Page 102 of The Primal of Blood and Bone (Blood and Ash #6)

“He’s the King of Atlantia,” Malik said, his brows drawing together. “That is all they need to know to support him.”

“But I was the Maiden—one many were told was dead or a demis.” I reminded him of what he had said to me in the Great Hall. “And I know some Descenters likely distrust me. They would be foolish not to.”

Malik stared at me for several moments. “My brother won’t like it.”

“Your brother will deal with it,” I replied.

He huffed out a low laugh and looked over at the group. “Well, this will be…entertaining, at least.”

Smiling at that, I turned, and my gaze landed on one of the quiet homes.

Children.

My hands fisted at my sides as anger burned through the ache of sorrow. Kolis had killed children to send a message .

Because wasn’t that what this was? A tactic like Casteel had used. Kolis wanted us unsettled. He wanted to show us what he could do without even setting foot in the city.

What was stopping him from sending another?

Nothing.

Nothing , unless I stopped him.

“I saw a lot of messed-up shit during my time here,” Malik said quietly. I tore my gaze from the house and noticed he was now staring at it. “Isbeth…she was capable of many things—things you can’t even imagine.”

I swallowed but stayed quiet.

“But this? All those kids?” He shook his head. “I’ve never seen such senseless cruelty visited upon the most innocent.” His gaze returned to mine. “I hope you don’t plan to do something ill-advised.”

“I’m not sure I understand what you mean.”

“If you’re anything like Millie, you know exactly what I’m talking about.” Malik’s smile was tight and didn’t reach his eyes. “Because if she saw something like that, she would want to exact some vengeance.”

I quickly looked away. While I was relieved to hear that Millicent would want to do something about this, I didn’t like that Malik suspected where my thoughts had gone.

Without saying anything, I started to make my way to Setti, who seemed to have been watching.

I’d always thought the horse behaved as if he understood what was happening around him in a way that wasn’t normal for even the most intelligent horses.

And I’d been right, even though I never could’ve guessed why.

As I walked, my gaze moved over the dark, silent homes. A creeping familiarity began to build as I took in each terracotta roof and weathered door.

Wait.

I stopped, looked back to where I’d been standing with Malik, and then turned, scanning the other side of the street.

I was walking before I realized it, heading in Malik’s direction again.

He shoved his hands back into his pockets with a sigh loud enough to have impressed Kieran. “Did you forget something?”

“No.” I skirted past him, spying an alley between two homes. All at once, I thought of Clariza and Blaz—the Descenters who had aided us after we freed Casteel.

Gods, how had I not thought of them until now?

I strode down the alley. Behind me, Malik cursed, and then I heard his boots pounding stone. I quickly passed a small backyard and stepped onto a street untouched by death.

Except that hadn’t been the case not too long ago.

Because when I looked down the silent road, I saw the remains of Descenters’ homes: shattered foundations and half-standing walls. Until the ones near it came into view.

“Penellaphe.” Malik’s steps slowed behind me.

“What’s going on?” Casteel’s voice came next.

“I don’t know,” Malik answered. “She just came back here.”

Casteel moved to my side and touched my arm. “Poppy?”

“Look.” I pointed across the street.

He looked. “Shit,” he muttered. “I thought this area of Stonehill looked familiar.”

“You two are just now realizing this?” Malik asked.

Casteel looked over his shoulder, and Malik muttered, “Whatever.”

As he walked off, my gaze moved back to the foundations.

Anger rose when I thought of how coldly Isbeth had ended Clariza’s and Blaz’s lives.

There really hadn’t been a reason to. I had already agreed to her deal, but she still killed them to show she could.

Sort of like Kolis, killing these people because he could. But there had been another reason.

Isbeth had wanted to provoke me.

And she had.

The ruins were what remained of my reaction. It had happened so quickly. And, gods, the eather had spilled out of me then, a mass of silver-pierced shadows. Within a heartbeat, I had brought the home and the ones next to it down. And I would’ve done far more if Casteel hadn’t calmed me.

“Cas? Poppy?” Emil’s voice reached us. “You okay over there?”

“Yes.” Casteel turned, his eyes meeting mine before flicking to Emil. Kieran appeared behind him. “This is where Malik brought us after I was freed.”

“Damn.” Kieran stared at the ruins. “That can’t be a coincidence.”

A chill swept down my spine. No, it couldn’t be. Somehow, Kolis knew about our ties to this area. And I could think of only one person who could’ve told him. A certain annoying Revenant.

“Has Callum been found?” I asked, recalling when I’d last seen him at the Bone Temple.

“He’s missing in action,” Kieran stated.

Casteel took my hand. “Let’s return to Wayfair.”

As he led me through the alley, I felt a faint charge and looked behind me. Kieran stared straight ahead, but I had a feeling he and Casteel were communicating again. I started to ask what they felt they needed to speak privately about but was interrupted.

“Hey,” Malik called from the mouth of the alley. “You all back there?”

“Yeah,” Kieran answered. “We’re heading back now.”

Casteel squeezed my hand. You okay? he asked in my mind.

I nodded.

Malik hadn’t gone far when we walked out from between the homes, but he wasn’t alone. Naill had returned. Somehow, he looked even more disturbed than he had earlier.

Casteel sensed it, too. “Do I even want to know?” he asked.

“Something…is happening.” Naill pivoted. “I’m not sure what. But you have to see.”

Without saying another word, we followed Naill into one of the homes we’d first investigated. I quickly looked down as we passed through the small entryway. Three pairs of shoes. One set small. Gods. I didn’t want to see them again.

Casteel squeezed my hand and stopped just inside the dark hall. “I can take you back to Wayfair,” he offered. “Kieran and I can deal with whatever is going on here.”

“We can,” Kieran confirmed.

“No.” I pulled on my hand.

Casteel held on. “I know this is getting to you,” he said, his voice low as Naill moved ahead of us. “It’s getting to me.”

“It’s getting to everyone,” I said. “And I’m no different than anyone else.”

“I beg to differ.”

My chin lifted as I met his gaze. “I don’t expect you or anyone else to do what I am unwilling to do myself.”

His mouth opened and then snapped shut, his nostrils flaring. “That’s the most idiotic ideology ever.”

“Really?” I said dryly. “Because I learned it from you.”

A quiet, low laugh came from Kieran, drawing Casteel’s glare.

“Hey.” I tapped his chest with my other hand and waited until his golden gaze returned to mine. “This is one of those moments when you need to remember that I don’t need to be protected.”

Kieran’s earthy mark brushed against my thoughts. I don’t think such a moment exists for him.

He was right, but I ignored him, thankful he hadn’t said it aloud.

“I’m not trying to protect you in that way,” Casteel said. “I’m trying to prevent more nightmares.”

My breath caught as my fingers curled into the chest of his cloak. I wanted nothing more than to throw myself at him, but that would be really inappropriate, all things considered. “Thank you for thinking of that,” I whispered.

“But?”

I didn’t need to say anything else.

Casteel sighed. “Let’s go.”

I squeezed his hand, and we trailed behind Kieran, who followed Naill to a bedchamber.

“What’s going on?” Kieran asked as he stepped aside, giving us space to enter.

Perry was there, standing at the head of where the victims were laid out. “Damn if I know. I was hoping one of you all might.”

Aware of Malik slipping in behind us, I stepped closer to the bodies, keeping my attention on the woman. Even with my improved vision, it took me a moment to notice the changes.

“Look under the eyes,” Perry instructed.

The area on the woman’s face—who had to be no older than her third or fourth decade of life—had turned gray.

“Looks like decay,” Naill said as Malik knelt by the body of what I now recalled was a little girl. There was a stuffed bear nearby. “But there is no way decay would show this soon.”

“The eyes aren’t the only thing,” Perry said. “Look at the hands on the father.”

I shifted my gaze. The first thing I noticed was that he no longer held the shard of glass. The bloody weapon lay on the floor beside his hand—

His fingers twitched.

My heart dropped, and I jerked back.

“What the fuck?” Kieran stepped forward. “Did I just see…?”

“Fingers twitching?” Naill said. “Yeah. It’s been happening for a couple of minutes. Their legs and arms, too.”

I pressed my hand to my stomach. “But they’re dead.”

“Bodies can do that,” Kieran suggested. “Have muscle spasms.”

Malik looked up. “Hours after death?”

“Well, that’s the best reason I can come up with,” Kieran replied. “Because Poppy’s right. They’re dead.”

My gaze moved to the father’s face. His cheeks had also taken on a gray shade, but not one of decay.

It was a chalky gray like the vines I’d seen outside.

I looked down at the jagged slash across his throat.

Earlier, it had been a dull shade of red, blood no longer seeping from it.

Now, the edges of the skin had turned black, looking almost charred.

“Fuck,” Casteel muttered as the mother’s leg jerked. “We’ve all seen mortals turn Craven. There’s a point right before the bloodlust takes over, after the fever burns through them, when they look dead.”

“Until they start doing the twitching shit,” Kieran finished.

“But there are no wounds suggesting they were fed on,” Perry pointed out. “That doesn’t mean there aren’t any, but based on the amount of blood spilled, I can’t see how it’s possible.”

It wasn’t.

These weren’t Craven. As I reluctantly turned my gaze to the little girl, I searched the vast information swirling in my head for an answer to what was happening here. My eyes widened as I watched the girl’s lips darken as if black paint had been splashed across them—

They parted.

“Malik,” Casteel warned.

The little girl’s eyes flew open.