Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Rynn
“You look like shit,” Roth grunted as two bloodred whips twisted through the air, wrapping around the Moroi’s forearms. The whips themselves were only about six feet long, but Roth had figured out a while ago, thanks to Draven, how to magically extend them with blood magic.
At this particular moment, I was very thankful for that trick.
“A run-in with Strigoi will do that to you.” I winced and wrapped my left arm around my middle. “You just gonna stand there and watch me bleed?”
They rolled their eyes and swept a hand through their hair, which was almost the same bloodred shade as their whips and shaved on both sides. “I remember you being tougher than this. Living with the Alphas has made you soft.”
“Say that again”—I sucked in a gasp as they knelt to help me to my feet—“when I’m not keeping my guts from spilling out everywhere.”
Roth chuckled and supported my weight as we hobbled inside. A small room greeted us, and Roth kept going until we made it into another room, where a mirror was tucked into the corner. “The pretty boys will take care of you. I’ll clean up here.” Roth all but shoved me through the mirror.
“Hate you,” I groaned as I crashed on the other side.
Two faces appeared above me. One with bright hazel eyes flecked with gold and golden-blond hair. The other with deep oceanic blue eyes threaded with red and dark hair shaved on the sides like Roth, but his hair went down to his waist.
“I’m assuming she’s talking about Roth,” the hazel-eyed man said. “Because she could never hate this face.”
“Shut up, Kier,” I growled. “One of you fucks better heal me.”
“Love how I’ve gone from a prince to ‘one of you fucks.’” The dark-haired one bent to swoop me off the ground
“You were never my prince, Draven,” I pointed out as he carefully carried me over to a cot against the wall and set me down.
“Fair enough.” His gaze swept over my naked body, but I didn’t feel the least bit weird about it. Samara’s mates only had eyes for her. “Strigoi?”
I nodded.
“Kier, babe? Want to work on the shoulder while I concentrate on her stomach?” Draven glanced at me. “Sorry. This isn’t going to be pleasant. I can knock you out if you want?”
“Tempting,” I said tightly, “but I’m in a bit of a time crunch.”
Draven shrugged before shifting his nails to claws and slicing open the back of his arm. Then he dipped his fingers into his blood before drawing a glyph on my abdomen just above the wound.
“Fuck.” I clenched my teeth, feeling something like fire pouring into my gut.
“Here you go,” Kieran said cheerfully before thrusting a piece of wood that had been whittled to a bit in front of my mouth. I unclenched my jaw to bite down on it. “Got yourself into quite the little scrap, wolf.” He tutted as he got to work healing the wounds around my shoulders.
Things got a little hazier over the next few minutes.
When feeling came back to my right arm, I screamed, and Kieran had to hold me down so I didn’t undo all the work Draven was doing on my stomach.
I stubbornly clung to consciousness because I needed to stay awake so I could talk to the Seelie King.
Once I was done, I’d hightail it back to the Narchis stronghold and pass out in my bed for twelve hours.
Well, Bastian’s bed. His sleeping arrangement was better than my worn-out cot in the dungeon.
Roth stepped through the mirror a few seconds before Draven rocked back on his heels. “Done. Let’s flip you over and take a look at your back.”
I spat out the bit. “Give me a second.” Cautiously, I took a few slow, deep breaths. Oh wow, it was so nice to be able to breathe without excruciating pain. My back didn’t feel great, but as long as I didn’t move, it didn’t bother me all that much.
Moving was overrated.
“Got rid of the bodies,” Roth said as they walked over to join us. “Didn’t want to attract howlers or anything else in case the scholars from Drudonia make it out here.”
“Unlikely.” Kieran snorted. “Pretty sure they’re still sulking after yesterday.”
“Wha—ahh!” I shrieked as Draven flipped me over without any warning.
“Sorry.” He gave me an apologetic look when I twisted my head to glare at him. “Thought maybe it would be better if you didn’t know it was coming.”
All three Moroi leaned over to look at my back. I thought about making a joke about them checking out my ass, but if I laughed right now, I’d probably die.
“Damn, Rynn.” Kieran shook his head. “It’s a wonder you were able to walk, let alone run.”
“Your spine came very close to being completely severed,” Draven noted in a clinical tone. “Significant muscle tearing, and several of these lower vertebrae suffered damage as well. This is going to hurt. More than your stomach.”
Kieran jammed the bit back into my mouth, then he and Roth held me down while Draven healed my back. Five minutes later, we were all panting and Kier was sporting an already fading black eye because my arm had gotten loose at one point and I’d backhanded him.
“Alright, you’ve been pieced back together.” Roth crossed their arms. “What the fuck possessed you to travel by yourself without at least giving us a heads-up?”
“You’re not my keeper, Roth.” I bristled. “None of you are.”
Draven gave me a patronizing look. “Samara isn’t here, so we’re her stand-ins. How do you think she would react to you showing up like this? Or Cali?”
“Oh! Let’s send a message to Cali?” Kieran clapped, his eyes shining with excitement. “If anything would get our beautiful, unhinged Furie to make an appearance, it would be informing her of Rynn’s ill-thought-out romp through the wilds.”
“First, I hate all of you.” I gave them all a rude gesture before moving to a sitting position. “Second, it’s not like I don’t regularly travel through the wilds alone. Velesians aren’t a bunch of pussies like Moroi.”
“Whatever you say, chew toy.” Roth rolled their eyes before walking over to a small dresser tucked into a corner and grabbing me some clean clothing.
Samara and her mates had gotten used to my naked ass showing up and needing clothing.
They tossed the clothes to me, their sharp gaze lingering on my necklace. “What’s the deal with the jewelry?”
I pulled on the shirt that was a little big on me and rolled up the sleeves before standing to tug on the pants. “Borrowed it from the Drudonia vault.” I unclasped the necklace and tossed it to Roth. “It blocks your scent, but only from Velesians. Everything else can smell you just fine.”
“Interesting.” They arched an eyebrow as they studied it. “There don’t appear to be any glyphs or anything.”
Oh! I actually know this one! Talis chimed in helpfully.
There was a Fae princess . . . I don’t remember her name.
But she had a lover her parents didn’t approve of and they forbade her from seeing them.
But the princess defied their wishes and would regularly sneak out.
Talis chuckled. She was a feisty one. There were beasts that prowled the lands outside the castle, and she crafted that necklace to hide her scent from them.
“Do you remember where and when this was?” I asked curiously.
They fell silent for a moment. No. I’m sorry.
“It’s okay,” I reassured them. “Thank you for the story. I’ve always wondered about the necklace.”
I could tell Talis still felt bad about not remembering more. They had existed for over a thousand years, but their memory was fragmented and none of us knew why.
Draven gave me a considering look. “Are you on the run from the Alphas again?”
“No.” I shook my head. “This is more of a quick little venture. One neither they nor my family was invited on.”
Something dark flashed in Draven’s eyes. “You’re here to talk to him.”
Silence fell in the room. Everyone knew exactly who Draven was referring to.
“I thought things were getting better with me and the Alpha pack,” I said quietly. “But it’s . . . it’s not going to work out, not in the long term, but I can’t just leave.”
“Bullshit. You know Samara will protect you,” Kieran argued. “Just stay with us and I’ll send a nice fuck you message to the Alphas.”
“Things are already on the verge of all-out war between the Velesians and Moroi.” I pinched the bridge of my nose before letting my arms sag at my sides.
“If I defect from the Alphas now and hide in Moroi territory, it will only increase tensions. May even tip them over. I will not put my best friend in that position, nor will I be responsible for our people tearing each other apart.”
“If the Alphas are threatening you, hurting you, Samara will declare war whether you want her to or not,” Draven said.
His tone was even, but a little more red bled into the deep blue of his eyes as his bloodlust rose.
Like Samara, Draven had a lot of Seelie blood running through his veins.
It not only gave him absolute power over his bloodlust with almost no risk of ever turning Strigoi, but he also had earth magic.
“You are not alone, Rynn. How can we help you?”
My eyes burned, and I had to blink back tears while my throat tightened. I didn’t know Draven all that well. Out of all of Samara’s mates, he was the one I’d least expected a declaration like this from, but both his words and expression seemed sincere.
“Thank you,” I rasped and pointed towards the hastily drawn map pinned to the wall.
“I think I have an idea that can help all of us. Warrick is looking for something in the mountains, he’s been obsessed with whatever it is for decades, and we know Erendriel and his wraiths have been looking for something too.
I don’t know exactly what Warrick is searching for, but based on the small amount of information I’ve been able to glean from working with Cade the past few months, I know he’s in the same area that has a lot of wraith activity.
It’s not a leap to assume they’re looking for the same thing. ”