't far away from the clock tower, so Cassandra found herself waiting for Patrick on the steps. In the bright light of day, last night could have been a terrible dream, not counting the kisses she'd shared with Raven. Now everything had changed. The feelings she'd been suffering from, the ones that scared her and meant something bad was on the horizon had changed into full-blown visions. It only raised more questions, like, why was she getting visions of the past, things she couldn't stop? The car accident that killed her parents had been a tragic accident, nothing more. Then there was Raven, tall, dark, sexy as hell. Who turned her world upside down, who gave the kisses that threatened to make her forget about her plans with Patrick. Never had a man invoked those feelings in her before and she wasn't scared of him. Behind that hard body was a man who would never hurt her.
The way the sun warmed her skin made her forget all that, if only for a few blissful minutes. They were questions that didn't have an answer and if they did, she didn't know if she wanted to know them. Patrick was her future, not the bird shifter who turned her world upside down and inside out.
"Cassandra?"
Her fiancé's voice intruded on her thoughts and another attack hit her, this one not nearly as painful and shocking as the last. Her heart didn't race out of control, but her vision swam in front of her. More imagines of the car, crushed bumper, the slumped bodies of her parents, her father against the steering wheel, her mother held in place by her seat belt. The window screen shattered. Something was wrong, like a puzzle missing a vital piece.
"Cassandra?"
She blinked a few times and the images faded until all she could see was Patrick, dressed in his usual beige suit. It would have made perfect sense to tell Patrick the truth that someone wanted to kill her, but something stopped her. A part of her still thought it was crazy even if she didn't have a good reason to think Raven was lying to her. The problem was, what if Patrick didn't believe her, what if he thought that the weight of her attacks had made her snap? It wasn't worth the risk. After this, she'd go back to Raven and find out what he'd discovered about the person who ordered the hit. If he couldn't, she'd involve the police and go back to her life. Leave Raven. The thought made her feel physically ill. She didn't want to leave him, but they came from different worlds, they didn't belong together, even if a part of her wished they did. "Sorry. Did Father Michael say what we needed to confirm?"
"Just some things about the service, I'm sure it's nothing too important, but he was insistent." Cassandra slipped her hand into his and let him pull her to her feet. There wasn't a spark, a tinge of electricity, like when Raven touched her. Cassandra pushed that thought to the back of her mind. "Come on, he's waiting for us."
***
"Are you here?"
Raven knew she wasn't there as soon as he shifted shape. It had nothing to do with scent, even if her perfume still lingered. The apartment felt empty. For instance, he missed her like a burning need, an ache in his stomach that stole away his reason. A part of him was missing. Why had she left? He searched the apartment until he finally found the piece of paper on the table.
Patrick called me. I've gone to meet him at St. Christopher's. I'll be back soon. C.
"Damnit." He slammed his fist onto the table, ignoring the jarring pain that travelled up his arm. He could already be too late. The shift swept over him and he flew back up into the rafters. He cut through the air with a speed that shook the other ravens from their sleep. They were ordinary birds, but even they could sense his inner turmoil. If something happened to her, he would never be able to forgive himself. He would hunt Patrick down and make him wish for an easy death that he wouldn't give. He hit the rays of the sun as he flew higher and higher, needing a bird's-eye view of the city. St Christopher's wasn't far from his home but he had to get into the church without raising Patrick's suspicions, he could only do that in his bird form. His woman had slipped under his skin so quickly, that the thought of losing her now when he'd only found her? It didn't bear thinking about. He wanted her body, heart and soul and wanted to offer her the same. Her life might be safer without him in it, but he wasn't nearly strong enough to let her go.
***
The church was quiet, which should have been impossible on a Monday morning. It wasn't like it was supposed to be loud, but there would have been a hum of activity at least, people sitting, praying. Every time she'd been here before, it had always been busy. Patrick led her farther into the church, obviously knowing where he was going.
"Is he in his office?" Her question was left unanswered. She tried to pull her hand free, but he held it like a v
ice. "Patrick?"
"I'm not supposed to be the one to do this. This is why I paid that stupid amount of money for a professional." He might have muttered the words, but Cassandra still heard them. They spread like ice through her veins. "I even had to make the call to the health department to get this place shut down. I wouldn't bother trying to get anyone's attention, there's no one here to hear you scream. They won't find you until Monday at the latest. By then I'll be far away."
"But why?" Her eyes widened, confused, and scared. She tried again to pull her arm free, but his grip didn't loosen. If anything it tightened. She yanked it, ignoring the flash of pain as Patrick refused to let her go. She scanned the room, desperate for something to hold on to, but there wasn't anything. He kicked open the door in front of them and pulled her into darkness. "We're supposed to be getting married, why do you want to kill me?"
"It was the only way I could get into the catacombs. Your father told me about them and I studied them. Do you know royalty called that place home at one point? I've read the rumours, there's treasure hidden under there and I will find it."
Cassandra nearly stumbled on the steps. "You want to kill me, because of rumours?" She didn't bother to hide the disbelief in her voice. Had she not known him at all?
Patrick scoffed. "I've more than that. I have proof, a diary written by the original owner of the mansion."
"You're insane."
Her words fell on deaf ears. "I tried to get your parents to let me check, but your father wasn't interested. I had to take them out of the picture." His words steadily became mindless rambles.
"You killed my parents." She reached out, blindly reaching for anything to stop her descent into darkness.
For a second he honestly sounded regretful. "I didn't want to. I wanted them out of the way, just for a little while, so I could get underneath the house, but they died and you came back home. I knew I had to get close to you. Then I found out what you were. What you're destined to become. I knew you'd be the only one who could link me to your parent's deaths."
