Page 84 of A Throne of Blood & Vengeance

The fuckingaudacityof this man.

“Fine,” I said evenly. “Then you can go with Aniela and her rangers to warn Ary.”

The majority of House Salvatore was going to seek refuge at House Devereux. Roth had written a note to their family explaining the situation. Just like Draven and I had discovered at House Harker, there was a large underground level beneath Roth’s birth House. It would be a little cramped, but they’d be able to fit everyone inside.

Aniela’s Marshals hadn’t been happy about the Heir’s insistence on going to find Ary, but she refused to back down. I understood where she was coming from because I would havedone the same in her place. I also knew that Ary could be a stubborn ass at times and it would take Aniela to convince him to relocate—albeit temporarily—to House Devereux.

Technically, Ary was an Heir, but he acted more like a ranger. Similar to House Devereux, House Tepes had never had much patience for Moroi politics. They preferred to be in the wilds. Because of how close they were to the border of the Velesian realm, Ary and his rangers spent a lot of time there as well.

Or at least they had. I wasn’t sure how much longer even they would be welcome with the rising tensions across Lunaria.

“Not a chance.” He finished checking the horse’s hooves and patted the mare’s neck before looking at me. “I’m not leaving your side.”

I recognized the stubborn look quite well. Even if we did have time to spare—which we didn’t—there would be no dissuading him.

“Fine,” I ground out. “But I get the reins.”

He grunted in reply before turning towards the enormous white wolf that trotted into the courtyard. Rynn gave Vail a silent snarl before butting her head against my thigh and damn near toppling me over.

“You sure you’re up for running the whole way?” I guided my hand down her side, fingers slipping through her thick coat, searching for any signs of injury. Shifting helped the Velesians heal faster, and I didn’t feel so much as a scab. Even if all her injuries were resolved, the amount of healing she’d had to do in the last two days had been taxing on her system. “Cali could carry you.”

I barely managed to pull my hand away when Rynn snapped and let out a warning growl.

Touchy, touchy.

“Quit fussing, Sam,” Cali said as she landed silently next to me, a mocking smile on her face.

I squinted at her. “Worried I’m going to take your spot as the resident fussian?”

“That’s not a word.” She rolled her eyes.

“You’re not a word.” Was I the perfect representation of maturity at twenty-three?

Yes. Yes, I was.

“I don’t even know how to respond to that.” Cali rolled her shoulders before glancing at the sun. “Follow my lead once we get to the badlands. I’ll do my best to guide you all around the worst of it.” She grimaced. “But it’s leading up to the trapper’s breeding season.”

“Wonderful,” Alaric muttered. “More fucking arachnids. As if those starfish things a couple of months ago weren’t bad enough.”

“You good?” I tried and failed to keep from laughing as he awkwardly tried to figure out where to hold on to Kieran on the back of their bay gelding. Kieran gave me a mischievous smirk before nudging the horse to the side, and Alaric immediately wrapped his arms around his friend’s waist with a panicked expression.

He really was the worst rider.

Roth didn’t look happy, but I suspected that had more to do with them having to hold on to Draven and not so much being on horseback. They didn’t really like physical contact with people—except me, which made me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

“We’re heading out,” Aniela announced from astride a white horse, Brennan mounted behind her. She pulled their horse to a stop a few feet from me, and the mare pranced and snorted in Rynn’s direction, clearly not thrilled about being so close to a wolf. “Most of my rangers are escorting the elderly and children on horseback. The rest will help those who are traveling on foot.”

I tried not to think about all the ways that could go wrong. On horseback, it was a two-day ride to House Devereux. Less if theyrode fast, but that was unlikely considering the people riding. Walking would take a solid week.

There were some outposts they could stay at along the way, but that meant collecting more travelers since they’d have to explain things to the locals. All the outposts between here and House Devereux were under Salvatore’s control, and Aniela was confident the residents wouldn’t question the order to evacuate.

The sentiment that there was something deeply wrong with the Sovereign House had been brewing for a long time amongst the Salvatore Moroi. The abrupt change of leadership would only further their suspicions.

I hoped we all survived this so that we could work on repairing that distrust. For too long, we’ve had an every-House-for-themself mentality, and that wasn’t great for longtime Moroi survival. It was something Carmilla and I apparently agreed on—we just differed on how to achieve unification.

“My brothers should receive my message by this evening,” Roth told Aniela. “If all goes according to plan, they’ll meet your people with additional rangers on the road.”

“You have my thanks.” Aniela nodded deeply. “We’ll be unreachable while we travel to House Tepes, but I’ll send word once we’re there.”

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