Page 60 of A Throne of Blood & Vengeance

Kieran had also grown silent. I knew he considered Adrienne a friend. All of us were silently suffering in our own hells as we watched Adrienne try to avoid hers—to kill a friend . . . or die by their hand.

The rangers close to us shifted on their feet as Nyx stumbled back from another of Adrienne’s deflecting blows. Then Adrienne shoved the young ranger forward, even as they whirled and snarled at her.

“Nyx,” my aunt’s voice, infused with magic, rang out. “Finish this.”

Please, I begged the crown again.Do something.

I . . . cannot.

You must!I screamed through our connection and could practically feel it wince.I will do anything. Just make this stop.

Little queen, its voice whispered through my mind.You have no idea the cruelties I’ve seen. This is one of many. If you do not wish to experience this again, you must reclaim what is yours.

Whatever words I was about to hopelessly plead died as Nyx leapt towards Adrienne, talons outstretched. Adrienne backed up a few steps, but she was too close to the rangers who had moved to stand guard in front of Carmilla, and they shoved her forward. As if moving on instinct, Adrienne dropped one hand from the hilt of her sword to wrap it around Nyx’s throat, catching them midair. Then, with one fluid movement, Adrienne had Nyx pinned to the ground by their throat . . . with her sword buried in their chest.

Her sword pierced Nyx at an angle, so if she pushed down on it, the blade would have shred their heart. The predator in Nyx sensed this and went still, their talon-tipped hands wrapped around Adrienne’s hand on the hilt of the sword.

For a second, it felt like everything paused. I didn’t hear the storm or feel the rain on my face. The only thing that existed was Adrienne and Nyx.

“I love you. Never forget that.” Adrienne’s voice didn’t waver once, her golden hair draped around her face as she held the sword between herself and Nyx. “I know you will find your way back from this. Do not blame yourself.”

With that promise and command voiced into the world, Adrienne pulled her hand away from Nyx’s throat and loosened her grip on the sword.

Time unfroze, and I watched in horror as Nyx’s talons shot up . . . and ripped out Adrienne’s throat.

A fragmented scream of denial poured out of me, and Alaric’s and Kieran’s grasps didn’t slip, but I felt their bodies go rigid next to mine.

Blood flowed from Adrienne’s torn flesh directly into Nyx’s mouth, and they lapped it up hungrily as I alternated between sobs and strangled screams.

“You could have avoided this, my dear, if you had just come with me when I asked,” my aunt called out over the rain that pounded into the ground.

I raised my gaze from where Adrienne had collapsed on top of Nyx and pushed aside the hungry sounds of feeding to meet my aunt’s eyes. “Someday, I might have forgiven you for what you did to me, maybe even what was done to Draven under your watch, but I willneverforgive you for this. And if there are any rangers here tonight whose minds you haven’t scrambled, let this be an example of how you repay loyalty.”

A few of the rangers shifted uneasily and traded pointed looks with each other while others sneered at me, but most of those lined up directly behind Carmilla didn’t react at all. They just continued to stare blankly ahead. Not even reacting to the Strigoi hungrily feasting on the blood of one of their own mere feet from where they sat astride their horses. Or to Emil—one of the most well-respected rangers in the Moroi realm—who had finally gone still.

A cold, hard bitterness settled in my gut. She had used the crown on them despite telling me many times that she would only use the crown’s magic when absolutely necessary. Apparently she found it necessary to strip the free will of sixty rangers and force them to serve her.

As much as that disturbed me, there was a silver lining. The half of the crown that Vail had given her had the ability to see a soul. I took that to mean she could see a person’s true intentions. If my aunt felt the need to compel loyalty from so many of these rangers . . . she must have seen that they didn’t believe in her plan.

I had to figure out a way to break them free of the crown’s magic and to get it away from her so she couldn't cause any more harm to our people.

“Do I need to continue the demonstration, or will you—” Carmilla’s words were cut off when an agonized howl cut through the night.

My gaze fell back to Nyx, and I inhaled sharply. Kieran and Alaric did the same beside me.

The only occurrences of Strigoi becoming Moroi again had been the first generation of Moroi—the humans who had used magic to become something else. The Moroi, Velesians, and Furies. That first generation was special for each of our groups. For the Moroi, they were the only ones we knew of who had lost their humanity . . . and reclaimed it.

Outside of that generation though, it was a known fact that once a Moroi became a Strigoi, there was no coming back.

Nyx was no longer feeding on Adrienne. Instead, they were cradling her close and rocking her back and forth. I saw their lips moving, but I couldn’t hear their words over the rainfall. Nobody moved as Nyx grieved the ranger they had loved like a sister.

“‘I’m sorry. Please wake up,’” Kieran murmured, somehow figuring out what Nyx kept repeating.

Oh gods.

“Nyx.” My voice broke as I called to them. Slowly, they raised their head to look at me. “Not possible,” I breathed out, because Nyx’s eyes were no longer the solid deep blue of night. Now, bright blue threads weaved their way through the darkness.

When Moroi let their bloodlust rise, it was like racing along the edge of a cliff. Most made sure to keep a decent amount of space between them and that edge—some, like Alaric, preferred to never go near it. The rangers liked to live dangerously, trusted themselves not to slip while getting as close as possible.

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