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Chapter Seventeen

Samara

“How are we going to handle this?” Alaric’s sharp green eyes looked down at the castle from the ridge we’d stopped to rest on. The storm had finally broken, and the rays of the early morning sun were starting to peek through the clouds.

I studied House Salvatore from where I stood next to Alaric.

It was a risk to stop here; they were the closest geographically to the Sovereign House.

To my knowledge, Carmilla hadn’t come here since acquiring the crown, and I hadn’t heard of Dominique, the Head of the House, nor her Heir, Aniela, visiting Carmilla. Vail hadn’t either.

It seemed odd that Carmilla wouldn’t have immediately used the crown to secure her control of House Salvatore, given how close they were.

She didn’t need to do anything about House Harker since everyone there would be loyal to her—at least until they learned the truth of what was going on. Some might still follow Carmilla, but I knew many wouldn’t be keen on someone manipulating the minds of other Moroi.

For now, House Harker would be low on her list. She already had plans in place for House Laurent and House Corvinus, and I didn’t think she’d bother trying to use the crown against House Devereux.

If I were her, I’d gain control of the other Houses and then wipe out Devereux—they were too powerful to be left standing.

That left House Salvatore and House Tepes as the wild cards.

Movement to my left drew my attention. Nyx strode towards the ledge, and my heart thudded, as it seemed like they were just going to keep walking. Before I could move, Cali was there. She didn’t touch Nyx, but they slowed at her presence, and both came to a stop an inch from the edge.

Nyx hadn’t spoken for hours. Not since their outburst at Vail, who had also been quiet after that.

I fought the urge to turn and look at the two freshly dug graves behind us.

There wasn’t time to bring Adrienne and Emil back to House Harker, so we’d chosen this spot for their final resting place.

Draven had used his magic to dig deep into the earth, to ensure no beasts would disturb them, and then coaxed some roots to stretch over the tops of their graves for good measure.

Absently, I rubbed my chest, just over my heart. I grieved the loss of the rangers, but it was nothing to what Vail was feeling right now. His grief was like a poker that had been thrust into flames. I could feel the rage beginning to burn, growing hotter by the hour.

We needed to determine if House Salvatore was compromised and warn them of Carmilla if they weren’t, but Nyx couldn’t set foot inside that castle.

We knew they weren’t Strigoi—not completely anyway—but they’d slipped more than once on the way here and tried to attack Vail.

If the Salvatore rangers saw Nyx lose it like that, they’d kill the ranger.

Strigoi were always put down.

I didn’t know what was going on with Nyx, but I wasn’t going to give up on them.

“Celestina,” I addressed Roth’s mother, who was standing not far behind Nyx and Cali. “Would you and your family be willing to escort Nyx back to your House? And keep them . . . comfortable?” Don’t kill them or allow them to harm others.

“Of course.” She hesitated before looking at Roth as they moved to stand next to me.

“I’m staying with Samara,” Roth declared.

“Maybe it would be better if you—” I started, only to have my words cut off as one of Roth’s ropes wound around my lower face, covering my mouth.

“Babe, it’s in your best interest that you don’t finish that sentence.” Roth glared at me. “I’m staying.”

I nodded in reluctant acceptance. Part of me was happy they were staying, but another part wished Roth were going back to House Devereux, where they’d be surrounded by thick walls and quite possibly the most homicidal bloodline of all the Moroi.

“Take care of our favorite sib,” Desmond rumbled as he gave me and then Kieran, Alaric, and Draven a pointed look.

“There will be consequences if you don’t,” Taivan added. Then the two enormous Moroi swept Roth up into a hug, which resulted in some very creative curses being thrown about before they moved off to wait by the tree line.

Roth shuffled on their feet as Celestina and Severen approached.

“I know we messed up when you were younger,” Celestina said softly. “We never meant to make you feel unwanted or like you were less than because you’re not interested in the warrior path.”

“We thought giving you space was what you wanted.” Severen reached out slowly, giving Roth time to pull back, but when they didn’t, he laid a hand on their shoulder.

“Then we let ourselves get caught up in training your brothers and the rest of the rangers. You seemed happy enough to spend time with Thessalia that we just . . . left you alone.”

“But we have always loved you, child.” Celestina rested her hand on Roth’s other shoulder. “And we’re so fucking proud of who you grew up to be.”

Roth’s eyes got a little glossy. “I love you.” Then they glanced at their brothers. “And those big idiots too.”

Celestina and Severen smiled at their youngest child, and despite everything that had happened last night and the grief I was feeling, my heart felt a little lighter at seeing Roth and their family repairing what had been broken.

I stepped around Roth to give them another minute with their parents and walked over to Nyx. They were looking over the ridge and didn’t acknowledge my presence. Cali and I traded a look.

“Nyx,” I said carefully. “You’re going to go with the Devereuxes, okay?”

The ranger turned their head to look at me. There was something unnerving about the way they moved now. The Nyx I’d always known had moved with this lightness, like despite all the fucked-up shit in the world, they’d never let it truly get to them. Nyx had been quick to smile and easy to befriend.

Now, the easygoing ranger was nowhere in sight. Even in control of their bloodlust, Nyx moved like a Strigoi. Cold and predatory.

“I’m one of the monsters now.” A chilling, dark laugh spilt from their lips. “Shouldn’t you just kill me?”

Something deep inside me cracked at the hollowness of their words.

Fuck. This.

My hand snapped out, and I wrapped it around Nyx’s neck, letting my nails shift to claws that tore into their skin. They didn’t even try to stop me. Just looked at me with dark eyes that welcomed death.

I let my own bloodlust rise until I knew my eyes were just as dark as theirs.

“We all have monsters crawling beneath our skin—yours is just no longer hidden.” My fingers tightened, and more blood dripped down their neck. “You are my friend , Nyx, and I won’t let you go.”

A small amount of light blue bled back into their eyes like glowing rivers in the dark. “Promise me you’ll make her pay.”

“I promise,” I swore and released my hold on their neck. “Stay alive, Nyx.”

They held my gaze for a long moment before giving me a deep nod. Then those new strange eyes of theirs flicked to Cali, who just arched a brow at them.

“A little insanity is good for the soul, my pretty fanged friend.”

Nyx’s eyes darkened in a way that I didn’t think was remotely connected to their new not-quite-Strigoi status, and a familiar, lazy smile stretched across their lips.

For a second, it was almost like I was looking at my old friend before Carmilla had broken them.

“See you around, my beautiful winged friend.”

Cali blinked as Nyx moved like a shadow, sliding between us and striding towards where Roth’s family was waiting for them. Nyx nodded in farewell towards Alaric, Kieran, and Draven but didn’t spare Vail a single glance.

I rejoined the others, Vail moving a little closer, and Cali followed me.

“Alright, let’s go see what we’re dealing with.

Carmilla might be licking her wounds after Cali’s dramatic appearance”—the Furie snorted at my words—“but I have no doubt she’s already plotting.

We shouldn’t plan on staying here too long one way or another. ”

If House Salvatore was compromised, we might have to fight our way out, and even if they weren’t, I didn’t want to stay so close to the Sovereign House.

“Long enough to get cleaned up though, right?” Kieran frowned down at his tunic, which had once been a light cream but was now stained with blood, mud, and gods knew what else. “And maybe something to eat?”

“I’d also like to snag a whip from their armory,” Draven chimed in. “I’m feeling a little inadequate without it, especially since Roth has those fancy ropes and you have your clever knives.” He looked jealously at the daggers strapped to my thighs that I’d imbued with blood magic.

“Sure,” I drawled. “Anyone else have any requests?”

“I want to check out their library.” Roth’s eyes lit up. “Might need help stealing some shit.”

We all chuckled. It felt weird to be joking around, given . . . everything, but I thought we all recognized that we needed some sort of lightness right now. Only Vail didn’t join in.

“I’ll wait outside the walls. My presence will set them on edge.

If I don’t receive an all-clear signal from you within one hour, then I’m walking through that front gate.

They’re welcome to try to stop me.” Cali wrapped her dark wings around her shoulders like a cloak, pulled the hood of her cowl up, hiding her distinctive red hair, and started down the path that led to House Salvatore.

Unease rippled through me. Cali had a massive overprotective streak when it came to me and Rynn. She wasn’t wrong that her being with us would draw attention, but I was an Heir . Only Aniela or Dominique could deny our entry, and they would have to come out and do it in person.

I watched my friend disappear down the trail. Something told me Cali didn’t want to go in there because she didn’t trust her control. It felt like someone had wrapped a cold hand around my heart and squeezed. For as long as I could remember, people had been terrified of Cali.