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Later, back in the dungeon, Casteel threatens to kill him, and Callum quips that he’s heard that more times than he can count but confesses that Cas is the first person he thinks might actually succeed. Then, he removes a shadowstone dagger and stabs the new King of Atlantia.

Casteel repeatedly calls Callum Golden Boy, and it irks him. I love it, and I’ve taken to doing it myself. He lashes out and says he’s not a boy. When Cas attacks and stabs Isbeth with the sharpened bone, Callum looks on in captive interest. He tells the Blood Queen that Casteel needs to feed. As they try to force it, he holds Cas still, but the Atlantian elbows him in the chin, headbutts him, and throws him into the wall, causing him to acknowledge how strong Cas still is.

Callum separates Kieran and Reaver and then formally greets Poppy, telling her it’s an honor to meet her. As Poppy tries to read him, she’s met with only thick, shadowy walls.

Poppy threatens Isbeth, and it gives him goose bumps. He remarks that he hasn’t felt power like that in a very long time. When Reaver asks how long, he only responds with, “Long.” I imagine he’s alluding to the fact that she feels like the Consort, Sera, whom he had loads of experience with, as well.

Callum leads Poppy, Isbeth, and Millie to Casteel’s cell in the dungeon and has Poppy blindfolded once they’re underground. He stares at Poppy’s scars and remarks that the wounds must have hurt something terrible. She tells him that he’s about to find out if he keeps standing so close to her. Callum backs away at the Queen’s order.

As he leads Poppy to Cas, he warns her not to stand too close to him as he’s like a rabid animal. Poppy tells him that she’ll make sure he dies and make it hurt. When they see Casteel, and Callum remarks that he’s surprised to see Cas talking since he was only foaming at the mouth the last time, Poppy tells him she’s changed her mind and will kill him the first chance she gets. When she displays some of her power, letting it into her voice, he hisses and straightens his spine.

Later, he asks if she thinks Cas really deserves food, and she stabs him in the heart with his own dagger. He swears, and Millie removes him.

The next day, he tells Casteel that his arrogance is impressive and admits that Poppy stabbed him with his own weapon. He lets on that he’s seen love take down the most powerful beings but has only seen love stop death once—with Nyktos and his Consort. He taunts Casteel with this, saying that love is a weakness for him and that he should have fed from Poppy when he had the chance. He then stabs Casteel, barely missing his heart on purpose, sending him straight into bloodlust. He removes the blade, licks it clean, and then wishes Casteel luck.

When the group escapes, Callum rushes to warn Isbeth and runs into Malik. They get into it.

Callum and a half dozen other Revenants confront the group, and Callum tells Reaver he thinks he knows what he is, then taunts Kieran, saying he wants to keep him since he’s always wanted a pet wolf. Turning his attention to Poppy, he tells her that humanity is a weakness.

The Queen orders Malik to be brought to her, and Callum tries to warn her that it’s not the right time, but she merely silences him. As everyone is distracted, he snaps forward and cuts Kieran’s arm with a blade, whispering a spell as he does. Casteel stabs him in the chest in retaliation, and he remarks that it stings before falling dead.

When he comes back to life moments later, Isbeth is removing her ring, then Callum watches in amazement as Kieran knocks Malik unconscious.

After the Queen kills Clariza and Blaz with power, he tells Poppy not to bother trying to bring the couple back to life because nobody comes back from a death like that, yet he takes clear pleasure in watching her reaction to their demise.

Poppy and the group bring Malec to the Bone Temple, and Poppy makes demands. He taunts her, asking her, “Or what?” When Cas says they’ll set the casket on fire and kill Malec, Callum turns his attention to Casteel.

Approaching Kieran, Callum is shocked to see the curse mark missing. Still, he uses a milky-white blade—a bone of an Ancient—to open Kieran’s skin. Black smoke seeps out of the wound as the curse lifts. He then tells Kieran that not much can do serious harm to him now—indirectly referencing the Joining. The wolven plunges a bloodstone dagger into his heart in thanks.

Callum revives just in time to see Isbeth stab Malec. As things unfold, he thanks Poppy for fulfilling her purpose and doing what she was prophesied to do. He explains the prophecy—sort of—and says that as long as both she and Malec had the Primal God of Life’s blood and were loved, it would restore him—meaning Kolis. He adds that Isbeth just needed someone from Kolis’s bloodline to find Malec, but Ires wouldn’t do it.

Callum didn’t know that Isbeth would kill Malec until she asked for him. He figured it was a fifty-fifty chance who she’d kill—her heartmate or Poppy. He explains that Isbeth is the harbinger, and Millie was the warning. He then says that it’d take Poppy eons to be powerful enough to destroy the realms, then adds that it’s time for them to bow to the True King of the Realms.

As a final taunt, he tells Poppy it should have been her on the altar and that it was always about her and Millie, promising they’d be dealt with later. He also explains that Kolis slept fitfully under the Temple of Theon but was kept well-fed. The extra Rite made him strong enough to wake up. When Poppy Ascended, it woke him completely, and when Malec takes his last breath, he’ll be at full strength. Reciting part of the dark nursery rhyme Poppy heard as a child, Casteel silences him by ripping out his heart.

With a gaping hole still in his chest, he gets up and tells the group that the True King’s guards are coming—the dakkais.

Callum fights with Malik and then runs off as soon as Poppy calls the Consort’s name—he knows what that means.

The group promises to find and deal with him later, and I certainly hope they do. However, I fear there is still more to come as it pertains to Callum. He knows more, has experienced more, and had a stake in more than anyone. His end goal is still very much a mystery.

NEKTAS

The first draken

Court: Dalos to The Shadowlands

Click here to see a full-size image of Nektas by Art by Steffani.

Hair: Long, black, and streaked with red (becomes streaked with silver).

Eyes: Blood-red with a vertical pupil (become sapphire blue with a vertical pupil).

Body type: Tall. Long legs.

Facial features: Copper skin. Broad, proud features.

Distinguishing features: Ridges along his back that resemble scales—can present elsewhere if close to shifting.