The Blood Crown (The Blood Folk #2)

6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

T he next day passed without event, for better or for worse, as they slowly chipped away at the vast distance between them and the black gates of Ravenstone.

Aurelia awoke sore and stiff, but the pain was welcome. The thirst was worse, but she found she could ignore it after a while, lying to Ven when he quietly offered his blood to her. If she felt hunger like this, he must be ravenous, and if they encountered anything on their journey he would need his strength more than she did.

Despite the quiet and the sunlight, Ven and Karro were both on edge, not speaking much unless it was necessary. Aurelia followed their lead, but it only left her with the muddied mess of her thoughts raging like an endless torrent. This bone-numbing sadness. A deep well of emptiness, spiraling down, down, down. She hadn’t felt like this since—

Since her life had gone up in flames. Since she’d discovered that she wasn’t human and there was an entire world that she'd been ignorant to just beyond the edge of the Valley. Since she’d realized she was a threat to the people she loved most.

Except she’d gone back. She’d given up the small semblance of an existence that she had carved out for herself in the Blood Kingdom hoping that it would all be worth the sacrifice when she finally went back to her life.

The words she had silently spoken to herself over and over like a prayer, like an incantation, when she’d returned to the human realm. Playing the pretty, smiling girl on Bastien’s arm. Asking the Wraiths to sacrifice themselves keeping the border safe while she uncovered her father’s murderer. Lying to everyone she loved instead of letting them move on with their lives without her. That all of it— all of it — had somehow been worth it.

And she wasn’t sure that it had been.

She felt for the heavy weight of the ring in her pocket, counting down the minutes, days, until she could be rid of it. Once they returned to Ravenstone, Seth would make sure the relic remained hidden and safe.

Dropping her hand again, she released a breath, focusing once more on the burn of her thighs as they climbed further into the Shades.

The ground grew more treacherous every day, but they kept an unrelenting pace. The thought of the roaring fireplace on the second floor of the library kept her going. She could imagine exactly how wonderful it would feel to sink into a hot bath in the black stone tub in her chambers— Ven’s chambers , she reminded herself.

How many times had she fallen asleep in his large bed? Taken the books from his shelves and curled up by the fire to read with a cup of coffee?

Would he ask her to find new chambers? Should she offer?

The comfort he had given her last night had been a kindness, but she didn’t know where they stood now. Heat crept up her neck at the memory of his whispered words in the Crystal City.

If you still want this when we return—I’ll gladly oblige.

Aurelia stumbled, losing her footing for a moment. Ven turned, grasping her arm and helping her out of the hole she’d fallen into.

“Thank you,” she said, glancing up to where he stood in front of her, a blush staining her cheeks at the thought that had caused her to stumble, but his eyes were fixed on the ground at her feet.

She looked down at the large imprint that had swallowed up her boot. Five claw marks dug away the earth, a paw print the diameter of her head.

Ven’s mouth was a tight line as he studied the tracks.

Karro circled back to where they were, kneeling in the dirt to take a closer look. “One of the Fengul?”

Fear slithered down Aurelia’s spine at the name for the Dark King’s death hounds.

Ven’s nostrils flared, scenting the forest air around them. “It doesn’t stink of demon.” His dark brows furrowed. “We should tread carefully.”

They went back to walking in silence for the remainder of the day. And it was a small relief that all the swarming thoughts emptied from her head at the very real threat that still hunted them.

Karro had taken first watch as Ven wove thick branches in front of the husk of the large grey pine that they’d taken cover under tonight.

The space inside the dead tree was comfortable enough for her to stand as she blocked out the chill with dried leaves and smaller bits of branches, but Ven had to duck as he worked beside her. The ground beneath them was dry, and the two of them could lie down comfortably, if not a little snug to get some rest— if she would be able to rest.

“What else would make tracks that size?” she asked, her fingers stiff and clumsy from the cold.

Ven paused his work. “Nothing that has prowled these mountains in ages.”

It was answer enough. The only explanation was that one of the Fengul had been nearby and somehow they’d been lucky enough to avoid it. The glowing green eyes of the beasts were still emblazoned upon her memory. But the image was quickly replaced by the immortal prince, parting the tide of demons, his black eyes focused wholly on her.

She fought back a shiver. “The demon prince that tracked us to the border—”

“Maloch,” Ven supplied, his voice hushed as if speaking the very name of the demon might summon him. “One of Asmodeous’ brothers.”

“What are they?” she wondered aloud.

“Even our histories do not go back far enough to their beginning,” he answered. “Some say deities from when our world was born. Some tales even claim that our magick trickled down from them, the fact that we must consume blood to wield our power a remnant of their lineage, but no one knows for certain.”

The power that rippled from the prince had been overwhelming. So much that she had felt it even from a distance—nothing like the power that the Blood Folk or the Allokin possessed. Something that felt far darker, far older.

“Asmodeous is no doubt still looking for a way to return since I sent him back, but if Maloch was able to claw his way out . . . it means the King of the Void has found another rift in the wards—or he’s found a way to create them without the use of his relics.”

Fear drug icy claws across her skin.

“Why does he want me?” she whispered, finally voicing the thought aloud.

She was nothing. No one.

“I don’t know,” Ven answered softly.

Honesty. Even when a lie would have been more comforting, he had always given her honesty.

“My power relies on blood . . . so why don’t I wield flame or shadow?”

Ven let out a weary breath. “I don’t know. I wish I had answers for you—more to offer. The illness . . . going into stasis. Those things are particular to our kind, but the lightning . . .” He stared out into the darkened forest, crimson eyes distant with thought. “The only kingdom with a glimmer of that power was wiped out at the start of the war.”

“What if someone survived?” she hedged.

He shook his head as he turned to look at her once more. “Anything seems possible at this point.”

“Maybe I’m a half breed after all,” she offered with a thready laugh.

“When we return, we’ll find the answers you seek.”

“If I return,” she whispered, “I will bring his entire army down on Ravenstone.”

All of them knew it, but none of them had spoken the thought aloud.

“And we will fight,” Ven replied, turning to look at her. “Because you are one of us , and we do not fight alone.”

The words made her eyes sting with emotion. “I’m sorry—” she choked out.

For returning to the human realm only to wish she’d never come back. For bringing danger snapping at their heels. Even once they made their way back to Ravenstone the threat wouldn’t disappear. It would only be held at bay by the wards and the black tourmaline walls of the fortress. But would they ever be able to safely leave the confines of the Blood Kingdom once they returned? Or would the Dark King’s death hounds be waiting silently, unendingly, for their chance to drag her to their king.

Ven took a step toward her in the already confined space, his eyes darkening as they held her hostage.

“Why did you leave?” he rasped, his voice tinged with something she couldn’t place.

Disappointment? Regret?

How could she begin to explain? That pull toward him . . . She’d felt it with every minute that she was parted from him, trying to pretend that the life she had returned to in the Capitol was the one she wanted. It was an ache deep inside her. A tether to him that refused to let her be free.

But how could she possibly put words to any of that?

“I couldn’t stay,” she said softly.

His gaze dropped to her lips for a moment, making her breath catch in her throat. He must have heard the way her heartbeat picked up, noticed the rapid rise and fall of her chest, but his eyes were locked on hers.

“I would have found a way for you to stay,” he whispered, the edge of his voice jagged with emotion, "if that was what you wanted."

They’d had this argument already, but clearly it wasn’t over.

“I thought it was what I wanted.”

“What happened, Aurelia—I know about the First Brother, about Asher. But there was something else . . .” His eyes blazed fiercely in the falling dusk. “What happened with him.”

She’d never spoken Bastien’s name aloud. But he’d known all along that someone else had been an invisible barrier between them. And even in the moments when both of them had offered slivers of their feelings for each other, he’d never pushed her. He’d never prodded for an explanation or forced her to make a choice.

She’d made that choice on her own—to go back to that life. And never once had he fought her on it . . . He’d made it safe for her to return.

Admitting that Bastien had betrayed her still wasn’t something she could voice. The details of it didn’t matter now, because beneath all of it was a deeper truth.

Even before she'd discovered his betrayal, every minute, every moment spent with him had felt wrong .

And the harder thing to admit was that Bastien's lies, the threat she posed if she had stayed in the human realm—those were just convenient excuses for what she truly desired.

Because the life she truly wanted was the one that she had built at Ravenstone, with the Wraiths . . . with Ven.

So why couldn’t she bring herself to admit the truth to him? He wasn’t a male to mince words. He meant what he said, and he kept his word. And he’d told her . . .

He’d told her that there was no future for them.

Her eyes snagged on the heavy silver chain glinting beneath his collar, whatever talisman hung at its center always tucked just out of sight. A token from a past lover? A memory of someone he'd lost? Whatever it was . . . he kept it close to his heart for a reason. And it was a reminder that he’d made her no promises.

Ven’s crimson eyes speared into her, waiting for her to say something. Anything.

She swallowed thickly, cursing herself as her gaze fell to the ground. “He wasn’t the person I thought I knew.”

His eyes narrowed, and she knew he saw right through her. But as he turned away, he uttered, “Then he’s a fucking fool.”