Page 53 of A Court of Bones & Sorrow

Sadness crept back into Draven’s face. For whatever reason, he wouldn’t or couldn’t tell us what was going on and why he was working with the wraiths and helping them attack Moroi outposts. Regardless, he was working with our enemy, which made him our enemy.

“No,” he said in defeat. “It doesn’t change anything. You and Samara might have my heart, but the Sovereign owns my soul.”

Chapter Seventeen

Samara

As I slippedthrough the double doors of the library, I was still reeling from what I’d seen in Draven’s memory. But I tucked that away for later once I saw the scene before me. Roth was the only one there, and they were pacing.

Roth didnotpace.

They sat perfectly still with a book in their hand, absorbing all the knowledge it contained before moving on to the next one. In fact, Roth would regularly yell at us for so much as breathing too loud while they were reading.

“Roth.” I closed the distance between us until I stood in front of them. Roth stopped, orange fractures winding through their hazel eyes like fire. Usually, Roth’s dark red hair was tidily swept back and they kept the sides closely shaved. Today, it just sort of flopped over to one side. I brushed my fingers beneath it, feeling the overgrown sides. “You’re due for a shave,” I mused.

I wasn’t sure if it was possible to have more polar opposites than Kieran and Roth. While I’d known them both for a long time, it was easier to slip into a relationship with Kieran. He was cuddly and usually open with his emotions. Roth and I hadknown each other at Drudonia, but this romantic aspect of our relationship was new, and I was still learning how to navigate it. Roth didnotcuddle. They also didn’t tell me how they were feeling or whisper sweet nothings.

But they looked at me like I was a treasure when I recited Fae poetry, and they asked me my opinions on translations or history. Roth desired my mind as much as my body, maybe even more so, and I loved being consumed by them.

“Where are the others?” Roth rasped.

“They’ll be here soon,” I soothed before leading them over to a chair. They thunked down into it and wrapped the soft, dark blue shawl I’d gotten them a little tighter around their tunic. Roth was somehow always cold. They’d mumbled a thanks when I’d given it to them but had proceeded to wear it every single day since.

I brushed my fingers against the two embedded gems on the dark silver ring I wore on my pinky, letting Cali and Rynn know we needed to talk. If they weren’t available now, I’d have to fill them in later, but Rynn was vital to my plan, so it’d make this a lot easier if she could join now.

“What are those?” Roth eyed the leather satchel I’d set on the table, the flap open and revealing the journals inside.

“Journals written by my mother.” I pulled one of the books out and passed it to them. “There are more. We found them last night in a secret room in a cave down by the beach, all written by Harkers.”

“What language is this?” They carefully flipped through the pages.

“I don’t know,” I said softly. “But my mother taught it to me. She said her mother taught it to her.”

“I’ve never encountered it in any other writings.” Roth frowned. “But some of these words . . . they’re familiar. We use them in our common tongue.”

Before we could dive further into the odd linguistics of theLunarian language, the library doors swept open, and Vail, followed by Alaric, stalked in. I glanced back and forth between them. Alaric’s expression was flat, and his fingers were curled at his sides like he was imagining strangling someone. Thin lines of silver raced through Vail’s eyes as menace practically poured off him.

Okay. Clearly they were pissed at each other. What exactly had Alaric said to get Vail to come here?

I decided it was not my problem because they were both here and I was used to dealing with them in pissy moods anyway. I pressed down on the gems on my ring again to get Rynn’s and Cali’s attention.

“What?” Cali snarled, her shadowy form appearing suddenly in the middle of the library. Alaric jumped, and even Vail looked a little unnerved. All Furies had shadow magic, which put everyone on edge because it made them very wraith-like. The more talented ones could appear in shadow form like Cali, but unlike her, others’ forms were less defined and it was hard for them to hold any type of shape.

Cali appeared before us exactly as she looked in real life, only made of shadows instead of flesh.

Darkness billowed outward as she spread her wings wide, causing the individual strands of her hair to flutter around. There was another secret about Cali that only Rynn and I knew. She could also turn her shadows solid for small snatches of time, something that no other Furie could do . . . but all wraiths could.

“I wouldn’t have annoyed you if this wasn’t important,” I told her. “Are you okay?”

Cali’s lips hardened into a flat line. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about it.”

As if that were possible. “Okay,” I said instead. “We’ll give Rynn a few minutes, and if she can’t make it, we’ll ge?—”

Shadows swirled next to Cali, and Rynn’s lean frameappeared a second later. Her shadowy form was a little less well-defined than Cali’s since she was using a spell Cali had crafted specifically for her. But I could still make out her expression enough to see Rynn was worried.

That in itself wasn’t unusual, because Rynn constantly worried about everything, but she was also in the thick of some complicated Velesian politics that she was trying to shield from me. This also meant my request was going to make her life even more difficult, but I didn’t see any way around it.

“Good, we’re all here.” I grimaced and leaned my butt against the table where Roth was sitting, the others standing around in front of me. “We have a lot to go over. First, Rynn, Cali, let me catch you up on our special guest here at House Harker.”

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