Page 141 of A Throne of Blood & Vengeance

Roth smirked. “That would explain why he never once caught on to the fact that you very specifically referred to the Fae artifact asthe crown—and only the crown—in the bargain.”

“I did, didn’t I?” I chuckled. “Look at that . . . a loophole.”

Erendriel slammed a fist against the barrier, and the boom echoed across the room, but it held fast. The wraiths scattered in streaks of darkness as they tried to find a way out.

My fingers moved through the cold blood until they touched something solid and considerably smaller than a crown. I felt the ripples in the liquid as my mates continued their own searching.

Erendriel glared at me furiously from the other side of the invisible barrier—the one we’d created based on the spell that had been used here and in the secret room beneath the Alpha House. It hadn’t been hard to figure out how it worked . . . and then to adjust it so it could keep somethingininstead ofout.

“No more queens. No more kings.” My voice boomed across the temple, and I slipped the band onto my finger. “No more crowns.”

Magic sparked within the bowl, and I felt the echo of it through the mating bond. As one, we all raised our left hands, blood dripping to reveal the rings we all wore on our index fingers—the one that had a direct line to our hearts.

Each ring was made of three woven bands. Gold, silver, and a deep ruby red.

Home. Talis hummed happily.

I bared my fangs at the Seelie King. “Welcome to the dawn of the Blood Sovereign.”

“When doyou think he’ll stop ranting?” Aniela stared up at the ceiling from where we were all gathered on the first hidden level.

“Probably not for at least a few more hours.” Draven snorted.

“A silencing spell might be necessary.” I wrinkled my nose, drawing a chuckle out of Kieran.

Vail and Ary were outside, speaking with the rangers. Thanks to Erendriel and the wraiths being trapped in the front room, the only way in or out was to climb out of the hole in the ceiling in the large room directly above us. Neither Draven nor I were confident enough in our earth magic to attempt to make a hole in the wall and risk structural damage to the temple.

I had no idea what would happen to our spell if the temple collapsed around it. Sooner or later, Erendriel would find a way out. We’d been confident—mostly—that the barrier spell would work, but there were definitely nuances to it that we hadn’t had time to fully grasp. I had no doubt Erendriel, or maybe Serril, would find a way to exploit those and get out.

And then I’d have a very pissed-off and powerful Fae coming after me. My eyes flicked to the table full of weapons. Howfortunate that we found ourselves in possession of weapons that could harm them. Maybe even kill them.

“So, what’s the plan now?” Aniela asked. “Now that you all have those fancy rings?”

I am quite fancy,Talis said excitedly.

Roth frowned. “This is going to take some getting used to.”

“What is?” Aniela glanced at them in confusion.

“Talis—that’s the name of the crown—now the rings,” I corrected myself, “can speak in our heads.”

Aniela’s green eyes darted between our bands. “While I’m envious of being able to see people’s true intentions, not sure I’d be willing to sign up for an ancient Fae artifact to live in my head. No offense, Talis.”

Tell her none taken. Not everyone can handle how amazing I am.

Kieran laughed. Something told me he and Talis were going to get along very well.

“They’re not offended,” I assured Aniela. “And Talis has been through a lot. It’s the least we could do.”

In truth, we’d discussed it for quite some time. What it would mean for our lives to be forever bound to the rings. Talis had sacrificed the part of their magic that allowed them to control the will of others, but they could still read a soul and reveal the truth of a person. In exchange for their cooperation, they’d asked to never be alone again.

Vail and Alaric hadn’t been thrilled about it. I’d been surprised Roth was fine with it, but then I’d realized it was because they now had an ancient artifact they could constantly ask questions. Talis might have been locked away for a long time, but there was still so much they could tell us.

“We need to go to House Devereux first. We won’t stay there long, but I need to check on Tamsen . . . and Nyx. Then we’ll travel to the Sovereign House to assess things there.”

I tried not to look at the silver box that held Carmilla’s heart. When Erendriel had kicked it, the organ had landed on the other side of the barrier. I didn’t know exactly what had possessed me to pick it up and put it into the box. Nobody had said anything while I’d done it, and it’d been sitting on the table since we’d come down here.

I directed my attention to Aniela. “You should go to the Sovereign House ahead of us to meet Dominique. According to Talis, all the bindings ended during the transformation spell, so her mind is her own once more.”

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