Page 133 of The Primal of Blood and Bone (Blood and Ash #6)

POPPY

We shadowstepped to Ironspire.

Of course, Kieran remained behind. I still found his aversion to shadowstepping amusing. It rivaled my dislike of serpents.

I glanced over at Seraphena. I kept stealing glances and had been since we arrived in the entrance hall, waiting for Reaver to join us.

He, too, had refused to shadowstep.

Did she dislike serpents, or was she fond of them? Millicent struck me as the type to keep one as a beloved pet. It was a strange thing for me to think of all things considered, but she was…family. I wanted to know more about her.

I wanted to know more about Ires, too. My father.

But now didn’t seem like the right time to ask those questions. I had more important things to focus on. Starting with whether or not Reaver had informed Seraphena about our first trip to Ironspire.

As Casteel did what he’d done last time and left to check the halls, I peeked over at the Queen of the Gods and found her watching me.

She blinked and quickly looked away. Pink colored her cheeks as she eyed the iron beams and the stained glass above. “Sorry,” she said quietly. “It’s just that you look like…”

I tensed. “Please, don’t say my mother.”

Her lip curled slightly, and her gaze returned to mine. “I think you look more like my son, which is…”

“What?”

“Confusing,” she murmured. “But it makes sense.”

My brows rose. Of course, it would make sense. I had no idea why it was confusing.

Seraphena laughed softly. “That probably made no sense to you.”

I figured there was no point in lying. “It didn’t.”

She inhaled deeply. “There are…things I need to tell you,” she said, her voice dropping as she glanced to where Casteel was checking out the eastern hall. “Later.” Her head tilted. “He’s very protective of you.” She smiled as her gaze returned to mine. “Not that you don’t already know that.”

My lips spread into a smile as the subject of our conversation moved to the southern hall. “He is.”

“Ash is the same way,” she said after a moment, drawing my gaze back to her. She had picked up a strand of hair and started twirling it around her finger.

I immediately thought about what Holland had said. That, like me, she did things to keep her hands busy when nervous or trying not to use them. I hoped this was the former.

“He knows full well that I can take care of myself,” she continued, her smile softening. “But you would never guess that based on how he behaves. It is as endearing as it is annoying.” She paused. “As I’m sure you know.”

I laughed. “I do.”

“I can hear you both,” Casteel announced as he exited the southern hall. Looking over at us, he arched a brow and made his way to the western hall.

“We know,” Seraphena called, the green of her eyes twinkling with amusement. It faded quickly, though. “Damn, he looks so much like him.”

I remembered then what Rhahar had said. I’d completely forgotten it in the aftermath. “Kyn?”

Her head jerked toward me, and she nodded curtly. “How do you know about him?”

“Rhahar said it,” Casteel answered, crossing the entry hall. “It seemed I reminded Attes of someone, too. He never said a name, though.”

I didn’t miss how Seraphena’s features tightened.

“Kyn was Attes’s brother. His twin,” she said, surprising me.

“They were nearly identical. I supposed they would’ve been considered fraternal twins, just as Malec and Ires, but they shared far more physical similarities.

Just minor differences, such as hair color. ”

Casteel stopped to stand next to me. “Attes looked like an older version of my brother, Malik, and was damn near a spitting image of our father.”

Seraphena frowned, likely at the name so similar to her son’s, but seemed to let it go. “You’re not twins, though?”

Casteel shook his head. “You’re not going to tell me anything more about my ancestry?”

“Nope.” Her smile returned. “I’ll leave that up to your father.”

Her smile had the knowing edge of someone who knew something another did not.

It was slightly unnerving.

“What happened to Kyn?” Casteel asked.

It took a moment for the vadentia to do its thing. It didn’t tell me what’d happened to him, but it did tell me who he was. The Primal God of Peace and Vengeance.

Seraphena’s eyes met Casteel’s. “Attes killed him.”

I choked on the breath I took and coughed. “Sorry,” I croaked as Casteel turned to me in concern. “I wasn’t expecting you to say that.”

Seraphena winced as Casteel rubbed the center of my back while I struggled to not wheeze in front of the Queen of the Gods. “It should be me who’s apologizing. I can be a bit…blunt.”

“He killed his brother,” Casteel said, “and we’re supposed to trust him?”

“He killed his brother and still helped break Kolis’s influence over Penellaphe,” she countered.

“Those two things seem grossly unrelated,” he responded.

“Oddly, they aren’t,” she said, causing me to frown. “Kyn was loyal to Kolis.” Essence crackled through her irises. “The fucker deserved it.”

I opened my mouth and then snapped it shut. All right, then.

I felt Reaver drawing close. Casteel’s head tilted, eyes narrowing slightly. “What does Kyn have to do with Attes helping us?” he asked.

Seraphena didn’t answer for a moment. “You will have to ask him.”

Casteel smiled, but there was no hint of his dimple. “I will.”

“Good.” Seraphena’s smile was unnervingly wide. “I’m sure that will go…well.”

Cas’s smile faded.

Okay.

Time to change the subject.

I cleared my throat. “Did Reaver tell you that I tried to wake Jadis?”

Pulling her stare from Casteel, she nodded. “Thank you for trying.”

I shifted, uncomfortable with the gratitude when I hadn’t been able to do it. “Nektas thought I could wake her.”

“You will be able to,” she said, sounding so damn confident my stomach tumbled. “Jadis just needs…coaxing.” The skin around the corners of her mouth pulled taut. “But the eather in you? Even being a baby Primal, it’s powerful enough to wake her. She just has to want to.”

The iron doors groaned as they opened, and I dared a quick peek in that direction.

“At least he’s wearing pants instead of carrying them this time,” Casteel muttered.

I cracked a grin.

Reaver approached, his chin down and fair hair shielding most of his face.

Seraphena stepped forward and placed a hand on his arm. “Ready?” she asked softly.

Reaver nodded, then led us toward the northern hall. We followed, hoping Seraphena was right, and I could wake Jadis this time.

“You mentioned seeing Holland and Lirian,” Seraphena said as we crossed the large vestibule. “Was that when you crossed the Veil? Or when you were in Iliseeum?”

Surprised, I glanced over at her as something that felt a lot like disappointment rose. She’d known I was there but hadn’t come to see me?

“I sensed your presence there,” she continued as we passed under the arched opening. “But I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to come to you.” Her gaze slid to mine. “In other words, I was quite pissed off that Holland had stopped me from crossing the Veil. We had it out once I sensed his return.”

My disappointment eased as I wondered if that was what had delayed him.

“I met Holland in the Continents—that’s what the place was called,” I explained, scanning the imposing liminite statues.

In the sunlight of dawn, the stone was more gray than lavender.

“Then Lirian while I was at Mount Lotho. Then there was…” I trailed off, frowning.

“Aydun,” Casteel finished for me. The sudden feeling of something not being as I remembered rose.

Seraphena jerked to a halt. “Aydun?” she repeated. Reaver stopped and faced us. “The…Fate, Aydun?”

“If we’re speaking about an Aydun who has his nipples pierced,” Casteel replied as I scanned the hall—nothing looked different, “then yes.”

Seraphena’s lips flattened. “When did you speak with him?”

“When Poppy crossed the Veil,” he explained as we started walking again. “He was there to make sure I…behaved myself.”

Seraphena let out a breathy laugh.

“They were worried he would follow me to the other realm,” I added, not missing how she’d responded to his name. “I’m guessing you’re aware of him?”

“Unfortunately.”

“He did sound like he was familiar with you and Nyktos,” Casteel commented. “And he eats more than that draken does.”

“Reaver is still a growing youngling,” Seraphena said, and my eyes tracked the pink staining his cheeks before he faced forward again. “He needs to eat often.”

“Aww,” Casteel mocked, an amused smirk playing across his lips. “Does Reaver-butt also need extra nap times?”

Reaver’s head snapped around, and his upper lip peeled back. A low rumble started from deep in his chest—

“He does need extra sleep,” Seraphena answered.

Casteel’s smirk spread. “And does—?”

I smacked his chest with the back of my hand.

“Ouch.” He laughed and looked down at me. He moved so quickly that I nearly tripped over my feet when I felt the sharp nip of his fangs against my earlobe. “So incredibly violent,” he purred. “I like.”

Flushed, I shot him a look of warning.

“A lot,” he murmured.

“What did Aydun speak to you about?” Seraphena asked, starting to walk once more.

Casteel’s jaw flexed. “He gave me a history lesson, then told me what would happen if Kolis wasn’t stopped. Other than that, not much.”

My gaze darted between them. Both seemed like there was more they weren’t saying. “Can Aydun be trusted?”

“No Fate can be trusted.”

“Not even Holland?” I asked, glancing over the teardrop shields and the swords pointed to the high, arched ceiling. Something felt different. “He spoke as if you two were acquainted.”

“We are.” She paused. “I trust him…to the extent that I know he means me no harm.”

“That’s an odd way of phrasing it,” Casteel noted.

She glanced back at us. “The Fates have one goal: keeping the balance. And they will do anything to maintain it.”

Considering I was here, they really hadn’t done a great job of that. “Do you know how many Fates there are?”