Page 55 of A Court of Bones & Sorrow

Rynn didn’t look convinced but didn’t argue, instead, she just shot me a concerned glance. I gave her a barely perceptible nod in return. Cali was always a little wild, but she wasn’t usually this antagonistic, definitely not towards us. There was zero chance of us getting her to tell us what was wrong with other people around though. We’d have to corner her about it later.

“What else did you find out, Roth?” I asked. The information they’d shared so far was useful, but I didn’t think it was what had them so worked up.

“The other day, when you were reading an Unseelie poem, some of it reminded me of something I’d seen before”—their eyes darted to me, orange fractures flashing across the light brown for a second—“but then you distracted me and I forgot.”

“I’m so sorry I gave you mind-melting orgasms,” I deadpanned.

Roth ignored me, raising a book with a dark red covering and gold foiling off the desk. A Fae poetry book. Human books were always bound with simple leather. Roth flipped through the pages and then turned the book around so it faced us. On one page was the illustration of a crown. It looked like two bands that had been joined together, and a short poem was written in Unseelie on the opposing page.

“Most of the poem is so vague that it’s hard to follow, but I think the Fae brought this crown with them from whereverthey came from,” Roth explained. “It’s described as follows, ‘A crown of two parts. Glittering gold and frosted silver. One half to see a soul. Another half to bind it.’”

“Well, that’s not good.” Rynn sighed.

The others started talking about what this could mean, but I was trying to control my growing panic as I remembered my mother’s words from the journal.

“This crown had been so simple. Just a simple silver band with delicate carvings. Parts of it had even appeared broken.”

“Samara?”

I snapped out of my spiraling dread to meet Alaric’s steady gaze. “I think Velika has the crown. Half of it anyway.”

“What?” Roth paled even further. “What makes you think that?”

“That was the part I was going to tell all of you.” I waved a hand at my bag and the journals it contained. “I read through some of my mother’s journals. She talks about Velika wearing a simple silver crown with odd magic. My mother suspected it was a Fae artifact, and she was searching these lands to find more before Velika did.”

“Did she mention anything specific about the crown?” Rynn asked. “Or about Erendriel or the wraiths being Fae? About Velika’s alliance with them?”

“No.” I shook my head. “Every hidden Fae hideout she and my father found was empty. She mentioned the wraiths acting strangely, but I don’t think she knew they were the Fae, and she made no mention of an alliance between them and Velika. I think she only had strong suspicions about the Sovereign House but no actual proof.”

“We need to tell Carmilla,” Vail said firmly.

I pursed my lips, trying to think of how to phrase this so Vail wouldn’t tear my head off. He was fiercely loyal to my aunt, and so was I, but unlike Vail, I could separate my own personal feelings from the situation at hand. “We need to makesure Carmilla is safe,” I said carefully. “But we can’t tell her any of this yet. First, she’s at the Sovereign House, and we can’t risk alerting Velika to what we know. If Velika’s half of the crown gives her the ability to bind a soul to her, then there is a chance Carmilla is compromised.”

The very idea of my aunt’s will being taken away from her made me sick. But Carmilla trusted me to keep House Harker safe, which meant I had to consider the possibility that Velika would use her as a weapon against us.

“No.” That one word so full of fury echoed in the space between me and Vail as he took a step closer to me. Cali immediately slid between us, and I had no doubt that if Vail continued towards me, she’d solidify enough to tear out his throat. He bared his teeth at her and his eyes bled silver.

She gave him a wicked grin in return, and I could practically see her eyes daring him to do something about it.

“Enough!” I snapped and slid around Cali to stand in front of Vail. I was reasonably sure Vail wouldn’t attack me . . . and I couldn’t let him know Cali had the ability to become corporeal. I knew Vail already considered her a potential threat based on the calculating way he watched her, looking for weaknesses. He had treated Cali with respect on account of how many times she had saved rangers, but if she ever changed from potential threat to actual threat . . . I had no doubt Vail would do his best to destroy her.

Or try to, at least. My money was on my friend, but I’d rather avoid that fight altogether, which meant keeping him away from Cali so she didn’t do something stupid and give herself away. Seriously, what was she thinking antagonizing him like this?

A low growl rumbled from Cali’s chest, and the hairs on the back of my neck rose, but I didn’t turn around to look at her. No matter how strange she was acting right now, I had tobelieve she would never harm me. I would keep my friend sane through sheer force of my own will if I had to.

“There is nothing I won’t do to protect Carmilla.” I met Vail’s unrelenting, predatory stare. “She is my aunt and the only family I have left, but if we storm the Sovereign House and tear her out of it, Velika will retaliate, and we have no idea what that crown can actually do. If she’s already bound Carmilla to her, we don’t know how to break it. We need answers, and we have to find them before showing our hand.”

“And where exactly do you propose we find these answers?” Vail crossed his arms and took a few steps back.

Tension still wound through him, but the silver faded until it was only a sliver against the dark grey. Better. I let out a breath and moved to stand next to Cali, who was still staring at Vail like she was imagining carving him apart with her talons.

“My parents were planning on searching another Fae site before they were killed.” Grief briefly rose to the surface before I ruthlessly suppressed it once more, keeping my voice even, if a little flat. “That trip they took to Velesian territory wasn’t just to try to repair relations between them and the Moroi. My mother wanted to get permission to search around Lake Malov.”

“Shit,” Rynn spat. “That’s going to be a problem.”

“I know.” I gave her an apologetic look. “But we have to go there. The wraiths have avoided that area too, so there is a real chance that if something is there, they haven’t found it either.”

Rynn frowned but didn’t disagree.

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