Page 78 of A Court of Bones & Sorrow

Nyx rubbed their forehead. “Does it count as saving if he was the danger in the first place?”

I should have kept her tied up in bed. Samara would have been pissed about it, but at least she would have been safe.

“Go,” I told Draven. “Protect her.”

The prince traded glances with Kieran before striding towards the door, the rangers hesitating for a moment before stepping aside to let him pass.

“Prince?” Draven paused mid-step and looked over his shoulder at me. “I don’t give a fuck what you are or what type of magic you have. If you betray Samara . . .” Alaric and Kieran moved to stand next to me as I let my own bloodlust rise, knowing it would turn my eyes into a fiery orange. “If you hurt her, we will make you suffer in ways you can’t even dream of.”

The Moroi Prince smiled. “Good.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Samara

“Sorry, girl.”I patted Zosa’s nose, and the grey mare tossed her head in irritation. “You’ll be safe here, and I’ll be back in a few days.”

“I’ll take good care of her,” the stablehand promised, and I smiled thankfully at the young girl. Her parents were in charge of this outpost, and I knew they were all good people. I hated leaving Zosa behind, but Vail and I agreed that we had to go on foot from here.

The sun was setting, and we were in the last outpost in Moroi territory. We’d traveled straight up the coastline and made it here in less than two days, pushing the horses as hard as we could. The Velesian border was only two miles away and would be the more dangerous part of our trip. It’d be slower on foot, but we were traveling at night, and the horses would have attracted too much attention.

“Thanks, Nisha.” I stroked Zosa’s neck one last time before striding towards the front gates, where Vail was waiting for me. Shortly after we’d arrived, a striker with dark blue scales tinged with purple had landed on his shoulder. It wasn’t one I’d recognized, but we had over a hundredstrikers on active duty, so it wasn’t like I knew all of them. It probably belonged to a ranger who was often in the field. Some of them traveled with their strikers, and the flying reptiles only left them to deliver messages.

Vail’s brow had creased as he’d read the message, but when I’d asked about it, he’d just said it was a ranger thing he needed to take care of and instructed me to get the horses sorted and meet him at the gate.

The rangers posted at this outpost were standing next to him with frustrated expressions. They hadn’t been happy to learn that their Marshal would be traveling into Velesian territory at night, and they’d been even more upset when Vail had refused to let any of them come with us.

“Let’s go,” he said as soon as I reached them.

My heart beat a little faster as the rangers opened the gate for us, and I followed Vail out of the relative safety of the outpost and its ward. The wraiths had figured out a way past the outpost wards, which weren’t as strong as those that protected the Houses, but the outposts were still far safer than the wilds.

Especially the thick forests of Velesian territory.

“We’ll stay on the road until we’re closer to the border,” Vail said quietly. “Then we’ll have to move into the forests to avoid the patrols.”

I nodded. Thanks to a glyph that would hide our scent and Rynn detailing where the patrol routes were, the odds were in our favor of slipping past the Velesians. I didn’t love sneaking into their territory like this, especially after my latest encounter with Bastian. If we were caught, he would almost certainly get word about it, and he’d be only too delighted to take advantage of our situation.

But we didn’t have time to get permission to search the area around Lake Malov either. So we’d just have to make sure we didn’t get caught and avoided the Alpha Pack at all costs.

“Okay.” I looked up at the last rays of sunlight streaking across the sky. “How long will it take us to reach the rendezvous spot?”

“Two days, unless we have to veer significantly off course.”

I slid a glance towards Vail. We’d barely spoken since leaving House Harker. Granted, we’d been racing up the coastline so there hadn’t really been any good opportunities to speak, but now we’d be traveling on foot and then hiding out together in what would no doubt be a small space.

As if reading my thoughts, he turned his head to look at me. “We’ll need to be quiet. This isn’t far from where I think the spine-backed boars were driven into the Moroi realm, which means something is creeping around these woods that we really don’t want to mess with. The Velesians patrol this area less than the land west of the lake, so it’ll be easier for us to slip past their patrols but also increases our chances of running into something nasty.”

The fear that had been building inside me since we left the outpost surged forward. The last time I’d been out in the wilds at night, we’d been attacked by küsu and Vail had left me for dead. My gaze fell on the darkening shadows of the woods surrounding us. As bad as the küsu were, there were worse things roaming Lunaria than overgrown insects.

“I’ll keep you safe,” Vail said softly, his eyes on the forest around us. It was probably foolish of me, but I trusted him. When he extended a hand, I slipped mine into his without hesitation before we stepped off the main road into the midst of the trees. “We’ll be at the border in ten minutes. Do not speak unless absolutely necessary. Our scents might be hidden, but the Velesians will easily pick up our voices.”

I squeezed his hand in understanding, and we crept forward at a steady pace. The trees grew taller and wider as we moved until they blocked the sky. Vines writhed as if they were snakes, and some of the flowers bloomed as night fell, releasingsweet scents into the air to lure in unsuspecting prey. I felt the moment the sun fully set, giving way to night.

Strength flooded my limbs, and it was like a damper had been lifted from my senses. I could smell the creatures stalking the trees above us and hear leaves crunching to my left where something was slinking through the forest undergrowth. The night came alive around us, and despite my fear of what we might encounter, I couldn’t help but love it a little.

We were children of the moon, and the night belonged to us as much as to the other monsters.

Knowing I might need every advantage tonight, I allowed my bloodlust to rise as well. Vail looked back at me over his shoulder, my hand still clasped in his, and his silver eyes practically glowed in the darkness. Looked like we were both embracing our inner monsters tonight.

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