Page 71 of A Throne of Blood & Vengeance

Cali blinked as Nyx moved like a shadow, sliding between us and striding towards where Roth’s family was waiting for them. Nyx nodded in farewell towards Alaric, Kieran, and Draven but didn’t spare Vail a single glance.

I rejoined the others, Vail moving a little closer, and Cali followed me. “Alright, let’s go see what we’re dealing with. Carmilla might be licking her wounds after Cali’s dramatic appearance”—the Furie snorted at my words—“but I have no doubt she’s already plotting. We shouldn’t plan on staying here too long one way or another.”

If House Salvatore was compromised, we might have to fight our way out, and even if they weren’t, I didn’t want to stay so close to the Sovereign House.

“Long enough to get cleaned up though, right?” Kieran frowned down at his tunic, which had once been a light cream but was now stained with blood, mud, and gods knew what else. “And maybe something to eat?”

“I’d also like to snag a whip from their armory,” Draven chimed in. “I’m feeling a little inadequate without it, especially since Roth has those fancy ropes and you have your clever knives.” He looked jealously at the daggers strapped to my thighs that I’d imbued with blood magic.

“Sure,” I drawled. “Anyone else have any requests?”

“I want to check out their library.” Roth’s eyes lit up. “Might need help stealing some shit.”

We all chuckled. It felt weird to be joking around, given . . . everything, but I thought we all recognized that we needed some sort of lightness right now. Only Vail didn’t join in.

“I’ll wait outside the walls. My presence will set them on edge. If I don’t receive an all-clear signal from you within one hour, then I’m walking through that front gate. They’re welcome to try to stop me.” Cali wrapped her dark wings around her shoulders like a cloak, pulled the hood of her cowl up, hiding her distinctive red hair, and started down the path that led to House Salvatore.

Unease rippled through me. Cali had a massive overprotective streak when it came to me and Rynn. She wasn’t wrong that her being with us would draw attention, but I was anHeir. Only Aniela or Dominique could deny our entry, and they would have to come out and do it in person.

I watched my friend disappear down the trail. Something told me Cali didn’t want to go in there because she didn’t trust her control. It felt like someone had wrapped a cold hand around my heart and squeezed. For as long as I could remember, people had been terrified of Cali.

I had never been scared of Calypso Rayne—the most powerful Furie to ever exist—but I was sure as shit scaredforher.

Kill Carmilla. Stabilize the Moroi Houses. Do . . . something about the wraiths. Try to mend things between the Moroi and Velesians. Figure out what the fuck was going on with Cali.

Gods, I would give Vail’s right hand right now just to have an easy-to-fix problem so I could get that little thrill at actually solving something.

I thought about our night in the cave that felt like ages ago but had only been a couple of weeks. Maybe his left hand. If I ever decided to forgive him one day, that right hand wastalented.

A laugh bubbled up my throat and got stuck. Was this what it was like to lose your mind? Because I was drained in every sense of the word. Emotionally. Mentally. Physically.

The world could get fucked.

Suddenly, I felt the weight of several gazes on me, and I briefly wondered if my manic laugh had actually made it past my lips. Then I realized that everyone except Vail had started to follow Cali but stopped when they realized I wasn’t moving.

Because I was having a minor mental breakdown. No big deal.

I caught Draven’s attention, knowing Kieran and Alaric would be stubborn about this, and briefly slid my gaze to Vail before giving Draven a heavy look. He pursed his lips but jerked his head in a nod, then proceeded to pull Alaric and Kieran away, but not before they both leveled a death glare at Vail.

The Marshal failed to notice. He just stared down at House Salvatore with a distant look in his eyes.

I stood next to him in weighted silence. I was far from forgiving Vail for what he’d done, but I no longer had any doubts about his loyalty. Carmilla had severely miscalculated bytargeting the rangers. Maybe she hadn’t realized that, despite Vail helping us escape, he hadn’t completely turned against her. He would never side with her now. The rangers—especially those rangers—were Vail’s family.

“She dies.” He finally turned away from the horizon to look at me with eyes of silver fire. “There will be no deal. No life of imprisonment when this is all done. Carmilla fucking dies.”

The fury that had been slowly building in Vail ignited into a bonfire that swallowed his grief and forged it into something new.

I let him see the rage I was feeling before I allowed myself to look at the graves of our fallen friends. Carmilla was someone I’d looked up to for most of my life. In many ways, she was the reason I was who I was. Not to mention that she was my last living blood relative . . . which was her doing, since she’d done nothing when my parents had been murdered. It didn’t matter that she hadn’t been the one to order their deaths. She could have stopped them.

Nobody had forced Carmilla on this path. She’d chosen to be the villain and played us all for fools.

I turned away from the graves to look at Vail. “Painfully. She dies painfully.”

The moodinside House Salvatore was tense. I suspected if I were anyone other than an Heir, the guards at the front gate would have turned us away. As it was, they had granted us entry, and we’d been quickly ushered into a guest wing.

Half a dozen rangers stood outside our door, and the message was very clear that we were to wait. I assumedfor Dominique or Aniela, but the rangers weren’t exactly forthcoming with information.

It didn’t feel like a trap though, because the air reeked of fear and uncertainty.

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