Page 105 of A House of Fangs & Deceit

“Did you bring me what I asked for?”

“Yes,” Draven said before quickly adding, “Mostly.”

The golden Fae stared at him with a cold, expressionless look, and the Moroi prince swallowed.

“I brought you a dozen Moroi. They think they’re guarding the caravan a short distance away. It was all I could bring without raising suspicion among the rangers.”

I glanced at Vail and saw nothing but cold fury as he stared at Draven. Technically, Vail had sworn his oath to House Harker, but all the rangers supported the Sovereign House with undying loyalty. I couldn’t imagine what he was feeling at this betrayal. Despite our differences, I felt sorry for him. He had placed his faith in the wrong person.

The question was, did the queen and her consort know what their son was up to?

I needed to warn Carmilla as soon as possible. There was no way she was involved in this. My mother had been the only family she’d had left, and the wraiths had killed her.

No matter her friendship with the queen, Carmilla would never agree to helping the wraiths.

“That is not enough.”

Shadows rippled from the three Fae, contorting theirappearance and making them more wraith-like.

I leaned forward slightly to get a better view. Earlier, the golden Fae said that the shadows still pulled at them. So whatever they were doing to regain their Fae forms wasn’t permanent, and these three definitely had a more tenuous grasp on it.

“I can get you more,” Draven promised, keeping a close eye on the three Fae. “But we can’t keep this up forever. There are only so many Moroi we can sacrifice before we begin to lose power. The Velesians are already sniffing around, and there are some amongst the Moroi who are taking notice as well.”

“You assured me that you could handle it. Perhaps I chose my allies poorly.” The Fae’s expression remained one of icy arrogance but there was no mistaking the threat interlaced with his words.

“It will be handled,” Draven said in a clipped tone. “The Alpha Pack is a problem, but soon they’ll be too busy dealing with infighting amongst the Velesian packs to do anything else, and I already have plans in motion for the Moroi who are asking questions.”

“Good.” A chilling smile spread across Erendriel’s face. “Let’s go see what you brought me.”

“They’re camped a few miles from here near the border,” Prince Draven said. “The guards wearing red sashes are mine. You can take the others.”

Rage seethed out of me, and I could practically feel Vail’s anger rippling off of him. Alaric and Nyx both wore matching disgusted expressions. I thought of the boy I’d found outside that outpost and wondered if he’d been someone who the wraiths had found themselves, or whether Prince Draven had handed him over like cattle.

We’d suspected that a Moroi was helping the wraiths, but this was so far beyond what I’d thought was happening. How could Prince Draven turn on his own people like this?

Erendriel turned to face the other three then. “Prepare the ritual. We’ll use half to finish your transformations and then bring the rest north.”

They whispered their agreements and slipped away.

“How is your supply of the ritual stones?” Prince Draven asked as they headed towards the exit. “We might need to come up with a different strategy for the outpost attacks. Questions are starting to be asked. I was thinking we…”

His words became too faint to hear, and I twisted on my feet as I started to head after them before Vail clasped a firm hand over my arm. I jerked away at his touch, and he gave me a flat look before pointing three fingers at Cali and then gesturing them towards where the prince and Erendriel had gone.

Shadows rippled around her as she shot forward on silent wings after them. My lips twisted into a hard line as I watched her fly away. Rationally, I knew she would be fine, but I didn’t like the idea of my best friend going after a Fae with unknown magic.

Once she was gone from my sight, I turned my attention back to Vail, who was gesturing firmly at Nyx while pointing at me and Alaric.

They kept firmly shaking their head at him while their fingers flew through different movements. I only knew the very basic signs that the rangers used, but I suspected that Vail was telling Nyx to get us out of here while he went after the wraiths.

Fuck. That.

The prince said the guards were miles away. This was our chance to see what type of ritual the wraiths were doing to turn themselves back into Fae. While Vail was arguing with Nyx, I slipped towards the rail and leapt over it. A jolt shot through me when my feet hit the floor, but not a sound echoed across the room.

A low growl came from above before Vail swallowed it, and a tiny smirk played across my lips.Suck on that, Marshal.

Seconds later, Vail and Nyx joined me, both landing quietly as well. We looked up at Alaric, who peered down at us with a frown. I waved for him to come down, and he glared at me before leaping over the rail into a flip and landing in a kneeling position with one hand raised behind his back.

I rolled my eyes at the showy move even as a part of me found it kind of hot. What other tricks did Alaric have up his sleeve?

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