Page 5 of A Throne of Blood & Vengeance

“Anything about Samara . . . or Draven?” Roth asked.

“No.” I shook my head and stared at the short note, as if some further insight would magically appear. Based on all the information we’d been able to piece together, it wasn’t a surprise that Carmilla was walking around free. Confusing, absolutely, because I didn’t understand why she hadn’t reached out to us. Queen Velika being dead had been reported by enough sources that we’d all accepted that as well—shocking as it may have been.

But the crown . . . that was new. We’d been so worried about Velika getting her hands on both pieces that it had never occurred to us that someone else might not only know of its existence but would be vying for it as well. And definitely not Carmilla.

As unbelievable as it seemed, if Kieran’s informant was telling the truth, Samara wasn’t simply missing—she was imprisoned in the Sovereign House. And Carmilla now possessed the whole crown . . . and Vail wasn’t sharing a cell next to Samara.

“Did Vail betray us?” I half whisper the accusation. On one hand, it didn’t seem possible . . . but then Vail might not have seen it as betrayal, at least not to House Harker. He was loyalto Carmilla, almost fanatically, and his dislike of Samara wasn’t exactly a secret, but it’d seemed like things had been changing between them. Had he deceived all of us? A humorless laugh flowed from me. “We were so concerned about the wicked prince that we didn’t see the devil already walking amongst us.”

“We don’t know that Vail betrayed Samara,” Nyx snapped. They were the youngest of the rangers and held Vail up on a pedestal, more so than even Adrienne and Emil. “Maybe Carmilla used the crown on him. We know it can force anyone to obey the person wearing it. He may be just as trapped as Samara, even if there are no visible bars around him.”

Roth shook their head. “She still would have had to get the crown, and Vail was with Samara. If they found the other half, it’s not that big of a stretch to think he stabbed Samara in the back and gave it to Carmilla.”

“Vail must have had his reasons,” Emil said evenly, which seemed to soothe Nyx somewhat. I could see the doubt in the older Moroi’s eyes though. Despite his words, Emil clearly had some concerns about what Vail was up to.

“So what do we do now?” Adrienne asked. “Keep waiting for more information to trickle in? Or go to the Sovereign House to see for ourselves?”

“If that crown truly does everything we think it’s capable of, then our free will could be taken away as soon as we walk through those gates.” Emil’s dark bushy brows creased in concern. It didn’t escape my attention that he hadn’t said Carmilla’s name. We were all having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that the House Leader we’d served our entire lives—someone we’d thought had been just and fair—would be okay with enslaving her own people like that.

I glanced at the letter again.Carmilla wears a crown of silver and gold. If my parents had been here, I’d have asked them—they knew Carmilla well since they’d served her for overa century before semi-retiring—but lately they’d been foregoing the safety of the Harker fortress to spend time helping in the outposts. No amount of pleading on my part about the dangers facing our outposts had convinced them to return. Now, I was a little thankful, because if Carmilla truly was seizing power over the Moroi, it would be the Houses she targeted first.

“Roth,” I said slowly, my gaze flicking briefly to Kieran, who had silently joined us again, a storm brewing in his eyes. “Do we have any books or documents that show the interior layout of the Sovereign House?”

“No.” Eyes that burned like fire looked at me. “But I know where we can get some.”

Chapter Two

Samara

“Have you reconsidered your answer yet?”My ex-husband smiled down at me through the bars of my cell, where I was leaning against the back wall. There’d been a time when I would have found that smile appealing. It had a charming, sly quality to it, like he was thinking of something amusing and couldn’t wait to share it with you. With his perfectly tousled chestnut hair and stunning hazel eyes, Demetri was quite the looker, and he knew it, but I wasn’t a sixteen-year-old girl anymore who could be dazzled by easy grins and pretty eyes.

Actually, even at sixteen, I hadn’t been that gullible. Just a little more willing to put aside my happiness for the sake of my House.

That was no longer who I was. At twenty-four, I knew exactly what and who I wanted, and I did want Demetri.

I wanted him bleeding out on the floor at my feet.

“Have you considered shutting the fuck up?” I gave Demetri a smile that showed way too much fang to be considered anything friendly. “Or better yet, slitting your own throat?”

The grin slipped as the muscles along Demetri’s jaw tightened. He’d come down here every day to ask if I’d reconsidered his offer of marriage. Because being married tothat worthless piece of shit hadn’t been bad enough the first time—he actually thought I’d willingly sign up for round two.

I had a feeling he’d love nothing more than to open the door to my cell, step inside, and throttle me for all the insults I’d hurled his way over the past week. That would be a nice change of pace. I wasn’t particularly good at hand-to-hand combat—knives and bows were my thing—but with how wrathful I was feeling, I had no doubt I could rip out Demetri’s throat faster than he could blink.

Alas, the hulking brute standing directly opposite me on the other side of the dungeon kept Demetri from trying anything devious. Well . . . more devious than going along with having your ex-wife thrown into a prison cell while you tried to strong-arm her into marrying you again.

So far, my aunt—the real reason I was in this fucked-up situation—had kept her word about not forcing me to marry Demetri. Although she’d also made it clear that she thought the marriage would be in the best interest of everyone.

Everyoneclearly did not include me.

There had to be a reason. Neither of them were the sentimental type. There was some political gain to me being married to Demetri that I wasn’t seeing, and they must have discovered it recently because they’d both allowed my divorce to go through, and that had only been a couple of months ago.

But since I was locked in this fucking cell, I had no way of finding out the reason behind all of this. I needed to get out of here. I had to make sure Kieran, Roth, and Alaric were alright. Plus check in with Cali and Rynn, who were no doubt losing their minds over my lack of communication. Draven was alive—for now—but I refused to leave him behind, so I had to devise a plan that got him out too.

There was another complication to all of this. A ticking clock, so to speak. Cramps tore through my lower abdomen, taking mybreath away and sending a fresh bolt of pain every minute. I felt like I was dying.

The hulking brute, Vail—also known as the lying sack of shit—glanced at me with a frown. His grey eyes scrutinized me as if he could sense the pain I was in.

I ignored him and tried to will the cramps away. And the Marshal while I was at it. Tragically, they both remained.

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