“I pledge on the grave of my parents that I will protect Samara with my life.” I inhaled sharply as a muscle in Alaric’s cheek twitched. He knew the Marshal was speaking the truth, but he still didn’t like it.
“It’ll be okay, Alaric.” I laid a hand on his forearm. “We have to do this, and you know it makes sense for the three of us to go. Vail can get me there safely, and Rynn is the most familiar with the area.”
He tore his gaze away from Vail to look at Rynn. “Do you? Know the area, I mean?”
“Yes.” Rynn nodded confidently. “It’s not a pleasant region to be around, but I wandered there often when I was a child. It was one of the few places I could be alone.” She worried her bottom lip. “Lately, I’ve found myself going back there for the same reason.”
This time, it was Cali who looked at me with concern. The three of us all had our issues. Cali struggled with her rage and magic, I struggled balancing being the resilient Heir of House Harker while also processing the grief of losing the two most important people in the world to me, and our sweet Rynn, she struggled with being used as a political pawn her entire life and never knowing who she could truly trust amongst her own people. I had no doubt her parents cared for her in their own ways, but that hadn’t stopped them from agreeing to send her away to join the Alpha Pack when she’d come of age.
“What about the prince?” Alaric grimaced. “We won’t be able to cover your absence for so long.”
“We have at least a few days to figure that out,” I said. “We’ll just need to keep him occupied for a few hours after we leave so we can create some distance. Maybe mention that more of the spine-backed boars have been spotted and I wanted to investigate myself. Let him know he’s welcome to stay here and wait for my return.”
Alaric snorted. “That’ll go over well.”
“It doesn’t matter.” I shrugged. “Vail and I will keep off the main roads and won’t stay at any of the outposts. He won’t be able to track us.”
“I’ll review the list of old human settlements. There may be some close enough that I can investigate them before we have to leave. I need to update Emil as well so he can help with the searches.” Vail strode towards the door to leave but stopped when I called out to him.
“Vail, if you find any, tell me. I want to see them for myself.” The hand at his side bunched into a fist at the command in my voice, but he turned his head slightly and jerked it in a short nod before leaving.
“I’ll find out more about the meeting so I can determine the best time for us to do this, as well as the patrols in the area. They’ll no doubt be increased with all the Orders gathering in one place.” Rynn waved goodbye and vanished.
Cali stared at the space she’d been standing in before swiveling her head towards me in a movement that felt distinctly predatory. “Be careful.”
In a blink, she was gone, a few shadows swirling in the air before dissipating.
“Do we need to worry about Cali?” Alaric asked in a calm, measured tone.
“She’s fine,” I said with a confidence I didn’t entirely feel.
Alaric looked at me for a long moment, and I could see the doubt in his eyes, but he didn’t voice his concerns. “I’ll be in my study whenever you’re ready,” he finally said before he too left.
It took me a moment to remember he’d agreed to feed from me. I was a little surprised that not only had he not changed his mind but that he’d reminded me.
“I’ll do some research on Furies while you’re away,” Roth said quietly. “We understand them the least out of all theMoon Blessed, but I have a few scrolls that detail cases of Furies losing themselves. Perhaps I’ll find something useful.”
They wouldn’t. Rynn and I had poured through every scroll, book, and scrap of information we could find over the years. Nobody knew why the Furies were so volatile, but I appreciated the sentiment all the same.
“Stay with me tonight?” I swallowed, feeling a little unsure of my request. Roth’s eyes flicked up from the book they’d already started reading, and they arched an eyebrow. “If you grab whatever books you want and head to my suite now, the prince won’t see. He’s out with Kieran. I’ll tell Kier he has to sleep in his room tonight.”
I wasn’t exactly sure where Roth stood in regards to Kieran. They obviously had no problem with me being in a relationship with him, but as far as I knew, Roth wasn’t attracted to Kieran. Even if all we did was sleep, I didn’t know if they would be comfortable sharing a bed with him as well.
One corner of Roth’s mouth quirked up into the barest hint of a smile. “You will return to your room after dinner,” they ordered, and a thrill ran up my spine. “I will have you until midnight, then the pretty one and the grumpy one can come. You’ll be passed out by then because I plan on being quite thorough, but they can at least sleep next to you. Want me to take these back with me?”
It took my mind a second to focus on the leather satchel Roth was holding up, the one that contained the Harker journals.
“Yes.” I cleared my throat. “Thank you.”
Roth swung the bag over their shoulder and flicked their left arm towards the table, the bloodred ribbons they kept wrapped around their forearms unwinding and maneuvering around the stack of books until they were in a neat little bundle. Then Roth winked at me before sauntering towardsthe door with their ribbons tugging the bundle of books behind them. “See you in a few hours.”
Chapter Eighteen
Samara
My steps werequick as I made my way to Alaric’s study from mine. His was also on the third floor of the main tower but on the complete opposite side. I’d wanted to go there directly from the library, but instead, I’d forced myself to go to my own study and get some work done. Then I’d met with Yolanthe and a few other advisors.
I hadn’t told anyone I’d be gone for a few days soon because I couldn’t risk Draven getting tipped off, but I made sure to deal with any issues that needed my attention. And there had been many. Surviving in Lunaria wasn’t easy, even when there weren’t nefarious plots threatening to damn us all. The wards that protected our Houses and outposts were powered by gems, which we seemed to always be running low on. And then those fucking boars had wiped out more crops. We’d be fine unless something went wrong with the summer crops. If that happened, the upcoming winter would be a lean one.
