Page 92 of A Throne of Blood & Vengeance

Alaric grabbed Roth’s hand and pulled them to the right while Draven and Kieran went left, giving Samara a clear shot at the spiders. Samara slammed to a halt and snapped the crossbow up. In the span of a single breath, two bolts soared through the air. Two spiders jerked and crashed into each other as a bolt sunk into the exact two-inch spot on their heads I’d told Samara about earlier.

She reloaded the crossbow and fired again. Two more spiders went down.

The others raced ahead, even as the two remaining trappers keyed in on them. Samara took out the one on the right, and Draven’s whip cracked, taking out two legs of the one on the left.

Samara swung the crossbow onto her back again, but I grabbed her before she could dart after the others.

“Wha—”

Her words were cut off when my mouth crashed against hers in a quick but brutal kiss.

I pulled back and grinned wildly at her. “Nice shooting, my queen. Now it’s time to run.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Samara

The memoryof Vail’s scorching-hot kiss was all I thought about as we raced across the badlands, chasing the dying light.

“My queen.”Vail had called me his queen.

After we’d broken apart, he’d pulled me into a run, and we hadn’t spoken since. There hadn’t been time because those fucking spiders had cost us. We were lucky that most of us had come out unscathed. Rynn’s white coat was now a mix of deep red and dark green ichor, but she only had a few minor wounds. Cali was the worst off. Her wings were still fucked from the hairs the trapper had launched at her. Each one would have to be removed before she could fly again, but we didn’t have time to do that now, so she was running with the rest of us.

Everyone had let their bloodlust rise to give them an extra boost of speed and stamina—except Alaric. He was stubbornly keeping his locked down. The fact that he was still keeping pace with us was impressive, but then he did run for fun almost every day because he was a psychopath.

Who ran for fun? Someone who didn’t have to deal with thigh chafing, that’s who.

I slid Alaric, who was on my right, a dirty look, and he glanced at me with a small grin. If we weren’t in such a hurry, I would have tripped the bastard for enjoying this.

Kieran was on my left, and his hand briefly brushed mine for the dozenth time. He’d been doing these light touches frequently since we’d been reunited, like he was reassuring himself I was still there. Roth was sandwiched between Kier and Draven, their eyes burning like two suns as they rode their bloodlust hard.

Behind us, I could feel Vail’s attention on me, as it had been since he’d dropped behind us to guard our backs.

The faint outline of the temple appeared on the horizon, and I could have wept. I tried to calculate how much farther we had to go but gave up with a huff.

“How far?” I wiped at the sweat dripping down my forehead before it got in my eyes.

“Five miles,” Draven replied roughly.

My lungs burned at the answer. The sun was dipping into the horizon ahead of us. Even if we picked up the pace—which I was doubtful we were capable of—we wouldn’t make it before nightfall.

Luck, you spiteful bitch, please be on our side for once and do not let the wraiths show up, I begged—to whom or what, I had no idea. We were so damn close to safety.

Shadows started to sneak across the ground as the sun fell beneath the horizon, slowly taking with it the last of its rays. Even if I couldn’t see it, I couldfeelday giving way to night. My senses became a little keener. Speed a little faster. We were Moon Blessed. We were made for the night.

Unfortunately, so were the wraiths.

“Almost there,” I panted, more for my sake than anything else. The temple loomed before us, and I could make out its towering columns and large open entrance.

Rynn and Cali ran faster, and the rest of us did the same.Straight through the entrance, past the first room, make a right, down the stairs. I reminded myself where Rynn said the door to the secret room was.

The last of the light leached from the skies, and the badlands fell into darkness. At some point in our mad dash to the temple, the clouds had rolled back in and blocked the stars. Moonrise was still hours away.

Between one blink and the next, my vision adapted for the night. No sign of wraiths anywhere.

Relief coursed through me. Within minutes, we’d be at the safety of the temple. We only had to make it a little farthe?—

Shrieks echoed through the dark, and as one, we all slammed to a halt.

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