Page 54 of A House of Fangs & Deceit

Alaric and I continued walking around the village, wandering in and out of houses. The three rangers trailed us, not getting in our way, but not willing to let us split up into smaller groups either.

When we found ourselves back at the front gate, I lookedup at the darkening sky. There was maybe an hour left until sunset.

“I’d like to check the surrounding area.”

Vail stared at me for a long moment before opening the gate and beckoning me through. “Emil and Nyx, guard the gate,” he commanded. “Adrienne, stay with Alaric. Stay close.”

Everyone nodded in agreement, but I hesitated as I looked at the woods beyond the gate. I really didn’t want to be alone with Vail, with no witnesses around, especially with the night creeping up on us.

“Well?” The corner of his lips tilted up ever so slightly, as if reading my thoughts. “You coming or not?”

I swallowed and stepped through the gate before Vail shut it behind us, trying to ignore the uneasy sensation of having him at my back.

My heartbeat only picked up though, feeling like it was trying to break out of my chest, and I knew that Vail could hear it. Amongst the Moon Blessed, Morois had the best sense of hearing, and rangers worked hard to hone their senses even further. He knew I was terrified of him, and the sick bastard was probably enjoying it.

The forest here was different from the ones that ran up and down the coast. The trees were shorter and more dense, thick brushes grew between them, covered in sharp thorns, and a few ravens huddled together on the upper branches, watching me with intelligent eyes.

The shadows were already starting to deepen within the woods, but I steeled my spine and continued onward.

I had no idea what I was looking for, but after ten minutes of wandering around, I felt a subtle tug. It felt like when I used blood magic and directed my power towards an object. Only, in this case, it was like my magic was being pulled forward.

Slowly, I followed the feeling as my pulse picked up. Vail moved to my side, and I felt his curious gaze on me, butthankfully he didn’t question me as we wandered deeper into the woods. The tug was so faint I was worried that if I spoke, I would lose it. My foot snagged on an upraised root, and I stumbled, but Vail’s hand shot out to grip my arm.

I froze as I stared down at my feet, barely noticing Vail’s fingers, which were still holding tightly onto me. Then the tugging feeling within my chest faded, leaving the barest trace of satisfaction behind.

The root I had tripped over widened as it got closer to the tree, rising several feet above the ground and creating a small shelter beneath it.

Within that shallow space lay the body of a young Moroi boy.

Vail released my arm and knelt down next to him. Now that I was no longer caught up in the strange pull of my magic, the smell of death hit me. My stomach churned, and I barely managed to hold down the bread and cheese I’d eaten for lunch.

Large chunks of his body were missing. Clearly more than a few somethings had been feasting on him. I watched as Vail methodically examined each of the visible wounds before turning the body over to look at his back. His fingers briefly skimmed down the boy’s neck, brushing the hair aside, and I caught a glimpse of a dark red line.

“What’s that?” I dropped to my knees and leaned forward.

I’d thought the smell of decomposition couldn’t be worse. I was wrong. With a grimace, I pushed back the boy’s dark brown hair and looked at the symbol that had been carved into the back of his neck.

Vail shifted closer to me, his thigh pressed against mine as he studied the symbol. “Do you know what it is?”

“No.” I cocked my head to the side as I puzzled over the markings for a few more seconds before pulling a folded piece of paper out of my pocket.

Carefully, I unfolded it and placed it flat against the boy’s neck, then pinched the corner of the paper between my thumb and index finger where a symbol of two interlocking squares had been drawn in blood.

A tingling sensation nipped at my fingers as the blood magic sparked to life. This particular spell was one of my own creation, and I was rather proud of it. I held the paper in place as faint lines started to appear and soon the symbol on the back of the boy’s neck copied over to the paper.

My head cocked to the side as I held it up and studied the lines more. “Something about it is familiar, though… I think.”

“How did you know he was here?” Vail asked.

Something in his tone had me moving to create distance between us. It wasn’t threatening exactly, but there was a faint accusation to it.

“I didn’t.” I pushed up so that I was standing and then I shifted further away from the body and Vail. “I just felt… a pull.”

“A pull? Towards a dead body with a blood magic symbol carved into it?”

“Don’t get pissy just because I found a major fucking clue that you missed!” I snapped.

Silver lines flared to life in Vail’s eyes before vanishing, and I took a deep breath, willing myself to calm down as I refolded the paper and tucked it safely back into my pocket.

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