Read Online Sword of the Raven by Diana Duncan - Free Book Online

the vanquished goddess of prophecy and war possessed the only weapons that could avenge the savage betrayal of his Clan. His hands fisted at his sides. Overhead, the sky darkened and thunder cannoned.
    His cousin Braden’s memory taunted him. A wee slip of that arctic control, eh, mo bràthair?” Rowan’s lips slanted wryly. He commanded his knotted muscles to relax, and the horizon lightened from black to battleship gray. Of his three cousins who’d been closer than brothers, Braden had experienced the harshest lessons in learning to maintain control.
    With every heartbeat, Rowan’s chest ached at the barbaric deaths of his brothers-in-arms.
    All his fault. A flood of rage forced a second thunderous blast. He would make self-appointed “King” Balor and his sorceress whore Ceard bleed thrice-fold for every murder. Or die trying.
    Half a klick ahead, malevolence billowed off the structure in a cloud of oily smoke. The thick veil of evil nearly obscured random shimmers of power. But not completely. Delaney wasn’t the only mortal within who possessed the Aillidh. The Shining. However, hers was unique, and the strongest he’d ever encountered. The other lights were the customary nebulous white. Delaney’s aura glowed brilliant gold. Her pure burnished light had pierced his despair from thousands of kilometers away, enticed him to the rocky Pacific shore.
    Rowan glanced up as a raven’s graceful silhouette swooped across the leaden sky. He loved Oregon’s green hills, rainy climate, and snow-capped mountains, so much like his native Highlands. Homesickness twisted inside. Too long since he’d set foot on Scottish soil. But nothing would be the same.
    He was all alone now.
    Besides, he had to stay because of Delaney. If she didn’t get help learning control soon, she could kill someone. Perhaps kill herself. Or if God forbid, one of the Fomorii obtained her powers... He shuddered.
    Like his own, Delaney Morgan’s future had already been cast. They couldn’t fight destiny.
    He stopped pacing and offered both palms skyward, chanting a refrain as familiar to him as breathing. That bitch Paiton had cost him nearly a year of imprisonment in a scorching hell on earth before he’d summoned enough of the ancient Magic to escape. How he’d longed for rain. His throat still burned with constant thirst.
    Mist drifted downward to envelop him in cool, moist clouds, and he sighed. Delaney would break free from her prison soon—in every way. Then the final battle would begin. Only time would reveal the victor.
    Rowan had less than two score of nights to make her his.
    Before they were all damned.

    * * *

    Trapped inside the thick prison walls, tremors raced through Delaney as furious thunder clashed overhead. She frowned at her brother. “I don’t understand. Why do you want me to keep away from you?”
    “I can’t explain and you wouldn’t believe me anyway. Go straight to Archer’s apartment, deadbolt yourself inside and stay there. No matter what.”
    “And how long am I supposed to stay locked up?”
    “Until he tells you it’s done. Promise me, Lanie.”
    She fought suffocating dread. “Until what’s done?” There had to be a reasonable explanation. Life behind bars had made her cop brother paranoid, and she…she just had the unholy mother of all migraines. Migraines caused odd symptoms, right? “So Archer knows about this…threat?”
    “Enough to keep you safe. Don’t trust anyone else.”
    “Connor, we’ve never kept secrets from one another. Talk to me. Let me help you.”
    Connor’s knuckles whitened on the rim of the table. His voice dropped to a mere breath and he leaned even closer. “Reach your right hand toward me, palm up.”
    “We’re not allowed contact,” she murmured back.
    “I need you to do it.”
    Her brother was the one person she’d always trusted without reservation. Loved without limits. Holding his gaze, she surreptitiously slid her hand across the forbidden space between