Then, I woke.

  The scent of lilacs and jasmine lingered in the breath I took afterward. I didn’t need to open my eyes to know I wasn’t alone.

  I’d overheard Attes warning Kieran to be wary of the ravens. That some of them—not all—had to be a type of chora—an animal formed by a Primal god. The keyword being type. Primal gods only formed an animal. Not dozens. Hundreds. I didn’t know or give a fuck what they were. All I knew was that they were one of the many…new additions I’d acquired in recent weeks, and where the vines could give me something akin to an impression of the environment, I could see what the ravens saw in crisp, ultraviolet detail.

  And I saw the Primal god standing like a sentry by the doors, the golden skin of his face carrying a faint reflective sheen my eyes couldn’t perceive.

  I had no idea how long my great-grandfather had been standing there. Finding me asleep had probably brought him a measure of relief—their concern about my lack of rest was another conversation I’d overheard.

  But it wasn’t Attes’s presence that had woken me.

  I could feel Kieran. He was near. That wasn’t a surprise. I shut down the urge to open the notam to him. It wasn’t anger that drove me. He didn’t need to see what was inside me. It would…concern him.

  The hum in my blood and in my flesh demanded that I move, but I held myself still, channeling that churning, restless energy into something useful. My senses expanded and opened until I felt all the vines that sprawled across the floor, scaled the walls, and twined along the ceiling. Until I found them.

  Found Kieran.

  He wasn’t alone. Someone was with him, and they were closer. I focused on the mark—the imprint of a wolven. It felt like Kieran’s, earthy and rich, but stronger.

  Jasper.

  His father.

  Muscles along my neck drew taut. He shouldn’t be here. I could feel the change sweeping through me. My skin thinned. Weight settled upon my head, and my back tingled, even though the wings remained tucked away.

  But it wasn’t his presence that I felt. I knew that as their footsteps approached and the doors swung wide. My eyes opened. I saw him first as the ravens above took flight, their throaty calls echoing in the air.

  Kieran’s vivid blue stare was steady, but there were smudges beneath his eyes. He wasn’t sleeping well either.

  My attention shifted to the Primal god, and my chest clenched. It did every fucking time I looked at him, but saw my father. The same proud jaw and high, chiseled cheekbones. Straight nose. Attes was taller, broader, and his hair was lighter, but fuck, he looked so much like my father that it felt like a sucker punch to the chest.

  But Attes wasn’t him.

  There was nothing left of my father.

  Attes pushed himself off the wall, the furrow in his brow tugging at the scar that cut across his forehead and the bridge of his nose.

  I knew the moment Jasper saw me. It was the sharp inhale.

  My gaze shifted to the man beside Kieran.

  A dark cloak hung from shoulders that had carried me as a boy. The garment would’ve been far too heavy for a typical southern winter, let alone the summer—the season we were currently in. But the weather…it was imbalanced, and Jasper looked tired. Not the kind that came from traveling across the kingdoms. Or the type of exhaustion that came from having a newborn babe at home. This was the kind that went deeper than the bone and settled into the soul, tasting of grief. The kind I saw in the shadows beneath his son’s eyes. The same tiredness I couldn’t allow myself to feel.

  Especially now.

  Jasper’s gaze swept over me, starting at the jagged bone crown and then lowering, lingering over the left side of my face where shadows had replaced the flesh, and the silver bone of my cheek and jaw were visible. His gaze dropped to my right hand. It wasn’t the missing finger he stared at, but the gleam of silver bone.

  A tart, heavy taste gathered in my throat. Not fear, but unease and wariness.

  Slowly, he lifted his eyes. “Cas?”

  Flashes of bright-white sand and the crystal-clear waters of Saion’s Cove accompanied the sound of the deep, gruff voice. I didn’t respond.

  Jasper stepped forward, causing Attes to mirror his movements. Kieran didn’t. He stood back, arms crossed over his chest, and his gaze fixed on me.

  “Cas,” he repeated, his voice thicker, rougher. “I… I’m…” He broke off, and I couldn’t remember a time when he’d sounded so unsure of his words. He still came forward, each step slow as he ignored the ravens flying above us.

  “I wouldn’t get too close,” Attes said, the lilt of his accent making his words sound like advice instead of what it was. A warning. “He’s…temperamental.”

  Jasper stiffened.

  I flicked a flat stare in the Primal’s direction.

  Attes raised his brows as if to say, “Am I wrong?”

  He wasn’t.

  “Cas has always been temperamental,” Jasper said, drawing my gaze back to him. His body was once more loose, and he had moved a foot closer. “You should have seen him as a child.”

  Attes’s hand hovered near the sword strapped to his hip. “Yeah, well, I doubt he made a person’s insides their outsides as a temperamental child.”

  I smirked as my gaze slid back to Kieran. His features were expressionless.

  “Can’t say I’ve seen him do that,” Jasper commented, seemingly unfazed by Attes’s presence. I knew damn well he sensed what the Primal god was. “But I’m sure whoever that happened to had it coming.”

  They had.

  “And he isn’t going to touch me,” Jasper continued with all the bravado of someone who was like blood to me. “Isn’t that right, Cas?”

  I said nothing, my gaze still locked with Kieran’s. What Jasper had said wasn’t a question. It had been a statement.

  “I want to talk,” Jasper said, which was the very last thing I wanted. Needed. “I can’t even begin to know what you’re feeling. Not gonna even pretend that I do…”

  Jasper’s words faded as I dragged my stare from Kieran. My gaze flicked past Attes to the doors. I didn’t have time for this.

  Whoever had woken me was still in Wayfair.

  Opening my senses once more, I willed the ravens to take flight. Some remained behind, but one obeyed, quietly flying from the Hall. I went with it. Not physically, just my vision as the raven entered the corridor beyond, its feathers whispering against the cool air. Hallways unfolded in quick bursts, glimpses of closed doors, flickering light, and pulsing vines. We didn’t have to go far before I felt them. The unnaturalness of something not quite dead but also not alive. The raven swooped under a tangle of vines, gliding past the chamber where statues once stood.

  I saw them. My brother and…Millicent’s silvery-blond head.

  Nice of her to finally return.

  They were squared off, facing each other. Malik’s lips were faintly curved, eyes glinting with a hint of amusement, something I hadn’t seen since our father…since then. On the other hand, Millicent looked like she was a second from ripping his balls off.

  No longer hearing what Jasper said, I focused on Millicent through the raven’s eyes. She shared some of her features. The heart-shaped face. The stubborn jaw. She stepped toward Malik, pointing a finger up at him. The attitude. My fingers curled around the smooth bone of the throne’s arm. The raven slowed, eyeing a lumpy sack roughly the size of a body. I willed the chora closer as it flew silently above them, its head tilted down and sharp eyes scanning the burlap. The drawstring along the top was loose, and through the small gap, golden hair fanned out.

  Well, well, well, it appeared Millicent had returned with a gift.

  Satisfaction surged, mingling with anticipation as a slow smile pulled at my lips.

  “Shit,” Kieran muttered at the same moment Jasper fell silent, and Malik’s head snapped toward the raven.

  My brother’s eyes widened in recognition. “Fuck.”

  “Excuse me?” Millicent demanded.

  “We need to go.” Malik spun toward the person-shaped sack, grabbing it with a rough jerk. He hoisted it over his shoulder. “Now.”

  “More like you need to go fu—”

  I severed the connection to the chora, and the dimly lit Great Hall took shape around me. Moving silently, I let the essence pooling at my feet rise.

  Kieran stalked toward me, his brilliant blue eyes like chips of sapphires. “Cas.”

  I stepped forward as Kieran jerked to a halt, his eyes narrowing. Cursing, he spun and took off for the doors—at the exact moment I shadowstepped.

  Kieran was fast.

  But I was always faster.

  Both froze as I appeared before them, shadowy eather spilling across the narrow passageway that ran behind the dining hall. Essence spun around me in streaks of dark gray and crimson as I stepped toward them.

  “What in the actual fuck,” Millicent gasped, her pale blue eyes widening, “am I looking at?”

  Malik dropped the sack, and it landed with a heavy, somewhat satisfying thud as he shot forward. Grabbing Millicent’s arm, he yanked her back, causing her to teeter on her heels.

  “Brother,” Malik warned, voice low as he thrust Millicent back. “What are you doing here?”

  “Brother?” Millicent’s head popped out from behind him. “That’s Casteel?”

  “It’s him.” Malik shifted so he once more blocked her as if my presence there had anything to do with her.

  “You sure about that?” Millicent darted to the side, avoiding the arm my brother threw out. “Wait a moment…” She squinted, as if that would help her peer through the thick mist swirling around me. Malik cursed, moving toward her as her head jerked back, and her eyes shot up. Scanning the vines, her lips parted, and then her mouth dropped open. “Oh, fuck.” Her chin snapped down. “It’s you,” she breathed.

  “Yeah,” Malik said, his gaze trained on me. “It’s him. Cas. Like I said.”

  “That’s not what I meant, dipshit,” she snapped, causing both of us to look at her. “But thank you for the unnecessary clarification.”

  “Dipshit?” Malik murmured, brows furrowing.

  “Yes. You. You are a dip,” she spat, “and a shit. You put those two words together and you get dipshit.”

  I almost laughed as my attention shifted to the sack. Malik had planted himself in front of her again, leaving it on the floor, unprotected. Perfect. I drifted forward—

  “Millicent!” Malik shouted. “No!”

  I stopped. It wasn’t the words that caused me to halt. It was the bitter-tasting fear in them. I turned to them. They were blurs. Malik lurched toward Millicent—and, damn, she was quick, easily slipping past him as she raised her arm. Flickering light glanced off something glossy and black clutched in her hand.

  Shadowstone.

  There was only a heartbeat to react. My arm shot out as Malik’s face went as pale as bone.

  I blocked her blow, stopping the blade an inch from the general vicinity of my chest. Her eyes shot to my hand and the slowly churning mist seeping from the fingers curled around her arm, then flew back to mine.

  But I was still staring at her slim wrist, vaguely realizing that the Primal mist had caused her no harm. My head tilted. It should have worked on her, special Revenant or not. The essence had flayed the flesh from the bones of a Revenant just the other day. It had snuck into the Great Hall, and I’d feigned sleep, letting it get close before releasing the mist. But it didn’t even cause her to flinch.

  “Where is my sister?” Millicent snarled, voice thin with anger, and breathless with dread.

  I lifted my gaze to hers, slowly realizing why she was unharmed.

  It was me.

  My will.

  “Where?” she demanded, the tendons in her wrist and the muscles in her forearm trembling, betraying her bravado. “What did you do to her?”

  What did I…?

  A rough breath left me as the mist collapsed around me. Her eyes widened with surprise as I felt the skin along my right cheek thicken while the flesh appeared on the fingers wrapped around her wrist.

  Reaching up with my other hand, I pried the dagger from her grip. Holding her stare, I let the essence flow over my fingers. The shadowy eather licked over the smooth handle, turning it to glittering ash.

  “Well,” she uttered. “That was impressive and also rude as fuck.”

  “Malik,” I bit out, knowing better than to let her go. “You need to retrieve her.”

  “He doesn’t need to do shit,” Millicent seethed, striking out with a leg. “But you? Mister Dark Lord, you need to answer my damn question.”

  Ignoring Millicent, I held her back as she kicked at the air with extremely pointed-toe boots.

  Her head snapped to the side as Malik slipped up behind her. “If you put that arm around me, I will break it.”

  “Stop flirting with me in front of my brother,” he replied.

  Her nostrils flared. “I am not flirting with you.”

  “Yeah, you are.” Some of the color was returning to his face as his gaze met mine. “You’re gonna need to let go.”

  I would love to, however… “Do you have her under control?”

  Malik’s mouth opened. That was as far as he got.

  “Him? Have me under control?” Her laugh was harsh and quick. “Are you both for real?”

  Snaking the arm she’d threatened to hurt around her waist, Malik nodded at me.

  I lifted my fingers, one at a time. Stepping back, I pushed down the irritation as I saw that they were now struggling in front of me. The sack was behind them. “Can you two do that about a foot to the left or right?”

  “I’m trying—” Malik grunted as her elbow slammed into his stomach. “Gods.”

  I raised a brow as I felt Kieran’s presence. “Try faster.”

  “You aren’t trying shit,” she hissed as he clamped his other arm around her, pinning hers down. “Let me go—”

  “Or you’ll maim me,” he interrupted, narrowly avoiding a direct hit to the face when she threw her head back. “I know. I know.”

  “Faster,” I urged. The essence pressed against my flesh as footsteps pounded.

  Malik started to step to the side, dragging a kicking and thrashing Millicent with him. “That’s what I’m—”

  “Don’t!” Kieran shouted, rounding the corner into the hall.

  Malik froze as his head turned to Kieran.

  Millicent, however, did not. Grabbing the arm around her waist, she pulled her legs to her chest, then swung her body forward. Malik started to tip the same way.

  I sighed, eyes rolling as my patience ran out. I lifted a hand. With a flick of the wrist, I sent them both sliding sideways. Malik grunted out a curse as they hit the floor in a tangle of legs that had nothing to do with me and everything to do with Millicent. Whatever. Worked for me.

  My gaze focused on the strands of golden hair. I stepped forward—

  Without warning, what felt like heated wind slammed into me, lifting me off my feet and flinging me back. I hit the wall and dropped but landed upright. My head snapped to the left.

  Kieran stood there, golden threads of essence streaking through his eyes and swirling along his beige-brown skin. Behind him, his father had jerked to a halt, nearly causing Attes to crash into him as the struggling on the floor ceased.

  “The wolf’s got fancy new tricks,” Millicent murmured. A pause and then, “So, the three of you did get it on, then.”

  Jasper frowned at her.

  “Hi.” Millicent wiggled an arm free, giving Jasper a rather jaunty wave. “Me again.” Her hand froze as Attes glanced in their direction, then looked again, brows lifting. “Uh.”

  “You look just like…” the Primal muttered. “Fuck me.”

  “Okay,” Millicent replied, and Malik’s jaw clenched hard enough to crack molars.

  Attes shook his head, blinking. He opened his mouth, but I didn’t have time for this. Pushing off the wall, I started forward.

  Kieran was in front of me in a heartbeat.

  I stopped, glancing behind him. “Do you know who is in that sack?”

  “I do,” he answered.

  “So, why are you standing between me and that fuck?”

  “Because that fuck can likely tell us where Kolis is,” Kieran reasoned.

  “That fuck can tell us a lot more than that,” Millicent added, managing to sit up even though Malik still had a hold of her.

  “No shit,” I replied. “So, again, why are you stopping me?”

  A muscle popped along Kieran’s jaw. “What happened to the last person you questioned?”

  The last? It hadn’t been the Rev. It’d been a god.

  “You decorated the ceiling of the atrium,” Attes supplied, joining Kieran, “with the god’s innards.”

  Remembering that, I smiled as Millicent murmured, “Ew.”

  “And what about the one before him?” Kieran asked.

  My smile faded. That had been the Rev.

  “Or the one before that one?” he pressed.

  “The female god.” Attes crossed his arms. “You turned her to ash.”

  “Gods,” Millicent breathed.

  “They wouldn’t talk,” I defended.

  “And did you give them a chance?” Kieran questioned. “And before you say yes, did you give them longer than five minutes?”

  My eyes narrowed. “To be honest, I didn’t give the one god even five minutes.”

  “Exactly,” Kieran stated as Jasper appeared behind him at his side.

  “In my defense, he was annoying.”

  The look he sent me was flat and bland.

  “I just want to talk with him,” I told him. “That’s all.”

  “And we both know how that talk is going to end when he doesn’t answer immediately.” The golden essence faded from his irises. “You’re going to kill him.”

  “I would never,” I murmured.

  Millicent let out a laugh. “Is that what wolfie-boy,” she said, causing Kieran’s brows to draw together, “is worried about? He can’t kill Callum, so let him at him.”

  Surprise flickered through me as I glanced at Malik. He hadn’t told Millicent.