Page 38

“One day, Erendriel brought me and Kalias to a remote Moroi outpost with a handful of his wraiths.” Vail’s silver eyes suddenly focused on me again.

“He passed me a knife, told me several Seelie words, and then pointed to the blood ward protecting the outpost. I hesitated. Despite my naivety, I knew wraiths had killed Moroi before. I’d convinced myself that it hadn’t been on the orders of Erendriel .

. . but it was the dead of night and the Moroi were sleeping peacefully in their homes. ”

“The attacks on the outposts didn’t start until recently. You’re talking about almost a decade ago,” Vail commented.

“It was a test,” I said tightly. “One that I failed.”

The branches above us creaked, and I felt the forest reach out to me, trying to heal the old wound. I flinched when one of the branches cracked.

“There is so much I don’t understand about the Fae, even after being around Erendriel and his followers for so long, but one thing I do know—they plan everything ten steps ahead.

” I moved towards a tree and laid my palm against it.

The branches settled, but the hollowness inside my chest remained.

“He needed to know that when the time came, he could get across the wards, and he didn’t want to rely on Velika. She was a tool to be used—not trusted.”

“What did you do?” The accusing expression on Vail’s face told me what he suspected my answer would be.

That I’d betrayed our people. A dark part of me wished I could tell him that’s what I’d done, because maybe if I’d made a different decision that night, I would have saved my brother.

I sure as shit hadn’t saved those outposts—only delayed the inevitable.

Because those were the outposts Erendriel had slaughtered years later.

Crack .

“I refused,” I rasped. “I loved Erendriel. He has this . . . presence about him, and he was my father. I thought he must have valid reasons for anything he did, even if I found some of them suspicious. He had my loyalty—beyond a shadow of a doubt.” The muscles along my jawline tensed. “But I did not have his.”

“He threatened Kalias if you didn’t do it?” Vail guessed.

A humorless laugh escaped me. “That’s the other thing about the Fae.

They prefer punishment over ultimatums. He snapped Kalias’ neck in front of me and then threw his body to the ground.

The wraiths he’d brought with him ripped Kalias to shreds.

There was nothing left of my brother to bury. It was like he never existed.”

A hollow ache settled in the pit of my stomach. I so rarely let myself dwell on Kalias and his fate. But while the others were pissed off at Vail for betraying Samara—and rightfully so—I understood why he’d done it.

Sometimes it’s hard to see the monster beneath the mask of someone you love.

Vail looked at me for a long moment with an unreadable expression. “What happened next?”

“Erendriel and his wraiths left me there. The Moroi who lived in the outpost found me crying in the morning. I was returned to my mother and became a tool for her and Erendriel to use when they needed. Erendriel didn’t need me to cast the spell to get past the wards.

He only needed to slice me open and hold my bleeding body over them while reciting the spell.

The night he brought me and Kalias to that outpost had been a test. Not to see if the spell worked, but to see if I would do as commanded. ”

“Why tell me this?” Vail’s brows furrowed. “I don’t understand you, prince.”

“Few do. Samara is one of them, and she loves you despite herself.” I shrugged.

“If you attempt to betray her again, I will carve you apart and scatter your body across the earth.” Roots rose from the ground and snapped at Vail’s feet, causing him to leap back.

“It will be like you never existed. This is a warning to better choose who you give your loyalty to.”

He glared at me. “Carmilla isn’t the same as Erendriel. She thinks she’s doing what she has to for all of us. I just need to get her to see reaso?—”

“Believe me when I say that Carmilla knows exactly what she is doing. Or have you forgotten about the families—with children—still locked in the dungeons of the Sovereign House?” I cut him off.

“Samara has already come to harm once because of your inability to see who Carmilla truly is. I know you love her. Do not fuck up again.”

His mulish expression morphed into one of uncertainty. “She’ll never forgive me,” he murmured. “I’ve tried to explain, but she?—”

“Have you tried saying the words, ‘I’m sorry?’ That’s usually a good starting point.”

The tug on my chest became more insistent, and I frowned before looking in the direction it was pulling me. Then I exhaled sharply when the tug became a panicked yank and heard Vail do the same.

We looked at each other, then took off at a dead run.

Vail kept pace with me as we raced through the woods towards Samara. The frantic pulling had dimmed, and emotions slid through me that weren’t my own. One of them was so strong, it almost took me to my knees.

Grief.

It was still hard to decipher things from the bond, but I was fairly certain Samara was at least physically alright. It wasn’t bodily pain I was feeling from her—only emotional.

Something very bad had happened while I’d been fetching Vail.

I had no gods to pray to. Instead, I begged the moon that Kieran wasn’t the reason Samara was feeling such despair.

If my love had suffered because Vail was too fucking stubborn to face what he’d done .

. . the Marshal wouldn’t have to worry about his conflicting loyalties or emotions anymore.

Despite how much I saw myself reflected in Vail’s struggles, I’d fucking kill him if anything had happened to Kieran.

The storm was getting worse, and the rain was coming down in sheets now as thunder roared overhead.

The thick forest underbrush was getting soggy, and it made running tiring, but on the plus side, most of the beasts that prowled the night had clearly decided to hunker down at this point and wait it out.

Vail’s eyes were almost a solid silver—he’d allowed his bloodlust to rise to give him that extra boost of speed. I’d done the same. We were closing in on Samara and the group now, but they’d changed direction slightly. Still heading south but angling west towards House Salvatore.

It was risky to go there to seek shelter—if that’s what Samara and the others intended.

Dominique was a bit of a wild card. If I were Carmilla, she would have been one of the first Houses I’d use the crown on and force their subservience.

Samara was clever, and she knew her aunt better than I did; this must have occurred to her as well, which meant something bad enough had happened to make it worth the risk.

I ran faster.

Almost there. Just a little farther.

The tree line broke, and a flash of lighting revealed a small group of people on the main road to House Salvatore.

“Samara! Kieran!” I called out as I sprinted towards them, only to halt when a half-mad Furie with glowing golden eyes landed in front of me.

“Cali! No!” I heard Samara scream.

The fact that neither I nor Vail drew our weapons was probably the only reason Cali didn’t follow through on her attack.

Her bright eyes dimmed as she took us in and realized we weren’t a threat.

There was something still off about her though.

I’d met Cali a few times, and she’d always had this swaggering arrogance about her.

There was none of that to be seen right now, and it made my panic increase until I saw Kieran shove his way past the Furie, as if that wasn’t courting death.

“You’re okay,” I breathed out as Kieran wrapped his arms around me.

“‘Okay’ probably isn’t the right word, but I’m not seriously injured.”

I didn’t like the not seriously part of that statement, so I pulled back and quickly started scouring him for wounds, tugging at his clothing where it was ripped so I could see the bare skin beneath it.

“Drav,” he said softly, pulling my attention away from my manic inspection to his beautiful brown eyes threaded with gold. “I’m fine. I promise.”

I let out a shuddered breath and nodded. “I’m not leaving your or Samara’s sides until this is over. Not for any reason.”

Kieran kissed me and then breathed across my lips, “Good.”

“What happene?—”

My question was cut off by a rumbling growl and someone crashing into Vail. Two figures rolled across the rain-soaked ground, and I tugged Kieran out of their path as they traded blows.

“Nyx!” Vail grunted. “What the fuck are you doing?”

Nyx? The young ranger who was part of Vail’s ranger unit and was friends with Samara? Why were they attacking Vail?

Samara rushed forward but was cut off by Cali, who dove towards the two brawling Moroi and broke them apart. She grabbed Nyx by the throat and held them back when they tried to lunge for Vail again.

I started when I saw Nyx’s eyes—they were a solid midnight blue.

Even when I let my bloodlust rise, I still had faint traces of blue in my eyes. Vail’s silver eyes had small dark spots of grey, hinting at his tenuous hold on humanity. Samara was the only Moroi I’d ever encountered whose eyes turned the solid color of their bloodlust while remaining herself.

Nyx was clearly not themself; otherwise, they wouldn’t have been attacking Vail this way. Between that and their eye color . . . Nyx had turned Strigoi.

“Calm yourself!” Cali commanded and shook Nyx as if they weighed nothing.

I pushed Kieran behind me as I prepared to defend him, but he just threaded his fingers through mine and moved to stand by my side.

“It’s not what you think,” Samara said as she appeared at my other side, her expression forlorn.

Roth and their family appeared, quietly creating a half circle around Vail and Cali, who were still struggling to keep Nyx under control.

They all wore matching expressions of sadness.

Alaric stood on the edges of everyone gathered, frowning as if he didn’t know what to do.

It took me a moment to realize there were two people missing.

“Where are Adrienne and Emil?” It was hard to see more than ten feet in front of me with the rain, but my magic didn’t sense any other Moroi in the immediate vicinity.

For a few seconds, it felt like even the storm paused at my question.

Then Nyx let out an anguished scream and renewed their attack on Vail.

“Get him the fuck out of here,” Cali grunted as she tried to hold Nyx back. Even with the rain, the scent of Furie blood filled the air as Nyx’s claws tore through her skin.

Samara surged forward and grabbed Vail, pulling him away as Cali finally gave up and shot up into the sky with Nyx clamped against her, flying off into the raging storm.

“What’s going on?” I asked Kieran.

Mournful eyes looked at me, but before he could answer, Vail released a pained sound.

I looked over my shoulder just in time to see the Marshal of House Harker fall to his knees in front of two bloodied bodies. My magic only sensed the living, and I got nothing from the two broken forms in front of Vail.

Any hopes I’d had that Adrienne and Emil had gone scouting ahead were dashed. I hadn’t known them well, but they’d seemed like good people, and they’d come through for Samara when she’d needed them most. For that alone, I would have been loyal to them for the rest of their days.

But it seemed that their days were no more.

“Carmilla found us,” Kieran said quietly. “She used the crown on Emil and Nyx. Ordered them to kill Adrienne. She killed Emil . . . but she couldn’t bring herself to do the same to Nyx.”

My mind flashed back to Selia—the woman who had raised me when my own mother couldn’t be bothered.

Velika had ordered her to kill me one day, and in less than a second, the person who I knew for a fact had loved me had attempted to rip out my throat.

I knew the power of that fucking crown better than anyone.

But if Nyx had turned Strigoi . . . why hadn’t the others put them down?

I had my answer a moment later when Cali and Nyx joined us again. The latter still had dark blue eyes, but now there were the faintest lines of bright blue running through them.

They’d come back. Shock rolled through me. I’d never heard of a Strigoi regaining their humanity. There was still something not right about Nyx though. Their movements had a predatory quality to them that was unique to Strigoi. Something about it just set my instincts on edge.

But they made no move to attack anyone and seemed to be in control of themself. I still not so subtly maneuvered myself to stand between them and Kieran. Samara was far enough away that I was confident I could stop Nyx if they tried to attack her.

The young ranger only had eyes for Vail though, who finally seemed to sense their attention. He raised his head in a daze to look at the not-quite Strigoi.

“She did this,” Nyx hissed in a low, otherworldly voice. “The woman you so loyally serve. She ordered their deaths.” For a split second, the bright blue vanished from their eyes before appearing again. “I still taste Adrienne’s blood in my mouth. I don’t think I’ll ever stop remembering it.”

Kieran’s fingers tightened around mine, and we all watched as the strong and resilient Marshal of House Harker looked at his two fallen rangers . . . and broke.