Damn it. My normal mount—Aelix—wasa chestnut mare.
The fact that he knew me so well was frustrating. She loved to prance around with her flaxen-colored tail raised as if she knew perfectly well how glorious she was.
Zosa was a storm cloud who absolutely loved Samara and barely tolerated anyone else, but today, I’d needed her strength over Aelix’s beauty, so I’d bribed her with an extra ration of grain in hopes she wouldn’t throw me.
I felt Draven’s heavy stare on me when I didn’t answer. In my head, I’d convinced myself this would be easier. Just a nice little ride around the woods full of monsters. No big deal. Igripped the reins tighter, and Zosa tossed her head in annoyance.
“Come on,” Draven said suddenly and spurred his horse forward before I could argue. Zosa didn’t need any encouragement from me and immediately raced after them, nearly unseating me in the process. Gods, no wonder Samara loved her. This mare was lightning made flesh.
When we pulled even with Draven, I had to tug Zosa back so she didn’t take the lead, since I didn’t know where Draven wanted to go. I didn’t even know why I was following him in the first place. This ride had been my idea—I was the one who was supposed to be leading him around. Plus, I was far more familiar with the area than he was, but this always happened when I was with him. It had felt nice to let someone else take charge, and I’d trusted Draven back then. I didn’t trust him now.
Then why are you following him so blindly?The irritating thought surfaced in my mind, and I gritted my teeth, determined not to think about the answer.
After ten minutes, Draven gradually slowed his mount to a walk, and I did the same. It took me a second to recognize where we were, and I’d never felt so much excitement and dread at the same moment. How the fuck did he even know about this place?
We ducked under some branches, and I noted some bright sapphire gems dangling from the trees. Faint magic pulsed from them, a little dimmer than the last time I had been here. They’d need to be replaced within the next two months. This type of ward wasn’t as powerful as the ones we used to protect the outposts, but most of the monsters crawling around this area of the forest were harmless to us because the rangers kept all the serious threats away. Once in a while, a pack of howlers would wander this way, but the sapphire-powered ward was enough to keep them out.
A twisted, green vine with bloodred leaves wound around a tree, trembling as we passed it, and I eyed it warily. In a few months, it would grow delicate, white blossoms that had some beneficial medicinal uses. Unfortunately, the leaves were coated in a fine powder that would not only make one break out in a rash, but they’d make one’s skin itch for weeks. Not just a minor itch either. It was a deep, burning feeling, like something was crawling beneath one’s skin. Anyone who was afflicted had to be tied down to keep them from tearing their own flesh off.
Lunaria, a land of nightmarish monsters, where even the plants wanted to kill you.
What in the fuck had the Fae done to be banished here? Or had they come here voluntarily? And why had they brought humans with them? Most of the time, I left the wondering of our history to people like Roth and Samara. Like Alaric, I was more of a forward-thinking person, and knowing those answers was unlikely to help with our immediate concerns of surviving, but sometimes, even I couldn’t help but wonder what had happened five hundred years ago to set all this in motion.
The underbrush started to thin out and the tree line abruptly ended, revealing the reason for the ward, a crystal-clear pool of water in the middle of the clearing. Draven dismounted and loosely tied his mount’s reins around a tree. I did the same, although I put a healthy amount of space between them since Zosa didn’t look like she would tolerate any of the stallion’s bullshit.
“How’d you even know about this place?” I didn’t bother keeping the suspicion out of my voice. This little oasis was a hidden gem of House Harker that we didn’t tell outsiders about. The water wasn’t hot like the springs I’d taken Samara to in that outpost, but it wasn’t exactly cold either. An underground stream fed the pool, and wherever that water came from, it was hot. Warm currents lazily circled around the pool, which helped with the overall temperature. On top ofthat, the bottom was made of black stones that soaked up the heat of the sun. There weren’t any stones like that around here naturally, so it was assumed that some enterprising humans or Fae had taken advantage of the fairly shallow and crystal clear water to help increase the temperature a little bit.
“Samara mentioned it years ago.” Draven shrugged. “We passed the markers for it a while back, and I wanted to see it for myself.”
I frowned. Samara had never come here with me when we’d been growing up and had given me the impression she didn’t like this place. I never understood why, because Samlovedwater. If there was an inch of it, especially if it was warm water, she would crawl into it. She knew this place existed, but I didn’t know why she would have talked to Draven about it.
Seeing my confusion, Draven smiled faintly. “Samara and I used to confide all sorts of things to each other. This place was in one of her confessions. You used to bring a lot of girls here when the two of you were growing up before she left for Drudonia. It hurt her greatly.”
“Oh.” I squeezed my eyes shut as regret at unintentionally causing Samara pain curled in my gut. “We couldn’t be together back then—she was promised to Demetri, and even then, despite our young age, we knew nothing between us would ever be casual. I brought any dalliances I had here because I didn’t want to rub Samara’s face in them.”
“She knew you were trying to protect her feelings,” Draven assured me. “That's why she never mentioned it to you and told me instead.”
Before I could ask him what his confession in return had been, Draven pulled his shirt over his head, and any words I’d been about to speak died in my throat. Fuck, I’d forgotten he was built like that. He might look like a spoiled prince with his well-tailored clothes and easygoing smile, but his body told adifferent story. I hadn’t even known it was possible to have abs that well-defined.
“You’re drooling, Kier.”
My eyes darted up to his, and I snapped my mouth shut. “Am not.”
He laughed and unlatched the coiled whip with bloodred, serrated edges from his belt before setting it next to the edge of the pool. I’d asked him once why he didn’t carry a sword, as that seemed like a more practical and effective weapon. He’d simply said he didn’t like them, but I hadn’t missed the flash of pain and fear across his face when he’d answered.
The only other time I’d seen something close to fear on his face was when he’d pleaded with me to leave the Moroi realm days ago. Samara was convinced there was something else to Draven we weren’t seeing. That he wasn’t the villain all the evidence suggested he was. I wanted to believe her, but Sam’s past with Draven was different than mine. She hadn’t had her heart ripped out by him.
The heated desire that had been winding through my body at seeing Draven strip instantly cooled at the reminder. He hadn’t just ended things between us. I was an adult, and while it would have hurt, I would have dealt with it, but he’d humiliated me and used his knowledge of my past and my private thoughts I’d shared with him to hurt me. I so rarely trusted people, and he’d known that.
His words had been calculated and cruel.
“It’s been fun, but I’m bored now. Also, watch how you speak to me in the future, courtier.”
Rationally, I knew this lended more support to Samara’s idea that Draven was being controlled somehow by his mother, or at least wasn’t the complete villain she’d initially thought. He’d even claimed that he’d said those things to protect me. None of that erased the pain though.
I glanced at Zosa, wanting to jump onto her and ride outof here, but I’d promised Samara I’d keep Draven occupied for a few hours. She’d understand if I bailed, but Roth wouldn’t have called a meeting if it hadn’t been important. They needed time to talk and plan, and I would give them that time.
Angrily, I tore off my clothing, not even bothering to fold it, just dumping it all in a pile before stomping over to the pool and striding in. Pleasantly cool water greeted me as I swam out to the center where it was deepest and I couldn’t reach the bottom. I treaded water while facing away from Draven, only turning around when I heard him enter the pool. The last thing I needed was to see him fully naked.
