Total pages in book: 401
Estimated words: 390373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1952(@200wpm)___ 1561(@250wpm)___ 1301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 390373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1952(@200wpm)___ 1561(@250wpm)___ 1301(@300wpm)
The way he said that made it sound like something illicit. “When can we start?”
“Tomorrow,” Kieran suggested.
Before I could respond, the click of…claws rapping off stone interrupted me. Casteel tensed, and Kieran looked toward the main chamber.
“I can’t believe I heard that,” I whispered. “I have super hearing. Finally.”
Kieran arched a brow. “Congrats.”
Casteel leaned forward and placed his glass on the table. Tension bracketed his mouth. “Are you expecting anyone?”
“No,” Kieran drawled.
Eather hummed faintly in my chest as I let my senses stretch beyond me and the chamber. My stomach tightened and then dipped when the fresh, springy mark of… “It’s Delano.”
“I’ll see what he needs,” Kieran said, setting his drink on the table as he rose and quickly left the chamber.
I twisted toward Casteel. “I’m surprised the notam is still intact.”
“Because Seraphena is now awake?”
I nodded and brushed some damp hair back from his brow. Not only did the notam belong to her, but she was also the one who’d given the kiyou wolves their duality.
His narrowed eyes fixed on the doorway. “I wonder how that’s possible.”
The answer slowly came to me, the subtle prickling sensation spreading across the nape of my neck and stirring the fine hairs there. “We’re both true Primals of Life. And we’re both bonded to the wolven. But she is the true Primal of Life.” I looked over at him, and his gaze met mine. “If she summons them? If she pulls rank?”
That muscle along his jaw began to tick. “They would be hers to command.”
“Yes.” I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.
“Let’s not borrow tomorrow’s problems,” he murmured, turning his gaze to mine. “We have enough for today.”
Gods, did we ever.
My gaze strayed to the doorway as I thought about the last time I had seen Delano. Not when we were beneath Wayfair—that was still a blur to me—but the image of him at the Bone Temple, his fur streaked with red and my dagger protruding from his chest. That was far too easy to recall.
He’d died while protecting me.
And the agony and horror of that loss had pushed me into my Ascension.
But he was okay.
All of them were.
They had been given a second chance. Something I knew in my bones could not be granted again for those who had been brought back.
“Do you want to see Delano?” Casteel asked, drawing my gaze back to him.
I hesitated for only a moment, then nodded.
“You positive?” he pressed. “If you’re not ready, you don’t have to.”
“I’m positive,” I said, even as a small trickle of uncertainty ran through me. It proved that my hesitation wasn’t only due to Tawny. What would they think when they saw my eyes? Now that I was a Primal, would they treat me differently? But it was more than that. I just felt… I wasn’t exactly sure, but I knew I wanted them to see me as, well, just as Poppy. Because these people—Delano and Naill, Perry and Reaver, Vonetta and Emil, and almost everyone I’d met since leaving Masadonia? They saw me as Poppy first and foremost.
Not as the Blessed, the Chosen.
Not as a future Queen or the Queen.
Not as a god or their Liessa.
They saw me as Poppy first. And I didn’t want that to change.
“You haven’t been awake long, and you spent a good portion of that away from here,” he pointed out. “And the rest of the time hasn’t really left you with any moments to collect your thoughts.”
“True,” I murmured.
“So, it’s understandable if you don’t want to see him.”
My gaze drifted to the doorway again, and I had to wonder when Delano—or any of them—had treated me as if I weren’t a person with her own thoughts, feelings, or ideas. I couldn’t think of a single time. The truth of that sort of smacked me in the face.
My fear of not being seen for who I was had more to do with me than anyone else. It was something I controlled. Not them.
I exhaled and stood. “I want to see him—and whoever else is here.”
Casteel studied me for a moment, rose, and dropped a kiss to my forehead. “Let’s go.”
Nervous energy caused the eather to feel like it was humming in my veins, but I didn’t allow myself to give it any thought.
Taking my hand, Casteel walked half a step in front of me as we left the sitting chamber. From the entryway, I saw Kieran standing just beyond the open doors. In front of him, Delano moved in and out of view, little more than a white blur of fur as he paced. My steps slowed, and the wolven halted at the doors. His ears twitched, and then his head turned toward the chamber.
Casteel must’ve communicated with Kieran because he didn’t try to stop Delano as he entered the short, narrow entry hall.
He crept forward, his large, fluffy head low and his tail tucked close to his body. His steps were slow and tentative, almost as if he were uncertain. That cracked my heart. He stopped just at the mouth of the Solar.