“I’m going to go for a walk now!” I announced loudly and beat a hasty retreat. Rynn was already in a foul mood, and Kieran reciting the many ways I’d been fucked over the last four days would not make her any more pleasant to be around.
The clock was ticking on our plan, which meant time was also running out before Rynn had to return to the Alpha Pack.
I went up the stairs, passing through the ward, and then turned left to head towards the temple entrance. My eyes flitted about the large, open chamber. This was where we’d been sneakily laying all the glyphs the past few days. The even larger room further in the temple would have been better, but that was also where the entrance to the secret level was, and the ceiling was broken in places. We’d needed a room that was entirely contained, so this had been the only option.
The white marble that made up every inch of the room, from the ceilings to the floors and the columns that spiraled up between them, didn’t show even a hint of what we’d spent the last three days doing after Roth had perfected the spell.
Or at least, we were hoping that was what they’d done. We couldn’t exactly test it beforehand.
If it failed . . . we’d just have to run fast. Real fucking fast.
Maybe I should check them again . . .
My hand flew to my chest at the same moment I inhaled sharply. Then I was sprinting towards the temple entrance and flinging myself into the arms of the approaching man.
“Vail,” I breathed out as I clung to him before inhaling that scent I had missed so much.
“Miss me, Sam?” Vail held me tightly against him.
“Only a little,” I lied.
He laughed, burying his face into the crook of my neck. We stayed like that for a long moment, just holding each other. Safe. He was safe . . . and he’d come back to me. The bond thrummed happily between us.
“What’s that smell?” I wrinkled my nose after taking another deep breath, then stepped back enough to look him over.
“Well, I have been traveling basically nonstop for the past few days,” he said dryly.
“Not that.” My gaze fell to the bag he must have dropped when I’d thrown myself at him. The brown canvas was stained dark red in places. Blood. Decay. “Are you carrying body parts?” I looked at him, wide-eyed. “Tell me you didn’t kill Tamsen!? That was not the plan, Vail!”
“I didn’t kill Tamsen.” His silver eyes were alight with amusement. “She is safe in the loving and not at all crazy embrace of House Devereux. I brought you a present.”
“A present?” I gave the bag and then him a skeptical look. “You know how Draven tried to explain how apologies work? Maybe you should talk to him about how gifts work. See, rotting body parts aren’t really?—”
“Grigor’s dead.”
I blinked. “The sleazy guard from the Sovereign House? The handsy one?”
Vail grinned widely. “He’s a little less handsy now.”
“You didn’t,” I said with a choked laugh before glancing back down at the bag. Itwasbasically the perfect size for two hands . . .
“I saw the way he kept coming up with reasons to touch you,” Vail said in a low, dangerous tone. “He volunteered to be on one of the teams to track Tamsen down. Apparently, he is—was—a good tracker. After I got her to safety, I doubled back and took him out.”
“How?” I prodded the bag with my toe.
“Lured a pack of howlers to where he was, cut off his hands, and let the pack tear him apart.”
“Let’s leave them out here—they smell, and it’s the thought that counts.” I grabbed Vail’s hand and started pulling him into the temple.
“So you like my gift then?”
I glanced over my shoulder. “Oh, yes, but we need to get you cleaned up so I can show you just how much.”
Vail’s hand slipped from mine, and the next thing I knew, I was being thrown over his shoulder. I laughed as Vail jogged down to the secret levels. He paused at the first level, but when I tried to turn to see why, he just slapped my ass.
“Vail!” I shouted and wiggled to get free. Another slap.
“I take it things went well then?” Draven drawled. I couldn’t see him, but I could practically hear the smile in his voice.
