Page 2 of A Court of Bones & Sorrow

A laugh slipped from my lips, and this time, it wasn’t forced. I’d forgotten this, how easily Draven could make me laugh. Growing up, we’d spent a lot of time together because I’d visited the Sovereign House regularly. Not as much as I’d spent with Alaric, Kieran, or even Vail, but in the moments when Draven had let go of the charming prince act . . . he’d become someone real. Someone I’d liked.

And that was dangerous. I shored up my mental defenses, my smile becoming sharp like a blade.

“Kieran and I got here early this morning, so I passed the hours by pacifying them to ensure I could have your full attention. I might have implied that I would be willing to speak with them further if they left us alone this afternoon.” He leaned closer to me as he spoke, and I just barely heard a growl slip from Kieran . . . and Alaric. If Draven heard them, he ignored it as he tugged me down a hallway that led to a balcony overlooking the beach.

It was one of the best views from the main house, and I was a little surprised he remembered it. He’d only been to House Harker a handful of times to my knowledge. Although I hadn’t seen him much over the past couple of years—maybe he’d visited more often while I’d been living in House Laurent.

When Alaric and Kieran moved to follow us out onto the balcony, Draven turned and took a step towards them while raising his hand. “Would you mind giving us a moment alone?”

They both looked at me, and I could see the word “no” in their eyes, but further in the hallway, I saw Vail slip into one of the side rooms we used for storage. I didn’t exactly love theidea of relying on Vail to come and save me if the prince tried anything, but it wasn’t like we could deny the request without an explanation.

“It’s fine,” I told Kieran before nodding at Alaric. “Go and get cleaned up, and then we can catch up over dinner. Maybe find that book I need in the library. Kieran can probably help.”

Alaric’s bright eyes held mine, a completely unreadable expression on his face. “Of course.” Then he spun around and stalked back down the hallway. I hoped he understood my unspoken request to fill Roth and Kieran in on what we’d learned. Kieran’s jaw flexed as he looked between me and Draven before following Alaric out. Something was going on with him. He didn’t know what we knew about Draven, so I didn’t understand why he was so apprehensive about leaving me alone with him.

I’d make him tell me later after I thoroughly made it clear I had no interest in a marriage to the prince. Kieran was mine and I was his. Nobody would be getting between the two of us. Well . . . I wouldn’t mind Roth between the two of us, but I was pretty sure they were more likely to pinusdown with those rather useful blood ribbons of theirs. A shiver ran down my spine as I remembered what it had felt like to have the hard wood of the library table pressed against my back while Roth kneeled between my legs and lashed me with their tongue.

“Samara? You alright?” Humor sparked in the prince’s blue eyes, as if he knew what I’d just been thinking about. “You look a bit . . . flushed . . .”

“I’m just glad to be home is all.” I walked over to the corner of the balcony wall and leaned against it, letting my elbows rest on the sun-warmed stones. Draven hopped up onto the wall and took a seat with his back to the beach so he could fully face me. Then he lazily planted a hand on the stones and leaned on it, radiating an easygoing confidence.

If he knew we’d been the ones at the temple, he was trulyskilled at hiding it. Granted, he wasn’t acting like someone who was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Moroi either.

“So,” he started, “I’m guessing you have questions?”

Why are you doing this? Why betray your own people?I thought bitterly. “You’ve never wanted to marry,” I said lightly instead. “I believe your exact words when I told you I was marrying Demetri were,‘That’s unfortunate. Hopefully I have better luck at avoiding such a fate.’”

He winced. “To be fair, I do really dislike Demetri. Always thought he was a pompous ass.”

“That literally describes over half of the Moroi court.” I frowned. “Probably closer to three-quarters at House Laurent. As the Heir of that House, I suppose he never really had a chance.”

“I suppose that’s accurate,” he replied with a chuckle. “It’s rather amazing when you think about it. A century ago, we were barely managing to survive, hiding behind the thick walls of the Houses. Now, we’ve outgrown the Fae fortresses, have dozens of thriving outposts, and we’ve reached the point where some of us have nothing better to do than float about the courts of the Houses and gossip while making deals with each other behind closed doors.”

“It’s the same in the Velesian realm,” I admitted. “Although they’re less about the secretive deals and more about the violently overthrowing each other.”

“They’re shifters.” He shrugged. “Their animal nature is an intrinsic part of them.”

“If you’re about to go into a spiel about how much better we are than the Velesians because of theiranimal nature, I will shove you off this balcony.” Despite my words, I smiled brightly at him. “Fair warning.”

“Ah.” He let out a raspy chuckle. “I see you’ve heard Marvina Laurent rant about thosefilthy mongrels up north.”

“Unfortunately.”

“Alas, you will have to find another reason to push me off this balcony, because I didn’t mean any disrespect by that.” He leaned further back, resting on both hands this time before tilting his head back. For a few seconds, I let myself admire the early afternoon sunlight reflecting off the silver strands set against his inky black hair. I’d never met anyone who had hair like his, and more than once over the years, I’d had to fight the urge to run my fingers through it.

When I drew my attention away from his hair, I found Draven smirking at me. If his hair was different, his eyes were truly unique. All Moroi had two-toned eyes, a dominant color and a secondary color that expanded whenever our emotions were heightened. Usually, those two colors were similar shades. Bright blue and green. Brown and gold. Odd colors popped up here and there, particularly with the bloodlines that ruled the Houses.

The Nacht bloodline, Draven’s bloodline, all bore the same eyes, which were a deep blue, like the color of the sky just after the sun dipped below the horizon, and dark red threads ran through the blue. I’d only seen Draven truly pissed off once, and his eyes had turned almost solid bloodred, only the thinnest lines of blue had still been visible. It had been years, but the memory had stuck with me.

“Just think of how often you can stare at my hair if you marry me.” He winked.

“Please.” I snorted. “We both know you love being the center of attention.”

I turned so I was fully facing the beach. If I hadn’t seen Draven at the temple speaking with the wraiths with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it. Right now, he was acting so . . . normal, but he’d definitely been there. I frowned. Was it possible to control someone with blood magic?

No. I was just trying to come up with excuses because I didn’t want him to be the bad guy. It was terrible enough toknow a Moroi was betraying us. I didn’t want it to be someone I had a history with. Someone I liked.

Brick by brick, I erected a wall around my feelings. I needed to look at this rationally and be open to any possible explanations. Including that Draven had fooled me all these years and wasn’t the charming and often kind male I thought he was.

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