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There was a strange, unnerving sensation I couldn’t shake as Delano lifted his head and pale, luminous blue eyes met mine. I wondered if the life restored to those who’d fallen in battle had been a gift that could be stripped away at any moment. I had no real reason to feel that way. According to Nektas, the act of restoring life to so many was not only known to the Primals of Life and of Death but also aided by them.

Besides, that feeling of unease could be sourced back to a shit ton of things. We were currently moving about the enemy’s nest, and while none of the mortal servants or Royal Guards who remained at Wayfair had put up a fight when we entered, and there had only been three Ascended underground so far, none of us were comfortable here. Wayfair wasn’t ours. It never would be.

Another thing preying on my mind at the moment was my brother, who was somewhere out there, chasing after Millicent, who happened to be Poppy’s sister. And none of us knew where Millicent stood in regard to their mother.

Then again, from my personal experience with Millie, I didn’t think she knew where she stood on anything half the time.

There was also the fact that Poppy’s Primal grandparents were no longer sleeping, and from what I could figure out, one of them could enter the mortal realm whenever they felt like it.

And then there was Callum, that golden fuck of a Revenant who still needed to be dealt with, which brought me to what probably should be the most disconcerting item of all. Yes, we’d defeated the Blood Crown, but the real battle awaited. We had only prevented Kolis, the original and true Primal of Death, from taking full corporeal form. Still, he was free, he was awake, and he wasn’t the only one. All those things were hardcore pressing issues, but…

My gaze returned to Poppy’s profile, and my chest tightened again. The thin, jagged scar on her cheek and the one cutting across her forehead and eyebrow stood out more starkly than they ever had. She was pale—paler than she’d been when she came to at the Temple. And shouldn’t it be the opposite? Shouldn’t her skin have become flushed? Other than the passing blush earlier, it hadn’t, and that worried me most of all.

Poppy turned her head in my direction. Our gazes met. Her irises were the color of dewy spring grass laced with vibrant streaks of silver—eather. Was it just me, or had those luminous lines gotten brighter in the time it took us to arrive at Wayfair? Her full lips curved up in a reassuring smile, and I knew immediately that she’d picked up on my concern, either because I was projecting it, or she was simply reading me—reading all of us around her.

I reached out and took her hand. More pressure clamped down on my chest. Her hand, so much smaller than mine, was cold. Not icy, but also not warm.

“Are you feeling all right?” I asked, my voice low yet echoing through the cavernous hall.

Poppy nodded. “Yes.” Her brows knitted as her eyes searched mine. “Are you?”

“Always,” I murmured, glancing at Kieran.

There was more concern than awe in his stare. Without me having to say anything, he inched closer to Poppy.

Something wasn’t right.

Starting with Nektas, who now walked silently on Kieran’s other side. Poppy had asked earlier if what she had become, a Primal that had never existed before, was a good thing or bad. I already knew the answer to that. But Nektas’s response?

That is yet to be known.

Yeah, I didn’t like that at all.

I also didn’t like his expression when he looked at Poppy. It reminded me of how we all looked at Malik—like we weren’t sure we could trust him. No one wanted a draken looking at them like that.

Poppy suddenly stopped at the entrance to a long, shadowy hall. There was a musty scent to this area, one that threatened to send my mind back to darker, colder places. I stopped that before it could happen. Now wasn’t the time for that shit.

Slipping her hand from mine, Poppy faced us. “Okay. Why does everyone keep looking at me?” she demanded, propping her hands on her hips as she lifted her chin. “Has something changed about me that I’m unaware of?”

“Other than your adorable fangs?” I offered.

Her eyes narrowed on me, but I grinned as I saw the skin around her mouth move as she ran her tongue over her top teeth. Then she winced, likely nicking her tongue yet again. “Other than that.”

Kieran said nothing as Delano plopped his ass down, thumping his tail on the stone floor. I wasn’t sure what that was supposed to translate to.

“I imagine they are looking at you with concern,” Nektas answered in that gravelly voice of his.