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“Because I couldn’t remove the scrolls and books I found, and they have answers we need. Plus, Samara can read Unseelie faster than I can, and I’m pretty sure one of the books talks about the Seelie royal line.” She frowned. “Although why the Unseelie were writing about that, I’m not sure . . .”

Everyone stared at the lycan. I sighed and glanced at Samara, who was now sitting on the arm of the settee, leaning against Roth, the two of them smirking. They were used to Rynn’s roundabout way of explaining things.

I caught Samara’s eye and arched an eyebrow. She arched one back but took my hint to steer her friend back onto the trail. “Rynn,” she said evenly, “why don’t you start at the beginning? Like how you got from the far northern part of the Velesian realm to the badlands?”

“Oh . . . right.” Rynn nodded. “I found another one of those hidden rooms, like the one under Lake Malov, but underneath the Alpha House. I . . . uhh . . . might have locked the Alphas out and then stepped through a mirror that took me to another room, which turned out to be underneath that shitty, abandoned temple.”

“Feels like there’s a lot to unpack there,” Draven said in a completely even tone.

I chuckled while Alaric rubbed his forehead and Vail redirected his glare from Cali to Rynn.

Aniela pondered all of us from where she was settled between Petra and Brennan, her lips quirked up in a barely there smirk.

“Fae mirrors,” Roth said slowly and then looked up at Samara. “We’ve read about them, but it seemed like they were for communication—not travel.”

“Maybe the Fae here adapted them?” Samara mused.

“I mean, it makes sense, right? Before they turned themselves into wraiths, they would have had to travel through this fucked-up land of monsters too. That’d be a lot easier if they could just step through a mirror in one location and end up on the other side of the continent. ”

“I’m sorry,” Brennan cut in, leaning forward slightly. “Did you just say that the wraiths used to be Fae?”

Samara nodded.

Brennan looked around Aniela and pointed aggressively at Petra. “I fucking told you they were Fae! The Unseelie fucked up their shadow magic somehow.”

“Actually, it was the Seelie,” Samara corrected. “We don’t exactly know what happened to the Unseelie, but the Seelie did something to steal their shadows. I’m guessing the Unseelie are dead.”

“Can we focus please?” Vail growled.

For the first time since entering the room, Rynn looked at Vail, and a golden sheen rolled over her eyes before she went predatorily still. Samara cleared her throat, and after a second, Rynn relaxed. Slightly.

Something told me it wouldn’t be a humiliating but ultimately harmless prank she played on him in the future.

Vail had knocked her out and stolen the crown off her unconscious form before absconding with it.

Sure, he might have stashed her body behind a magical ward to keep her safe until she’d woken up, but that didn’t change the fact that he’d fucking attacked her.

For a second, there was regret in Vail’s dark grey eyes before he hid it.

“You found another hidden room beneath the Alpha Pack stronghold. Somehow—and I don’t give a fuck about the specifics or the historical implications”—he gave Samara and Roth a hard look before focusing on Rynn again—“you used the mirror to travel across Lunaria and ended up in a different hidden room, this time beneath the abandoned temple, yes?”

“Correct.” Rynn started pacing, stepping around Cali. “It’s, like, triple the size of the one beneath the lake. I think maybe it was some kind of archive?—”

“Stop,” Vail cut her off again, earning himself a warning growl from Cali, which he ignored.

Brave man. Stupid too. Pissing off Cali seemed like a good way to get your dick cut off.

“Why did you leave the room, Rynn? What sent you into the badlands instead of back through that mirror and to the safety of the Alpha Pack?”

“Cade can fucking bite me,” Rynn snarled. “And Bastian can get fucked! Ryker too!”

Guess that answered the question about if things were getting better between her and the Alpha Pack.

I bit back my sigh but didn’t miss the look between Cali and Samara.

Our priority might be dealing with Carmilla and figuring out what Erendriel and the wraiths were up to, but I had no doubt those two were also plotting how to get Rynn out of her messy situation.

I didn’t know the Alpha Pack that well. Most of my interactions had been with Bastian.

The panther shifter served as an ambassador of sorts and used to make regular trips to the Moroi realm.

He was difficult to read because, like me, he was exceptional at slipping into different masks based on the situation.

Sometimes, he was self-deprecating and charming.

Other times, he had an edge like he was just itching to spill some blood.

Then there was Cade, the de facto leader of the Alpha Pack. He was calm and steady . . . until he wasn’t. I’d once seen him tear the head off a rabid howler like it had been nothing.

Ryker was the youngest and a bit of a hothead.

Technically, there was a fourth member of the Pack, but I’d never met them.

Rynn paused her pacing and chewed on her bottom lip. I supposed there were five members of the Alpha Pack now. Even if the fifth one might never go back if her friends had anything to say about it.

“What did you find, Rynn?” I prodded gently. Something had sent her running through the badlands on her own. Rynn could be rash, but even she wouldn’t have done that unless she were desperate.

Rynn went back to chewing her lip and looked at Samara. My dark-haired beauty held her gaze for a long moment before giving a deep nod, like she was giving Rynn permission.

“I’m guessing some of you already know this, but Samara’s grandfather was the Seelie King—the true Seelie King.

Erendriel is just a pretender.” Aniela and her Marshals gave Samara appraising looks but didn’t say anything.

“I didn’t get through all the documents, but I saw enough to know that I needed to warn you.

” Rynn smiled at her friend. “You’ve always acted like a queen.

I should have known you actually were one. ”

“Wasn’t acting like a queen when she pulled my hair and kicked me in the crotch,” Aniela muttered.

“Anything I do is queenly,” Samara replied with a sniff.

I. Adore. Her.

“The wraiths can’t get into those hidden rooms,” Rynn continued.

“Trust me when I say they tried once they realized I was in there, but however they managed to break through the blood wards around our outposts clearly doesn’t work for these rooms. More importantly, there are things in the room that I couldn’t open either—I think only the Seelie royal line can. ”

“That’s why Erendriel is suddenly interested in you.

” Draven gave Samara a worried look. “Somehow, he learned the truth of your lineage, and now he’s trying to sway you to his side.

He’ll start with pretty words, and when that doesn’t work, he’ll use other methods.

Find your weaknesses and exploit them until you have no choice but to bend to his will.

He can use his magic to—” He flinched and abruptly stopped talking.

Apparently, he’d been about to say something that was still protected by whatever spell Erendriel had put on him. His face contorted in frustration and fury at not being able to share whatever knowledge was locked away in his mind.

I turned and cupped his face in my hands. “You know we’re going to kill him, right? For everything he’s done to you?”

Draven’s deep blue eyes warmed. “You say the sweetest things, love.”

“Can we please get back to the room full of secret treasures and away from this gross display of affection?” Roth complained.

Samara snickered and leaned down to kiss their cheek, causing the taciturn librarian to blush slightly.

I opened my mouth to tease them, but Alaric gave me a stern look to knock it off, so I pouted and settled back against Draven instead.

“So you left to find Samara,” Vail guessed, “but the wraiths found you first?”

“I bolted as soon as the sun rose, causing the wraiths to scatter.” Color stained Rynn’s cheeks, and she muttered something.

“What was that?” Cali crossed her arms and stared at her best friend.

“I fell into a spider’s trap!” A sheen rolled over Rynn’s eyes again. “It was an old one, and some debris had fallen over it, so I missed the signs.”

Cali threw her hands up. “This is exactly why I’ve told the two of you to stay out of the badlands if I’m not there! You should have gone back to the Alpha Pack and sent us a message. You could have gotten yourself killed, Rynn!”

I groaned as Rynn closed the distance between them.

“I’m not some helpless pup!” Rynn growled and stopped a hair’s breadth from Cali so they were practically touching, aggression rolling off both of them.

Samara was the short one of the trio, while Rynn and Cali were almost the same height, but Cali had at least thirty pounds of muscle on her leaner friend.

Not that Rynn cared. If she were in her wolf form, her hackles would have been raised.

As it was, her words had more of a gravelly tone to them than usual.

“Samara needed to be warned, and I didn’t know where you were. ”

She tried to shove the Furie, but Cali didn’t move an inch, which only pissed Rynn off more.

“We protect each other, Cali. It’s what we do.” Rynn pointed a finger in Cali’s face. “So don’t you fucking dare tell me to retreat with my tail between my legs while you two fight!”

“I’m sure that’s not what she meant—” Samara started.

“Oh, shut it!” Rynn and Cali both snarled at her.

Roth and Alaric snickered as Samara sulked and crossed her arms. It was really strange how well the two of them were getting on, but I guess it made sense, since they were both grumpy assholes most of the time.

I was glad Alaric’s friend circle was expanding.

He’d always be my best friend; I wasn’t the least bit threatened there.

Mostly because I knew Roth’s ability to socialize had limits, and they were more than happy to disappear for days at a time in the library.

“Are they always like this?” Petra asked Vail.

“Unfortunately.” He sighed.

Suddenly, his hand snapped up, and he caught a dagger an inch before it sunk into his face.

“Seriously?” He glared at Samara, who just turned the hand that had thrown the dagger palm up.

“I’ll take that back now.”

Vail slid the dagger into an empty sheath on his belt and fastened a leather strap over it so Samara couldn’t summon it back. “Finders keepers. You’re welcome to try to take it.”

I didn’t miss the flash of desire cross Samara’s face before it was replaced with a rage that rivaled a Furie’s.

Yeah . . . I wasn’t going to touch that mess of a situation.

The four of us—Draven, Roth, Alaric, and I—had already agreed to let Samara figure out what to do with Vail, but if he gave even the slightest sign of betraying or hurting her again, we’d kill him.

Or tell Cali, and she’d kill him for us. Dead was dead after all, and my face was too pretty to get smashed in by Vail’s meaty fists.

Draven seemed confident that Vail wouldn’t betray Samara again.

I’d been doubtful . . . until his rangers had been killed.

Now, there was no chance of him going back to Carmilla.

That didn’t mean he couldn’t still hurt Samara though.

She was in love with him—had been for a long time—but I knew her. She was a spiteful thing.

I just didn’t want her to hurt herself more in an attempt to punish Vail.

“Why do you think we should go back to the room, Rynn?” Samara asked, dragging her gaze away from Vail. “It’s not that I don’t want to see it, but maybe it shouldn’t be a priority? Unless you think there is something in there that can nullify the crown’s magic?”

“I’m not sure,” Rynn said slowly, her argument with Cali already forgotten.

“But I think there is a better chance of finding it there than anywhere else—except maybe the room under Lake Malov. I don’t know how to or even if we can change where the mirrors lead, and some of us definitely don’t want to cross into Velesian territory right now. ” She cut a glance towards Vail.

He winced before killing the motion. Vail had always been on friendly terms with the Velesians, but I suspected that had come to an end.

Even if Rynn hadn’t told them what Vail had done, they had likely been the ones to find her, and they would have smelled Vail on her.

Between that and the missing crown, it would have been obvious what had happened.

Vail’s days of running with any of the Velesian Packs were over.

“Three days,” Draven murmured before looking at Rynn. “You’re positive the wraiths couldn’t get into the room?”

She nodded. “Absolutely. It sounded like they tore down half the bloody temple in a fit of rage over not being able to get to me.”

I caught on to what Draven was driving at and locked stares with Samara. “It doesn’t matter if that room has the answers we need for the crown or not. Serill told you he’d be back in three days—that’s tonight. We need to get you behind a ward that even the wraiths can’t break through.”

Because I sure as hell wasn’t going to lose her again.