Isadora groaned, opening her eyes, but the light forced them closed as a headache ford. She tried to move, but it was difficult; her body felt underwater, and her muscles were too heavy.
She swallowed thickly, trying to open her eyes again when she did, everything was blurry but eventually cleared, and the first thing she laid them on was Kraven, sitting close to the wall, watching her with an intensity that made her body co alive.
The wind filtered through from the window, the curtains dancing, and the sharp ray of light touching everything, from the furniture to the wall and the fras hanging on the wall.
Familiarity beca Isadora’s gaze. They were back at the Witch’s house.
"The—" she paused as the rest of the words hung in her throat. She had tried to move, too, and it ended up sending a hellish pain through her body that caused her to collapse back on the bed.
"Does it hurt, darling?"
Isadora swallowed once again. The sound of his footsteps got close, and then the bed dipped from his weight when he sat on it.
She brought her eyes to him, watching as he took her left hand where his vows were written and gave a kiss to it.
"Kraven," she murmured, her voice barely a whisper. "What happened?"
"How much do you rember?"
"Cai." Uttering that na prompted panic to fill her body once again, but moving wasn’t an option for her right now. So she remained still, allowing fright and worry to consu her.
She looked at Kraven, hoping to hear words that would break her heart, but it was the complete opposite.
"You saved him."
Isadora blinked in confusion. "But he—" She suddenly recalled seeing a cloaked figure with skeleton hands holding a spindle. But the more she thought about it, the more she couldn’t make sense of it.
"You saved all of them," he said with a look in his eyes that scread wonder and disbelief. "Even though it almost cost you your life." He squeezed her hand. "You’re such a careless girl, do you have any idea how—" he paused as if he couldn’t describe how he felt.
If Isadora could move, she would hold him right now. She had never seen him so lost and confused to the point he was lost for words.
"The Raven Court," she managed to say, a sting in her chest as she recalled the ruins.
"Gone."
Isadora’s lips trembled at his words. She might have stayed in that mountain only a winter and more but it beca a ho for her.
A place she thought would be her forever prison beca her forever freedom. She trained, fought, and spilled blood in that mountain, and now it was taken away from her, from them.
It wasn’t fair, none of this was. She realized how evil the court was now. They weren’t just a plague to Kraven’s life, but theirs too. They were the end, not Kraven.
"Kraven," she said softly. "Look at , please?"
He did, and the hollow look in his eyes scared her more. Summoning up enough strength, Isadora forced herself to sit. She couldn’t bear to see that look and wanted only to erase it.
"Don’t," he warned, but she didn’t listen.
When Isadora was about to collapse, he held her waist to keep her there, and she clenched his biceps like the only thing keeping her tethered.
She adjusted and placed her head on his chest, nestled into his arms more, feeling the safest she had ever been, the mont she opened her eyes.
Kraven paused, not knowing what to do at first, but her warm body and the way she clung to him like he was the only breathing thing made him instinctively hold her closer.
"You didn’t fail them, my darkling," she murmured.
Kraven’s body tensed at her words, his lips parted, but it took a mont before he ford words. "What you did gave sothing I never had."
"What?"
"Hope," he said, the word he never thought he would ever utter.
What drove him had been pure instinct and survival. His wrath, pain, and bloodlust. And in the end, when he had destroyed the court, he didn’t mind destroying everything else until there was nothing else.
However, presently Kraven had no urge for such, for the hope Isadora gave was beyond any amount of bloodlust. It was sothing else he couldn’t explain but it didn’t matter what it entailed. As long as he had her in his arms, he had everything he could ever ask for.
"You didn’t just give hope, darling," Kraven continued, his dashing smile curling on his lips. "You gave everyone hope."
Isadora placed a hand on his chest and pushed her body so that she could see him.
Her hand moved gracefully to his neck and brought it down so that his lips t hers. It was just a brush of their lips, just to show him how endearing he was to her.
Isadora parted and said. "No more."
Kraven narrowed his eyes.
"No more," she repeated, her pale amber eyes screaming blood and wrath. "The Court won’t get their way anymore. They took everything from you, it’s ti to take it back."
He blinked, not saying a word, and Isadora couldn’t read him.
"I could not protect the court, what makes you think I can make them pay? Or take back what is rightfully mine?"
"Because you’re Kraven Val Thrond."
His teeth clenched hard. That na had lost its aning a long ti ago.
"I’ve learned sothing over the winters, Kraven. No matter how much we try to run, we can never outrun our destiny. This is your destiny."
"And what about yours?" He asked, a smirk taking over his lips.
"My destiny is you. Mad or sane, if you want to burn the world, then I’ll be the fire you cast upon it, and if you want to heal it, I’ll be the blinding light."
Kraven couldn’t explain how he felt right now, but his heart and mind hit a ti pause, as he took in everything.
From her words to the expression plastered on her face that scread of unquestionable devotion.
Kraven opened his mouth, but he found himself lost for words. Nothing could ever amount to this or explain the feeling threatening to eat him alive. Her presence wasn’t just a light in his life but sothing he didn’t deserve.
Isadora giggled. "Is the Reaper lost for words? Dear gods, I must be dreaming."
He kissed her so deeply that Isadora could feel his soul, her pulse racing, and her mind cleared of anything else.
He brought her closer, just to feel, to rge their bodies as one, and they intertwined in the most passionate of ways possible.
Pure strength flooded Isadora’s body, her muscles going light. She saddled him properly, hands locked tightly on his face; she could feel the rough stubble brushing his cheeks like sandpaper.
Chills grasped her body as she rubbed delicately on it delicately, and the passion between them amplified.
~♧~
Isadora stepped out of the house, taking in the view like it was the first ti. It felt like breathing new air, and although the worst happened, there was a light of hope for sothing more. She could strangely feel it.
Ever since she awoke, she felt different and more sure of herself. Everything beca clearer to her.
She had always seen this world in nothing more black, but now she saw all the colors, and she would make sure the rest of the world saw it too.
The soft sound of murmurs grasped her attention, and her gaze moved to under the tree, where Logi and Rav spoke deeply about sothing.
Without wasting any mont, she approached them, her braid, which Kraven had done, swaying behind her.
They turned.
"Isadora," Rav said breathlessly. He gulped, taking in the sight of her. She had changed so much since he last saw her, and matured.
He couldn’t believe the sight of the woman who stood before him with a strong, pure aura clinging to her. It was also warm, not like the heat of his body but like the sun. It was deeply alluring.
Judging by how Logi straightened beside him, Rav knew he felt it too.
"What are you boys talking about?"
"Sothing you shouldn’t worry yourself about," Logi replied with a smirk.
Isadora raised an eyebrow and faced Rav, who seed to have hit a ti pause, unable to take his eyes off her.
"Hello, Rav, it’s nice to see you again. I’m glad you’re okay."
He suddenly gulped, showing how nervous he got by the passing second.
"What is it, Rav? Has your tongue been cut off?" Logi amused.
Rav shot him a silent glare, and Logi grinned knowingly.
Peeling his eyes away, Rav pinned them back on Isadora as his gaze softened. "I’m sorry."
Isadora blinked. "Sorry for what?"
"You left on an important mission and I didn’t—" He paused as regret buried him. "I should have seen you off."
"You made a choice, Rav, as did I. No regrets."
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