Page 34 of A Throne of Blood & Vengeance

A tentative smile formed on Draven’s lips. “I’ll spar with you as much as you like if you get me and Samara out of here.”

“Can you not use your magic to escape?” I studied the bars. They were a little thinner than my wrist, but when I tugged on them, there was zero give, and as Roth noted earlier, there was no door. How had they gotten him in there in the first place?

“No.” Draven shook his head. “Interestingly, the bars don’t block my magic—that’s why I was able to tear that wall down when your blood leached into the dirt—but I cannot use my magic on the bars themselves, and there are more hidden in the walls of the cell.”

“Must be because you’re part Moroi too,” Roth speculated. “Two forms of magic interfering with each other to create something new . . .” Their lips pursed together, and I could practically see their thoughts shifting. “Do you know where Samara is? Is she in a similar cell?”

“Three floors up,” Draven confirmed. “It’s only her presence here that keeps me from doing my best to tear down the entire building. I don’t have enough control over my magic to ensure her protection.”

“How do they open the cells?” I pushed, even as I looked around the room for a glyph or anything that would hint at how the magic worked.

“Blood.” Draven sighed. “Certain blood is keyed to open the cells. I don’t know everyone who has access, but Vail definitely does.”

“Rumor is that Vail has been following Carmilla around like a loyal puppy,” I said tightly. “Did he betray Samara?”

Draven cocked his head, causing his long, black-and-silver hair to shimmer in the dim lighting. “It’s complicated.”

“It’s a yes or no question,” Alaric growled, turquoise fractures forming in his seafoam green eyes.

“There is no black and white. There is no good and evil.” Draven gave Alaric a patronizing close-lipped smile. “Don’t be so boring.”

Alaric looked like he was on the verge of leaving Draven here to rot.

“Samara can summon Vail,” Draven added. His words only increased the tension in the room.

“Come again?” Severen frowned.

Draven opened his mouth—no doubt to say something lewd—but I cut him off. “How exactly can Samara do this?”

My princely lover gave me an annoyed look that clearly saidspoilsport. “Just trust me on this. Samara can get Vail to comedown here, and then we just have to convince him to let us out of these damn cells so we can all get the hells out of here.”

“Three floors up, you said?” Celestina was already moving towards the door.

“Yes.” Draven started to pace in his cell. “You shouldn’t run into any guards—they’re usually stationed at the very top entrance—but if you do, be quiet about how you deal with them."

“Not our first prison break, prince.” Celestina jerked the door open. Her husband and sons followed after her as she walked into the hall.

I looked at Roth. “Your family is incredible, and I adore them.”

“You’re welcome to have them,” they grumbled and started towards the door, but not before I caught the smirk on their face.

Alaric looked at me before narrowing his eyes coldly on Draven, and I was a little taken aback by his hostility. It felt personal, but I knew for a fact the two of them had rarely interacted before Draven had shown up at House Harker declaring he’d wanted to marry Samara.

Which . . . granted . . . could have been enough to piss off Alaric.

“Be right back,” I promised Draven.

“Go get our girl.” He cut a glance at Alaric before smirking at me. “If you have to sacrifice someone, I nominate him.”

“Hilarious.” Alaric started for the door. “It’ll be such a shame if we have to leave you behind. Truly. I’ll cry myself to sleep every night—after I make Samara scream my name for hours.”

Draven chuckled. “Look at that. Hedoeshave a personality.”

I smiled one last time at Draven before racing up the stairs to the third floor, where the others had already found Samara. Roth had slipped their slender arm through the bars to cup her face.

Dark purple eyes latched on to me. “Kier,” she breathed out before taking in Alaric too. Then she frowned. “It was foolish of all of you to come and put yourselves at risk like this. You shouldn’t have—oww!” she yelped and glared at Roth. “Did you seriously just pull my hair?”

“Don’t say asinine things, and you won’t get punished.”

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