“Fake Seelie King,” I pointed out.
Draven shrugged. “He’s the one currently sitting on the throne, so he’s the Seelie King now.”
“Do we think there’s a throne?” Kieran perked up. “And do we think we can steal it?”
“Dethrone the diabolical queen, rescue the lonely sentient crown, find out what the fuck is going on with my besties, and figure out how to outmaneuver beings known for being clever.” Light sparked in Samara’s deep purple eyes. “Sounds fun.”
“The real question is, what will we donextweek?” Kieran moved until he was lying down and tugged Samara to lie beside him. Draven followed suit, settling in next to Kieran and wrapping his body around him, one hand resting on Samara’s collarbone.
“Fix the broken alliances between the Houses and somehow make nice with the Velesians.” Alaric rolled his eyes and then moved to Samara’s other side.
“That sounds less fun.” Kieran pouted.
Samara looked at me, clearly wondering what I was going to do. Oh fuck it. I crawled forward and shoved Alaric over. He rolled his eyes but let me settle between him and Samara as I rested my head on her chest and listened to her heartbeat.
“If any of you ever mention to my brothers that I willingly cuddled, I will skin you alive.”
“Awww,” Kieran cooed. “We love you too, Roth.”
I grumbled more threats even as I tucked my face into Samara’s body so none of them could see my smile.
“Where are you going?”I asked quietly as I propped myself up a little, being careful not to disturb Samara, who was still sleeping next to me.
Kieran paused halfway through getting up, his hand in Draven’s, who was already standing next to the bed in a damp pair of pants and nothing else. We’d all done our best to rinse our clothes off earlier, but for all the niceties the Fae had given this place, it was still a damp, underground cave system. Our clothes would take forever to dry.
“We’re going to search this place and see if we can find some clean clothes and maybe some weapons,” Kieran whispered before standing.
“Good idea,” I replied quietly. “We should be ready to go when my family gets back.”
The two of them nodded and left. It was then I realized Alaric was already gone. Likely scouring the rooms for any information left behind by the Fae.
Usually, I would be all over the potential of finding new Fae books or scrolls.
Surprisingly . . . I didn’t have any inclination to join him.
I looked at Samara’s dark hair fanned around the bed and the warmth of her hand on my hip.
There was nowhere else I wanted to be right now.
Samara’s brows furrowed slightly before smoothing out, and I narrowed my eyes at her.
“How long have you been awake?”
“Since Alaric elbowed me in the back when he got up.” Dark eyelashes fluttered before dark purple eyes gazed at me full of humor. “The ass was just bitter about being on the outside of the bed. He should have been thankful I didn’t shove him off it.”
“We’re going to have to get a bigger bed wherever we end up.” I sighed. I’d have to get used to cuddling too.
It hadn’t actually been that bad. It had been kind of nice to be cocooned in warmth.
“Yeah,” she replied softly. That crease formed between her brows again and stayed there.
“What are you thinking about in that magnificent mind of yours?” I laid my head back down on the pillow so that our faces were only inches apart.
“Assuming we defeat Carmilla and find some way to do all the other things on our list . . . then what?” There was none of that brash bravado in her expression now. “House Laurent is a problem, obviously. Demetri’s a piece of shit, and his mother would love nothing more than to see the demise of all Velesians. Corvinus has never been trustworthy. Your family’s House is amazing, but they don’t exactly play nicely with others. And while we’re generally on good terms with House Tepes andSalvatore, I have no idea how they’re going to react to all this. And then there is the Sovereign House . . .”
“What about it?” I frown. “You’ll take it over. My House will back it up, and it’s likely Tepes will too. The others will fall in line.”
“I never planned on being queen, Roth,” Samara argued. “Myplanwas to be Heir for at least another few decades until Carmilla stepped down and I rose—as the Head of House Harker, not the bloody queen of the Moroi!”
