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Alastir leaves for Spessa’s End before the rest of the group. When he speaks with Poppy later, he tells her about the Joining and the wolven’s bond to the Elemental Atlantians, indirectly revealing that he was Malec’s bonded wolven.

Becket gets injured, and Alastir rushes him to Vonetta’s. He’s absolutely stunned when Poppy heals the young wolven—it’s much more than what she did after the Ascended attack, complete with a glow. He apologizes to her for those looking at her suspiciously and treating her strangely and advises her to ignore the looks, saying if she won’t remove herself from the situation, she can’t show that it bothers her.

This all seemed very counterproductive to what he planned. But maybe, despite knowing that he would be betraying her, he did have some fondness for her and a softness in him somewhere. And perhaps he really thought that he could just get her to leave if he overwhelmed her thoughts and triggered her self-doubt.

Alastir admits that he doesn’t understand how love sprang up between Poppy and Casteel given the Prince’s original plans for her as the Maiden. Then, he goes on to say how he’s seen Cas in love before and that the people expected someone else to become their Queen because Cas was promised to another.

Now that seems more in line with Alastir’s end goal. It was a grand opportunity to make Poppy doubt herself and her relationship with Casteel—and incredibly manipulative.

When Casteel chastises him for bringing that up, calling him weak for doing it, Alastir claims that Cas marrying his niece Gianna would have strengthened the relationship between the wolven and the Atlantians. Jasper warns Alastir that he’s overstepping, but the wolven still accuses Cas of refusing his duties to his people.

I honestly think that this was where the switch was completely flipped for Alastir. He had been plotting already but seeing that it was beyond hope and that he couldn’t talk Cas out of his plans or get Poppy to leave on her own just reinforced that he’d have to take matters into his hands.

As the others disperse, Alastir stays in Atlantia. When he meets back up with the group in Saion’s Cove, he’s shocked to see that Casteel and Poppy got married and even more surprised to hear that Nyktos blessed the union. He requests to speak with Casteel privately, likely hoping to talk some sense into him and bring him around to Alastir’s way of thinking.

I’m not sure what he got up to between that point and when Beckett led Poppy to her ambush at the Chambers of Nyktos, but, like most, he arrives after the attack, witnessing the end of the display of what she can do. He tries to reason with the Queen, telling Eloana that it’s not too late and knowing what it will mean for the Crown.

He makes it known that Poppy is calling the wolven at the Temple and says that he can feel the broken bonds because he can sense Poppy’s Primal notam. When Cas orders the guards to seize Alastir, he’s shocked and states that Cas has no authority over the guards or him since he is not yet King. They still secure him. When Valyn orders him to be put somewhere…safe, he’s incensed.

Shouting, “Protect your King and Queen,” Alastir signals those loyal to him to act, and they infect everyone trying to protect Poppy with shadowshade. He tells Poppy that she is the threat to Atlantia, not him, then knocks her out and whisks her away.

While Poppy is in the crypt, Alastir visits and apologizes for Jansen’s behavior. He then tells her about the gods, deities, Shadowlands, and Iliseeum. He goes on to explain how Poppy is dangerous. Says she’s entered her Culling and will start showing the same chaotic tendencies as those who came before her—the deities that became monsters, thus causing the Elementals to rise against them. He explains about Malec and reveals that Eloana and Valyn knew about Malec’s powers. Then, he implies that Malec is Poppy’s father and adds that the King had many mistresses, and there were others like her—children born of the deity—who never reached their Culling.

I’ve never been able to pin down whether or not Alastir knew that Malec was actually a god and not merely a deity or if he knew about Ires and Millicent.

Alastir tells Poppy about the prophecy and reveals that they’ve met before—the night her parents were killed. He thought she looked familiar when he met her in New Haven—something in the eyes—and had a nagging feeling but didn’t know for certain she was the one until she told him her parents’ names. He admits that he was there to help them flee Solis and claims that he didn’t strike her parents down but that he would have killed them both and her if given the chance. He goes on to say that the Dark One killed her parents, and that darkness outside his influence was there that night. When Cora and Leo told him about Poppy and who she descended from—the Blood Queen—he knew he had to do something, so…he let that darkness in, in the form of Malik.

Then, Alastir reveals all sorts of secrets: that he can no longer shift, that he plans to give Poppy to the Ascended, and that while he doesn’t want to harm Casteel, he will if he gets in his way. He adds that he doesn’t think that Cas’s plan is enough. Alastir and Valyn want the Ascended to pay, and so long as Poppy is alive, the throne is hers by birthright. He says he would rather go to war than have the likes of her unleashed on his people.

When Cas and the others come to rescue Poppy, they take Alastir into custody from the crypts, as well. Cas uses compulsion on him to learn the names of everyone involved and to find where they passed her off to the Ascended. While tucked away, a handful of Atlantians and mortals try to free Alastir but are also captured. Later, Casteel retrieves Alastir from the crypts under the Temple. Believing that Poppy is dead, Alastir is at first relieved when Casteel reveals that he won’t kill him, and then shocked to see Poppy. He tells her that what he started won’t end with his death. She tells him that she’ll never think of him again, cuts his throat, and then lets the wolven cannibalize him.

After his death, we learn that Alastir knew that Ileana was Isbeth and that he was the one who killed Isbeth and Malec’s child.

KIERAN CONTOU

Click here to see a full-size image of Kieran by Romanna Boch.

I have had my eye on Kieran for some time, but then again, he’s pretty easy on the eyes. I even dallied with his aunt and her bonded Elemental Atlantian once upon a blue moon…

Hair: Dark and trimmed close to the skull.

Eyes: Striking pale blue like a winter sky.

Body type: Lean.

Facial features: Warm beige skin. Sharply angled face. Goes from coldly handsome to strikingly attractive when he smiles.

Distinguishing features: Slight accent. Faded claw marks across his chest. A healed puncture wound near his waist.

Other: Fine dusting of hair on his chest. Over two hundred years old.

Personality: Snarky and sarcastic. A bit anal. Not the hugging type. Not modest. About as transparent as a brick wall. Go-to expression is bored with a hint of amusement.

Habits/Mannerisms/Strengths/Weaknesses: Moves with the grace of a dancer when he fights. Often sleeps in wolven form and kicks but rests easiest as the sun rises. Loves biscuits…well, food in all forms. Doesn’t like crowded cities. Excellent at making alcoholic drinks. His loyalty to his family and those he loves goes beyond any bond, including the Primal notam.

Preternatural traits: Fawn/sand/tawny-colored in his wolven form. Slight foresight—has feelings that tend to come true. Nearly as tall as a man, even on all fours. Imprint is like cedar: rich, earthy, and woodsy. Blood smells like the woods, earthy and rich.

Background: Bonded to Casteel since birth. Lost a great love—Elashya—who was born with a wasting disease.