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With Poppy in awe of everything she’s seeing for the first time, he leaves to speak with Alastir, and Beckett offers to take Poppy to the Chambers.

Word of a commotion reaches him, and he takes off to find her, arriving after the attack with Naill, Emil, Alastir, Casteel’s parents, and others, only to see nothing but carnage and a mini forest of blood trees that were not there before.

When Jasper growls at him as he approaches, Cas suddenly understands what has happened. Something his mother confirms when she asks him what he has done and what he brought to Atlantia.

Alastir insists there’s still time. Casteel drops to one knee, his short swords crossed over his chest as the wolven lower to their bellies or dip into bows, their hindquarters in the air.

Queen Eloana tells Alastir it’s too late and removes her crown, placing it at the foot of the Nyktos statue before saying, “Lower your swords and bow before the last descendant of the most ancient ones, she who carries the blood of the King of the Gods within her. Bow before your new Queen.”

When Poppy wobbles, Casteel goes to catch her but stops momentarily when all the wolven growl—even Kieran, his bonded wolven. He doesn’t care. He understands they are just protecting her, something he is all about, and it makes him angry that the Royal Guard and those in the Temple see Poppy and the wolven as a threat. But then what Alastir says penetrates, and he realizes why the wolven are acting the way they are.

All the bonds between the Atlantians and the wolven have been broken.

By his wife.

When Poppy explains what happened, Cas is enraged that his people tried to stone Poppy in the Temple and orders Beckett to be found. He also declares for all to hear that a move against his wife is a move against him, and anyone who even tries will die. He then orders that Alastir be seized.

Can you imagine having someone you’ve known all your life, someone you trusted implicitly, betray you like that? It hurts my heart to think of it.

When Casteel’s father declares that Casteel is not the King yet and Poppy is not the Queen and orders Alastir to be put somewhere safe, Cas makes it known that if Alastir doesn’t go willingly, he’ll be the first at his throat. But before they can take him away, Alastir instructs the guards to protect their King and Queen—Valyn and Eloana, not Casteel and Poppy—and they attack.

Jasper and Kieran are hit with arrows during the skirmish, and Casteel moves to shield Poppy. Unfortunately, he is struck, as well—in the back, the shoulder, and the leg. And the shadowshade-dipped arrows turned his skin to stone.

I once saw someone wounded by shadowshade. It’s not something I care to ever see again.

When Cas finally comes out of it a few days later, he and several others set off for Irelone to rescue Poppy, finding her by telling the Crown Guard that if the conspirators don’t confess, he will start killing them all—using compulsion to make sure they got the message, and he got the information he needed.

He arrives and tears through the enemy, even going so far as to rip out the spine of someone rushing Poppy and Kieran. But when Poppy shouts for him to stop right before he kills a man in a mask, he does so without question, beyond surprised to find Jansen under the mask. Someone he trusted since before the Red Pearl—before things were even really set in motion.

He goes from pride at watching Poppy keep her promise to end Jansen to devastation when one of the Protectors hits her in the chest with a crossbow bolt. He makes promises to Poppy that he’ll make it right and ignores his father’s warnings and the things Kieran tries to tell him. Instead, he bites into his wrist and tries to get her to drink. When he sees that she’s beyond that, he dissolves with grief.

When a blood tree grows around her, he makes his decision and tells those loyal to him to keep everyone else—especially those trying to stop him—away from Poppy and him, threatening to rip their hearts from their chests if they don’t. He declares that not even the gods could stop him from doing what he plans to do next.

The one thing his father says he cannot do because he knows what will happen.

Ascend her.

When Poppy awakens, starving, and throws herself at Kieran, Casteel steps in to stop her, urging her to use him instead and marveling at the fact that she is alive but didn’t Ascend.

He apologizes for not being there the minute she woke and tells her how in awe he is of her, going on to remind her how brave she is and saying that he’s unworthy. When she finally feeds enough to come back to herself, he tells her how much he needs her and loves her, marveling at the fact that she says it in return—for the first time!—and they show each other with bodies and mouths and more just how much.

But even with her back in his arms and still being able to see the beautiful green of her eyes versus the black he so feared, he blames himself for the attack and feels he didn’t do enough to ensure her safety.

When Poppy questions what happened when she was out of it, he tells her that she died and that his marriage imprint had even begun to fade, which was when he knew there was no turning back and started the process of Ascending her. They then discuss the things that came after—her trying to eat Kieran, him feeding from Naill, the fact that she didn’t, in fact, Ascend.

They talk with Kieran about what happened at the Temple and why she didn’t Ascend, thus turning into a vampry. Kieran reminds Poppy that he told her she smelled of Death, not like something dead, and Casteel adds that her blood doesn’t just taste old, it tastes ancient. Therefore, the blood in her must be old power. They also talk about why she did what she did—or was able to do—in the Chambers, deducing it was her being on Atlantian land combined with the blood she’d taken from Casteel, along with a few other things.

Boy, would they be surprised when they discovered the truth of it.

When Poppy inquires about the wolven bonds, Casteel confirms that his tether to Kieran is indeed broken. Kieran says they just made room for her.

That seriously makes me a puddle of goo. He’s just so sweet and sexy.

They discuss Alastir, and Poppy reveals that he was there the night she and her parents were attacked at Lockswood, Casteel tells her that he meant what he said when he promised she could have whatever she wanted. And then he tells her that Alastir is all hers.

Sweet, sweet retribution. There is something utterly erotic about exacting vengeance when punishment is due.

Before they set off for the Skotos Mountains, Casteel tells Poppy how impressed he is with her new strength and asks her to demonstrate by hitting him. When she refuses, he goads her by teasing her about how much she loves my journal—who wouldn’t?—and finally gets her to slug him in the stomach, most definitely proving how much stronger she is.