Page 33 of A Court of Bones & Sorrow

Vail’s gaze dipped down to the blade, and his lips curled in distaste. “Like I would ever want the taste of your blood in my mouth again.” He stalked forward, forcing me to jump out of his way, even as a dull ache rose inside my chest. Apparently, being back in this cave didn’t bring back fond memories of our friendship for him the way it did for me.

I tucked away the pain of Vail’s words—I really should have been used to it by now—and walked over to where Alaric was studying something on the wall. Vail stopped to stand at Alaric’s right, so I stood by his left, needing some space between me and the Marshal.

“Map of Lunaria,” I murmured. Though calling it a map was a bit of an exaggeration. Someone had scraped landmarks into the stone wall. I recognized Drudonia at the center and some other landmarks, but it was rudimentary at best. We had far better maps than this.

Vail stepped forward and brushed two fingers against a marking that looked like anX. Now that I’d noticed that one, more jumped out at me.

“Someone was looking for something, and they didn’t want anyone to know about it.” I glanced over my shoulder at the shelves where the journals rested. “I don’t think it was the Fae.”

“Where is this?” Alaric pointed to what looked like a lake with a circle around it.

The three of us leaned in closer to examine the markings. “If that’s Drudonia”—Vail pointed to the blocky buildings that looked like a fortress—“then the only large body of water there is Lake Malov.”

I chewed on my bottom lip. “What if there is another secret room like this one around there? Maybe that’s what whoever made this map was searching for?” I suspected it had been my mother, but what I didn’t understand was why she had been keeping it a secret, and did Carmilla know about this?

“Do we care?” Alaric stepped back and crossed his arms. “While I acknowledge that all of this is fascinating, we have some more pressing concerns.”

“Agreed,” Vail said. “This feels like a waste of time.”

“We don’t know that,” I argued. “Generations of Harkers kept this place a secret. They wouldn’t have done that for nothing.” My mother wouldn’t have done that for nothing. My throat seized as I thought about her sneaking down here and writing in that journal. Had she been planning on telling me eventually? Maybe this would have been something she passed down to me? Part of the Harker legacy. Unfortunately, death claimed her first. “Let me read through some of the journals. Maybe there is something in them that explains this.” I waved at the wall.

“However you want to waste your time isn’t my problem.” Vail shrugged.

“Helpful as always,” I snapped. “Where’s the bag you brought?”

He flicked his fingers towards the entryway we’d passed through from the cave, which was once again solid. I stalked over to the leather bag lying on the ground. It wouldn’t fit all the journals, but I could bring at least half a dozen back with me. Alaric joined me as I debated which ones to grab.

My mother’s were definitely the most recent and the likeliest to have relevant information. My heart clenched at theidea of reading her words and getting a glimpse into what she’d been feeling. I checked through the bottom shelf and figured out where her journals started. There were five of them, which I carefully stuffed into the sack before eying the shelf.

It was unlikely Rosalyn had written anything that would help us, but I couldn’t resist knowing. I grabbed the first journal on the shelf and placed it with the others before adjusting the strap of the bag on my shoulder.

“Do you think we should come back later for the rest?” I asked no one in particular.

“They’re probably safer here than anywhere else,” Alaric said. “No one knows about this place, and if Draven goes back to that room the two of you found and tries to use the passage, he’ll find it blocked.”

I couldn’t argue with that logic, even if I didn’t love the idea of leaving the rest of the journals here, but if I asked Vail to have some of his rangers guard this place, that would only draw attention to it. The journals had been here for multiple generations, so unless I came up with a better solution, I’d just have to trust that they’d continue to be safe in this room.

“Let’s head back.” I gave one last reluctant look at the rest of the journals before activating the glyph on the wall again and slipping back into the cave. Now that I knew where the glyph on this side was located, I felt like it would be obvious to anyone.

As if reading my mind, Vail rapped his knuckles against the damp rock. “This type of algae grows fast. That glyph will be covered again in less than a day.”

I nodded. Vail might be an asshole to me, but he knew what he was talking about. The only one who had a reason to visit this cave was Draven, and that was only if he tried to map out where the escape tunnel might lead to. Yet another reason for us to keep an extra close eye on him. I couldn’t let him findthose journals. It was unlikely he’d be able to understand the language, but he’d almost certainly remove them.

A warning whispered across my skin, my instincts picking up on something while I’d been lost in thought, and I halted halfway to the path that led out of the cave. Vail instantly went still beside me, but Alaric continued walking, oblivious to the danger that had crept in while we’d been examining the hidden room.

“Alaric,” I said in a low but commanding tone. He froze where he’d been about to jump across to the rocky path before slowly taking a few steps back.

Clouds must have rolled in recently, because the previously moonlit cave was now shadowed in darkness. Only the flat rock we stood on was still mostly lit up, and even that light was filtering in and out.

Something was moving in the shadows. A lot of somethings.

“Vail?” My fingers wrapped around the dagger as I slid it free. It was the only weapon I had with me. Swords had never been my strong suit—I was much better with ranged weapons but hadn’t bothered bringing a crossbow because it wouldn’t have been that useful here. Now I was kind of wishing I had. If I threw my dagger, I’d have nothing.

“Not sure,” Vail murmured, his silver eyes tracking the movement across the walls. “I think whatever they are, they came from the sea. They’re moving . . . strangely.”

Great. We’d managed to find a monster even Vail hadn’t come across. Alaric made his way back to my side, a wicked, cruel dagger in his hand. Of the three of us, he was the most disadvantaged, because he suppressed his bloodlust so ruthlessly. Aside from our fangs and claws only making an appearance when we let our bloodlust rise, we were also stronger and faster when we leaned into it.

Frustration warred with concern inside me. If Alaric gothimself hurt because of his stubbornness, I’d beat the shit out of him later.

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