Page 113 of A Throne of Blood & Vengeance

Velesians were fast fuckers.

A little tension bled out of Rynn’s shoulders when nothing happened. Either they weren’t here or the barrier was still holding.

“Come on.” She slipped past me and Kieran—somehow managing not to knock over more books—and headed towards the small room that must have been the entryway. “Let’s do what we came here to do and get the fuck out before one of those assholes comes . . .”

She trailed off and came to a slow halt a foot past the arched doorway like prey that suddenly realized it was no longer alone.

Immediately, I dashed towards her with Kieran hot on my heels, books crashing behind us in our haste. I’d been right—this room was just a small entryway that led to the stairwell. Another archway was directly to our right, which hadn’t been visible from the other room. Clearly, it used to have a door because the black hinges were still attached to the stone—mostly anyway—but now, they were twisted and half torn out, like someone had wrenched the door free with their bare hands.

My bet was on Cade. The ursanthrope spoke with even words and calming smiles most of the time, but when he lost it, you got to see what a three-thousand-pound, pissed-off bear looked like up close.

It wasn’t the leader of the Alphas who was waiting for us though. Nor was it Bastian or Ryker—the latter of whom I was happy not to see because Rynn didn’t act rationally around the other lycanthrope. Plus, I didn’t want to be around two snappish wolves any more than I wanted to deal with the bear.

Leaning against the wall on the other side of the doorway was a man with deep brown skin so dark, it was as if it had been kissed by midnight. His black hair was cut short, and the neatly trimmed beard somehow called even more attention to his handsome features.

I had five extremely gorgeous lovers, and I was not the least bit interested in another, but even I had to acknowledge that this man was hot.

Like, impossibly so.

I also had no fucking idea who he was.

Though I was pretty sure Rynn did, based on the intensity she was staring him down with. She still hadn’t moved from her spot, but I recognized the almost cautious aggression sending trembles up her lithe frame. If she were in wolf form, her hackles would’ve been raised right now.

The handsome stranger’s golden yellow eyes barely glanced at me and Kieran before falling back to her. He said nothing, but I saw the hatred burning in his eyes.

“I was wondering when you were going to bother showing up.” Rynn finally spoke in a low, raspy voice. “You smell even worse in person.”

Kieran and I traded a weighted look. Velesians were kind of particular about scents—especially their own. Telling one of them they stank was a sure way to get your throat ripped out.

“Rynn, who?—”

“Just copy the glyph, Samara,” Rynn cut me off. “The barrier is up. He can’t get through.”

Right. I pulled the papers and charcoal from my pocket and strode towards the doorway. The golden-eyed Velesian didn’t move, but his eyes did flick towards me for a second before returning to Rynn.

No vertical slits. So he wasn’t a panther shifter. All the ursanthropes I’d met had a much larger build. He could be a lycanthrope, but something about that didn’t feel right. If I was correct, then that meant he was an aetanthrope—an eagle shifter.

Kieran followed me as I quickly laid the paper over the glyph and then scratched the charcoal over it until the pattern appeared on the sheet. I handed it to Kieran, and he carefully folded it so it wouldn’t smudge before tucking it into his pocket. On another sheet, I made some notes about how the glyph was positioned on the wall and some other finer details that might not have come through in my charcoal imprint.

After handing that paper to him and tucking the charcoal back into my pocket, I studied the glyph for a few minutes. My memory was pretty good, so between that and the papers, I was confident I could recreate this glyph.

The man hadn’t broken his silence once. It was kind of unnerving. I was burning to ask Rynn who the fuck he was, but she hadn’t offered up that information, and the situation felt volatile enough that I didn’t want to push her about it.

When I stepped back from the wall to stand beside Rynn, the man finally deigned to speak. “I’m going to enjoy stripping the flesh from your bones, traitor,” he said in a deep melodic voice.

“Try me, Warrick,” Rynn sneered.

Warrick. Holy. Shit. The missing member of the Alpha Pack. Or at least, a member who nobody in the Moroi realm had seen in decades. We’d all assumed he was dead and that his death was the reason the Alpha Pack had been less inclined to talk to us recently.

Kieran had clearly been thinking similar thoughts because he gave the Velesian a leering look and drawled, “You’re looking pretty good for a dead man.”

Warrick’s cold, predatory gaze flicked to him. “I don’t speak to Moroi whores.”

“Technically, you just did,” Kieran pointed out and leaned an elbow on my shoulder. “Given your whole vibe, I think you really need to get laid. I know I’m absolutely stunning, but unfortunately for you, I’m off the market, so you’ll have to look elsewhere."

Rynn choked on a laugh, finally snapping out of her stare off with Warrick, and slid a glance to Kieran. “You are definitely my favorite.”

“I know.” Kieran nodded sagely.

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