Chapter Nineteen
Samara
The inn appeared remarkably ordinary, not unlike the one Raphael and I had stayed at on the way to Apante. Demos and another guard rode ahead, making them aware of our arrival. We all dismounted—I more stiffly than the rest—and one of the guards reached for Contessa’s reins.
“I’ll have her untacked and cooled down,” she explained. Her own mount was at her side.
I hesitated before handing them over. “Can you show me how? I… I’d like to learn how to properly care for a horse.”
“An admirable choice, my lady,” the guard offered.
I waved away the title. “Call me Sam, please.”
“Sam.” She offered a hand. “I’m Larissa, of the Nightsworn. It’s my privilege to guard you.”
I took it, even as I could feel Raphael’s stare on our clasped hands. The vampiress was as tall as Demos, her hair short to the shoulders and cut close on one side.
“I can show you how to tend a horse,” Raphael cut in. “Or I could show you tomorrow at dusk, before we leave, so you can rest. You’re exhausted.”
His arms were crossed, his gaze still on Larissa.
Truthfully, part of why I wanted to learn was to have some distance from Raphael. I’d been surrounded by his scent for all my waking hours since we’d left. My fangs had been aching for days.
I gave the vampiress a small smile. “Larissa can show me. I’m not too tired.”
I could all but feel Raphael’s disapproval, but he didn’t push the matter. He just watched Larissa lead me away. She had us walk around for a bit, leading her horse with ease, before guiding us to the stable.
“You’ve been here before?” I asked.
She nodded with a glance back. “I’ve been part of an envoy between the kingdoms several times over the years. Here, this is how you untack.” She showed me how to remove the bridle on her own stallion and tie him to the stall, and then to adjust the buckles of the saddle.
I mimicked the action on Contessa. Now that I’d spent several hours riding her, she wasn’t quite so scary.
As Raphael said, she was a fairly easygoing creature.
It was the unfamiliarity that made everything worse.
Larissa gave an approving nod, then patiently walked me through the steps to care for a horse after a long ride, including picking the feet, before she handed me a brush and demonstrated the next task.
“Gosh, I feel like I need this,” I mused, as I brushed Contessa’s coat in massaging circular motions. Larissa was caring for her own horse in the stall next to me.
She laughed. “The first days are the hardest. You rode well.”
I snorted. “I thought vampires couldn’t lie.”
“You rode well for a woman who’s new to the saddle,” she amended with a smirk. “You haven’t ridden before, right?”
I shook my head. “No.”
“Then you did great. Besides, you’ve been willing to learn the drudgery with it.”
Drudgery. Nearly my whole life had been drudgery. “Tending to an animal that’s carried me for several hours hardly qualifies.”
She set her brush down and stood next to me. “An admirable attitude.” She slipped a palm over my hand.
Perhaps it was meant to adjust my technique.
Perhaps it was simply meant to be a comforting gesture.
It didn’t matter. A wave of absolute fury slammed into me.
How dare she touch me, the necromancer, the one she should fear?
I grabbed her wrist and forcefully pulled it off, thinking nothing of the consequences.
Bone crunched under the contact. The anger roared in me all at once as if it had been bottled up for days and now it threatened to explode.
I bore my fangs at her, my other hand dropping to the hilt of my dagger, but when my fingers grasped the leather guard, my mind finally caught up to my rage.
What was I doing?
Larissa’s eyes were wide, her stance defensive, though she hadn’t fought back. Of course not—I was under Raphael’s protection. The thought threatened to stir the anger again, but it wasn’t my anger. I’d been having a good time with Larissa.
“I didn’t mean to overstep, my lady.” Her posture was stiff, but some concern was on her face. Maybe a hint of fear too. I’d seldom landed a blow on Raphael, but even with Larissa’s own vampiric instincts, she hadn’t been fast enough to pull away.
Realizing I still had her wrist in a death grip, I let go. Holy shit, what had I done?
“No, no, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to. Your wrist…” Guilt hit me square in the chest. I’d hurt her without even meaning to. This must have been what Thea had warned me about. I’d felt hints of this anger before, especially sparring with Raphael, but I’d thought I’d gotten a handle on it.
At least I’d stopped myself before thralling her, but this anger, the physical violence—was it worse? To be so out of control of my body?
Bile rose inside me.
“It’ll heal soon,” she assured me. “I shouldn’t have touched you without permission, my lady.”
It would’ve been easy to blame her sudden movement, but I knew better. She wasn’t the one at fault. I was. “I’m truly sorry. I don’t know what came over me. You did nothing wrong. I just… I was wrong to react like that.”
Her expression softened. “It can happen. Especially since you’ve only recently turned. I certainly didn’t know my own strength when I was newly made.”
Her forgiveness was so quick it almost made me sick all over again. Especially because the part of me she was forgiving—the vampire side—hadn’t been responsible for this violence. “Perhaps that’s it. I’m sincerely sorry, Larissa.”
She smiled, genuine understanding sparkling in her eyes. “Let’s see about getting something to drink. As a fledgling, you’re probably thirsty by now.” She shut the gate behind us.
“I’m always thirsty.” The words slipped out, a little too honest. I was still distracted by the foreign anger I’d faced.
Larissa winked. “I’ll gladly assist any way I can, my lady.” There was some extra meaning in the title that I didn’t quite catch.
“Sam,” I corrected. Had that outburst cost me the bit of friendliness I’d earned?
“Sam.” She waved me forward, but carefully, and didn’t reach for me again. “Let’s see how the others are faring.”
The inn was cozy. That was the first word that came to mind.
Artfully composed quilts covered every chair and wall, clearly a passion of someone who spent time here.
It was as normal as any inn to be found in the Witch Kingdom.
The foyer was empty. Instead, sound rumbled through an open doorway past the entryway.
Larissa strode forward. I trailed behind her after a moment of glancing around.
Round wooden tables with stools of slightly varying heights. A warm fire that we’d seen glowing upon approach. We weren’t the only travelers. A few others sat at the bar or at tables. The only real difference was the lack of bottles set behind the bar top.
Our group had settled around a large table.
One of the guards was gesturing with a goblet, the one to her side giving a good-natured shove to the shoulder.
Raphael was perpendicular to the entrance but hadn’t spotted us yet, an empty seat at his side.
There was a slight curve to his lips, and he said something I couldn’t catch over the din that had the others laughing.
Larissa turned back when I didn’t follow. “Coming?”
I hesitated, unsure. Did she really want me there, after how I’d hurt her?
Her wrist already looked better, but the guilt lingered.
Yes, we’d traveled for days, but I hadn’t really spoken to anyone but Raphael—and Demos, if you counted him barking orders at us to pick up the pace.
But what was I going to do, retreat to my room and hide under the bed until dawn knocked me out?
At least then I wouldn’t hurt anyone—or the grimoire’s influence wouldn’t make me hurt anyone. But then again, I needed to master my resistance. I couldn’t do that from an empty room.
I trailed after Larissa, who was greeted with clasped forearms and grins that said this might not be their first glass of blood wine. She pulled an empty seat from a nearby table.
I got respectful nods and took the only other free space—the one next to Raphael.
“How were the horses?” Raphael asked, a bit blandly.
Was he still in a huff about me going off with Larissa before? “Fine, I suppose. After several hours of trotting along, I can understand why they need to be massaged.” Honestly, with how sore my own hindquarters were, I almost wished we could trade places.
Larissa grinned across the table at me. “You’ll be a natural rider, I can tell.”
I palmed my thighs, feeling the muscle hot under my fingertips. I hadn’t noticed when we’d been on the move the past few days, but now I was acutely aware of the ache. “A sore one, perhaps.”
Raphael’s gaze flicked to my lap, and I stilled my hand. He didn’t comment on it.
“It’ll get easier,” Larissa said encouragingly. “You’ll get the hang of it in no time.”
One of the guards whose names I didn’t know huffed. “A ringing endorsement from you.”
Larissa crossed her arms. “What’s that mean, Lettie?”
Lettie’s face was the picture of innocence. “Just that the first time I saw you try to ride a Nykta, I thought you would be the first of the king’s guard to be trampled to death by your own horse.”
Larissa lifted her chin. “Everyone knows Old Nelly is as ornery as the winter night is long. It was a setup.”
Demos snorted. “That’s the same excuse every rookie gives. Do better, Nightsworn.”
Larissa huffed. “I did do better. After half a dozen sugar cubes and a bushel of apples, the beast actually let me ride her halfway around the mountain before bucking me off again.”
The table laughed, Demos included. I cracked a smile before I even realized what I was doing. I’d spent little time speaking with anyone but Raphael, but there was no awkwardness. They were far more relaxed than any of the other vampires I’d encountered at court. More… normal.
“Should’ve given you a scabbard of sugar cubes instead of a sword,” Demos shot back.