Page 85 of A Court of Bones & Sorrow

“Maybe you can show me later?” I gave him a heated smirk, and his eyes lit up. “We can see how sturdy the walls of that cabin are.”

Something roared in the distance, and a chorus of wolf howls answered it. Both of our heads whipped in the direction the sounds had come from, and Vail slowly set me back onto my feet. “The wolves are probably Velesians,” he said. “Most of the sentinels in this area are lycanthropes.”

We had rangers, the Velesians had sentinels, and the Furies didn’t have a dedicated fighting force. There simply weren’t enough of them to justify it. Instead, every single Furie was trained to fight, and they were all lethal.

More howls sounded.

“We need to move. They’re headed this way along with whatever they’re fighting.” He held his hand out, and I slipped mine into his once more. We took off at a steady jog, avoidingthe more nefarious-looking fauna as we cut our way through the forest.

Only when the forest started to darken did we stop to rest. Unease rippled through me. I really didn’t want to spend another night traveling through the wilds, but I also knew we didn’t have a choice.

Vail tugged me to him and kissed me gently. I blinked up at him, still not used to this softer version of him, and part of me worried about how long it would last. Vail’s temper was volatile. I was bound to do something that would piss him off again. It had been bad enough when our friendship had ended as kids—I didn’t know how I would handle it now that we were more than just friends.

If Alaric were here, he would have lectured me. Kieran would have offered me chocolates to ease my concern while scowling at Vail, and Roth . . . They would tell me I was an idiot for getting involved with Vail and to sit on their face as punishment.

I missed them. All of them. My heart clenched. I’d almost died last night and could die tonight.

“Hey.” Vail tipped my chin up until I met his gaze. “We’ll get through this and I’ll get you back to them.”

“How’d you know I was thinking about them?” I rasped.

He smiled and kissed the corners of my mouth. “You’re easier to read than you think, especially when you’re thinking about the people you care about.”

We looked at each other for a long moment, neither of us willing to say anything else on that subject. Finally, Vail pulled his sword free and nodded at the daggers on my thigh. “We made good time today and aren’t too far now. The further inland we go, the less familiar I am with the terrain, but I think we have less than five miles until we reach the cabin.”

“I’ll have to take your word for it because I have no idea where we are right now,” I admitted. Vail smiled faintly andtapped the tree closest to us with his sword. I looked at where the tip of his blade rested and saw several markings carved into it. A wolf’s head followed by what looked like a lake with an arrow pointing in the direction we were facing. Below that, squiggly lines—waves maybe? That one had an arrow pointing back to where we’d come from.

Now that I knew it was there, it was incredibly helpful, but I never would have spotted it without Vail pointing it out.

“Lead the way.” I swallowed past the lump in my throat as the shadows around us darkened and the forest became more sinister. I took in a steady breath as magic flooded me. The sun had fully set. We just had to survive tonight, and then we’d get our answers tomorrow. I refused to even entertain the possibility that this had all been for nothing.

Wewouldfind answers at Lake Malov, though I was less sure we wouldlikethose answers.

Unlike the previous night, the woods around us were eerily silent. Nothing moved in the trees above us or in the thick underbrush, there were no howls or barks in the distance, and even the insects had ceased their chirping.

Vail kept scanning our surroundings, because something was clearly out there, and whatever it was, none of the other monsters wanted to mess with it. I concentrated on keeping my breathing steady and my fingers loose around the daggers, ready to throw at a moment’s notice.

It felt like we’d barely been walking more than a few minutes when Vail whirled and shoved me. Hard. I flew backwards, my back slamming into a tree before I fell to my knees. One dagger went flying from my hand, but I managed to hold on to the other. I staggered to my feet and froze when Vail’s pissed-off snarl rang throughout the night and the scent of his blood hit me a second later.

Five Strigoi stood completely still between me and Vail. Two of them were facing me, and the other three were facingVail, one of which had blood dripping from long, jagged claws.

My heart clenched, and I wished we’d come across any other type of monster. Anything but Strigoi. I’d even take the more dangerous wraiths over this. I looked over the two who were focused on me, trying my best to keep my emotions in check. One of them had been a woman once. Her blonde hair hung in long, tangled knots down to her waist. Like the rest of them, she was completely naked, and her frame was so gaunt, I could almost count her ribs.

The one next to her was equally thin with dark brown hair. He looked like he’d turned when he’d been younger, eighteen at most.

At some point, they’d been living their lives just like me, trying to survive in this fucked-up world, when something had happened to make them lose their humanity and never find it again. Guilt bit at me. I didn’t know when they had turned, but I was a member of a powerful House. We should have done more.

Ishould have done more.

“I’m sorry,” I bit out. The words were meaningless, and they wouldn’t understand them anyway, but they were all I could offer.

Both of them looked at me with empty eyes. The hunger was all they felt now.

“Blood,” the blonde female rasped.

“Don’t run,” Vail commanded. He backed away, and the three Strigoi watching him stepped with him, further away from me. “Just stay alive. Whatever you have to do, Sam, fucking do it.”

If I ran, they would chase me, and unlike many of the monsters that roamed Lunaria, they would catch me. Even if I embraced my bloodlust to its full potential, it wouldn’t be enough. They were nothingbutbloodlust. It made themstronger and faster than any Moroi. The blade felt so heavy in my hand, but I gripped it tighter, and the male Strigoi caught the movement, his lips curling in a silent snarl, revealing his long fangs.

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