Page 64

“Jasi, probably,” Kieran grunted. “I pulled some strings to get him out of a tight spot with House Tepes a few years back, and he’s one of my best informants now. Lives in an outpost on one of the main trade routes—hears all kinds of gossip.”

“Which one?” I asked.

“Morningwell.”

I started calculating the distance in my head and the possible paths Tamsen could have taken.

The Morningwell outpost was southwest of House Corvinus, towards the middle of the realm.

The main road went directly east and west from it, but Tamsen likely hadn’t taken that.

It might have been safer, but the road would be heavily patrolled.

If she were desperate enough—and it seemed like she was—the rogue Heir had likely cut straight through the wilds.

Which meant she was either dead . . . or was a couple of days away from House Devereux, maybe a little less if she lucked out and didn’t run into any trouble.

Hesitation fluttered through my thoughts, but I realized it wasn’t mine; I’d been staring at the floor, unseeing, while contemplating all the possibilities. When I looked up, I found Samara’s heavy gaze on me, then that flicker of doubt rolled through me again.

“You might as well tell me what you’re thinking.” I laid my hand flat against my chest, over my heart. “Because I can already feel it, mate .”

Her gaze dropped to my hand before returning to my eyes. She didn’t deny that we were mates or say something caustic to me, so I considered that a win.

“In order to set the plan in motion, we need to let Carmilla discover where we are.” Samara held my stare, even as Cali grumbled something about hating this plan.

I didn’t blame her. If things went the way we expected, as soon as Carmilla learned our whereabouts, she’d enact her strategy to remove Cali as a player.

And we were going to let her do it—as long as the Furie’s life wasn’t in danger. Samara’s plan would only work if Carmilla believed she was winning.

I would have been pissed too if my friends were going to enact an absolutely insane plan that could fall apart in so many ways and I wouldn’t be there to help them.

Cali had been the one to read that message first though, so she knew what was at stake. We couldn’t let more innocent people die. This plan might have been crazy, but if we pulled it off, it would also limit the bloodshed.

Samara let her words hang in the air, then opened her mouth to speak before closing it again and looking away from me. Fear echoed down the bond before suddenly being cut off. She was walling off her emotions from me, trying to hide.

I knew what she wanted to ask me. To find Tamsen, if she was still alive, and get her to safety.

It wasn’t hard to figure out because, of those gathered here, I was best suited for the task.

Traveling through the Lunarian wilds was literally my job.

Draven could probably do it, but he was needed here, as Erendriel would no doubt show up again, and even with the magic binding his tongue, the prince’s knowledge of his father would be useful.

But still, Samara didn’t ask. Frustrated rage swirled inside my gut, and based on the way she flinched, I knew she felt it.

She believed I would betray her. Even now, after everything I’d done, Samara didn’t trust me to do this.

“Roth,” I said evenly. “Write a note to your family asking them to protect Tamsen—even if they throw her ass into the dungeon. As long as they don’t lop her head off because she looks at them funny.”

“Vail—” Samara took a step towards me.

“It’ll likely take me at least four days to find her,” I cut her off and stalked towards the table with the Fae weapons. On the off chance I ran into some wraiths, these could be useful. “Maybe up to a week depending on how well she’s covering her tracks.”

Kieran quietly snuck out of the room. Everyone else remained silent, eyes bouncing back and forth between me and Samara.

“Vail.” Samara closed the distance between us until she stood next to me at the table.

I ignored her.

“Carmilla is likely watching House Devereux, so I can’t just walk Tamsen up to the front gate—that would be too obvious—but I’ll make sure she gets there and then double back a bit.

” I grabbed a second sword harness and strapped it on before sliding a Fae sword next to my regular one.

Then I swapped the daggers on my thighs for Fae ones.

“Carmilla will only send out her best rangers looking for us. I’ll leave just enough of a trail that they can find it but make it look like I was trying to cover my tracks. ”

“ Marshal ,” Samara said more firmly.

I wanted to look at her but also knew doing so might weaken my resolve—because I didn’t want to leave.

But it had to be me. If Tamsen had truly defected, we couldn’t leave her to the wolves.

Plus, Samara’s plan to deal with her aunt would only work if Carmilla didn’t know she was walking into a trap.

“Here.” Roth held up a folded-up letter. “She probably won’t get the best treatment, but they won’t kill her.”

“Good enough.” I walked over and took the letter from them just as Kieran strode back into the room, holding a bag.

“We’re getting low on food, but I packed what we could spare and some water. You’ll probably have to restock somewhere.”

“Once I get out of the badlands, there are ranger stashes I can use.”

Kieran nodded as I took the bag from him, then I headed towards the door without a backwards glance.

“Stubborn fucking asshole,” I heard Samara growl, but I kept walking.

My long strides were eating up the distance as I went up the stairwell and then stalked through the temple.

Whatever it took to prove my loyalty to her, I’d do it—even if I was pissed that she didn’t even seem willing to give me a chance.

Yes. I’d fucked up. Massively.

But I’d also helped get her out of that dungeon.

I’d done everything I could to keep her alive while we’d been on the run.

Cali was clearly teetering on losing it, but I hadn’t said one damn word about it.

And I wasn’t bitching about the fact that I’d have to share my mate with four others—part of me was actually relieved by that because it meant there were four other people in this world who would love and protect her as much as I would.

None of it mattered though, because apparently, she still believed I was one breath away from betraying her again.

The heat of the late summer afternoon hit me like a runaway horse as soon as I stepped outside the temple. This was going to be a brutal run across the badlands.

My best bet was straight east to avoid the trapper spiders. Once I made it to the forests, I’d angle south a bit and then?—

“Oof!”

A pair of bright purple eyes brimming with fury looked up at me from where Samara had slammed me against the wall of the temple.

“Something you need, my queen?” I asked in a flat, bored tone, doing my best to keep my emotions from rolling down the bond.

“I wasn’t done talking to you.” Her hands gripped the fabric of my shirt as she crowded my space. It should have been absurd. I had over a foot of height on her and could easily outmuscle her, but some small part of me had enough self-preservation to not try.

Samara liked to fight dirty, and I’d prefer to keep all my bits attached.

“Oh?” I tilted my head in a way that I knew would annoy her.

Black flashed across her eyes, and I smiled.

“You don’t have to say anything. I can feel it, remember?

” I tapped the back of her hand that was covering my heart.

“If there were anyone else you could have asked to do this, you would have because you don’t trust me. I felt it all. Your hesitation. Fear.”

“Vail,” she ground out.

“Yes, my queen?”

She stood on her tiptoes to get a little closer. “You are a fucking idiot.”

I blinked. “What?—”

Samara let go of my shirt to yank my head down. Then her mouth claimed mine, and for a second, I stood there rigidly, not completely sure this was happening.

I felt her lips curve into a smile against mine before she whispered, “This is the part where you kiss me back.”

“So bossy.” I smiled before doing just that, sliding my tongue into her mouth, reveling in the way she tasted.

Then I flipped us around so she was pinned against the wall and broke our kiss. Samara panted before going still as I wrapped my left hand around her throat and planted my right hand against the wall.

“You’re so fucking frustrating,” I growled.

“Yeah,” she rasped. “You’re a real fucking peach yourself.”

I chuckled and squeezed her throat a little harder, and she let out a low moan that went straight to my dick.

“What do you want from me, Sam?” I brushed my thumb against her rapidly beating pulse, and she arched her back at the touch.

“Everything,” she breathed out. “I want everything from you.”

“You have it.” I leaned my forehead against hers. “You are mine, and I am yours. I will never betray you again, and I will spend the rest of my life making up for it.”

“I know,” she whispered, and I eased my grip on her throat a little but didn’t remove my hand.

“Why?” I closed my eyes as I breathed in her scent. “Why did you hesitate in asking me to do this? I felt your fear.”

“Because if you get captured, Carmilla will make an example out of you.” Her throat bobbed as she swallowed.

“I’m not saying all of our bullshit is resolved, but I want to have the chance to fix it—to fix us.

You still piss me off half the time you open your mouth, your bullish attitude is incredibly frustrating, and Draven is right, you suck at apologizing, but none of that changes the fact that I love you beyond reason. ”

“Fuck.” I yanked her to me and kissed her hard, pouring every ounce of what I felt for her into it even as I practically screamed it down our bond.

I’d never been good with words the way that Kieran and Draven were, and apparently I was even worse than Alaric and Roth at expressing how I felt.

I’d just have to make damn sure she knew from my actions that I fucking loved her beyond reason too.

My tongue slid across one of her fangs, and she groaned as my blood filled her mouth. Then I slid my hand down until I cupped her breast and squeezed. She sucked on my tongue as her soft body pushed into me more. Suddenly, I was very desperate to know how wet she was.

I tore my hand away from her breast and roughly dragged up her dress until I felt bare skin. Then my fingers dove underneath her panties.

It was my turn to groan as I found the hot slickness waiting for me. I slid two fingers through her wetness, and Samara moaned, finally breaking our kiss as she tilted her head back against the wall.

“More,” she demanded.

I didn’t have it in me to tease her right now or go slow. Instead, I just shoved two fingers as deep into her cunt as they could go and started fucking her roughly with them.

“Is that what you want?” I growled as she writhed on my hand.

“Yes!” She looked at me with solid black eyes before tilting her head. “Drink.”

My fangs were buried in her throat a second later as I continued to pump my fingers in and out while I rubbed her clit with my thumb. Her intoxicatingly rich blood filled my mouth, and I swallowed it down as she came undone on my hand.

She tasted even better than I’d remembered, but I didn’t want to take too much. I started to pull my fangs out, but she pushed hard against the back of my head and held me in place. “More,” she panted. “Drink more.”

I bit down harder and added a third finger, fucking her faster and rougher as I drank her down. Her pussy tightened around my fingers as she came again. Only when she was finished and I felt her trembling with ecstasy did I pull away from her neck.

Slowly, I pulled my fingers out as well, and Samara watched as I swiped her blood off my lips before sucking each finger clean.

“Come back to me, Vail,” she said through heavy breaths.

“There is nothing that will keep me from you.” I laid my hand against her rapidly beating heart; the bond that had felt so frayed now felt so much more solid. “I love you too, Samara.”