Page 87 of A House of Fangs & Deceit

Slowly, I said, “If your theory about the wraiths is correct, and they’re actually Unseelie trapped in their shadow forms… then they’d likely want their original forms back. They’d want to undo their magic.”

Roth shrugged. “Or at least fix it enough that they can easily move between forms, which was likely their primary goal when they worked whatever spell they’d crafted.”

“This is all still speculation. Absolutelyterrifyingspeculation,” I added. “But still speculation. We don’t have enough proof to take this to Carmilla yet, let alone the queen and her consort.”

“I know,” Roth said begrudgingly. “But Ialsoknow that I’m right about this. We just have to keep researching and fill in the gaps.”

“Maybe Samara and Vail will find something that will help.” Assuming they didn’t murder each other.

But I instantly dismissed the thought. Samara never returned Vail’s hatred. She went back and forth between acting like she couldn’t care less about him to being annoyed by his very existence, but there was never any hatred on her end.

If anything, I thought it was the opposite. Samara cared about Vail, and his hatred hurt her.

“Did y’all miss me?”Samara asked as she pushed the double doors wide open, a triumphant grin spread across her face.

“You found something,” I said hopefully.

If the trip had been a bust, she likely would have stalked back in here with a pissed-off expression. Samara could control her emotions when necessary—usually, anyway—but it cost her.

Outside of delicate conversations and negotiations, she wore her emotions plainly for all to see.

“Whatever you found better not be covered in grime the way you are,” Roth snarled. “And your ass better not take one step further in my library until you’ve cleaned up.”

Samara shot Roth a playful look before dramatically raising one foot in the air and taking a step forward. One of the dark ribbons that Roth wore around their forearm shot forward like a whip and slapped Samara across the thigh before drawing back and preparing to strike again.

I laughed as Samara yelped and jumped back… straight into Vail, who had just crossed the threshold.

She bounced off his chest and stumbled forward, but he instinctively grabbed her around the waist to steady her before dropping his hands as if he’d been burned, a hard expression on his face.

I thought I’d seen something else there, but whatever it had been was gone before I could tell what it was.

The amused expression that had been on Samara’s face from Roth’s ribbons instantly fell, and I found myself hating Vail for it.

I shook my head, trying to focus on what mattered. “What did you find?”

Vail held out a leather satchel, and I rose to take it from him. The instant I did, I felt the pull of magic. As if in a trance, I untied the bag and lifted out a smooth stone the size of my palm with an etching of the lunar moon.

The same symbol that marked the left side of my neck.

“There are two other stones inside,” Samara said from where she still stood at the entrance to the library. “They bear the markings of the Velesians and the Furies.”

I stared down in wonder at the stone before walking over to the table where Roth waited and set it down in front of them. They immediately snatched it off the table and clutched it intheir hands with their eyes closed, no doubt trying to understand the potent magic dripping off of it.

I reached into the bag and pulled out another stone, admiring the glossy black exterior.

If these were used for the ritual the humans had performed to make us all Moon Blessed—and I didn’t know what else it could be—then they were centuries old. Yet the stones still gleamed brightly, and the lunar symbol remained a vibrant red, as if the blood had just been painted on it. My brows furrowed.

“How have we never found these before?” Roth said, eyes still closed in concentration.

“The first and second generations were concerned with surviving,” Vail said with a shrug. “The Velesians might have regained their humanity before the rest of us, but they’ve always felt the pull of the wild in their souls. Most of their time was spent hunting down monsters in their territory and carving out a safe place to live.”

“Maybe the wraiths have been hunting for these ritual stones longer than we thought,” Samara mused. “There have to be countless human settlements that have been abandoned for one reason or another. We only started really building the outpost towns in the last few decades, and when possible, we use old Fae towns.”

“Leaving all the ritual stones at the human towns ripe for the taking,” I finished with a thoughtful nod.

“We just need to figure out why the wraiths would be interested in these stones to begin with,” Samara said, fatigue touching her features. I could only imagine how exhausting the trip had been.

“Why don’t you go and get cleaned up, and then Roth and I can tell you what we found?” I suggested.

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