Reaver was a…blond.
With his somewhat grumpy disposition, I’d conjured up a much darker-haired image of him.
I tried not to stare, but it was hard not to. Luckily, any areas that would’ve been considered highly inappropriate by most were hidden from view, given how he was positioned. Still, there was a lot of exposed, sinewy, sand-colored flesh. I squinted. Skin that carried the faint but distinct pattern of scales.
“You’re in your mortal form,” I said dumbly.
A curtain of shoulder-length hair obscured most of Reaver’s features except for the angle of his sharp jawline. “How observant.”
My brows rose as I felt Delano brush against my thoughts, his imprint springy and featherlight. Following that unique sensation, I opened the pathway to him, and his response was immediate. He is an odd one.
I couldn’t really argue against that at the moment. He probably thinks we’re odd.
He probably wants to eat us, Delano replied as he slid past one of the pillars.
I almost laughed, but then Reaver said, “You are filled with worry. We can all feel it. Even those on their way here.”
My attention jerked back to him. We. As in the draken. The wolven could sense my emotions when extremely heightened because of the Primal notam. “Are the draken bonded to me?” I asked since Nektas hadn’t exactly said they were. Just that they were now mine.
“You are the Liessa. You summoned us. You carry the blood of Nyktos and the Consort in you. You are…” He trailed off. “Yes, we are bonded to you. I am perplexed by the fact that you’re only now realizing that.”
The corners of my lips turned down. “I’m not just figuring it out. I hadn’t really thought that…deeply about it,” I finished lamely. “Can I communicate with you like I do with the wolven?”
“No, but as you know,” he said, and I blinked slowly, “we will know and answer your will, as it has always been that way with the Primals.”
“But I’m not a Primal.”
“What you are is not wise,” he responded, and now I really frowned. “You shouldn’t be this far from the manor.”
“I’m not far.” I could still smell the wood smoke mingling with the lavender.
“These mortals are afraid of you, as you already know,” he continued, and my stomach twisted. “Fear tends to lead to poor choices.”
“I won’t let anyone get close enough to do me any harm,” I said. “Neither will Delano.”
“One does not need to be near you to harm you,” he pointed out. “As you were told before, you may be hard to kill, but it’s not impossible. That woman may not have succeeded, but others could inflict damage.”
My fingers stopped their ceaseless toying with the sweater’s buttons as wind tossed strands of hair back from Reaver’s face. I finally got my first true look at him.
There was a strange asymmetric quality to him as if his features had been plucked from random traits. His eyes were wideset and tilted down at the inner corners, giving him a somewhat mischievous impression that didn’t match the somberness of his vivid sapphire stare. Nor did the full, distinctively bow-shaped lips seem to belong to the strong, chiseled jaw and light brown brows that arched in a sardonic, almost taunting way. His cheekbones were high and sharp, creating shadows below them. Somehow, the hodgepodge of features worked. He wasn’t classically handsome but so interesting to look upon that he was thoroughly striking. He had a hint of gauntness to his face that made me wonder if he was still recovering physically from such a long sleep.
I pulled myself out of those thoughts with a shake of my head. “Exactly what does kill a god?”
“A god can kill another,” Reaver said. “Shadowstone can also kill a god.”
The same material had been used to construct many of the Temples and the palace in Evaemon. I’d never thought of it as a weapon until those skeletal guards we’d seen after entering Iliseeum had wielded shadowstone weapons.
It was what had punctured Tawny’s skin in the chaos after everything had gone so terribly wrong.
“Through the heart or head,” he elaborated.
Immediately, I saw the arrow the Revenant had pointed in my direction, but the Revenant had spoken as if she hadn’t believed the shadowstone would kill me. I supposed it was a good thing she’d obviously thought wrong.
“What happens if a mortal is stabbed with shadowstone?”
“It would kill them,” he said, and air fled my lungs. “But your friend lives. There has to be a reason for that.”