Page 16 of Blood Curse

She met my eyes first. Her gaze went to the Crown, sharp and assessing.

Then she saw Stellan.

Fury transformed her face.

“You,” she said.

Stellan inclined his head. “Mara.”

“A century.” Her fangs dropped. “I spent a century believing Adrian had destroyed you, and you greet me like I’ve arrived for dinner?”

“You always objected when I made a fuss.”

“I may stab you.”

“You’ll have to wait until Bryony decides whether to let you inside.”

Mara’s gaze cut back to me. The fury didn’t vanish, but something raw moved under it.

She looked at Stellan again, bared her fangs in stunned relief and bowed her head.

“My king.”

4

STELLAN

Mara kept her head bowed.

I had imagined hearing those words again more times than I cared to admit. In most versions, I was standing in my own hall with a kingdom at my back. In none of them was I barefoot, bleeding through a borrowed shirt and holding the hand of a woman wearing a murderous Crown.

“Stand up,” I said.

Mara lifted her face. Fury had pushed the shock aside, which was far more familiar.

“Is that an order?”

“A request.”

“You’ve improved.”

Bryony’s thumb moved once across my knuckles. “She hasn’t come in yet.”

Mara looked at her. “The house won’t let me.”

The open doors proved nothing. A thin red light lay across the threshold, almost hidden in the grooves between the stones. Harrowmere had woken, but it was still waiting for its queen.

Bryony studied Mara with the cool concentration she used when someone was trying to sell her a lie.

“Did the summons compel you?” she asked.

“It found me. It didn’t drag me here.”

“Do you serve Adrian?”

Mara’s lip curled. “I’d rather serve daylight.”

“Then come in.”