Page 39 of A House of Fangs & Deceit

“Of course. It’s a perfectly reasonable request for you to be aware of everyone’s abilities. Alaric will attend as well.” She paused until we all nodded in begrudging agreement. “Excellent. I have a few more things I wanted to discuss before I need to prepare for my own trip.”

The rest of the meeting went by quickly with Carmilla just asking for clarification on a few things before going over some minor House logistic items that Alaric and I might need to attend to while she was away. She’d be here for another couple days but would likely be leaving a day before we returned.

“How long do you think you’ll be gone exactly?” I asked, setting aside the scroll I’d grabbed to take notes on. Technically, it was all recorded, but I’d have to ask Alaric to replay the recording for me, so it was easier to take my own notes.

“A month,” Carmilla said slowly. “Perhaps more.”

Alaric’s apprehensive grimace matched my own. It was rare for the head of any House to be away for that long. I knew that Carmilla and the Sovereigns were close friends, but still…

“Is there anything we should know?” I asked carefully.

She rolled her eyes. “Perhaps the two of you working together is a mistake. You both have a tendency to act like mother hens.” When neither Alaric nor I disputed this, she sighed. “You know that Queen Velika and I have always been close. She has some personal things going on that she needs my help with. I’ll be assisting her with that, as well as updating her on the attacks.”

“Okay,” I said skeptically. “But you’ll tell us if you need help with anything, right?”

“Of course.” She rose and made a shooing motion towardsthe door. “I need to prepare for the journey to the Sovereign House and my stay there. I’ll expect updates about what you find out after you visit the outpost.” She gave me a pointed look. “And please inform me soon as you're back so I know you’re safe.”

“I will,” I promised.

My eyes slid to Vail, who had been quiet since agreeing to allow me to travel to the outpost, answering any questions directed his way with the barest amount of words possible.

His wolfish gaze was on me, and I felt a shiver run through my body as I realized exactly what I had gotten myself into.

I would be out in the wilds with Vail and his rangers, with only Alaric to watch my back.

As if he was reading my mind and seeing the realization hit me, Vail did something he’d never done since that fateful night in the forest when we were kids.

He smiled.

Chapter Ten

Samara

Sweat beadedacross my skin as I reached down and clasped my left ankle, feeling the muscles along my back and leg loosen. I had no idea what type of exercises Vail was going to put us through, but stretching beforehand seemed like a good idea.

Alaric was sitting only a few feet away from me, doing his best to ignore my existence, while Kieran hung out with some of the rangers on the other side of the training yard where he had a perfect view of everything.

This courtyard was located in the back half of House Harker and was mostly shaded by trees, yet even in the shade, the heat was damn near stifling. It was still only spring, but apparently the weather today had decided to give us a taste of summer.

I was still wearing the pants I’d put on this morning, but I’d ditched the blouse as soon as I’d got here so I didn’t pass out from heat exhaustion, leaving me in only the chest band.

The feeling of sweat pooling in between my breasts where they were smooshed together thanks to the band around them wasn’t great, though. The thick straps that held the band up kept slipping down, and Kieran was continuously glancing overat me in hopes I was about to have a serious wardrobe malfunction.

The third time I caught him looking, I mouthed one word back,BEG.

The corner of his mouth tipped up into a lopsided grin before he mouthed back,NEVER.

I laughed and reached for my discarded blouse to wipe the sweat from my face before promptly dropping it in disgust.

Before coming for my mandatory training session, I’d swung by the stables to apologize to Zosa for having ignored her the past few days and not being able to take her out for a ride today. I promised her that we’d be going out soon to stretch her legs, and she’d thanked me by snorting what seemed like ten gallons of snot all over my blouse, which I’d forgotten about until now.

Thankfully, none of it had gotten in my hair. I still desperately wanted to rinse off, but something told me Vail wouldn’t accept horse snot as an excuse to miss this.

If anything, he’d use it as an excuse to leave me behind tomorrow.

Speak of the devil…

Vail strode into the training yard, three rangers following in his wake. My eyebrows rose in surprise as I took them all in.

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