Page 125 of A Throne of Blood & Vengeance

It was like gears started turning in my mind as I took it all into account. How had I never realized this before? It seemed so damn obvious.

“Some of the humans had Fae blood,” I whispered. “The ones with Seelie blood became Moroi, Unseelie became Furies, and the pure humans turned Velesian.”

Serril whirled to face Erendriel. “See? So much potential in this one. She just needs a little knowledge, that’s all.”

I was so blindsided by this revelation that I only had a brief flicker of annoyance at his patronizing tone. Was this what made the House bloodlines different? We had higher amounts of Seelie blood, and that gave us the ability to control our bloodlust better?

If Serril was telling the truth, and my gut told me he was, this pointed us in a whole new direction to explore. But first, we had to survive.

As much as I wanted to pepper Serril with more questions, I needed to keep my focus on the goal of this conversation.

“Thank you for sharing your knowledge with me,” I told Serril politely. “It gives me hope for a future alliance between us. Speaking of which . . .” My gaze slid to Erendriel. “What are you offering if I choose to ally with you? And what would you require of me?” I raised my chin. “Marriage is off the table. I will not leave my mates.”

I’d been preparing for this conversation since Vail had left. Draven agreed with me that his father would be suspicious if I suddenly became open to discussing marriage after being so adamantly against it before. This had to be played just right.

The Seelie King studied me. “As long as your aunt bears that crown, you cannot defeat her. You need me far more than I need you.”

“I’ve made it this far.” I crossed my arms. “I’ll figure something out.”

“Before or after she burns down another outpost?” Serril drawled as he sauntered back over to stand near the archway. “How many more of your precious people do you think she’ll kill before you accept that you’re in over your head, my pretty little queen?”

“Not your queen,” I said coldly before turning my attention back to Erendriel in a clear dismissal.

Serril chuckled again.

“Still feisty.” The corners of Erendriel’s mouth turned up in a small, amused smile. “I see why Draven likes you. A little bit of light for his dark thoughts.”

“I do miss making the half-blood scream,” Serril reminisced wistfully.

Rage burned through me, and I let it show on my face briefly before masking my emotions. It wasn’t my words that were going to make this part of the plan successful. It was my bodylanguage. Those little tells that Erendriel and Serril were no doubt cataloguing.

Young and inexperienced. Overwhelmed by the world falling apart. Angry at my aunt. These were the things I let them see.

But as Rynn always said, an injured and cornered wolf still had fangs. I just couldn’t snarl with mine yet.

“Draven is not to be harmed,” I said evenly. “Nor are any of my other mates. This will be a business arrangement between us and nothing more.”

“Of course.” Erendriel gave me a placating nod. “A mate bond would be preferred, as that would almost certainly grant me access to places like this . . .” His eyes left mine for a moment to peer at the stairs behind me. Whatever he was thinking, I couldn’t read it in his expression. Then his gaze returned to me. “But there are other things we can do. Until then, you will answer my call and be my eyes and ears for the other hidden areas throughout Lunaria.”

“How many are there? And where?”

“That is not knowledge you need right now.”

If I had to guess, they were in the mountains above the Velesian realm. Draven said Erendriel spent most of his time there. Whatever he was searching for had to be in those mountains.

“Anything else?” I looked over my shoulder and down the stairs quickly.

“Expecting someone?” Serril asked, and my gaze snapped back to him. “Or did you not tell your mates the deal you were seeking to make this evening?”

I stiffened. “I am queen. It’s my decision.”

Erendriel’s smile widened, as if he could already see the cracks of descension forming that he could exploit later. I had no doubt that he still planned to pursue me as queen or at least a mate bond. He wanted to get into those hidden rooms, and helikely suspected that some things might be locked down further to my blood. He wanted access—I was that access.

“And what is it you seek?” Erendriel’s gaze lifted to the top of my head. “Perhaps the crown that is yours by right?”

“Yes, actually.” I straightened. “I have no intention of using it to bind the wills of my people, but it is an object of power that I will not allow to fall into the hands of another.”

“Of course,” he answered in that placating way of his that was really starting to irritate me. I kept that off my face though and instead let a hint of insecurity flash through my eyes.

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