I hopped up from the settee. Ignoring Kieran’s raised brow, I placed my glass on the table and darted into the main chamber.

  Casteel strode into the room, flipping a switch on the wall. Warm, buttery light spilled through the space as I skidded to a halt. The sight of him never failed to make my breath catch.

  “There you are,” he said, the light of the chandelier glinting off his cheekbone, as he made his way toward me. His steps slowed, and his eyes heated to a warm honey as he swept his gaze over me. He drew his lower lip in, flashing a hint of a fang. “Poppy,” he spoke, his voice dropping low.

  Sharp swirls of tight, hot tingles twisted through me at how he purred my name. “What?”

  His gaze slowly moved up to mine. “You know what.”

  “I…” I looked down as he came forward.

  “The shirt.” He stopped in front of me, dipping his head so his lips brushed my ear. “There’s only one thing more arousing than seeing you wearing my clothing.” He pressed a kiss to my pulse, then whispered, “And that’s you naked and spread open for me.”

  My breath stalled for the second time in a matter of seconds.

  His deep, smoky laugh sent a thrill dancing down my spine.

  “I didn’t mean to be gone so long,” he said, stepping back as he ran his fingers over his baldric, finding the hook.

  “It’s okay. Kieran was keeping me company.” I looked up at him, immediately seeing that his features weren’t as stark, and the hue of his lips had deepened. The hair at his temples and nape was also slightly damp. “You fed.”

  Unstrapping the sword, he turned and stepped onto the dais. “I did.”

  “On Emil?”

  “Unfortunately,” he drawled, laying the still-harnessed sword over the back of a chair. “I’m beginning to think he actually likes it.”

  I snorted. “How long before you can feed from me?”

  “At least a couple of weeks,” he said. “Possibly longer.”

  I rolled my eyes. “That’s ridiculous.”

  “Someone sounds jealous,” Casteel murmured, rolling up the sleeves of his shirt as he faced me. “But I likely won’t need to feed more than once between now and then.”

  I groaned, hating that I couldn’t give him what he needed.

  “Trust me when I say I would’ve preferred to feed from you.” Stepping down from the dais, he looped an arm around my waist and pulled me to his chest. “I’m not taking any chances when it comes to you.”

  “I think you’ve forgotten what I am.”

  “I will never forget,” he said as he cradled the back of my head, “who you are.”

  My heart skipped and then sped up as his lips captured mine in a slow, languid kiss that ended all too soon.

  With a groan, he lifted his mouth from mine. He trailed his fingers over my still-damp hair, his lashes lowering as he eyed the hair he held. “I see you made use of the tub.”

  “I did.” I placed my hands on his chest. His shirt was damp. “Should I be concerned with your sweatiness since you were feeding from Emil?”

  “When I went to speak with Murin, he was holding training,” he said, letting his fingers travel the length of the strand. “I decided to join them.” His lashes swept up as envy sparked. One side of his lips curled up. “Jealous again?”

  “Yes.” My palms practically tingled with the need to feel a sword against them. “It feels like forever since I’ve trained.”

  “We’ll make time,” he promised, his head lowering once more.

  His mouth brushed over mine. I shuddered and felt his lips curve just before the pressure of the kiss increased. He lifted me onto the tips of my toes and tugged on my lower lip with a drag of his fang, eliciting a gasp from me. The kiss deepened, and his tongue slid over mine. This time when we parted, it was me who whimpered.

  “Behave yourself,” he murmured.

  “Me?” A throaty laugh left me.

  “Yes. You.”

  My fingers curled into the front of his shirt. “I do believe it was you who kissed me.”

  “Lies.” He nipped my lip, the evidence of his arousal pressing against my stomach, drawing a soft moan from me as I heard Kieran approach.

  “Who’s misbehaving?” Kieran asked, entering the main chamber.

  “Our Queen, per usual,” Casteel replied.

  “What? I was just standing here,” I said, turning in his embrace.

  “I was being responsible,” Casteel continued as Kieran handed him a glass of whiskey. “And she attempted to steal away my virtue.”

  Kieran’s lips pressed into a flat line as his gaze flicked over him. “I wasn’t aware you had any of that left.”

  “Exactly,” I said, glancing back at Casteel. He had the audacity to look offended while Kieran’s expression was one of bland indifference. “You’re really bad at pretending to be virtuous.”

  Keeping his arm around my waist, he snorted and then took a drink. “By the way,” he said, looking at Kieran, “I would avoid the Hall of Gods if I were you. Reaver has turned it into his current resting spot.”

  I frowned. “Does he not have a chamber?”

  “Oh, he does. But right now, he’s decided to camp out there in his draken form,” Casteel added, his thumb swiping over the side of my waist. I pictured Reaver wrapped around the statues that Ian and I used to run among. “And is breathing fire at anyone who steps even one foot in the hall.”

  My heart immediately took a dive. “He’s probably just upset—”

  “He nearly set Rune on fire.”

  I started tugging on the laces at the shirt’s neckline, thinking of the last time I had seen the large black-and-brown wolven. Dakkais had swarmed him, and I hadn’t been able to feel him through the notam—I stopped those thoughts. What mattered was that he was alive now. Well, as long as he stayed away from Reaver.

  “He’s really upset,” I said, leaning my head back against Casteel’s chest to look up at Kieran. “My touch didn’t work on Jadis,” I told him, unsure of what Casteel had told him about what’d happened in Ironspire. “I don’t know why, but…”

  “I heard.” Kieran let out a heavy sigh. “That’s a shame.”

  He sounded genuine, which was as surprising as his parting words to Reaver earlier. It made my chest ache even more. I pushed down the knot that had formed in my throat and stepped forward, having no idea where I was going but needing to move.

  I didn’t make it very far.

  Casteel’s arm tightened around me, keeping me in place.

  “Poppy,” Kieran said.

  My fingers twisted the laces. “Kieran?”

  “You do realize that being unable to wake the draken is not your fault, right?” he said.

  Nodding, I stared at the embroidery on his tunic, taking a closer look at it. The golden brocade was richly detailed, adorning the collar and shoulders in a series of intertwining suns connected by swirls and flourishes that resembled vines. I thought it had been clothing he’d found here because we hadn’t traveled with anything as fine as what he wore now, but that design?

  “Where did you get the tunic?” I asked.

  “What?” he said, the frown clear in his tone.

  “The tunic you’re wearing,” I pointed out. “Did you find it here or…?”

  He glanced down, running his fingers over the panel. “I think the shirt was here, but Naill added the embroidery.”

  I stared at the design, thinking how similar it was to the marks I’d seen on the Ancients and Casteel. “He’s really good—”

  “I don’t give a shit how good he is with a needle and thread,” Kieran interrupted.

  “That’s not very nice,” I murmured, tensing as Kieran crowded me—us—in.

  I was trapped.

  Between them.

  At that moment, my mind took a very inappropriate walk down memory lane, leading me back to the night of the Joining. The positioning had been different; Casteel in front of me and Kieran…

  I bit my lower lip. An unexpected tightening in muscles below my navel forced me to take a sharp inhale that carried…spicy and smoky scents. My heart turned over heavily as I lifted my gaze.

  The hue of Kieran’s blue eyes had brightened to a color more vivid than the Stroud Sea as Casteel’s hand firmed on my waist. My fingers ceased their mindless twisting.

  No expectations.

  No expectations.

  Heat still crept up my neck as I felt Casteel’s mark brush against my thoughts. I’m actually going to be responsible and ignore that lovely scent of yours.

  Every muscle in my body went stiff as my mind flashed between the fact that if Casteel had picked up on that, Kieran had also, and, well, I had no idea. I had no idea what to do or think about any of that. So, I wasn’t going to. Not for a single minute—or even a second. Or…

  “Poppy,” Casteel said aloud, and my knees felt a little boneless at hearing the roughness in his tone that spoke of things I would not think of. He cleared his throat. When he spoke next, the silken promises threaded through my name were gone. “You do know it’s not your fault—Jadis.”

  My eyes closed. “I know.”

  “Do you?” Kieran asked, and I refused to listen too closely to his voice.

  “Yes.”

  The hand on my hip slid across my stomach, turning me around. Amber eyes stared into mine. “Don’t lie.”

  “I’m not,” I insisted, holding his stare. “It’s just that I…I still feel bad that I couldn’t do what was needed of me.”

  “That was their expectation of you. Not yours.” Casteel cupped my cheek. “You did what was asked of you. And that was all you could do.” His eyes searched mine. “Okay?”

  Exhaling slowly, I nodded.

  Casteel held my gaze for a moment longer and then pressed his lips to my forehead. “Your heart is too good.”

  My brows knitted. “I wouldn’t go that far.”

  “I would.”

  I smiled, but I honestly didn’t understand why he—or the Arae—spoke of me as if I were the…Chosen. Pure of heart and body. Neither was true. Sure, I didn’t want to burn cities, but that alone didn’t make me good.

  “Did you get the instructions out?” Kieran asked, changing the subject.

  “The meeting with the generals will happen tomorrow afternoon.”

  I still thought the meeting could happen now.

  “I’m going to clean up.” His gaze shifted to mine. “Kieran will keep you out of trouble while I do.”

  “Well, that should be easy,” I said as he stepped back and walked around Kieran and me. “I often stay out of trouble.”

  “Really,” Kieran drawled.

  My nostrils flaring, I spun on the wolven. “Shut up,” I said and heard Casteel’s snort from the other chamber float out to us. “That also means you,” I yelled.

  The echo of his taunting laugh was irritating. And, unfortunately for me, a very attractive sound.

  One side of Kieran’s lips tipped up as I looked at him.

  “Right now,” I muttered, stepping around him, “I dislike both of you.”

  “You, Cas, and I all know that’s not even remotely true,” he replied.

  I tripped.

  “You okay?” Humor filled his voice.

  Swallowing a mouthful of curses, I bit out, “I’m fine.”

  His low laugh ended when I sent him a glare over my shoulder, but a faint smile remained. Entering the sitting chamber, I grabbed my glass and took a gulp while eyeing the drink Casteel must’ve placed on the table on his way to the bathing chamber.

  Kieran arched a brow at me as he went to the credenza and poured another glass. “So, you like what Naill did with this tunic?”

  I nodded, sitting on the settee. I thought about the garments I’d seen earlier.

  Leaning back, I looked over the embroidered detailing. “I wonder where he got the idea for the design? It’s very similar to what I saw on the Ancients—including the Arae.”

  He tilted his head. “What do you mean?”

  I explained the marks that looked like ink. “I think it’s the eather. I don’t know why it appears that way, though.”

  “Your vadentia really is faulty.”

  “Yeah.” I sighed and tucked my hair back from my face. “It is.”

  A ghost of a smile appeared. “Do all Primal gods have the foresight?”

  I shook my head. “Only the true Primal of Life and the true Primal of Death do.” I paused. “And me. I think it’s meant to help us…make wise choices.”

  Kieran opened his mouth.

  “You don’t need to say whatever is about to come out of your mouth,” I said.

  He chuckled quietly. “Makes sense. Attes didn’t seem like he expected to see Malik and Cas.”

  A brief image of a man who resembled Valyn flashed in my mind, except… The image had already faded from my thoughts, but a distinctive feature lingered. “Attes looked more like Malik, right?”

  Kieran nodded. “I mean, you could tell that he and Cas are related, but yeah. Malik and their father clearly got more of Attes’s physical traits.”

  “Did Attes…have a scar?”

  “He did. Right about here,” he said, lifting a finger and running it from his hairline across his nose, just as I’d briefly seen. “How did you know that?”

  “I…I don’t know.” I rubbed my palm against my chest. “I just kind of saw him in my mind.”

  Kieran frowned. “Maybe it’s from when he was here. You did look at him.”

  I sat back, thinking that had to be why. “I told Cas about Setti and who Attes was in Iliseeum.”

  “Let me guess.” Kieran took a drink. “He had little to no reaction.”

  “Correct.”

  “He wasn’t very impressed by Attes,” he said. “Nor his bloodline.”

  My brows lifted. “Really?”

  “To be honest, I think the feeling was mutual.”

  Now, I frowned. Only Cas could be unimpressed by the fact that he descended from a Primal god. However, something about that tugged at my thoughts. Something that felt important. But like so many other things since I woke, it slipped out of reach as soon as I tried to grasp it.

  Casteel reemerged, his face clean-shaven as he pulled a linen shirt similar to the one I wore over his bare chest. He crossed the chamber and draped what appeared to be my robe over the back of the chair next to Kieran.

  “I ran into Naill earlier.” He paused and sent a blatant stare in Kieran’s direction as he picked up the glass he had left earlier. “Surprisingly, he’s been in Wayfair all evening.”

  “My bad,” Kieran murmured, a barely-there grin on his face as Casteel moved beside me. “I was under the impression he was away.”

  “Sure, you were,” Casteel remarked dryly. I smiled.

  “So,” Kieran drawled, leaning back, “is everything set for the meeting with the generals tomorrow?”

  “Yeah. It’s set for the afternoon,” Casteel answered, then said to me, “I know you’d prefer it to be first thing in the morning, but the time was chosen under advisement of Lord Sven.” Casteel patted my hip. “He asked about you and was pleased to hear that he would be seeing you soon.”

  I smiled at that. Lord Sven was one of the few generals I actually liked. Lizeth Damron, a wolven, was the other. And, of course, Casteel’s father.

  I sat straighter. “Any news from Pensdurth?”

  “None,” Casteel answered. “But it’s unlikely that Thad has returned.”

  “When do you think he’ll be back?”

  “I would think by tomorrow night,” Kieran answered. “Or the following day.”

  Casteel leaned over and brushed his lips across my temple before settling into the settee. “We should have a plan in place regarding how we’re going to deal with Kolis before we meet with the generals.”

  “Agreed.” Kieran watched me as a prickly, itchy sensation invaded my skin. I wiggled to free myself from Casteel.

  Spying the robe draped across the empty chair beside Kieran, I rose.

  Kieran cleared his throat. “A plan will be heard and allowed to develop without knowing what state Kolis is in.”

  “I think it would be wise to assume that he has returned to his physical form,” Casteel decided, his gaze tracking me. “Did the vadentia tell you how long it will take for him to return to full power?”

  Slipping the robe on, I shook my head. “All I know is that a newly Ascended Primal doesn’t come into their full power for years.” As I secured the buttons on the robe, I walked back to the settee and sat. “Sorry.”

  “It’s all right.” Casteel’s lips curved upward. It was a tight smile, not one of his genuine ones. “Kolis’s whereabouts are up in the air, which also makes planning difficult.”

  “I can’t imagine he’s gone far,” I said. “What he wants is here.”

  “Would we be able to sense him?” Kieran kept an eye on Casteel, the air charging faintly. “If he remained in Carsodonia? Like the draken can?”

  Instinct told me that we could. “Yes.”

  “What about his vellá?” Casteel asked, his tone level but holding a distinctively hard edge.

  “Vellá,” I whispered, stiffening. The extension of a Primal’s will. My mind immediately flashed to the mist and how I had summoned it. That was only one way a Primal’s will could manifest. It could take shape and form, or remain unseen—

  I sucked in a short breath. The nightmare. I looked down at the buttons on the robe. My skin turned icy as I remembered feeling someone watching me as I prepared for my bath, the sense of something cold brushing against me—

  A hand touched my arm and caused me to jump. I cranked my head to the side, and my eyes connected with Casteel’s.

  “Poppy.” Concern seeped through the thin, barely-there cracks in his shield. “What is it?”

  My gaze dropped to where his hand was curled around my upper arm and, for a moment, I saw a different one. Golden skin stained with blood. My blood.

  CHAPTER 24

  POPPY

  I blinked rapidly, my heart thumping. The hand came into focus. Golden-bronze skin sprinkled with dark, coarse hairs near the wrist. It was his hand. Casteel’s.