Page 37 of A House of Fangs & Deceit

“You’re leaving?” I asked, hating how much I sounded like the scared girl I had been all those years ago.

“Not for long,” my aunt assured me. “I’m overdue for a trip to the Sovereign House to visit Velika, and with the recent attacks, I can’t delay any longer.”

Trepidation ran through me at the thought of her being away and essentially leaving Alaric and I in charge, but I nodded anyway. “Of course.”

Silver flashed from a ring on Alaric’s pinkie finger as a small hidden blade snapped out and he sliced open the back of his hand. The coppery scent of blood filled the air, and all of us went still for a moment as our bloodlust flickered awake. My attention immediately went to my aunt, but as usual, she was completely unfazed.

Over half of her generation had eventually lost themselves to bloodlust and had to be put down. The ones we could catch, anyway. More than a few Strigoi had escaped to the wilds and blended in with the other monsters of the night.

Rationally, I knew that as a Harker, Carmilla was unlikely to ever completely lose herself to bloodlust. But she was the only family I had left, so rational or not, I still worried.

Every Moroi child grew up listening to bedtime stories fullof warnings about losing ourselves to bloodlust and becoming Strigoi, but so far, very few of my generation had suffered this fate. Maybe the fifth generation wouldn’t have to worry about it at all.

Pressure built along my top jaw as my fangs fought to descend, but I held them back and watched as Alaric let his blood drip over the moonstone orb that rested in a cradle in the center of the table. The deep blue crystal glowed from within as the memory spell woven into it activated.

I was admittedly a little surprised that Carmilla didn’t use her blood. The memories captured within the crystal could only be accessed by the Moroi who provided the blood, but they had been working together for a while, so I didn’t question it. I had plenty of time to figure out the intricacies of how this group worked together.

“What have you learned recently?” Alaric asked, leaning back against the couch and wrapping a handkerchief around his hand.

Vail’s eyes fell on me again, but he didn’t question my presence here, instead turning his attention to Alaric, who shifted slightly under the weight of Vail’s unnerving gaze.

My lips curled into a small smirk that I did nothing to hide.

It seemed I wasn’t the only one who found it uncomfortable to have the attention of the Marshal on them. There was a wild edge to Vail that made everyone nervous. Except Carmilla, who had always been perfectly comfortable around him just as she was with everyone else.

“Not much,” Vail said in an even, measured tone. “Wraith activity is increasing, particularly in the northwest area of our territory. I’ve spoken to the Velesians and Furies. They’re also noticing pockets of increased activity in their territories.”

“Did the Velesians have anything to share about the last two attacks on their outposts?” Carmilla asked.

“Nothing different from the other attacks,” Vail replied, thebarest amount of frustration slipping into his words. “Given how the bodies were found, there wasn’t a single point of failure in the ward, but rather, the wards failed completely. Those on guard duty fell where they were stationed. No one had a chance to counterattack. The guards fell first, and then the wraiths swept through the outpost, killing everyone while they slept.”

Horror flashed through me, but I shoved it aside. It was of no use to those already dead and wouldn’t help those still alive, living in our now vulnerable outposts.

“Nothing was taken?” I asked carefully, weighing my words. “In any of the attacks?”

Dark grey eyes focused on me. “No.”

“Not even any of the…” My throat bobbed, and I swallowed. “Not even any of the bodies?”

His answer was immediate. “No.”

“That’s weird, right?” My eyebrows bunched together as I gave Vail a puzzled look, momentarily forgetting how uncomfortable he made me while I thought about the oddness of the attack. “They went through all that trouble to kill everyone in the outposts but then left the bodies behind? Even if they did eat their fill there,”—my stomach churned at the thought—“they should have taken some of the bodies with them to feast on later.”

Vail, although clearly reluctant to agree with me on anything, said, “I also thought that was odd.”

“Why didn’t you mention it then?” Alaric asked sharply.

The steely gaze finally left me to fall on Alaric. “I don’t have to explain myself to you.”

Tension built in the room, and I wished Kieran was here. He was always good at calming everyone down in situations like this, although even he might be out of his depth with this group.

“Let’s just focus on what we know so far.” I stared at myteacup without really seeing it as I pieced together what I’d learned over the last few days. “I’m still catching up on all this, but there have now been eight attacks, correct?”

Vail and Alaric nodded once while Carmilla sipped her tea. I recognized the look on her face as the one she always wore while she listened to me work out problems I was stuck on. She was giving me a chance to prove myself in front of Vail and Alaric.

They didn’t need to like me, but they did need to respect me if we were going to work together.

“Four in Velesian territory, one in Furie territory, and three here,” I said, recalling the map I’d studied in Alaric’s study.

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