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Chapter Twenty-Two

Samara

The memory of Vail’s scorching-hot kiss was all I thought about as we raced across the badlands, chasing the dying light.

“My queen.” Vail had called me his queen.

After we’d broken apart, he’d pulled me into a run, and we hadn’t spoken since.

There hadn’t been time because those fucking spiders had cost us.

We were lucky that most of us had come out unscathed.

Rynn’s white coat was now a mix of deep red and dark green ichor, but she only had a few minor wounds.

Cali was the worst off. Her wings were still fucked from the hairs the trapper had launched at her.

Each one would have to be removed before she could fly again, but we didn’t have time to do that now, so she was running with the rest of us.

Everyone had let their bloodlust rise to give them an extra boost of speed and stamina—except Alaric. He was stubbornly keeping his locked down. The fact that he was still keeping pace with us was impressive, but then he did run for fun almost every day because he was a psychopath.

Who ran for fun? Someone who didn’t have to deal with thigh chafing, that’s who.

I slid Alaric, who was on my right, a dirty look, and he glanced at me with a small grin. If we weren’t in such a hurry, I would have tripped the bastard for enjoying this.

Kieran was on my left, and his hand briefly brushed mine for the dozenth time.

He’d been doing these light touches frequently since we’d been reunited, like he was reassuring himself I was still there.

Roth was sandwiched between Kier and Draven, their eyes burning like two suns as they rode their bloodlust hard.

Behind us, I could feel Vail’s attention on me, as it had been since he’d dropped behind us to guard our backs.

The faint outline of the temple appeared on the horizon, and I could have wept. I tried to calculate how much farther we had to go but gave up with a huff.

“How far?” I wiped at the sweat dripping down my forehead before it got in my eyes.

“Five miles,” Draven replied roughly.

My lungs burned at the answer. The sun was dipping into the horizon ahead of us. Even if we picked up the pace—which I was doubtful we were capable of—we wouldn’t make it before nightfall.

Luck, you spiteful bitch, please be on our side for once and do not let the wraiths show up , I begged—to whom or what, I had no idea. We were so damn close to safety.

Shadows started to sneak across the ground as the sun fell beneath the horizon, slowly taking with it the last of its rays. Even if I couldn’t see it, I could feel day giving way to night. My senses became a little keener. Speed a little faster. We were Moon Blessed. We were made for the night.

Unfortunately, so were the wraiths.

“Almost there,” I panted, more for my sake than anything else. The temple loomed before us, and I could make out its towering columns and large open entrance.

Rynn and Cali ran faster, and the rest of us did the same. Straight through the entrance, past the first room, make a right, down the stairs . I reminded myself where Rynn said the door to the secret room was.

The last of the light leached from the skies, and the badlands fell into darkness. At some point in our mad dash to the temple, the clouds had rolled back in and blocked the stars. Moonrise was still hours away.

Between one blink and the next, my vision adapted for the night. No sign of wraiths anywhere.

Relief coursed through me. Within minutes, we’d be at the safety of the temple. We only had to make it a little farthe?—

Shrieks echoed through the dark, and as one, we all slammed to a halt.

The terror that gripped me was instant, but I breathed through it and let it settle in my bones. I’d long since learned that it was impossible to shove fear entirely aside, but you could use it to make your instincts sharper.

Rynn and Cali sprinted back towards us until we all stood in a circle with our backs to each other.

Draven stood to my right and Vail to my left.

I didn’t bother with the crossbow; instead, I pulled out my blood daggers.

Vail pulled a dagger from his thigh and passed it to Roth, who grimaced but accepted it because their ropes would be useless against wraiths.

Shadows emerged from the earth like water from a spring, then slid across the ground and circled us.

“Serril?” I called out. Maybe I could talk our way out of this. Erendriel clearly wanted me for something, and Serril served him. I had no problem lying and agreeing to work with them if it meant we got out of this alive.

One of the shadows crept along the ground and twisted before snapping into the shape of a kùsu.

Shadows rolled off the long insect as it skittered forward.

One by one, the wraiths chose different beasts to imitate.

Some I recognized, some I didn’t. All of them had fangs and claws though that could tear us to shreds.

“Not Serril, I’m guessing.” If he were here, I suspected he would have taken on that Fae form again and tried to speak with me. I’d only met him the one time, but Serril had come across as someone who would use words to terrify you—not rely on monstrous forms.

My fingers tightened around the handles of my daggers.

There was no point in throwing them—only blades with a specific enchantment could hurt the wraiths in their shadow forms, and my daggers didn’t have it.

Crafting the enchantment was time-consuming and required resources that were hard to come by, which was why only the rangers carried enchanted blades—like Vail’s sword.

The rest of us would only be able to harm the wraiths for the split second their shadow forms turned solid—and hope we killed them before they killed us.

The wraiths continued circling around us, forming a perimeter.

“I want to be clear that I’m not complaining,” Kieran started, “but why aren’t they attacking us?”

“Are you seriously whining about the fact that we’re not all monster food right now?” Cali growled.

“I said I wasn’t complaining, Cali!”

“You were definitely complaining, love,” Draven said lightly before sighing. “As to why they’re not attacking, it’s because these are the lost ones—wraiths that don’t even remember being Fae. They’re what Strigoi are to Moroi. Mindless monsters that only care about killing.”

I pondered the wraiths that were making no move against us. “Like Kieran said when he was complaining?—”

“I wasn’t complaini?—”

“They’re not trying to kill us,” I pointed out.

“Left to their own devices, they’re nothing but killing machines, but they can be controlled.

Serril uses them like hounds to track and sometimes attack prey.

” Draven glanced down at me. “He likely ordered them to wait in areas where he thought you might make an appearance and delay you until he arrives. I’m sure some of them fled the moment they detected you to alert their master. ”

“If that’s the case,” I said slowly, “then I’m technically the safest one in the group. They won’t harm me, but they will follow me.”

“No,” Vail growled.

I turned away from Draven to look up at Vail and arched an eyebrow. “I’m sorry, did you just tell your queen no? You sure did a quick turnabout on that one.”

“Feels like we missed something,” Alaric muttered.

“Vail probably did something dramatic and asinine,” Roth agreed.

“You’re not using yourself as bait.” Vail glared at me, ignoring the commentary.

“It could work,” Cali said from where she stood behind me. “Some of us stay with Samara, the rest get to the safe room and make sure the path is clear.”

“As much as I despise agreeing with Vail,” Kieran cut in, “I don’t like the idea of us splitting up.”

“It’ll only be for a few minutes,” I argued, eying a wraith that had molded its shadows into an enormous feline monster with spikes running down its back.

What in the actual fuck was that thing? I had never seen a beast like it in Lunaria.

“The temple is right fucking there.” I pointed towards the structure. “We’ll be right behind you.”

What I didn’t say was that we were going with my plan one way or another.

These wraiths—the lost ones, as Draven had called them—might be under orders to not harm me, but I doubted that extended to everyone else.

The way they would occasionally drift a little closer before almost reluctantly going back to circling us didn’t escape my notice.

We had no idea when Serril would get here; he could be hours away.

And there was every chance he would kill everyone but me when he arrived.

Icy fear crept through my veins at the thought of losing even one of the people with me. My true family. I’d do whatever it took to keep them alive. Even if that meant drawing a bunch of bloodthirsty wraiths after me. The question was, who was I going to involve in this crazy plan?

As much as I would have preferred to do it on my own, even I knew that wasn’t a good idea because I very much wanted to make it to the safe room. This wasn’t me sacrificing my life—it was me giving those I loved time to get to safety so that I could then join them.

Then we could have Holy Fuck We’re Still Alive victory sex. I might even let Vail watch.

“I can take two of them out temporarily—maybe three.” Draven uncoiled his whip.

I nodded. “Okay, Draven and Vail, with me.” If Draven could even temporarily put some of the wraiths down, then I wanted him with me—and I knew it wasn’t worth arguing with Vail.

“Everyone else, get to the room. Rynn, once everyone is there, come back out and wait by the main entrance so we can follow you, since we’ll likely be coming in hot. ”

“Bullshit!” Cali snapped. “I’m coming with you. Vail can go with the others.”

“Like hells—” Vail started, but I cut him off.