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Chapter Twenty

Samara

It wasn’t that I’d forgotten about Serril’s promise to return, but on my list of problems to solve, I’d been placing the wraiths below Carmilla.

The wraiths had always plagued our lands.

Sure, now we knew more about them, but they were still an old threat in my mind—one that was escalating but seemed less urgent than my aunt.

The longer we let Carmilla go unchecked, the more she would use the crown on the Moroi Houses.

She was clearly targeting House Salvatore, Corvinus, and Laurent.

All she had to do was get the key players, and those Houses would be under her thumb.

Then she could concentrate on wiping House Devereux out and likely Tepes as well.

As much as I wanted to go back and secure House Harker, there were plenty of people there who loved Carmilla.

It was unlikely that they’d believe me if I told them she was now our enemy.

Even if they did accept that she had a crown capable of subverting someone’s will, they’d probably still defend Carmilla.

Claim she wouldn’t abuse her power. I wasn’t so naive to think there weren’t people within House Harker who wouldn’t mind if our House became synonymous with the Sovereign House—as the true rulers of the Moroi realm.

There was a very real possibility that Carmilla would have complete control over all the Moroi Houses within months.

After that, she’d likely turn her attention to the Velesians.

The Packs were in a worse state than the Moroi Houses; it was doubtful they’d be able to mount a unified defense.

Plus, Carmilla could use the crown on key players to further sow dissension in the ranks.

The Furies were the wild card, as they’d pulled back so much over the last few decades. Cali was the first and last Furie to ever attend Drudonia for more than a year, and she’d done that in defiance of the elders. Most of the Furies rarely left the badlands.

On the plus side, that hopefully meant they wouldn’t help Carmilla with her quest to rule over the Moroi and the Velesians.

If it came to it, I’d beg the Furie Elders for support, but I knew it was unlikely they’d agree to get involved.

It didn’t help that the Fury Elders didn’t like me because of my close friendship with Cali.

I knew they’d ordered Cali to stay away from me and Rynn after we’d left Drudonia, but she’d refused.

For all their power, the Elders couldn’t completely control Cali—and they held me at least partially to blame for that. I couldn’t depend on any other Furies coming to our aid, and as powerful as my friend was, she was still only one person.

Carmilla was no doubt plotting a way to deal with her.

In the back of my mind, I was trying to think of a way to convince Cali to take Rynn somewhere safe—out of reach of the Alpha Pack.

If it worked, they would both be out of harm’s reach.

I just needed to frame it in a way that didn’t sound like I was trying to keep Cali out of the fight for her own safety.

I was kidding myself of course. Both of them would tell me to go fuck myself if I suggested they hole up somewhere and hide.

All of this was exactly why I’d been shoving the wraith problem to the side. I’d already survived one chat with Serril. Surely I could do it again and buy us a little more time.

Draven felt otherwise, and to my annoyance, Kieran had backed him up without hesitation. So had Vail.

I’d suggested that we track down Ary and warn House Tepes instead, then retreat to House Devereux.

Only Roth and Alaric had agreed with me on that plan, but when Vail had just shrugged and said he was happy to tie me up and throw me onto the back of a horse to get me to the temple in the badlands, neither of them had argued.

I’d decided I’d be withholding sex from all of them. A minute later, I’d changed my mind because I wasn’t going to punish myself for their treachery. They’d just have to get down on their knees and get creative with their begging.

“Still mad?” Kieran tucked some of my hair behind my ear, and I glared up at him.

All of us were standing around in one of the side courtyards, waiting for the stablehands to fetch horses for us.

Fast ones. We had less than eight hours to make it to the temple before the sun set.

It was doable, but we’d have to push the horses hard.

I missed Zosa. My fiery mare would have raced across the badlands like she had wings, but she was safe at House Harker, where I would hopefully be reunited with her when this was over.

“What do you think? You’re supposed to always have my back, Kier.” I pursed my lips together and tried to ignore how gorgeous he looked because of the late morning sun hitting his golden blond hair just right.

Strong arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me back against a hard chest. A second later, Draven kissed the side of my neck, and I barely managed to swallow down the moan that tried to escape.

“Don’t be mad, love.” He hadn’t shaved in a couple of days, and the stubble scraped deliciously against my skin as he nuzzled my neck.

“I know Serril. He’s a tricky bastard. We need to make sure you’re out of his reach so we can plan accordingly. ”

“But House Devereux?—”

“Can’t keep you safe. Not from wraiths.” Kieran stepped closer until his chest was against mine and I was sandwiched between them. Then he claimed my mouth while Draven alternated between kissing and nipping my neck. Both of them had their hands on my hips and were gripping me hard.

Mad. You’re mad at them , I reminded myself. Furious . Don’t let them ?—

“Oh!” I exhaled sharply when Draven slipped his hand between me and Kieran to rub the seam of my pants.

“Get a room,” Alaric muttered.

Kieran broke our kiss to grin at his best friend. “Why? So you can walk in on us again?”

“Wait, is that your kink, Alaric?” I asked a little breathlessly. “Is that why you never knock?”

Alaric gave me an unamused look, even as his lips twitched like he was fighting a laugh.

Fuck. It was impossible to stay mad at them. Even if I still didn’t love the idea of going to the temple. It was so isolated there. I felt like I was running away when I should be staying and fighting.

Still, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious about what treasures the room might hold, especially in the spaces that were locked.

I mean, someone—it had to have been the Fae—had gone to a lot of trouble to set up these hidden locations.

What had they found so important that they’d decided it needed an extra layer of protection?

And assuming the Fae were responsible for these hidden treasure troves, why couldn’t Erendriel get in? He seemed to have at least mostly reverted back to his original Fae form. He was no longer trapped in shadows like most of the Fae.

I loved me a good mystery. I’d love it even more if Lunaria weren’t on the brink of collapse.

“Sam,” Kieran said in a singsong voice.

“What?” I blinked and found him smirking at me.

Draven chuckled, his hand that had been rubbing my overeager clit through my pants sliding up to wrap around my waist.

“I forgot that’s the trick to making you forget you’re mad at us—not kisses—uncovering Fae mysteries.” Kier kissed me on the nose and walked to the rangers, who were leading out horses, then Draven kissed me on the cheek before following him.

I wrinkled my nose and opened my mouth to argue.

“Samara, you’re with me,” Vail announced.

“What?” My head whipped to Vail as he strode over to a large black horse and took the reins from the stablehand, who gave him a respectful nod.

Vail didn’t even turn to look at me as he secured several bags to the front of the saddle.

“Salvatore can only spare three horses. They already don’t have enough to relocate most of their people to House Devereux.

” He quickly and efficiently started lifting the horse’s hooves and inspecting them.

“I’m not riding with anyone else. So either you ride with me, or someone stays behind. Horses can only carry two.”

The fucking audacity of this man.

“Fine,” I said evenly. “Then you can go with Aniela and her rangers to warn Ary.”

The majority of House Salvatore was going to seek refuge at House Devereux.

Roth had written a note to their family explaining the situation.

Just like Draven and I had discovered at House Harker, there was a large underground level beneath Roth’s birth House.

It would be a little cramped, but they’d be able to fit everyone inside.

Aniela’s Marshals hadn’t been happy about the Heir’s insistence on going to find Ary, but she refused to back down.

I understood where she was coming from because I would have done the same in her place.

I also knew that Ary could be a stubborn ass at times and it would take Aniela to convince him to relocate—albeit temporarily—to House Devereux.

Technically, Ary was an Heir, but he acted more like a ranger.

Similar to House Devereux, House Tepes had never had much patience for Moroi politics.

They preferred to be in the wilds. Because of how close they were to the border of the Velesian realm, Ary and his rangers spent a lot of time there as well.

Or at least they had. I wasn’t sure how much longer even they would be welcome with the rising tensions across Lunaria.

“Not a chance.” He finished checking the horse’s hooves and patted the mare’s neck before looking at me. “I’m not leaving your side.”

I recognized the stubborn look quite well. Even if we did have time to spare—which we didn’t—there would be no dissuading him.

“Fine,” I ground out. “But I get the reins.”

He grunted in reply before turning towards the enormous white wolf that trotted into the courtyard. Rynn gave Vail a silent snarl before butting her head against my thigh and damn near toppling me over.