A Court of Bones & Sorrow (Lunaria Realms #2)

Chapter 28

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Samara

We all watched as I dripped some of my blood onto the glyph, the shallow cut on my arm instantly healing. The glyph carved into the black stone greedily drank in the offering until there was none left on the surface. The strange awareness I’d felt when we’d walked by grew stronger, like a humming in the back of my mind.

“I know this,” I muttered. “Why do I know this?”

“Sam?” Rynn glanced up from the glyph to give me a puzzled look.

“It calls to me,” I said softly. “I’ve never felt this way about any place in Lunaria.”

“What does it feel like?” Cade asked.

“Belonging.” I smiled as the feeling settled into my soul. This place was meant for me. I wondered if my mother would have felt the same way if she had found it. My smile slipped. Why did this place call to me . . . but drive everyone else away?

Before I could ponder that thought more, the dark, placid surface of the lake started to shiver, and we all took a step back as the water parted, revealing a set of stairs leading down.

“Holy shit,” Rynn breathed out and took a step closer to study the quietly churning water held back by magic. “I can’t believe a spell as complex as this still works after all this time.”

“It must have been really important to the Fae to keep it hidden and protected.” I frowned. How did Erendriel not know of this place? Or maybe he did know . . . but couldn’t reach it? Rynn had said even the wraiths didn’t come here. Had the Fae crafted this spell to specifically keep the wraiths away too?

“It doesn’t make sense,” I said aloud as I tried to figure out this puzzle.

“What?” Vail asked, watching me instead of studying the newly revealed hideout.

“Let’s consider the order of events. The Unseelie and Seelie existed here together, the Seelie did something to themselves that turned them into wraiths, and during that same time, the Unseelie disappeared.” My brows furrowed as I glanced back at the glyph and then to the hidden stairs. “So who crafted this spell to keep this place hidden? It clearly targets the wraiths, so it’s not like the Seelie did it.”

“Maybe the Unseelie did it before they vanished?” Bastian suggested. “We know there was some animosity between the Unseelie and the Seelie. This could have been one last fuck you to the Seelie.”

“If that’s the case, then this might be one of the last places the Unseelie were before they vanished.” I still felt like there was some big piece we were missing from all of this, but maybe we’d find answers inside.

Rynn glanced over her shoulder at me from where she was standing close to the water and shrugged. “Only one way to find out.”

“Do not move, Rynn,” Cade ordered, but she ignored him and darted down the stairs. Ryker growled and stalked after her.

“I told you this was going to be a problem,” Bastian told Cade, who was glowering at the dark passage where Rynn and Ryker had disappeared. I got the impression not many people disobeyed his orders.

“She’ll fall in line,” Cade said flatly.

I snorted. “You’ve had all this time to get to know her and yet you’ve failed spectacularly.”

“Watch yourself, Moroi.” For a second, Cade’s tone gained a deeper edge, and I had to remind myself that, despite his usually calm demeanor, he could shift into a nearly two-thousand-pound bear at any moment. From a purely rational standpoint, that meant I should avoid pissing him off any further.

But he’d messed with my friend, so fuck that.

In a blink, I let my bloodlust rise and shifted my nails into claws. Cade didn’t quite flinch when I suddenly appeared in front of him, but he did stiffen. The Velesians might be stronger than us and quite good at sneaking around, but the Moroi were still faster.

I tapped his chest with my index finger, right where his shirt parted to reveal warm, brown skin dusted with dark hair. Blood welled as my claw pierced his flesh with each tap. “Bite. Me.”

Cade’s nostrils flared, and Bastian laughed next to us. “Isn’t that what Vail is for?” the ailuran drawled. “Or maybe whoever was hiding in that cabin?”

I killed the panic before it had a chance to show on my face and gave Bastian a bored look. “You need to get your senses checked, cat. It was just the two of us there. Or maybe you just don’t know what a good fuckin’ sounds like since you’ve never given anyone that kind of pleasure.”

Bastian narrowed his eyes, but before he could open his mouth to likely say something smartassed, Cade pushed past us. “Come on. Let’s go make sure those two haven’t killed each other. ”

My money was on Rynn in that fight. I took a few steps towards the stairs and paused, biting my lower lip.

“Don’t you want to see what’s inside?” Vail asked, moving to stand beside me.

“Yes.” I swallowed. “But this is what our parents died for. No matter what we find in there, it wasn’t worth their lives, Vail.”

“No.” He slowly raised his arm and slipped it around my shoulders before pulling me against him. Somehow, this tentative hug felt more intimate than anything we’d done so far, including in the cabin. “But I think they’d be happy to know that we made it here. Together.”

I sniffled and blinked back tears. “Don’t tell me you’re getting soft in your old age.”

“I’m only three years older than you,” he said dryly. When we pulled apart, he slipped his hand into mine. “Ready?”

“Yeah.” I sucked in a breath. “Let’s do this.”

We walked hand in hand down the stairs, darkness quickly engulfing us. I had no problem seeing, but I was surprised they hadn’t added Fae lanterns or something to light the way, especially considering how long we walked. A little claustrophobia started to set in when I thought about how far we were beneath the lake and all the water just lying above us . . . ready to crush in the walls.

“Samara?”

I realized my breath had started to quicken, and Vail was giving me a concerned look. “It’s fine.” I smiled faintly and took in a few steady breaths. “Just discovered yet another thing to be frightened of in Lunaria.”

The corners of his mouth twitched before he swept his hand towards the open door in front of us. “We’re here.”

Light crept out into the hallway we were standing in from the brightly lit chamber .

Please let the crown be here , I thought as we swept into the room and paused. “Well, this feels familiar.”

Rynn looked up from where she already had her nose buried in a large book. “It does?”

I nodded while looking at the walls lined with floor-to-ceiling shelves and the work tables in the center of the room. “We found a hidden room in that sea cave near House Harker.” My eyes widened as I took in all the shelves filled with books. “But it was mostly empty. That’s actually where we found the journals I told you about.”

“Ah.” Her eyes dropped down to the book in front of her. “I’ve barely scratched the surface of the knowledge in this room, but just from randomly selecting books off the shelves . . . these came from somewhere else. I think the Fae brought them from wherever they came from. Some of them are written in Unseelie and some in Seelie, but others are written in the common tongue.”

“Really?” I moved to the table and started flipping through the book she was browsing. “You’re right . . .” I turned more of the pages. On one side was a detailed illustration of a beast, and on the other were details about it. Size, location, behavior. It was a bestiary, but none of these creatures roamed Lunaria lands, and the language they were written in was like the one we spoke here but different. It was close enough that I could read it easily but not exactly the same. Maybe our language had descended from this one?

“Stop.” Rynn’s hand fell on mine when I went to turn the page.

A skeletal creature stared out at us from the page, its eyes far too large for its narrow face. The artist had drawn it with its mouth open, displaying fangs eerily similar to mine, but the rest of its teeth were sharp points as well. Its gangly arms ended in slender fingers, each tipped with a three-inch long claw .

Beneath the drawing was one word. Vampyre .

“‘The vampyre have mostly been hunted to extinction, but there are still some populations left,’” I read aloud. “‘In southern regions, they are often referred to as Moroi or Strigoi. Some locals in that area have managed to tame some of these creatures enough to be guardians of their towns, and they call them Moroi to distinguish them from their more vicious brethren, the Strigoi. Note: this practice has been largely abandoned due to instances of the Moroi turning on their masters.’”

“These are the creatures we’re based on.” My fingers traced the outline.

“I don’t know how,” Rynn said, “but I think the humans who crafted the spell to change themselves into the Moon Blessed read this book, or one like it.”

Vail started searching the table next to us, and I knew I should be doing the same because we needed to find that damn crown, but I couldn’t resist turning a few more pages. The library at Drudonia was quite large, but even they didn’t have any books from outside Lunaria. Every bit of knowledge we’d managed to scrape together since the Fae had disappeared were from books and scrolls that had been written here .

This book, and potentially all the others in the room, could tell us so much about not only the history of the Fae but our history. I wanted more than anything to live in this room for the next year and not leave, but that wasn’t an option. So I allowed myself a few more minutes.

“Huh.” The section of the book I’d turned to had another page folded over the one containing the drawing. I carefully unfolded it and blinked when I had to unfold it again. “Wow.”

Rynn and I stared at the enormous reptilian monster that took up three pages. Leathery wings were tucked against its scaly body, and a triangular head rested on a long neck, a crown of horns rising behind it .

We both tilted our heads as we tried to read the word beneath the sketch. It was one I wasn’t familiar with, and I didn’t know exactly how it should have been pronounced.

“Drakōn?” I guessed.

“It says here they’re commonly referred to as dragons .” Rynn frowned. “It’s kind of weird that it doesn’t have as much information about them as the other creatures. I wonder what they do,” Rynn murmured.

“Hopefully we never find out. I don’t ever want to fight anything that large.” Reluctantly, I stepped away from the bestiary and started searching the room. Rynn did the same a few minutes later, choosing the part of the room that put her the furthest away from the Alphas.

For over an hour, we searched every inch of the room. We even carefully pulled the books from the shelves to check behind them. Nothing. No sign of the crown anywhere.

“It’s not here,” Ryker growled. “This was a waste of time.”

“Seriously?” Rynn glowered at him and gestured towards the walls lined with books. “There is more knowledge in this one room than in all of Drudonia. Even if the crown isn’t here, this knowledge is priceless.”

The lycan scoffed. “It’s knowledge of a place we’ve never been and will never go to. Nothing here is going to help you stay alive in Lunaria, Princess.”

“I told you not to call me that,” Rynn said in a low, threatening tone. “I’m sick of listening to your bullshit.” A sheen rolled over her eyes as the wolf in her rose to the surface. Oh shit. I backed away from the two of them as Vail continued poking through some books and the other two Alphas seemed to be pointedly ignoring the fight that was about to break out.

Ryker stepped into Rynn’s space, and I tensed, getting ready to intervene if I had to, since apparently the others weren’t going to be of any help. “And what exactly are you going to do about it?” His gaze dropped to his shirt that she was still wearing, and he grinned wolfishly. “ You look good in my clothes. Princess.”

A snarl ripped out of Rynn’s throat before she shoved him. Hard. Clearly Ryker hadn’t been expecting her to do that or to be so strong, because he stumbled back and hit the nearest bookcase. An answering growl rumbled from his throat as he pushed off the shelves, causing them to shake again, and then something rattled above us.

“Wait, what is that?” I stepped between the two Velesians who were sizing each other up and looked towards the ceiling. “There.” I pointed at it. “There’s a gap between the top of the bookcase and the ceiling.”

We all peered up at the small crevice. As tall as Cade and Vail were, they still wouldn’t be able to reach it. There must have been a step stool or something in here. I turned away to scour the room and then jumped when Rynn let out a high-pitched yip. I spun back around to find her glowering at Cade atop his shoulders, his head between her thighs.

“A little warning next time.”

“Sure thing, Princess.”

Rynn sighed but reached up and slipped her slender hand between the bookcase and the ceiling. I held my breath as she pursed her lips while searching the tight space. Suddenly, her eyes widened, and she slowly pulled her hand back, revealing a slender, gold crown.

“I’m so happy you shoved that asshole into the bookcase, Rynn.” I stared at the glittering Fae artifact with a mixture of relief and awe.

Rynn let out an amused snort and glanced down at Ryker. “I guess violence really is the answer sometimes.”

Bastian laughed and bumped his shoulder against Ryker’s, who was still staring daggers at Rynn as Cade lowered her to the ground.

All of us gathered around and looked at the simple yet elegantly crafted crown. Despite sitting up on that shelf for probably decades if not centuries, it still gleamed in the light with absolute perfection. Most of it was comprised of three gold bands woven together, and occasionally an ornate gold leaf would flow out from one of them, looking so dainty that I was worried Rynn would accidentally snap it off, but when her fingers carefully swept over one of them, it seemed clear it wasn’t so easy to break.

“I can feel the magic,” she murmured, flipping the crown around as she studied the inside. “But I don’t see any glyphs anywhere, so I have no idea how it works.”

“Doesn’t matter,” I said. “We need to destroy it.”

Rynn pursed her lips. “I know but . . .”

I shook my head. Rynn didn’t like mysteries. While I could appreciate that from an academic standpoint, even if this half of the crown was the lesser of two evils, it still couldn’t be allowed to exist, especially considering the Moroi Queen had the other half, and nothing good would come from them being reunited.

“Sorry, Rynn.” I waved at the rest of the room. “You’ll just have to settle for the greatest find in probably all of Lunarian history.”

She grinned sheepishly. “Fair enough.”

“The question is, how do we destroy it?” Vail looked at Cade. “Melt it down?”

“We could try.” The large Velesian grimaced. “Something tells me it won’t be that easy.”

“Even if we are able to melt it . . .” Rynn pondered the crown, running her fingers along the inside. “We don’t know exactly how the magic works. Usually there is a glyph, but in this case, I think the entire crown is spelled. I don’t know if melting it down would destroy the spell or just change the shape of the crown.”

Vail held his hand out, and Rynn passed the crown to him, then we all watched as he tried to snap it. Muscles bulged along his forearms, but the crown didn’t so much as crack. He passed it to Cade, who also had no luck.

“I think melting it will be the only chance we have of breaking it apart,” Vail said. “We could melt it and separate it into a few different pieces while it’s in liquid form, then scatter those chunks afterwards.”

“Dump some into the ocean and bury others,” Cade suggested.

“If the spell persists in the gold even after it’s melted though, will splitting it apart weaken or destroy it?” I grimaced. “Or will each piece retain the full functionality of the spell?”

“We might have to use the crown to test it.” Rynn sighed. “And then again after we split it up.”

Everyone tensed at the suggestion. Sure, we used the remnants of Fae magic regularly. Our wards were reactivated Fae spells and the glyphs that we used around our fortresses were all repurposed Fae magic, but something about this crown felt different. Everything else we used was for defense or making our lives easier.

The soul crown was made to see into the souls of others and control them. It was made to do harm .

“Maybe we can find an answer in here?” I looked around at the wealth of knowledge surrounding us. “In the meantime, we need to keep the crown hidden and safe.”

“We could leave it here?” Bastian suggested. “Nobody else knows about this place, and the spell keeps it secure. Thousands of Velesians have walked past it, and none of them detected the spell the way you did.”

“How did you do that, by the way?” Ryker asked, eying me suspiciously.

“I don’t know.” I thought back to how it had felt when the spell had skittered across my skin. “Something about the glyph, the salvation one, called to me. I didn’t feel anything else while going through the passage or in here.”

Rynn hummed, and my lips twitched in amusement, knowing I’d just given her another mystery to solve.

“I think you should take it, Rynn,” I said seriously. She jerked slightly as my declaration and looked at me wide-eyed. I held the crown out to her. “This place has remained hidden for a long time, but there is a chance that someone followed us here or will detect our scents above. Velika likely has spies everywhere, and we don’t know if the wraiths avoid this area because they don’t like it or because they can’t come here. Until we know for sure, I’d be more comfortable with you keeping the crown on you at all times.”

“Alright.” She looked at the crown and then down at the shirt she was wearing before walking over to one of the shelves on the wall and grabbing a leather satchel. She carefully emptied the contents and then strode back over to Cade with her hand held out. He passed her the crown and Rynn dropped it into the bag.

Vail averted his eyes as she raised the shirt, flashing her goods at all of us, and wrapped the bands attached to the satchel around her waist. I’d seen Rynn naked more times than I could count, so it didn’t bother me in the slightest.

An annoyed sound slipped from Rynn as she tried to hold the shirt up while also tying the bands together.

“Would it kill you to ask for help?” Cade grunted and grabbed the bands, shoving away Rynn’s hand as he tied them and stepped away. Rynn stared at him with an unreadable expression as she dropped the shirt and looked down to inspect how it looked.

I glanced at Bastian and Ryker and was surprised to find that, like Vail, they had averted their eyes for this whole thing.

Wow. Rynn and the Alpha Pack were even messier than I’d thought. I couldn’t wait to tell Cali all about it .

“Good enough,” Rynn said as she finished fussing with the shirt. She was right, it was baggy enough that the satchel beneath it was barely noticeable. “When I get back home, I’ll find a better solution—something that will work in both my forms—but I’ll keep it on me at all times.”

“You can do that while you pack up your things to move to your new home,” Bastian said smoothly, his gaze once again on Rynn.

“Fuck you, Bastian,” Rynn snarled.

“You would be so lucky.”

“I’m not joining your stupid pack!” she screamed. “I’ll figure out a way out of this.”

“The fact that you’re wearing his shirt”—Bastian pointed at Ryker—“says otherwise.”

She took a step towards him, a snarl bubbling from her throat, when Ryker slid between them, causing Rynn to bump into his chest and stumble back. The lycan’s hands darted out, gripping her around the waist, and his head leaned down closer to her shirt—his shirt, technically.

Ryker’s nostrils flared, and his gaze dropped to Rynn’s chest before he practically growled in her face. “Why were you crying earlier?”

“Seriously?” she snarled and shoved him away.

I bit my lip, not really knowing what to say to make this situation better. Rynn snatched a few books from the table and stalked towards the door, only to be thwarted when an invisible force seemed to wrap around the books and prevent them from passing the threshold. Rynn’s body jerked as she was yanked back, and my brows rose as she tried to pass through again, but it was pretty clear the books were not leaving this space.

The Fae had clearly been determined to not only keep this place hidden but to protect the books inside as well. I was dying to know why, but it would have to wait.

After one more pissed-off snarl, Rynn slammed the books down onto the nearest table, causing me to wince at the harsh treatment of books that were likely centuries old, before storming out.

Apparently the crown could leave but the books couldn’t. Interesting. Maybe the books were part of the original spell that kept this place safe, and the crown had come here afterwards?

“I’ll go check on her,” Vail said.

I watched him go, a little surprised that he cared, but I knew he respected Rynn and had dealt with the Alphas a lot in the past, so maybe he could offer her some words of wisdom.

“Explain the clothing,” I said quietly.

Bastian looked like he’d bitten into something sour, and Ryker clamped his mouth shut, suddenly looking very young and unsure.

“When a Velesian joins a new pack, it’s customary for them to wear the clothing of the other members . . . once they’ve accepted it,” Cade explained in a somewhat strained tone. “It shows to others that they’re happy with their new life . . . and family.”

“You’re not keeping her if she doesn’t want to stay.” I met Cade’s stare and held it even as his dominance slammed into me and the other two Velesians let out warning growls. “We’re in agreement for the crown, and that takes priority, but if Rynn wants to leave your pack, know that I will do everything in my power to help her, and if you hurt her”—I pushed my bloodlust until I was sure my eyes were jet-black—“I will cut out your heart and eat it in front of you.”

The dominance exuding from him pushed against me one more time before vanishing like it’d never been there.

“Understood. I have no interest in harming Rynn.” Cade nodded calmly before striding towards the door and tossing over his shoulder, “But I have no interest in giving her back either.”