Page 142 of A Throne of Blood & Vengeance

“Alright.” Aniela nodded. “When you get to House Devereux, please let my people know they can return home.” She swiveled from where she was sitting on the table to fully face Roth, who was seated at the end. “And thank you, Roth—and your family—for taking them in. We are in your debt.”

“What kind of debt exactl—” Roth winced, and I got the distinct impression that Alaric had just kicked them under the table. They gave Aniela a curt nod before grumbling, “There is no debt between us. Happy to help and all that.”

The discussion moved to what we would do about House Harker—something I didn’t have an answer for yet and wasn’t in the mood to discuss with my aunt’s corpse still lying above us.

I left them to discuss the options for that while I went in search of Rynn.

I let my feet carry me to where I suspected she’d gone—down the stairs to the bottom level. Sure enough, when I walked into the cavern of hot springs, Rynn sat on the ledge of one of the pools, her back to me, legs dangling in the water.

“There isn’t anything like this near the Alpha House,” she said. “Nothing I’ve found anyway. Just lakes of ice-cold water.”

“Might be nice in the summer.” I sat down next to her, hiking my dress up to my thighs so I could slip my legs into the warm water too. “You hate the heat.”

We sat there for a few minutes while sadness rolled off Rynn. It was a quiet, defeated kind that made me furious.

“Tell me you don’t want to go back,” I said when I couldn’t take it anymore. “Just say the fucking word, Rynn.”

She leaned her head on my shoulder. “I love you, Sam. That’s why I’m going back. You would go to war for me—you are absolutely that crazy—and Cali would too. But we have all of our people to think about. You need to get the Moroi Houses in order, and I need to accept my fate with the Alpha Pack. Cade is tolerable most of the time. I can do some good there, I know it. I just need to not let the others get under my skin.”

I thought about it. “What if we just kill one or two of them? Maybe the mouthy wolf and Warrick? Have I told you how much I don’t like him?”

“You might have mentioned it a few times,” she said wryly. “No killing anyone . . . for now. Just sit with me for a bit longer?”

I wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “As long as you want.”

Chapter Thirty-Three

Samara

“Welcome back, child,”the Head of House Devereux greeted Roth before nodding to the rest of us as we strode through the main gate of Roth’s birth House three days later. Thessalia’s long, deep red hair had been pulled back into a tight bun, and her shirt clung to her sweat-soaked skin. The guard who had escorted us inside took the sword from her when she held it out to him, and she murmured her thanks.

Gods, had she been voluntarily sparring in this weather? I was wearing one of Vail’s shirts over a pair of pants that were also too big for me. Both were soaked from my own sweat because the sun was doing its best to burn everything out of existence today and we’d been walking all morning. On the surface, Thessalia might appear as fierce as the rest of the Devereax clan but clearly she was just as unhinged about training as the rest of them.

The only thing that could make me run in heat like this was a swarm of trappers. And I had no plans of repeating that experience. Ever.

Fuck. Spiders.

“I’m twenty-two years old,” Roth grumbled as their aunt messed with their short hair that was the same shade of red.

“You can be a hundred and twenty-two, my dear.” Thessalia smiled as she dropped her hand. “You’ll still be that scrawny whelp hiding under my desk to avoid practicing your sword skills with your brothers.”

“Speaking of . . .” Roth glanced around the small entry courtyard. “Where are the banes of my existence?”

“You can admit that you missed them, you know,” their aunt said wryly.

Roth scowled.

Thessalia’s bright hazel eyes danced with amusement. “Your parents are currently in the back courtyard, planning your wedding. I believe your brothers are being their helpful selves and encouraging them to make it a big one. Probably in hopes that it will further take off the pressure of them settling down with someone”—she looked at me and then all my mates—“or several someones.”

A torrent of curse words in multiple languages flowed from Roth’s lips before they gave me a hasty kiss on the cheek. “I need to go wrangle my parents and probably choke my brothers.” Their ropes started to unwind from their forearms. “You going to be okay, babe?”

“Yes.” I laughed. “Go.”

Roth practically sprinted out of the courtyard. They must have been seriously freaked out if they voluntarily ran without something chasing them. It made me wonder if I should be more concerned about what exactly a Devereux-style wedding entailed . . .

“I’m gonna see how Rothie Bear’s parents feel about doing a double celebration.” Kieran planted a kiss on my cheek before chasing after Roth.

My wicked prince chuckled as he watched his mate—and my soon-to-be mate—go and stepped closer to me.

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