Page 79 of A Throne of Blood & Vengeance

I cocked my head. “So, you and Malachi fucking again?”

Her eyes widened to an almost comical degree. “Excuse me?”

Bullseye. I’d known something had been off when that Furie had come looking for her at House Harker. It hadn’t been one particular thing, but a bunch of little tells. The way he’d said Cali’s name with a hint of dark possession, how the muscles along his jawline had flexed when we’d said we hadn’t seen or heard from her in weeks, and how he’d been somewhat reluctant to leave when the other Furie with him had announced they’d tried their best but needed to return home.

“You know, big bastard, about yay high.” I held my hand up way above my head. I wasn’t short by any means, a solid six feet, unlike Draven and Vail, who both had several inches on me. My hand was above where even their heads would be. “Dark eyes, messy, shoulder-length black hair, leathery wings. Not ringing any bells?”

“That’s the Furie who stopped by House Harker looking for Cali,” Alaric said out loud—I assumed for Draven’s benefit because Alaric and Roth had been there that day, and I didn’t think Alaric gave a single fuck about keeping Vail in the loop.

Draven hummed in response. “Interesting.”

“It’s not!” Cali scowled at him before crossing her arms and glaring daggers at me. “You’re mistaken. Clearly, you’re losing your touch for reading situations, Kieran.”

“Actually, I wasn’tentirelysure the two of you were at it again.” I grinned. “But I am now.”

The Furies didn’t do relationships or emotional commitments of any kind. It was a strategy to keep their emotions under control and limit the chances of them losingthemselves to that all-consuming rage that always burned within them. Cali wasn’t one to follow rules, and she’d been involved with Malachi before, but when the Furie elders had ordered them to cease their relationship, Malachi had obeyed.

I was surprised he’d decided to disobey now, and even more surprised that Cali had taken him back and not slit his throat.

Cali’s golden eyes glowed, and I saw Vail stiffen out of the corner of my eye, but I just let my grin widen at the pissed-off Furie. “If he disrespects you again, let us know. We’ll make sure his body is never discovered and find you a nice Moroi to fuck.”

She snorted, and the glow faded from her eyes. “Thanks for the offer, but I’m pretty sure I’d break a Moroi.”

Before I could start naming potential fuck buddies for Cali—ones who probably wouldn’t mind being broken by the beautiful Furie—the sound of footsteps came from the hall, and we all looked towards the closed door. A few moments later, it opened, and Samara strode inside with Rynn and Aniela behind her.

“Rynn?” Cali started. “What are you doing here?”

“Enjoying Moroi hospitality,” she said dryly, flicking her long brown hair that was in desperate need of a good brush over her shoulder.

Samara coughed politely as Cali’s piercing stare bounced back and forth between the three of them. I decided that I didn’t want to be standing between Cali and Rynn, so I practically dove for the settee and reclaimed my seat next to Draven.

“Smooth,” Alaric muttered on my other side.

“Blow me.”

Alaric snorted. “Pretty sure that’s pretty boy’s job.”

“You think I’m pretty?” Draven arched a brow at Alaric.

My best friend scowled, sinking further into the cushions.

Ignoring us, Cali marched across the room. Her path took her directly where I’d been standing, and I had no doubt that, had I still been there, she would have flung me out of her way.

“You’re okay?” She crashed to a halt in front of Rynn, her hands quickly and efficiently checking her for injuries.

“I’m fine. Quite fussing!” Rynn slapped Cali’s hands away, only for the Furie to key in on a spot of dried blood on her tunic and yank the clothing up, exposing Rynn’s ribs. Several claw marks were still healing, and she had dark bruises, but nothing life-threatening. Still, it must have been bad if she hadn’t healed completely already.

“What the fuck is this?” Cali demanded.

“I’ll get to that!” Rynn snapped and again smacked Cali’s hands away. She gave Samara a pleading look. “Will you please tell her I’m okay?!”

Samara tapped a finger against her bottom lip. “Mmmm . . . no. We were both worried about you, so you’ll just have to deal with some light fussing.”

I laughed under my breath, but not quietly enough because Rynn’s wolfish eyes narrowed on me. I killed any hint of amusement on my face and gave her a small, supportive smile instead. She wasn’t buying it, but when Cali tugged her tunic up again, she broke our stare off and went back to pulling her clothes out of Cali’s grip.

Pissing off Cali meant you had to watch your back for a while. She’d never kill anyone Samara cared about, but she wasn’t above stabbing you a few times. Nonlethally, of course.

Personally, I preferred that over Rynn’s method of revenge. The lycanthrope had a very creative mind when it came to pranks, as I’d learned years ago when I’d been flirting with a courtier from another House in front of Samara. In my defense, Samara had been talking about Demetri all week after visiting him. He hadn’t revealed his assholeness back then, and she’d actually liked him.

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