Casteel snorted. “How likely is it that it’s option two?”

  Highly.

  My thoughts jumped from one thing to the next, landing on what I’d thought when I held the Ancient bone I’d found in the chest.

  What Casteel had been stabbed with.

  That had…killed him.

  I took a step back and glanced toward the castle. Oh, gods… My chest squeezed painfully. A Revenant wielding a bone dagger couldn’t kill a Primal, but used against a fledgling Primal, a god, demigod, or anything else in between? Yes, it could, but I…I had brought him back, even while in stasis. That was the power of the Joining and… The nape of my neck tingled faintly. It was also the power of the essence in him. His bloodline.

  “Who is your grandmother?” I asked.

  “I don’t know. I never met her.”

  Frustration burned through me. “And you’re sure she was an Elemental?”

  “She has to be. I’m not a full-blooded god or deity.”

  He was right, but…

  I resisted the urge to turn and kick the statue as I felt Casteel’s stare on me. “I wonder how forthcoming Attes will be.”

  Valyn didn’t respond.

  “You need to tell Malik. And you should do it soon,” Casteel stated. “Preferably before Attes gets here.”

  “I will.” Valyn met Casteel’s gaze. “I know this probably seems like another lie to you, but—”

  “It is a lie,” he cut in. I stiffened before wedging my arm between his and the side he had it tightly pressed against. Turning my head, I kissed his biceps. “But,” he added with a heavy breath, “I get it.”

  Surprise widened Valyn’s eyes, and he seemed about to speak but didn’t.

  Casteel cleared his throat and turned to me. Our eyes met, but I couldn’t read a thing in them as I felt his presence brush against my thoughts. I’ll meet you back in the Solar.

  I nodded and reluctantly slipped my arm free. He lowered his head and softly brushed his mouth against mine. I drew my still-tingling lip between my teeth as I watched him stiffly turn and leave the way we’d come, silently brushing past Kieran.

  My eyes met Kieran’s, and without having to say a word, he gave me a curt nod and pivoted, following Casteel. Folding my arms across my waist, I stared at the empty pathway while worry for him settled in.

  “He says he gets it,” Valyn said, drawing my gaze back to him. “But if I hadn’t destroyed our relationship by keeping the truth about Isbeth from him, I fear I have done so now.”

  “I…think he just needs some time to process everything.” After all, that was what I needed after learning about Sotoria. It was why I hadn’t followed him despite badly wanting to.

  “You really think so?” he asked. “Like he said, it is another lie, Penellaphe.”

  “It’s a lie I believe he understands. And I think Malik will, too.”

  Valyn was quiet for a moment. “I can only hope you are right and Eloana will also understand.”

  The mention of his wife reminded me of what Seraphena had said once again. Unfolding my arms, I glanced at the empty path and swallowed a curse. Casteel had forgotten, too. I turned back to Valyn. “Seraphena was here.”

  He frowned.

  “The true Primal of Life,” I elaborated as I opened my senses. His confusion felt genuine. “That is Seraphena. She is the Queen of the Gods.”

  He still looked confused.

  “The reason that is not known is a long and complicated mess we really don’t have time for,” I told him. He looked like he wanted to argue that point. I couldn’t blame him. “But I think you know her as Nyktos’s Consort.”

  He sat straighter when I said Consort. His gaze trailed to the statue behind me. “I’m guessing she told you we’ve crossed paths?”

  “She did, but only said it was during the War of Two Kings. She said I needed to ask you about it.”

  “I don’t know why she didn’t just tell you—actually, I suppose I can imagine why. It’s probably something she doesn’t want to think about.” He rubbed the knee of his outstretched leg. “It was after the battle at Pompay. It was chaos, so many dead and dying on both sides. And Jasper…he was gravely wounded and unconscious.”

  My lips parted, but I stayed quiet.

  “I was trying to get him to safety. I couldn’t lose him when we had all already lost so much. I—” He squinted. “My focus was on him. I knew better, and Jasper…he would’ve kicked my ass if he’d known how distracted I allowed myself to become.” He shook his head. “He was on me before I even realized he was there.”

  I had a sudden, sinking suspicion that I knew who he spoke of.

  “Drove a sword through my lower back.” Valyn let out a rough laugh. “It wasn’t a killing blow, but that was on purpose. He was many things…” His jaw tightened. “But Malec still had some level of honor.”

  Gods, I wished I wasn’t right.

  “He still believed that a man should look another in the eye when he delivered death. We fought, but I was wounded even before he stuck me like a pig. So was he. But Malec…he was stronger and faster. Got the upper hand.” A distant look crept over Valyn’s face. “I can still see him lifting that sword, aiming it right at my throat. I hadn’t accepted death. Couldn’t. Not with Eloana at home and knowing what would happen if Malec succeeded. He would’ve taken back Atlantia and…well, I’m sure you can imagine what would’ve happened next.”

  I could.

  “We’d thought the gods were asleep by then—or, at the very least, most of them. So, when she showed, appearing out of nowhere between Malec and me, I didn’t realize who she was.” His hand stilled on his knee. “Malec came so close to striking her. I swear the blade kissed the skin of her throat. And he… I’d never seen a man look like he had then. Horrified.” He was quiet for a moment. “He said one word. Mother.”

  I suddenly wanted to sit.

  “Then she knocked his ass out.” He laughed as my mouth dropped open. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure I had the same reaction. She saved me. Saved Atlantia.” Wonder crept into his features as he shook his head. “Thus choosing the realm over her son.”

  And she had chosen the realm. Because if Malec had succeeded, Solis would’ve been even worse off.

  Gods, I…

  I didn’t know what to say.

  Even with what Seraphena had told us, I was shocked. And again, I couldn’t imagine how hard it must have been for her to stand against her son not once but twice. The kind of loyalty to duty that took was unthinkable. But if she hadn’t stopped Malec? Eloana would’ve likely met Malec’s wrath for trying to kill Isbeth.

  Neither Malik nor Casteel would’ve been born. Nor would I have.

  I didn’t think Seraphena knew what she was doing when she intervened or what that decision would instigate. It set in motion a chain of events that led to the one thing she’d attempted to prevent when she helped Eloana entomb Malec.

  “That…yeah. That used to haunt my thoughts,” he shared quietly. “For decades. Until I managed to accept it as something I’d never fully understand and made myself forget. I didn’t think about it again until we learned about your bloodline.”

  It took me a few moments to find my words. “Did anyone else know?”

  “Eloana. But like me, she believed it was the Consort.” He scratched his jaw and drew his leg back, bending it at the knee. “She put her hands on Jasper. I remember seeing her do that before I passed out. I think I know why now.”

  Good gods…

  Seraphena had healed Jasper—maybe even saved him. And she could because she was the true Primal of Life. If she hadn’t, and she’d only saved Valyn, there was a chance Kieran wouldn’t be here. There would’ve been no Joining.

  The ramifications of Seraphena’s choices left my head feeling like it might spin off my shoulders.

  “Thank you for telling me,” I said, stepping back. “You will speak to Malik?”

  “I will do so as soon as I leave this garden.”

  Nodding, I started to turn.

  “Penellaphe.” Valyn stopped me. “The message that was given? There was more.”

  I slowly faced him.

  “I thought it best I not share this part in front of my son,” he said. “Or any of the others.”

  My stomach knotted as I worked to keep my expression indifferent. “Well, this should be pleasant.”

  “The god that met us at the Rise. Varus? He said you need to return so you can serve at Kolis’s side.” He let out a ragged breath, and then his jaw tightened. I felt greasy, cloying disgust. “Or refuse and serve…beneath him.”

  CHAPTER 46

  CASTEEL

  Night had fallen by the time I returned to Wayfair. I’d been gone longer than I wanted to be and still wasn’t sure what to think of what my father had shared.

  Was I angry? Sure. Did I understand why he’d kept quiet? Yeah—if the reason he claimed was the truth. I hated doubting that.

  Growing up, I’d never doubted my father. Neither had my brother. Our father was larger than life—a hero to the people of Atlantia and to us. There had only been a few things I’d questioned my father about, and that had come after I met Poppy, and his plans regarding her hadn’t changed. But having to question if he was telling the truth? That hadn’t come until it was revealed that Ileana was Isbeth, and my parents had always known.

  The truth of our bloodline hit me in the gut, and my steps slowed as I neared the gas lamplit breezeways. I didn’t doubt that. I’d seen the truth in Poppy’s eyes.

  I wasn’t sure what was more unexpected: that Elian was my grandfather or that Attes wasn’t a distant ancestor with whom I only shared physical similarities.

  Fucking gods.

  What would Malik think? I was wondering that as I stopped halfway down the path and stretched my neck to the side. “I thought you were too afraid of shadowstepping?”

  “Never said I was afraid.”

  “Sure didn’t seem that way to me,” I replied.

  There was no response.

  I considered simply walking away or shadowstepping to the Solar, but I turned around instead. My eyes locked with Kieran’s bright, winter-blue ones. The fucker had been on my ass since I left the gardens, following me first to the Blood Forest, where I had hoped to find a Craven to work out my thoughts on with a sword, but there hadn’t been any, only barrats. And they had run the moment they sensed me—something that would make Poppy happy to learn. The Craven-free woods were concerning since the portion closest to the capital was thick and normally crawling with the cursed bastards.

  Considering what we’d learned upon my father’s return, Kolis could control the Craven in a way the mortals had once feared I could. So, I had a feeling I knew where they were.

  With nothing to do but think while scaring overgrown rodents away, I shadowstepped to the area along the southernmost tip of Carsodonia that sat in the shadows of the Elysium Peaks. Both times, Kieran hung back. He didn’t say a word, even though he knew I was aware of him.

  He had been keeping an eye on me, just as he had more times than we cared to remember after I was freed.

  “I’m not going to do anything idiotic,” I told him.

  Standing near one of the deep tears in the ground left behind by carriage wheels the day of the Lowertown attack, he crossed his arms. “I hope not.”

  I huffed out a short laugh that barely eked out from between my clenched teeth and started to turn but stopped. My fucking jaw ached from how tightly I was holding it closed. But, boy, did it spring right open then. “You really think I’m that unstable?”

  His brows pinched. “Why the fuck would you say that?”

  Aware of the guards lining the breezeway doors, I kept my voice low as I stepped toward him. “Isn’t that why you’re following me?”

  Kieran’s eyes widened.

  It took a moment for me to realize that what I thought I said wasn’t what I’d asked. Instead of saying you’re following me, what came out of my mouth was, “Isn’t that why you agreed to be the one to put Poppy in the ground?”

  “Is that why you think I agreed?” Kieran asked, unfolding his arms.

  I pushed down the essence when it started to rise, but the air still cooled. “It’s not?”

  Kieran stared back at me, his brow smoothing out. He started to speak but snapped his mouth shut, his shields cracking. For just a few seconds—if even that long—I felt the sudden, hot spike of essence in him and tasted the tart coolness of his disbelief.

  “Fucking gods,” he said finally with a laugh drier than mine. “You really haven’t thought about it at all, have you?”

  My back stiffened.

  “You couldn’t have.” He moved toward me with slow, measured steps, stopping about a foot away. “Not if you think that has anything to do with why Poppy asked me to promise that, and I agreed.”

  I felt a muscle ticking in my jaw. “I’ve been thinking about it between more pressing concerns, like dealing with the fucker to our north and the moments when I’m not considering how Poppy’s entire life was blown up.”

  “Or learning your father is a demigod?” he questioned.

  “That is nothing,” I said, my hand cutting through the air, “compared to what Poppy learned.”

  “No,” he said after a moment. “It’s not.” He paused again. “But that fucked-up comment you just made tells me you haven’t said shit to her about it.” The glow behind his pupils flared. “Not that I needed confirmation of that.”

  My hands fisted as I held his stare. Seconds passed with only the guards on the inner Rise moving along the battlements.

  “Want to know why I followed you?” Kieran asked. “Poppy didn’t ask me to.”

  “I’m sure she wanted you to.”

  “And I’m sure you’re right,” he admitted. “But even if she didn’t, I still would have, in case you wanted to, you know, be reasonable and talk the shit out since neither of us expected that to come out of your father’s mouth.”

  Well, we could agree on that. We hadn’t expected that.

  Kieran stepped back. “You’re returning to the Solar?”

  I nodded, forcing my hands to loosen.

  “Good.” He started to turn and then stopped. His stare bore into mine. “You’re running out of time, Casteel.”

  Something about the way he held my gaze and how he said that made the hairs on my arms stand up. “For what?”

  “To talk to Poppy. Clear the air or whatever you want to call it.”

  “Why?” I asked, my voice dropping to a harsh growl. “Are you going to do what you already warned and tell her?”

  Kieran said nothing for a long moment, and the chill prickling over my skin shot down my spine. “Let’s hope that’s all that happens,” he said and then turned without another word, heading toward the gatehouse.

  I stared at his retreating form, admittedly unnerved but mostly pissed.

  Mainly because I knew I needed to talk to her. But, fuck, when was the right time? Between fucking skeleton ceeren attacking, her learning she was Sotoria, or right before a public address meant to calm the people?

  Fuck.

  I turned back to Wayfair, my gaze lifting to the top floor of the eastern wing. A dim light shone in the window of the sitting chamber.

  Silencing my thoughts, I shadowstepped to the Solar. The chamber was empty, but the shawl draped over the back of the armchair wasn’t Poppy’s. First off, it was white. It also carried the faintest scent of stale lilacs and…something syrupy and slightly floral. Peaches.

  Tawny had been here.

  Walking forward, I began to unbuckle my baldric. Not knowing if Poppy had already fallen asleep like she had the night before, I stayed quiet. As I neared the bedchamber, a sweet, woodsy scent reached me. Poppy’s voice echoed from the bathing chamber before I could even let my gaze settle on the bed. My gaze flicked to the golden light spilling from the half-open door.

  “I’m in here.”

  Entering, I laid the baldric on the chest by the door opposite the couch. Despite my conversation with Kieran, a slow grin stretched across my lips when I heard a splash of water. My steps couldn’t carry me fast enough, but fuck if I didn’t jerk to a halt when I passed the privacy screen and saw her in the tub.

  The sight of her went straight to my dick.

  Poppy was nestled on one side of the tub, the foamy water barely concealing the swell of her breasts and doing very little to hide the shadowy curves beneath the surface. She shifted slightly, her legs pressing closer together. A single tantalizing knee pierced the sudsy water, and I drew my lower lip between my teeth, slowly lifting my gaze to hers. Strands of wet hair the color of deep-red wine clung to her throat, and a pretty pink flush stained her cheeks.

  “Enjoying yourself?” I asked, my voice roughened by the lust coursing through my blood.

  “Yes.” Her voice was softer, breathier. Her flecked eyes darted away as I tasted faint, lemony unease. “It’s a rather nice tub.”

  “It also contains a rather nice view.” Stepping forward, I sat on the ledge. “How long have you been in there?”

  “Long enough that my skin has pruned.”

  Reaching over, I scooped a tendril of wet hair from her cheek and tucked it back. “I didn’t mean to be gone so long.”

  “It’s okay.” Her knee disappeared beneath the water. “I figured you needed some time.”

  “I’m not sure there’d be enough time to really grasp all of that,” I admitted.

  Her chin dipped until it nearly disappeared beneath the water, her gaze sweeping over my face. “You okay?”

  I knew she was asking about the shit with my father, so I ignored the twinge in my chest. “Yeah, I am.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah.” I dipped my fingers into the water, finding it still very warm. “It’s…” Thinking about what Kieran had said, I watched the bubbles scatter across the surface. “It was unexpected.”

  A grin appeared. “That’s an understatement.”

  My lips curved, responding to her smile. “True.”

  She watched me as I straightened and pulled my hand from the water. “What are you thinking?”