Page 133 of A Throne of Blood & Vengeance

Whatever it was, I didn’t care. Malachi had hurt my friend deeply, and he seemed intent on continuing to do so. I had to let the events of today play out, but sooner or later, I was going to bury my blades in his flesh again, and next time, he wouldn’t be walking away.

Malachi slid his dagger back into the sheath on his thigh and turned to face Cali.

“The Furie Elders have decreed that they will not be involved in the petty squabbles of the Moroi,” he said evenly.

I snorted. Apparently the slaughter of our previous Sovereign and the brutal rise of another was just apetty squabble.

Malachi ignored me and kept going. “All Furies have been ordered to return. You’ve been ignoring their commands for weeks, so they told me to handle you. Aiofe is my incentive to be successful.”

“I don’t know why they bothered.” Cali shrugged. “We both know you would have done it anyway. Always the good little soldier.”

The muscles in Malachi’s jaw flexed. “Some of us have people we care about—who care about us. We don’t get to just flutter about Lunaria doing whatever the hells we want.”

“Listen here, you piece of shit—” I took a step towards him.

“I’ll go,” Cali cut me off. Her tone was harsh, but her look at me was pointed. This had always been the plan. We just had to make it believable in case Carmilla had someone watching. If Cali went without a fight, it would be suspicious. “Let me just get my thi?—”

“Now,” Malachi interrupted. “We leave now. Aiofe’s already been in the pit for two weeks. I’ve been flying around looking for you this whole time and just happened to stumble across some of the new queen’s rangers this morning, who told me wherethat onehad been spotted.” He pointed at Vail before glancing at me. “Your own people were quick to sell you out to a Furie, by the way.”

“Yeah, we’re a treacherous lot,” I deadpanned.

Malachi narrowed his eyes.

“Let’s get this over with.” Cali sighed before stomping over to me. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. Don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone, okay?”

“I don’t like this,” I said with a tightness that I wasn’t faking.

“I know.” Cali gave me a sad smile. “But sometimes we just have to deal with the hand we’re dealt. I’ll see you soon, I promise.” Then she took a step back and launched herself into the sky. Black wings snapped open, and she waved a hand at Rynn and the others before flying off.

“She can’t keep doing this,” Malachi said, a dangerous edge to his voice, his eyes tracking Cali’s movements before turning to me. “Her friendship with you is causing her more harm than you can possibly imagine. Stop being selfish and let her go.”

I took a step forward, away from Vail and Draven, and let the Furie see the predator in my eyes—ones that were now as black as his. “You were wrong earlier when you implied she didn’t have anyone she cared about—or who cared about her.” Rynn moved to stand next to me, her lips pulled back in a silent snarl. “She has us—she always will.”

“Let’s hope that’s enough,” he said so quietly, I almost thought I misheard him before he leapt into the sky.

“Have you summoned him?”Draven asked, his gaze locked on the silver coin I was flipping back and forth across the top of my knuckles. It was a habit I’d picked up from my father. I still remembered him teaching me how to do it. He’d even made me a smaller coin so that it was easier for my child-sized hands.

I’d stopped doing it the day he’d died.

As soon as Cali had been gone from sight, I’d retrieved the coin from the lower levels of the temple. I’d been sitting in the large room in the main entrance—the unwarded part—playing with the coin in the same way my father had once done.

I wondered what he would have said about my plan. About who his daughter had grown up to be.

The coin stopped, balanced on my middle knuckle. For all the secrets he and my mother had kept, I had no doubt that they’d loved me. In keeping my grief locked away, I’d also prevented myself from remembering all the good times. Maybe it was time to change that. Accept the past once and for all so I could truly focus on the future.

I rolled the coin towards my thumb and flicked it up before snatching it out of the air. “No. But I’m about to.” Then I rose from where I’d been sitting on one of the long benches and closed the distance between me and Draven, who was leaning against one of the pillars. “You don’t need to stay,” I said softly. “You can join the others downstairs.”

Everyone except Rynn and Vail had retreated back to the first underground level. We had everything in place for our plan, but keeping busy seemed to help everyone deal with the anxiety of what we were about to do. Plus, the knowledge contained in those secret rooms was truly astounding. We’d learned morein the last week than we had in our entire lives. Hells, we’d probably learned more than all of the Moroi had in our collective existence.

Things that could change life in Lunaria as we knew it. Assuming we all survived what came next. If Carmilla was in charge of the information, I didn’t have faith in her to let others know.

Knowledge was power, and my aunt had already demonstrated just how far she was willing to go to claim it.

“You’re going to kill your aunt,” Draven said wryly as he tucked a strand of loose hair behind my ear. “Least I can do is have a face-to-face with dear old dad.”

“Someday we’ll figure out a way to kill him too,” I promised. “He doesn’t get to live after everything he’s done to you.”

“Agreed.” Vail strolled into the temple, sweat plastering his hair to the sides of his face. It was a blistering hot day in the badlands, and even in the shade, it was warm and stuffy. “Rynn’s scouting a little farther out, but so far, we haven’t seen any signs of Carmilla. I doubt she would risk traveling at night, so we likely won’t see her until at least tomorrow.”

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