Page 20 of A Court of Bones & Sorrow

Ary grunted and dug into his food with significantly less gusto than the rest of us. Clearly, he was also not a fan of fish. Draven sent me a questioning look.

“Spine-backed boars,” I explained. “There aren't as many here as in the Velesians' realm, but they do occasionally make their way this far south. Riverfell is almost dead center in Moroi territory, and there are a lot of animal migration trails that go directly through it from the north.”

“I know where it is,” Draven said lightly. My fork stoppedhalfway to my mouth for a split second before I continued the motion, fighting to keep my expression neutral as I chewed on the fish. It tasted like ashes on my tongue now. As the prince of the Sovereign House, it was expected that he knew all the outpost locations and some basic information about them, but Draven had always come across as more of a pretty figurehead. Did he know the location of this one because the wraiths were planning on attacking it?

My stomach churned. I’d need to find Vail after this and tell him to increase the rangers stationed there just in case. We could use the boar problem as a cover.

“The boars showed up late in the growing season last year.” My voice came out smooth, not betraying even a hint of the panic blooming inside my chest. “The hope was that it was a fluke. Sometimes they venture a little further south than usual, but they always go back.”

“The herd has almost tripled in size from what I’ve been told. That’s a lot of meat,” Ary mused and grinned at Alaric. “Think of all thenotfish you could be eating.”

“We need to take care of the herd for multiple reasons,” Alaric replied. “They’ve almost annihilated half the crops of that outpost, which is one of our best-producing ones. Plus, where there is prey, there will be predators.”

“Still, Ary raises a good point.” I swirled my wineglass. “If we can slaughter a good portion of the herd, it’ll make up for some of the lost crops.” I’d looked at the numbers. We couldn’t afford to lose any type of food resource. Most of our food these days came from the outposts, and we’d already lost almost a dozen of them to the wraiths. We’d be okay this year, but if the trend continued, things would get bad. Fast.

“Have any of you ever hunted spine-backed boars?” Draven glanced at each of us curiously. Alaric and Kieran shook their heads, but I just smiled.

“Seriously, Sam?” Kieran complained. “And you didn’t bring me?”

“You’re too pretty for hunts,” I teased.

“She’s right,” Draven agreed, and Kieran’s smile slid off his face. Something flashed across Draven’s face, but it was gone before I could figure out what it had been. “I would love to hear this tale, Samara.”

I took a sip of wine and felt Alaric’s heavy gaze on me. When I met his eyes, he looked quickly at Kieran and Draven before focusing on me again. Ah. So he’d picked up on the weird tension between them. Usually, Alaric was . . . not great at reading people. It was why the two of us worked so well together on House responsibilities. He had a sharp mind and was better versed in the current state of things since I’d been away at House Laurent for years, but he often failed to take into account how people’s emotions could impact their motivations and therefore influence trade negotiations.

Kieran was his friend, and while Alaric and I had our problems, he was a loyal and good friend to Kieran. I gave him the smallest shake of my head, and he looked away. It wasn’t my story to tell, but I would try to convince Kieran to explain things to Alaric so Draven couldn’t blindside him with the information the same way he’d done to me. I also suspected Alaric’s reaction to Draven hurting his friend might be . . . explosive.

“Ary actually knows this story since he was there too,” I said.

He laughed and raised his pint of ale. “True, but why don’t you tell it and I’ll help fill in the details? You were always a better storyteller than me.” He winked at me, and suddenly Draven, Kieran, and Alaric were hyper-focused on the Tepes Heir. He just laughed under his breath and drank half of his honey ale in one gulp in response.

“I was visiting my friend, Rynn?—”

“Of course you were,” Kieran groaned, giving me a pointed look. Even Alaric cracked a grin, his death glare dropping away from Ary. “Any trouble you get up to always begins and ends with Rynn.”

“That’s not true,” I said defensively. “Sometimes it’s Cali’s fault.”

“Yeah, but I would never say that.” Kieran’s eyebrows shot up. “Calypso scares the shit out of everyone except you and Rynn.”

“Calypso scares the shit out of everyone,” Aniela agreed around a mouthful of fish. She’d almost cleared her plate, and I waved at the servant hovering inside the room to bring her a second helping.

“You’re friends with Calypso Rayne?” Draven cocked his head at me.

“She’s my best friend.” I raised my chin and dared him to say anything about her. It’d been years since a Furie had lost themselves and turned on us all, but everyone remained wary of them and was more than happy they preferred to stay within their borders of the badlands.

Except Cali. She traveled all over Lunaria and practically flaunted her shadow magic.

My friend was from the most powerful of all the Furie bloodlines and the one most known for going insane, which would not be happening. I refused to lose her, and Rynn felt the same. If Cali ever lost herself to the rage she kept chained within her soul, we’d just drag her back with our fangs and claws.

“The Rayne bloodline—” he started to say carefully, but I cut him off with a wave of my hand.

Then I leaned forward on the table, placing both hands flat on the wood surface as I let a little more of my bloodlust out. I had no doubt my eyes had darkened to black pools as my nails grew and hardened until claws dug into the hard wood.

“Sam,” Kieran warned, but I ignored him, not taking my eyes off the prince. Draven’s eyes had turned almost completely bloodred as the predator in him watched me carefully.

“Calypso fucking Rayne has single-handledly turned the tide of more than one fight that would have ended in the slaughter of Moroi and Velesians if she hadn’t stepped in,” I snarled. “She’s never asked for anything, and she doesn’t say anything as you fucks whisper behind her back while alsobeggingher to help. I will not tolerate you or anyone else talking shit about her.”

I pointed a clawed finger at him in warning before sinking back into my chair and letting my bloodlust fall away, taking with it my claws and black eyes. I kept the fangs out though and flashed them at Draven before swiping my wineglass off the table and taking a deep drink.

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