Page 79 of A House of Fangs & Deceit

The following morning,Alaric stood with Kieran and I just inside the gate while we waited for the rangers who would be escorting us to arrive.

Alaric kept switching from giving Zosa the side eye to trying not to gawk at the matching bite marks on my neck and Kieran’s. After the beach, we’d moved back to my suite and hadn’t left for hours. Taking our time in exploring every inch of each other’s bodies.

“If you keep glaring at Zosa like that, I’m going to let her sneeze all over you,” I warned.

Zosa’s ears perked forward, and Alaric took a step back, disgust tugging the corners of his lips down.

“Don’t be too hard on him, love,” Kieran said breezily. “He’s probably just wondering how you taste.” His fingers brushed across my neck, and I fought the blush that was creeping up my cheeks. Alaric fixed a glare on his best friend, but Kieran just grinned wickedly at him. “The answer, my friend, is exquisite.”

“Kieran!” I stomped my foot down, and he yelped beforegiving me a wounded look while rubbing his foot. “It’s too early for your bullshit.”

He shot me a pouty look, and I rolled my eyes. I was proud of myself for being civil to Alaric all week and ignoring the growing attraction I was feeling towards him.

Alaric might have sent me some heated looks, but those all happened in the spur of the moment. He probably would have reacted that way to anybody. He clearly did not wantmein that way, and I didn’t want to ruin our working relationship, especially since we were just starting to work so well together.

I don’t know why Kieran had decided to tease Alaric so much about me, but I was determined to put a stop to it. Before I could apologize to Alaric for Kieran’s obnoxious behavior, the rangers came around the corner leading three horses.

Surprise flickered through me when I saw that Nyx wasn’t among those present. It was Vail and two other rangers I recognized from the training yard. Raoul and Aerin. They’d been part of the group that had laughed at Alaric that first day he’d been practicing with the bow.

Despite their behavior that day, they’d actually stepped in to help give Alaric advice in the days that followed when they saw he was determined to learn how to shoot. He nodded at them in greeting before he gave me an uneasy look, which I returned. I’d assumed that Nyx would be coming with me today since Emil and Adrienne weren’t available. While Raoul and Aerin were nice enough, and probably trustworthy since they reported to Vail, I wasn’t sure if it was a good idea for them to escort me today. They would no doubt have questions about why the Heir of House Harker was traipsing around in an old human settlement.

“Raoul and Aerin will be escorting you to the Sovereign House, Kieran,” Vail said, causing my brows to furrow.

Who was going to escort me then? I stood on my tiptoes, trying to see if Nyx or someone else was coming behind Vail.

He finished, “I’ll be escorting Samara for her trip today.”

I froze, my eyes darting to Vail before I slowly lowered myself back onto my heels just as Kieran slid closer to me and eyed the marshal.

His gaze narrowed. “Surely, you’re needed here? Isn’t there someone else who can escort Samara?”

Cold, grey eyes locked onto Kieran. “Are you saying that I am inadequate to keep the Heir safe in broad daylight?”

“I’m sure Kieran meant no offense,” Alaric said smoothly. “We simply wouldn’t want to monopolize your time with such a trivial errand.”

I gave Alaric a thankful nod, appreciating that he was standing up for me despite Kieran being an ass earlier. While it was unlikely that Vail would try anything today, I was still stressed out about Rynn, and the idea of being stuck with him all day was less than appealing. At least I didn’t have to worry about my bloodlust rising so soon after drinking from Kieran yesterday and giving Vail an excuse to get rid of me once and for all.

Vail studied Alaric before looking at Kieran, then he let out a disgusted sound and curled his lip up at me. “Well, it didn’t take you long to sink your claws into them. Or I suppose, in this case, spread your legs.”

“Shut the fuck up, Vail,” Kieran growled and took a step forward.

I slapped my hand across his chest, and he halted immediately. Vail pointedly looked at my hand on his chest and gave Kieran a lazy smile. I felt a growl rumble out of Kieran’s chest and swiftly moved to stand between them.

“Enough! Who I fuck”—my eyes flicked briefly over to Alaric’s—“or don’t fuck, is none of your damn business, Vail, and stop acting like it’s irrational for my friends to beconcerned about my well-being just because you don’t have anyone in your life who gives a shit about you.”

The rangers standing near Vail stiffened and shot me murderous looks, but I ignored them.

I spun and placed my hands on either side of Kieran’s face, forcing him to take his attention off Vail and set it on me. His hazel eyes were bright in the morning sun, and I gave myself a second to appreciate them before brushing a kiss against his lips.

“I’ll be fine,” I murmured. “We’re only riding a few hours from here. We’ll be back well before sundown. Vail is an asshole, but he won’t do anything.”

The asshole in question muttered something behind me, but I couldn’t make out the words, which was probably for the best. I was trying hard to be the bigger person here, mostly to keep Kieran from doing something stupid, but if Vail called me a whore again, I was likely to punch the marshal myself—and then run away as quickly as possible.

“Alright.” He tenderly kissed me back, resting his forehead against mine. “Let me know what you find?”

“Of course.” I nodded and stepped away from him, immediately missing his body heat in the brisk morning air. “Make sure Roth eats today, will you?” I asked Alaric and clarified when he just arched an eyebrow at me. “They tend to get caught up in their research and forget to do silly things like eat or drink. That’s why I’ve been bringing food up to the library all week and risking their wrath at the books being damaged.”

He cringed a little. Roth hated the idea of food, or worse drinks, being brought into the library, but it was significantly easier to bring the food to Roth than it was to get them out of the library and bring them to the food.

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