“Of course,” Samara practically purred. “How silly of me.”
Argh. She’d definitely be talking to Kieran about this later. The two of them lived to gossip. Time to change the subject.
“How are things going for the Blood Sovereign this week?” I asked innocently.
Almost a year ago, Samara’s aunt, Carmilla, had killed the ruling Moroi Queen and usurped the throne. In addition to taking power, she’d also stolen Talis, who back then, had been a crown and capable of controlling the will of others. Samara, with the help of her mates, had defeated Carmilla. Instead of simply taking the throne for herself, my dramatic best friend had negotiated with Talis to transform themself into six rings. One for herself and each of her mates.
Talis had agreed, sacrificing their ability to control others to power the spell, and the dawn of the Blood Sovereign had begun.
They weren’t simply taking over as rulers of the Moroi realm though. Instead, Samara and her mates were determined to make things more equal amongst not only the Moroi Houses but all of the Moroi in general. It was slow going because quite a few families had built up power over the generations and didn’t want to lose an ounce of it.
Samara and her mates spent most of their waking hours getting the Houses to agree to work with one another while increasing the quality of life for the Moroi who lived outside the old Fae castles.
“The new Heir of House Laurent is trying to start a feud with House Devereux.” Samara rolled her eyes.
Both of my eyebrows rose. House Devereux was Roth’s birth House, and they were a paranoid lot who strongly believed violence was the answer. Meanwhile, House Laurent had gone through a bit of a leadership change when Samara’s ex-husband, the Heir, had killed his mother to take over leadership of the House.
And then was killed by Samara shortly thereafter.
Emora was the new Head of House Laurent. Technically, they weren’t a Laurent—that entire bloodline was dead—but rather than rename the House, the new leadership had simply taken on the last name. Emora’s daughter, Iolana was the Heir. I’d met her in passing and she’d seemed smart . . .
“And why, pray tell, is Iolana picking a fight with the Devereux? I mean, there are easier ways to die in Lunaria. Like, I don’t know, step outside and wait five minutes?”
Samara snorted. “She was pushing for a marriage agreement between her and Tavian.”
I winced. Tavian was Roth’s older brother and the Heir of House Devereux. That entire family was more than a little unhinged, but Tavian had this quiet intensity to him that always set off my instincts. He was high on my list of people to never fuck with.
“Anyway . . .” Samara braced her elbows on the table and rested her head in her hands. “How are things at the Alpha House? Other than the lack of fucking.” The corners of her mouth turned up into a smirk. “Allegedly.”
I fought the urge to sniff myself.
“It’s fine,” I said evenly.
Samara waited.
“We’ve sort of fallen into a routine, and I do feel like I’m making a difference.” I bit my bottom lip before releasing it. “But I don’t feel any pack bonds yet.”
“Oh?” She arched a dark eyebrow. “No magic tingly feeling?”
“Really?” I arched a brow back at her. “Going to get all Moroi snobby on me? Or maybe you’d like to enlighten me as to how your mate bonds work?”
“Well.” A spark lit up her eyes. “Really hot sex triggers them. Have you trie?—”
“I hate you,” I said in a sing-song voice. “And no. I haven’t felt any magic tingly feeling. Pack bonds aren’t as intense as mate bonds, but you can tell when they’re there. It’s just . . . an awareness of the individuals in your pack or clan.”
“Hmm,” Sam hummed. “Seems like an invasion of privacy.”
I squinted. “You have a magic Fae artifact connected to your soul who can read all your thoughts.”
“Talis is polite.” She waved off my concern.
It’s true. I am very polite and I withdraw during their intimate moments. Which honestly just seem unnecessarily sticky to me.
I choked on a laugh. That’s called too much information, Tal.
Noted.
“You’re right. Talis is far more pleasant than the Alphas.” Samara snorted, and my lips curved. “Despite the lack of pack bonds, I’m doing alright. Everything is tense right now in the Velesian realm, but I think I can help with that. Cade not only asks for my opinion but acts on my suggestions. So while things aren’t exactly where I want them to be with me and the Alphas, I think we’ll get there eventually . . . hopefully.”
