Page 54 of A Court of Bones & Sorrow

Ten minutes later, I’d told both of them everything about Prince Draven. How he’d been waiting for us when we’d gotten back from the temple, the suspicious marriage proposal, and every conversation we’d had with him since he’d been here. I left out his relationship with Kieran because I didn’t feel right discussing that without Kier here, but sooner or later, that would have to be brought up as well. As much as I wanted to leave Kieran’s personal life out of this, his history with Draven was relevant.

“Why the fuck didn’t you tell us sooner?” Cali exploded. The shadows responded to her tension and skittered across the room.

Rynn’s head turned sharply. “Calm down, Cali,” she ordered. The pissed-off Furie whipped around to glare at her, but Rynn didn’t back down. Dominance radiated from her as if she was in her considerably larger and more lethal lycanthrope form instead of her current lithe human skin. “Find your center, take a few deep breaths, and settle down.”

“Fuck you and your peaceful Velesian bullshit,” Cali grumbled, but I could see her shoulders dropping a little as sheconcentrated on her breathing. The Velesians were the only ones of the Moon Blessed who actually transformed into predators, yet in many ways, they remained the most human of all of us.

While Cali reined herself in, Rynn looked at me. “I agree with your assessment that there is more to Draven than it appears. I’ve only met him twice, but both times, his soul was . . .” Rynn cocked her head in a purely lupine gesture. “He was unsettled.”

I nodded in understanding. Most of the Moroi discounted the Velesians because they had little magic of their own. But they could shift into their beast forms and were in tune with the environment to a sometimes eerie degree. A Velesian might be able to sense if the growing season would be poor and the crops wouldn’t be bountiful, or sense predators nearby, but they couldn’t give you any concrete facts. Only feelings.

The Velesians trusted their instincts, while the Moroi scorned them for it.

They also occasionally had visions, but because of the increasing tensions between our people, they were less inclined to share those visions with us. It was one of the many ways the divide between the Moon Blessed was hurting us all.

“Roth has some things to share,” I explained. “And then I have more to tell you all, in addition to what I think our next step should be.”

“You mean your scheme,” Cali muttered, but she appeared less feral, so I let it slide.

“I’ve discovered two things.” Roth swept a hand through their hair. “Those black stones the humans used for the ritual aren’t originally from Lunaria. The Fae did something to either bring them here or summoned creatures who could create them.”

They flipped open a book, pulled out a folded piece of paper, and started reading.

Once they were doom

Now they are salvation

At great sacrifice we called

They answered with death

From fire and chaos

A glittering dark was born

Stones lead to home

Where vengeance calls

“I bet that sounded a lot prettier in the original Fae,” I grumbled.

“Not all of us are fluent in those languages.” Alaric slid me an amused look before focusing on Roth. “If the Fae went through some ‘great sacrifice’ to get those stones created, then they must be important to them.”

“We already knew that.” Vail shrugged, unimpressed. “It’s clear that’s what they’re looking for in the outposts they’re raiding.”

“True,” Roth acknowledged with a dip of their head. “This is merely confirmation that there is something important about those stones, and also, more can’t be made, at least not easily. I wasn’t able to find anything else about what the Fae did to acquire them in the first place, but whatever it was isn’t something that can be easily repeated.”

“It’s in our best interest then to make sure they don’t get their hands on any more than they already have.” I looked at Rynn. “You were the one who noticed they were raiding old human towns. Can you work with Roth to come up with a list of all known settlements, and we’ll try to get to them before the wraiths do?”

“We’ll have to do it quietly,” Vail said. “If they realize what we’re doing, they’ll increase their attacks.”

I nodded. “We’ll get the list to you and trust your judgment on that.”

“There probably aren’t many settlements in the badlands, but I can take care of any of those,” Cali said. “And if there are any in the Northern Ridge, I can take those as well.”

Rynn frowned. “That’s Avala territory. The Alpha Pack won’t like you poking around there.”

“It’s amazing how much I simply don’t care.” Cali’s wings stretched out further before snapping inward. “Besides, they won’t even know I’m there.”

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