Page 46 of A House of Fangs & Deceit

“Bring my niece home, Marshal,” she commanded.

Vail clenched his jaw and nodded. “Of course, my liege.”

Carmilla squeezed my leg once more before removing her hand. Then Zosa eagerly trotted forward, with Alaric and Kieran following me. I glanced over my shoulder and saw Carmilla speaking quietly with Vail. Whatever she was telling him, he clearly didn’t like it based on his stormy expression.

“The three of you will ride in the middle,” Nyx said. “Emil and Adrienne will take the lead. Vail and I will bring up the rear.”

“How fast will we be going exactly?” Alaric asked nervously.

Nyx gave him an appraising look before apologetically saying, “For most of the journey, we’ll be at a brisk jog, but we’ll be letting the horses stretch their legs off and on. We need to make it there before dark, and all of our mounts are fit enough to be pushed a bit.”

Alaric grimaced. “Great.”

Kieran and I shared an amused look before his eyes dropped and snagged on my breasts, which were now bouncing around thanks to Zosa practically jogging in place. I really should have taken her out for a ride sooner. She hated being cooped up.

I cleared my throat, saying, “Have you changed your mind about green not being my color?”

His eyes snapped up, the golden fractures a little more apparent. “Not at all. Just thinking about how much better you’d look in a nice, vibrant blue.”

I eyed his blue tunic and arched an eyebrow. “Really? You think blue is my color?”

The look Kieran gave me was positively wicked, causingme to clench my legs in a way entirely unrelated to the horse dancing beneath me. “Only one way to find out.”

“Kill me now,” Alaric muttered.

Nyx laughed, but the other two rangers remained stoic as Vail joined us. “We’ll let the horses stretch their legs for a few miles, then we’ll slow the pace a bit.”

My shoulders itched at Vail being at my back, but there was nothing to be done about it. Besides, I had no doubt that he would follow Carmilla’s command. He was blood-sworn to her and would never disobey a direct order.

It was when we were at the outpost that had been attacked that I’d have to be careful.

He was cunning, and if he saw an opportunity to get rid of me without it being technically his fault, he would seize it.

The rangers in front of us spurred their horses forward, and a delighted laugh poured out of me as I loosened Zosa’s reins and she surged into a ground-eating gallop.

I bent over Zosa’s withers, urging her to go faster, my heart beating wildly in my chest.

Hooves pounded behind me as the others launched themselves after us, and I half-heartedly wondered if Alaric would be able to stay mounted, but that thought drifted away as the wind tugged at my hair, pulling strands free from my braid.

This would quite possibly be the best part of our trip, and I was going to enjoy the hell out of it.

We arrived at Faybell,the outpost we’d be staying in for the night, an hour before sunset.

Since we’d made good time, we’d slowed to a walk for the last couple of miles to let the horses cool off before they got settled into the stables.

I slid out of the saddle with a spring in my step, earning a glare from both Alaric and Kieran.

“What?” I demanded.

“We’ve been riding nonstop all day,” Kieran said. “How are you still so”—he waved a hand at me—“spry?”

I shrugged. “What can I say? I’ve got endurance for days, and I’m all kinds of spry.” I gave Kieran a sly grin, earning a heated glance in return.

“I’m not listening to this,” Alaric groaned as he handed his horse off to the stable kid and took an awkward step towards the tavern where Vail and the rangers had already disappeared to.

I couldn’t help but laugh when Alaric groaned and rubbed at his thighs. “Do you seriously never ride?” I asked.

“Why would I do that?” he snapped as he stopped to glare over his shoulder at me. “I don’t see what is so appealing about sitting atop a hysterical, foul-smelling beast.”

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