The Traitor A. Lombardo (best thriller novels to read TXT) 📖

Snowflakes and bitter cold ripped through the trees, and Kai felt Rayna shiver by his side. They both knew starting a fire was out of the question, but they needed to find a warm place to spend the night.

She rubbed her arms. “I am usually not this cold, even in the mountains. Maybe I can build something off the ground with a surround to block the wind and keep the snow off our backs. We can search the forest from the treetops.”

“Good idea, I could transform back into my snow wolf. I can still use my gleaning ability, and you would have two cloaks and my fur to help keep you warm. Can you make something large enough for me?”

Her hesitation left a gaping silence between them. She wormed through the woods, looking up and down several tall oaks and pines. “I suppose, but I will need to ensure we have a strong tree to support you. We should get at least fifteen feet off the ground to go unnoticed, should anyone pass by. Here, this spot already has a few vines.”

She pulled seeds from her pouch, knelt to clear the snow, and dug a hole for her plants to grow. Three different vines sprang from the ground, twisting and snaking up the largest of two oaks: one thick and woody with brown and orange leaves, another mossy and dark, and the last covered in large evergreen pine-scented narrow leaves. Up and up her foliage grew, taking her with it. “Is your snow wolf afraid of heights?” She shouted down from the center of three oak trees within the pod she created.

He took hold of the thicker vine and climbed after her. “Very funny.” When he reached the top, she stood and worked the walls of the nest. Her latticework mimicked the pods back in Katori, minus the stonework used to hold a fireplace and distribute heat around the home.

“This is much larger than I thought from the ground. I hope it is strong enough for me once I transform.”

She huffed a puff of white into the cold air. “You doubt my work?”

“Well, no, I just . . .” He waved his hands around as if to show the size of the snow wolf in relation to the space.

The curl in the corner of her lips stopped his protest as she continued to soften the hardscape with the mossy vines and encourage the thick garland to conceal their location. “There, that should do the trick. No time like the present. Either it will hold, or we will find ourselves on the forest floor.” She motioned to the center of the space and stepped back to give him room.

Kai handed her his cloak for extra warmth. “Here goes nothing.” He took hold of his crystal and started to transform, slow and easy in case he needed to change back. The tips of his ears reached the arch above his head, and the vines heaved. He crouched down as low as he could as his transformation completed.

“You are bigger than I thought!” She laughed, stroking his mane as he laid down.

The platform was just large enough that his paws did not hang over the edge. “I will search this side of the forest,” Rayna pointed, and then she started sealing shut the opening with the thick garland vines from top to bottom. “You can search the other side.”

The moonlight disappeared behind the vines she created to seal the opening. Kai shook his head and grunted, hoping she would understand his meaning as he began to search the surrounding landscape. He gleaned over and around felled trees, into a fox den, and through an abandoned shack, but no signs of anyone trying to hide a body. Deeper still, he searched under a pile of leaves and down a frozen creek bed.

After hours of searching, Rayna yawned and leaned into him, resting her back against his fur-covered shoulder. He liked the weight. I am so sorry I brought you into this, he whispered to her with his mind.

“I love you too,” she whispered, pulling his extra cloak around her knees. “I have not found anything, have you?”

He could only shake his beastly head no.

The vines parted slightly at the touch of Rayna’s fingertips. “You are terribly quiet,” she said, nudging him. “Mind sharing your thoughts, or are you staying like that all night?” She sat up, and he could almost feel her looking at him.

This would be his last night of freedom—and his last night with her. The thought sent a shudder down his spine. He could see things so clearly now, but it was too late to go back and undo his choices. Kai transformed and sat cross-legged next to her, staring out the tiny opening. “My mind is a jumble—everything from you to my mother and both of my fathers. Even my destiny haunts me. Not sure I can organize my thoughts.”

“I do not mind listening.” She turned to him and him to her. “Sometimes, saying your thoughts out loud helps make sense of them.”

He knew she was right; he had kept everything boxed away in his mind for far too long.

“I lied to you, and myself, these past few months. I was not working with Basil every day. And I was not imitating my mother’s magical journey to help her recover. Truth be told, I mimicked my mother’s experiences to understand why she did not choose to come back to me. Did she love being a dragon more than being with me?”

A lump formed in Kai’s throat, but he kept going. “Every choice she ever made was usually for the benefit of someone else. Instead of running home to Katori after her escape, she started a new life in Diu with Iver. Maybe she thought returning to Katori would bring Keegan back into her life. Concealing my