Page 23 of A Court of Bones & Sorrow

“Of course.” Alaric nodded at her. “We can speak after breakfast.”

Demetri’s hate-filled gaze tore from Alaric to land on Aniela, but she just sent him a polite smile in return. I found myself liking the Salvatore Heir more and more.

“Your House”—Alaric returned his cool, even gaze to Demetri—“thinks of itself as better than everyone else. You forget the reality of our situation, perhaps because you live far enough down the southern coast that you rarely have to fight off any monster attacks. Because we do it for you. The Velesians do it for you as well. As do the Furies. At the end of the day, House Laurent is nothing but a bunch of freeloaders. And when your House falls, and it absolutely will fall, a new line will rise. Perhaps one from an outpost. Most will forget you ever existed. But don’t worry.” Alaric raised his wineglass in salute. “The Lockwoods will remember you and present you as an example of the terrible fate of mediocrity.”

Demetri’s face turned bright red, rage simmering in his eyes while Aniela cackled and Ary started to slow clap. Draven and Kieran released me so they could join in on the clapping.

I let out a husky laugh, and Alaric’s gaze flicked to mine. “Honestly, Alaric,” I purred, “I could fuck you right here.”

“I’d watch,” Kieran offered.

“Same.” Draven sent me a heated look.

Alaric cleared his throat and looked away, focusing on thewineglass in his hand, but I saw the corners of his mouth curl upward.

“This was definitely worth the frantic ride here.” Aniela raised her wineglass to Ary, and he bumped it with his.

“Fuck all of you.” Demetri shoved his chair back and rose, sending me one last glare. “You and I aren’t done.” Then he stormed out, and we all watched him go.

“I’m confused,” Aniela said after he left. “From everything I’ve heard, he didn’t put up much of a fight after you left House Laurent. So why is he pursuing you now?”

“No idea.” I frowned in the direction Demetri had run off to. “Our marriage has been officially dissolved.”

She hummed thoughtfully as she sipped her wine. “Well, he’s doing a shitty job of wooing you back, which is good for me because it means one less House for us to compete against for your affections.”

“You want my affections too, Aniela?” I asked dryly.

She tilted her head back and let out a musical laugh. Interest flashed across Ary’s face before he hid it behind a mask of indifference. There was definitely more than just hate fucking there.

“You’re beautiful, Samara, but I don’t swing that way. My House needs malachite and a few other things. I believe we can make you a good offer.”

“Wonderful,” I said truthfully. “Perhaps I can come visit your House soon. It’s been a while since I’ve spoken to Dominique in person.”

“She would enjoy that.” Aniela smiled. “Our closest neighbor, aside from the Sovereign House, is House Devereux, and they’re not exactly chatty.”

“I’ll speak with your Marshal tomorrow about the boars,” Ary wiped his mouth with the back of his hand after taking a long drink of wine. “They almost certainly went through our territory to get to yours, which means they could easily turnback and wreak havoc at one of our outposts. We’ll help with the hunt.”

“Thank you.” I gave him a nod. “I’m sure Vail will appreciate that. We’ll split the meat of course.”

“Something must have driven the boars out of their territory. They prefer the thicker forests of the Velesian realm,” Ary mused and looked at Draven. “Wraith activity is definitely increasing. Does the Sovereign House have any information about that? I’m assuming the increasing attacks on our outposts have been your main priority lately.”

“It’s all my mother and her consort work on,” Draven said evenly. “I know she’s seeking Carmilla’s wisdom on the matter as well. There hasn’t been much I’ve been able to do to help. I’m not a particularly gifted fighter nor was I ever a good student.” He gave me a self-deprecating smile. “Not all of us were considered a prized pupil by the scholars at Drudonia.”

“You’re definitely gifted at bullshitting,” Kieran drawled. Instead of being insulted, Draven just looked happy that Kieran had said something to him.

“Vail and a good amount of House Harker’s resources have been focused on solving the issue of the increased attacks on our outposts.” I fixed my expression into one of concern, which wasn’t exactly hard considering that’s how I felt. It was slightly more challenging to keep the suspicion hidden away. “But we haven’t learned much, and the attacks only seem to be increasing. Has the Sovereign House learnedanythinguseful?”

Draven shrugged. “I’m sure you know more than I do at this point. We’ll figure it out eventually.”

I set my wineglass down so I wouldn’t shatter it in my hand. “Eventually isn’t good enough. Entire fucking outposts died.”And you played a hand in that,I thought but kept that to myself. “We need to stop these attacks now.”

The charming mask slid off Draven’s face, and something dark and predatory replaced it. “This is Lunaria. People dieevery day. Often in horrible ways.” I opened my mouth to argue, but the red bleeding through his deep blue eyes silenced me. “We might be monsters, Samara, but we’re far from the biggest or the baddest. You’d be wise to be selective with who you choose to protect, because you can’t save them all.”

“And you’d be wise to not tell me what I’m capable of,” I said coldly. “Some of us can do things you only dream of.”

Draven looked at me for a long moment. That feral, predatory gleam still in his eyes. “That’s what you’ve got wrong, Heir. I know nothing of dreams. The only thing I’ve ever known are nightmares.”

Chapter Eight

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