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When the Queen and her people confront them, Casteel is horrified to find his brother Malik at Ileana’s side and asks him what she’s done. When Malik reveals that the Queen wanted Poppy to marry him and remarks that he was to be her Ascension…of the flesh, Kieran has to hold Casteel back.

He further learns that Alastir told Ileana about the ultimatum they planned to give and learns that she would rather see the whole kingdom burn than hand over even a single acre. When he hears Ileana’s counteroffer, he tells her that she’s out of her mind.

Seems war is inevitable.

As Ileana reveals more, Casteel struggles to accept what he’s being told: that Ileana is actually Isbeth, that Isbeth is Poppy’s mother, that Malec is a god, that Isbeth is a god because Malec Ascended her…

I didn’t believe most of it myself.

Then he tells Isbeth they don’t agree to her terms, which ultimately results in Isbeth having Poppy’s brother killed and causing a skirmish to break out.

During the battle, Cas catches Poppy as she’s being choked by Isbeth’s magic and orders everyone to stand down. He tells Isbeth that she can have whatever she wants and offers himself up, saying it’s the only way for her to control Poppy.

Malik takes him to the dungeon and shackles him with shadowstone around his ankles and throat.

As the days pass, Handmaidens randomly swarm the cell to take blood from him. He’s able to take many of them out, resulting in them shortening his chains, but he also learns something invaluable: not all the Queen’s Handmaidens are Revenants—one actually stayed dead after he took her out.

A few hours after a bloodletting, five Handmaidens enter his cell, followed by Isbitch, as I’ve come to love to call her after hearing it in a vision. She reveals some things that lead him to realize that Isbeth is a demis, and he learns more about how they’re created.

He’s enraged when they tell him he hasn’t earned the right to see his brother, but it thrills him when he learns what Poppy did to King Jalara and that she knows where Malec is and threatened to kill the god.

Isbeth intuits that Casteel’s only interest in Poppy is her power, which doesn’t surprise him. But when the Blood Queen keeps talking and reveals that she doesn’t want Atlantia, she wants to remake the realms, and believes Poppy is destined to help her do it…that does shock him.

They leave him alone for a while until Callum comes and stabs Casteel with a shadowstone dagger.

With the captivity, bloodletting, and new blood loss, Casteel realizes he needs to feed and fears becoming the thing he turned into while in captivity before. There are also other similarities between then and now. They bring in a bath, and he refuses to use it, knowing they were always rewards or preludes to punishments, and he hasn’t done anything to deserve a reward.

When they remove his index finger, he’s more bothered by the fact that they took his wedding ring than by the loss of the digit. And why wouldn’t he be? It was a union blessed by the gods and a symbol of their always and forever. At least he knows that Kieran is with her.

When the Queen’s Handmaiden, Millicent, comes in to tend to him, something about her seems familiar. He wonders if it’s her scent, but he can’t quite place it. She proceeds to tell him that she broke the wards in the tunnels when she Ascended into her godhood and that Poppy carries the blood of both the Primal of Life and the Primal of Death within her. Casteel immediately assumes it’s Nyktos, but Millicent shuts that down right away by telling him that he knows nothing.

She goes on to inform Cas that while it’s true that Isbeth doesn’t have the power to remake the realms, she knows how to bring to life something that does. The information leaves Cas reeling, thinking about what it could all mean.

That night, Cas dream walks with Poppy at the pool in the cave. He revels in the fact that he’s able to touch her. Love her. But he remains cold and hears the clanking of chains, so he knows it’s not real. Still, given that it is more than a dream, it confirms one thing: he and Poppy are heartmates.

Later, he regrets not telling Poppy that he is underground and that Isbeth is a demis, but he can’t regret what happened in the dream. When more Craven attack, he kills one and takes its shin bone to use as a weapon. It’s better than nothing…

When Malik visits, Casteel feels a brief flash of hope that his brother is there to break him out. Sadly, that is quickly quashed. The betrayal stokes his anger, but he does understand some of it. As Malik said, if he fed Cas, the Queen would discover their visit and punish Casteel. Malik does disinfect and bandage Cas’s wound, however, leading Cas to believe that Millie must have told his brother about what was going on with him.

They discuss Shea, and Malik admits that he’s been thinking about her a lot. When Cas reveals that he killed her, it seems to come as no surprise to his brother. And then they talk about Preela. Malik tells Casteel exactly what happened to his bonded wolven and reveals that Poppy’s dagger is made from her bones. It sickens Cas, and he realizes that losing Preela like that was likely the catalyst to what happened to Malik and led to what he became.

Cas then begins to put some things together regarding his brother and the Handmaiden. When Malik asks Casteel not to take revenge on Millie for anything that has been done, Cas asks his brother if he cares about her. Malik tells him he’s incapable of that, but she—like Poppy—had no choice in her life. And he owes her. Then he cryptically tells Casteel that everything has to do with Poppy and she likely won’t remember him.

Thinking through everything he’s learned, all the what-ifs nag Casteel. That night, he dream walks with Poppy again and reveals to her that she’s a goddess. He tells her that he knew the minute he learned Malec was a god. But then Poppy tells him that Malec isn’t her father. His twin, Ires, is. And Ires is the cave cat they saw. It all enrages him, but he’s glad Isbeth doesn’t know where Malec is entombed.

They talk more, and Poppy tells him they’re coming for him and are close. She also tells him that she summoned Nyktos’s guards and has Kieran and Reaver—one of the draken—with her.

They share additional information: the fact that he’s underground, the fact that Isbeth is a demis and what that means, the fact that the Blood Queen knows how to use Primal energy, and that’s what killed the other draken Poppy brought with her…

Recounting this, I can’t help but feel relief that Nithe escaped the slaughter. I will always hold the night we shared close.

Callum wakes Cas with a bucket of cold water, and Isbeth confronts him. He taunts her before stabbing her in the chest with the bone. He barely misses her heart and tells her it’s payback for what she did to Poppy’s brother. Callum comes for him, and he fights, trying to get to Isbeth again—with no luck.

Isbeth then reveals some big and pertinent information. Primals have a weakness. Love can be used as a weapon to weaken and then end them. They can also be born in the mortal realm, and gods pushed Primals into their eternal rest by Ascending. However, the Fates created a loophole, allowing the greatest power to rise again. The rub is that it is only in the females of the Primal of Life’s line…suggesting that Isbeth didn’t birth a god, she birthed a Primal. Poppy is a Primal.

Time passes, and he starts going out of his mind with bloodlust. He barely notices when Poppy comes to him. She uses her gift to bring him out of his haze and heals his wounds. But when he sees Callum instead of Kieran, he knows she isn’t there to rescue him. Something happened. She tells him they were caught outside Three Rivers and brought to the Queen. When she offers to feed him, he refuses out of fear of weakening her.

When Cas realizes that Isbeth doesn’t know that Poppy brought a draken with her, it pleases him. And when she demands that he be given water and allowed to feed and then displays her power, she utterly awes him. Again. Still, he convinces her to leave. She has plans to make and can’t do it down in the dungeon with him.