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Some of the amusement drained from Draven’s face, then he squeezed my fingers, being careful to avoid the bars. “I felt Kier’s blood.” His eyes didn’t leave our fingers, and a tension rolled through him.

“No way you would be able to smell the blood through that wall.” Desmond prodded some of the wreckage strewn about on the floor. “Too thick. Not even a Velesian would have been able to smell through it.”

“Felt,” Severen corrected his son. “He said felt , not smelled.”

“I knew it!” Roth whispered loudly.

“Care to share with the rest of us?” Alaric said dryly. “Or was this just a gloating moment?”

Roth narrowed their eyes. “Don’t be pissy because you’ve contributed nothing on this rescue. I’m sure Samara will still think you’re pretty.”

“What is going on?” I cut in, turning enough so I could glare at everyone in the room before looking at Draven again, who was avoiding my eyes. “How did you do that, Drav?”

Finally, he met my gaze, a half-hearted smile on his lips. “You know only you and Sam call me that, right?”

“Yeah,” I told him softly. “I know.”

Draven’s eyes didn’t leave mine as he gripped the bars with both hands for several seconds before pulling them away. His lightly tanned skin turned an angry red. It faded quickly, but I saw it.

I stared at his palms for a long moment. “Seelie Fae?” The question came out a little disconnected as my mind whirled. I didn’t even know if that was possible because Draven was definitely Moroi . . . at least part Moroi anyway.

“Yes.” Draven rubbed his hands against the sides of his pants like he wanted to wipe off the taint of the iron. “Half, courtesy of my asshole father.” He opened his mouth to say more but then clamped it shut.

My sword suddenly felt very heavy in my hand. We’d told the Devereux clan the truth about the wraiths before coming here. That they were really the Seelie Fae. Roth hadn’t wanted to hide that knowledge from their family, and we’d all agreed that they’d deserved to know the truth.

How would they react to knowing that some of the blood running through Draven’s veins was the same as the shadow monsters’ who had killed so many of their House? I wouldn’t just let them hurt him, but I also knew I wouldn’t win against them. And Alaric was foolish enough to stand by my side.

Had we come all this way to die?

“Well, your earth magic has already come in handy tonight,” Severen said. “I’m sure it will again before this night is over.”

Shock washed over me. “That’s it?” I gaped at Roth’s father and then at the rest of their family, who seemed to be rolling with this.

Celestina shrugged. “He’s with Samara. Roth is with Samara. We’re basically in-laws at this point.”

“I’m kind of curious about how his earth magic can be used in a fight.” Taivan gave Draven an appraising look. “If the wraiths manage to turn themselves back to their former Seelie Fae forms, then they’ll have the same magic. Having someone to spar against will be really useful.”

“Always thinking with your bloody sword,” Roth grumbled.

“In more ways than one,” Taivan agreed.

A tentative smile formed on Draven’s lips. “I’ll spar with you as much as you like if you get me and Samara out of here.”

“Can you not use your magic to escape?” I studied the bars. They were a little thinner than my wrist, but when I tugged on them, there was zero give, and as Roth noted earlier, there was no door. How had they gotten him in there in the first place?

“No.” Draven shook his head. “Interestingly, the bars don’t block my magic—that’s why I was able to tear that wall down when your blood leached into the dirt—but I cannot use my magic on the bars themselves, and there are more hidden in the walls of the cell.”

“Must be because you’re part Moroi too,” Roth speculated. “Two forms of magic interfering with each other to create something new . . .” Their lips pursed together, and I could practically see their thoughts shifting. “Do you know where Samara is? Is she in a similar cell?”

“Three floors up,” Draven confirmed. “It’s only her presence here that keeps me from doing my best to tear down the entire building. I don’t have enough control over my magic to ensure her protection.”

“How do they open the cells?” I pushed, even as I looked around the room for a glyph or anything that would hint at how the magic worked.

“Blood.” Draven sighed. “Certain blood is keyed to open the cells. I don’t know everyone who has access, but Vail definitely does.”

“Rumor is that Vail has been following Carmilla around like a loyal puppy,” I said tightly. “Did he betray Samara?”

Draven cocked his head, causing his long, black-and-silver hair to shimmer in the dim lighting. “It’s complicated.”

“It’s a yes or no question,” Alaric growled, turquoise fractures forming in his seafoam green eyes.

“There is no black and white. There is no good and evil.” Draven gave Alaric a patronizing close-lipped smile. “Don’t be so boring.”

Alaric looked like he was on the verge of leaving Draven here to rot.

“Samara can summon Vail,” Draven added. His words only increased the tension in the room.

“Come again?” Severen frowned.

Draven opened his mouth—no doubt to say something lewd—but I cut him off. “How exactly can Samara do this?”

My princely lover gave me an annoyed look that clearly said spoilsport . “Just trust me on this. Samara can get Vail to come down here, and then we just have to convince him to let us out of these damn cells so we can all get the hells out of here.”

“Three floors up, you said?” Celestina was already moving towards the door.

“Yes.” Draven started to pace in his cell. “You shouldn’t run into any guards—they’re usually stationed at the very top entrance—but if you do, be quiet about how you deal with them."

“Not our first prison break, prince.” Celestina jerked the door open. Her husband and sons followed after her as she walked into the hall.

I looked at Roth. “Your family is incredible, and I adore them.”

“You’re welcome to have them,” they grumbled and started towards the door, but not before I caught the smirk on their face.

Alaric looked at me before narrowing his eyes coldly on Draven, and I was a little taken aback by his hostility. It felt personal, but I knew for a fact the two of them had rarely interacted before Draven had shown up at House Harker declaring he’d wanted to marry Samara.

Which . . . granted . . . could have been enough to piss off Alaric.

“Be right back,” I promised Draven.

“Go get our girl.” He cut a glance at Alaric before smirking at me. “If you have to sacrifice someone, I nominate him.”

“Hilarious.” Alaric started for the door. “It’ll be such a shame if we have to leave you behind. Truly. I’ll cry myself to sleep every night—after I make Samara scream my name for hours.”

Draven chuckled. “Look at that. He does have a personality.”

I smiled one last time at Draven before racing up the stairs to the third floor, where the others had already found Samara. Roth had slipped their slender arm through the bars to cup her face.

Dark purple eyes latched on to me. “Kier,” she breathed out before taking in Alaric too. Then she frowned. “It was foolish of all of you to come and put yourselves at risk like this. You shouldn’t have—oww!” she yelped and glared at Roth. “Did you seriously just pull my hair?”

“Don’t say asinine things, and you won’t get punished.”

“It wasn’t asinine ,” Samara muttered while rubbing a spot on her head.

“Draven said you could summon Vail,” I said quickly. “We have a way out, but only if we get you both out of these cells.”

“Quick would be good,” Taivan added. “The prince said the guards are only stationed at the entrance, but I’m assuming they make regular rounds?”

“Yes,” Samara answered, a crease forming between her brows as she concentrated. “Next one shouldn’t be for almost an hour.” She placed a hand over her chest, right over her heart. “I’ve never actually done this before, so I’m not sure if it will work.”

I had no idea what this was, but I kept my mouth shut while Samara attempted to contact Vail.

What had happened between them? I wasn’t friends with Vail by any means, but I’d always respected him.

His relationship with Samara was complicated, but recently, it’d seemed like it’d been getting better.

Then she and Draven had been imprisoned—and he hadn’t.

That reeked of betrayal, and yet Draven and Samara both seemed willing to call on him to help break them out of here. Clearly, we had a lot of catching up to do once we were somewhere safe.

Samara let out a sharp exhale.

“What?” I crowded closer to the bars. “Are you okay?”

“Pretty sure that asshole just gave me the middle finger through our connection.” She frowned. “I wonder if there’s a way I can slap him.”

“Babe,” Roth drawled. “Did you hit your head?”

Samara rolled her eyes. “Long story. Short version is that I have some type of empathic connection to Vail—and Draven. We can’t hear each other’s thoughts or anything, but we’re . . . aware of the other.”

I looked away from Samara and tried to ignore the spike of jealousy that hit. She’d been mine first. Why didn’t we have a connection like that?

Warm fingers closed around mine where they were wrapped around the bars, and I raised my gaze to find Samara staring at me like I was the only person who existed.

“I hate that you’re here, putting yourself in danger,” she said softly. “But I’m so fucking happy to see you, Kier.”

“Missed you, Sam.” I rubbed my thumb across her fingers. “Sorry we didn’t get here sooner.”

“I never had any doubt that you’d come.” Her bottom lip stuck out in a pout. “I was hoping to get myself out of here sooner. Kind of embarrassing that I needed to be rescued, honestly.”

“It really is.” I nodded, giving her a serious look.

Her pout turned into a wicked grin that had my heart skipping a beat.

She opened her mouth to respond when we heard footsteps somewhere above us in the winding stairwell.

There was nowhere for us to hide, so everyone except me moved to stand against the wall where the door was.

I remained next to Samara so I could draw the attention of whoever entered, and Taivan nodded at me from where he stood closest to the door, his sword ready to skewer anyone who wasn’t Vail.

A second later, the door swung open, but the Marshal of House Harker wisely did not charge blindly into the room. Instead, he waited in the hallway with a dagger in each hand. He didn’t relax when he saw me; if anything, he looked more pissed off.

“You idiots chose the worst time to attempt a rescue.” His silver gaze slid to the right as if he could see through the wall. “Lower your fucking sword, Taivan, or I’ll shove it up your ass.”

The Devereux Heir snorted but lowered his sword, although he didn’t sheath it. “Well, he’s as cheerful as ever.”

Vail stormed into the room then. “Carmilla recalled all the Sovereign House rangers, and most arrived this morning. There are five hundred rangers in the keep right now, and Lucian knows you’re up to something.”