Page 85 of A Throne of Blood & Vengeance

“Travel safe, friend,” I said sincerely. Their trip was just as dangerous as ours. House Tepes was in the north of the Moroi realm. The safe route was to travel to the Sovereign House, then cut west, but obviously that wasn’t an option. So Aniela and her small group of rangers would be cutting straight through the forests in the center of our realm. All sorts of nasty things prowled there.

“You as well.” Aniela glanced to where Vail waited for me by the horse, an increasingly impatient look on his face. “And good luck with that.”

She waved goodbye and turned her horse to leave. Brennan hadn’t acknowledged us once. Super friendly, that one.

It was time for us to get moving, yet I couldn’t convince my feet to budge. Everything between Vail and me was so fucked. I was excellent at compartmentalizing, but even I had my limits. Keeping physical contact with Vail to a minimum had helped keep him in the category ofuseful tool to be wielded as necessary.

An eight-hour ride was going to smash that to pieces.

Something Vail damn well knew because the bastardknewme.

“Sure you don’t want us to kill him?” Cali said casually, not even trying to be quiet. Rynn let out a low growl, her gaze locked on Vail.

He apparently wasn’t the least bit concerned about my two best friends plotting his death because the asshole just smiled.

“If anyone kills him, it’s going to be me,” I muttered. “Let’s get on with it.” I glanced down at Rynn. “Don’t fall into anything this time.”

Her head snapped away from Vail, and her growl deepened as a golden sheen rolled over her mismatched eyes, which seemed brighter in this form.

If she thought we would ever let her live that down, she had another thing coming.

Holding on to that amusement, I stalked towards Vail and easily swung up onto the beast of a horse. A second later, he landed behind me, one large arm looping around my waist while the other rested on my thigh.

A shiver ran through me before I could stop it. Something told me this ride was going to feel a lot longer than eight hours.

I’d trainedmyself to be a very patient person. It didn’t come naturally to me, which was why sometimes my temper won out, but in general, I didn’t mind the quiet. Most people couldn’t handle silence in a conversation or negotiation, so they seeked to fill the void. My willingness to embrace the quiet had won me many a trade deal.

Vail hadn’t spoken in five hours.

Five. Fucking. Hours.

His arm remained looped around my abdomen, and his hand had only strayed from my thigh to retrieve the water bottle—of which he’d made sure I’d also taken a drink. Not by asking. Just by holding it up for me.

I’d expected him to use this time to once again explain to me why he’d done what he had. That he’d been being loyal to Carmilla and hadn’t realized she was seriously fucked in the head. Or that he’d assumed I’d be able to work things out with her and everything would be fine.

None of this would have been news to me. He’d said it all before when I’d been imprisoned and I’d had no choice but to listen to him explain in great detail why he’d chosen to attack my best friend, steal the crown, and do nothing as Draven was tortured and both he and I were thrown in the dungeons.

Sure, he’d done what he could to help me get through my menstrual cycle, but he was the reason I’d been locked up in the first place.

And he hadn’t apologized. The moon fucking forbid that the words,I fucked up and I’m sorry, passed through Vail Ferenc’s lips.

Argh. Maybe I could shove him off the horse?

Subtly, I shifted in the saddle, trying to determine how solid of a grip he had on me.

“Don’t even think about it,” he grunted.

“Think about what?” I asked casually, as if we hadn’t been riding in tense silence for hours.

“Trying to shove me off the horse. That will only result in both of us going down.” His breath tickled my left ear as the hand on my thigh dug in a little harder. “And if you’re that eager to have a tussle with me, I’m sure we can figure something out at the temple.”

Before Vail, I hadn’t thought it had been possible to be confused, enraged, and horny all at once. Honestly? Could have gone my whole life without ever experiencing that.

“You’re insufferable,” I seethed and gripped the reins with one hand so I could reach back and grab my dagger—the one he’d refused to give back after I'd thrown it at him—off his belt. He didn’t try to stop me, but I could feel his amusement as I fumbled a bit before getting it free. I considered stabbing him—not lethally, just a flesh wound—but the bastard would have probably just taken that as encouragement, so I slid it back into the sheath on my thigh and left it there.

Right next to his hand.

“I’m a lot of things these days,” he said evenly. His grip on my thigh loosened, and he started lazily tracing loops on it. I liked it. The slow, methodical pace was relaxing. Between that and his broad chest against my back, I felt safe.

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