Page 143 of The Primal of Blood and Bone (Blood and Ash #6)

“Agreed.” My eyes searched hers. “So, why do you appear angry with me?”

“I’m not!”

My brows rose.

“It just makes me mad that I even have to think about this,” she told me.

“Okay.” I fought the upward curve my lips were determined to take. “But you’re still yelling at me.”

“No, I’m not!”

“You just burst one of my eardrums.”

“You’ll be fine.”

“I’m sorry.” I turned my head. “Can’t hear you.”

“Oh, my gods,” she muttered, twisting so her attention was on Seraphena. She didn’t see my smile, but I wondered if she felt my relief. Because she wasn’t panicking. She sounded like herself: a fascinating mixture of innocence and wickedness.

“You two remind me of Ash and me,” Seraphena commented.

“Really?” I drawled. “Have you stabbed Nyktos?”

“Casteel!” Poppy exclaimed, smacking my chest.

“Because she has stabbed me,” I continued.

“Oh, my gods!” she hissed, swinging her hand again.

I caught her wrist as I lowered my mouth to her ear. “So incredibly violent,” I murmured, then added for just her, It makes me incredibly hard .

“You are so incredibly dysfunctional,” she hissed.

“You know what I think?” I drawled. “That you forgot you can’t spell dysfunctional without—”

“Don’t—”

“Actually,” Seraphena interrupted. “I have stabbed Ash.”

Poppy stopped fighting and turned to Seraphena. “You have?”

“Yep.”

“Must run in the family,” I muttered.

Shooting me a glare that should’ve lit me on fire but only made me hard, Poppy pulled out of my hold. This time, I let her go. Luckily, she moved to stand in front of me. I doubted she’d want her grandmother to know I was aroused.

“I have questions about you stabbing Nyktos,” Poppy said.

Seraphena grinned. “We really don’t have time for that.”

“We don’t.” She sighed, but her shoulders straightened. “So, I’m Kolis’s weakness.”

“You are.”

I didn’t like where this was headed. Neither did my cock.

“It’s an advantage,” Seraphena said, avoiding my narrowed stare. “An ugly one Eythos believed Sotoria could capitalize on by convincing—”

“Stop right there.” Stepping forward, I crossed my arms. “Please, tell me you’re not suggesting she—”

“I’m not suggesting that she do what was originally planned.” Seraphena met my gaze. “Trust me.”

“I don’t,” I stated, and Poppy turned on me. “Not right now,” I added.

“I get it. I do.” Seraphena stood and smoothed her hands down her breeches.

“If you knew half of what I’ve had to do, you would know that is the very last thing I would ever suggest.” She focused on Poppy.

“You won’t have to convince him anyway. All you need is this.

” She reached down and unsheathed her dagger. “I want you to have it.”

I focused on the weapon. It was white, and the pommel had been crafted into a full moon. Flames were carved into the grip, and vines had been etched into the cross guard in precise detail.

The moment my gaze shifted to the blade, I knew what it was. “Ancient bone?”

“Yes.” She flipped it in her hand and offered it to Poppy, handle first. “Careful with the blade. It will burn your skin if you touch it.”

“Really?” Poppy carefully wrapped her slender fingers around the grip. “I’ve touched the Ancient bone dagger in the chest,” she explained, glancing up at me. “It didn’t burn me.”

Seraphena frowned. “It should.”

“It didn’t. See—”

Both Seraphena and I moved to stop her, but Poppy already had her finger on the exposed bone blade.

“Fucking gods,” I muttered, wanting to rip it from her hands.

“It doesn’t burn.” She looked between us. “There’s only a faint tingle.”

“A faint tingle?” Seraphena sounded doubtful. And confused. She looked at me. “Does it burn you?”

“It did when it stabbed me.”

Poppy’s features tightened as she glanced at Seraphena. “You don’t know why?”

“No. I’ll see what I can find out, though.” Her nose wrinkled, much like Poppy’s had. “It has to mean something.”

When Poppy finally stopped touching the blade and turned it, I saw that it wasn’t bare. Chiseled into the bone was a snarling wolf breathing fire.

The detail was astonishing. Damn. Malik would lose his shit at seeing such craftsmanship.

“It’s…beautiful,” Poppy whispered, glancing back at Seraphena. “I can’t possibly accept this.”

“It is beautiful, but you must accept it.” Seraphena clasped her hands.

Every muscle in my body tensed as Poppy stared at her.

“Only you can kill him,” Seraphena said. “And I promised Kolis I would hand this very dagger to you so you could drive it through his heart.”

Poppy stared at her for a moment and then her gaze dropped to the dagger. “Then I will make sure I carry out that promise.”

Seraphena’s eyes closed as she nodded. When they reopened, I saw the glint of unshed tears in them. “I’m sorry this falls on you, Poppy. It isn’t fair. Eythos…well, he fucked up. And we failed to prevent this.”

I told myself to keep my mouth shut.

It didn’t listen.

“But if you had succeeded in preventing this, Poppy wouldn’t be here,” I told her.

“I never would’ve met her. I wouldn’t have become a better man—which is, admittedly, a work in progress.

But without her…” My chest tightened, and I felt Poppy’s hand on my arm.

I cleared my throat. “As fucked up as it sounds, I can’t be disappointed that you didn’t succeed. ”

The Queen of the Gods’ gaze met mine. “Neither can I.” She exhaled slowly. “I must leave.”

“I understand.” Poppy paused. “Just one more thing. I would like to visit with Ir—with my father.” The center of her cheeks turned pink. “When he’s feeling better, and the realm isn’t threatened.”

The smile that graced Seraphena’s face was the kind I cherished most when it graced Poppy’s. Big, warm, and genuine. “I’m sure he would like that.”

Poppy grinned tentatively. “I’m…happy to hear that.”

Seraphena stood before her, silent for a moment. “I’m terrible at goodbyes, even temporary ones.” She lifted her arms and then halted. “Can I…give you the most awkward hug known to man?”

The skin around Poppy’s eyes crinkled as she laughed. “Of course.” She lifted her arms and then remembered she still held a dagger with a very sharp, dangerous point.

“Here.” I took it from her and secured it to the strap across my chest. Hopefully, the damn shirt wouldn’t rip down the center and expose my skin to the bone.

Stepping back, I watched Seraphena envelop Poppy in a hug. It did look a little stiff, but not that awkward. I realized then that this was the first time I’d seen Poppy embraced by someone who shared her familial blood. And fuck if that didn’t do something to my chest.

And make me think of Malik.

I was done with that shit: the distrust and lingering feelings of betrayal despite knowing what had driven his actions. None of it mattered. It sounded unbelievable, but I was just…over it. Maybe it hadn’t happened instantly but rather had been happening since I’d learned why.

They parted, but Seraphena held on to Poppy’s hands. “You’re not alone in this. You will have our support, and I will see you again. Hopefully, with Millicent.”

Poppy nodded.

Seraphena stepped back, her gaze turning to me. “And you.”

I raised my brows.

“Take care of her.”

I lifted my chin as I spoke the vow I was willing to fulfill, “With my sword and my life.”

POPPY

As fast as the Queen of the Gods had arrived, she was gone, her lingering presence—warm like the summer sun—slowly fading.

“Poppy,” Casteel said softly. I couldn’t pull my gaze from where she’d last stood. “I cannot imagine what you must be thinking or feeling,” he continued.

“Neither can I,” I said and then let out a short laugh. It sounded silly, but it was true.

Thoughts kept coming, one after another, and I didn’t really know what I was feeling because I felt so much.

I was happy I’d met her, grateful that she seemed fond of me, and that I liked her as a person.

I appreciated her capacity for caring for others who weren’t of her blood, her fierceness, and, yeah, even the fact that she had apparently stabbed Nyktos at some point.

It made me feel less…murderous.

I was relieved that she sounded like she would be there for us—for me—in whatever capacity she could.

I also felt a yearning to spend more time with her.

To get to know Seraphena better. And that led me to want to get to know my father.

And Millicent, too. Because maybe, just maybe, Ires could start to feel like a father to me.

And maybe I would like Millicent, and she would like me.

After losing Ian, I realized how badly I needed that.

So, there was hope when it came to forging a relationship with Seraphena—with all of them.

But it was all dampened by what she’d told me about Sotoria.

It even overshadowed the sorrow I felt for Jadis, which made me feel selfish.

But I’d just learned that I had lived and died who knew how many times all because of Kolis.

I couldn’t dwell on that. Couldn’t even begin to untangle how it made me feel.

Because I suspected that I would no longer feel numb or detached from those lives—Sotoria’s past—and it would… it would wreck me if I felt it all.

I couldn’t afford that.

But the knowledge that the Joining would not offer the protection we believed? My stomach twisted into tighter knots.

I loathed what that made me feel. It was the same nearly all-consuming emotion I’d felt when I realized Kolis had killed Rhahar with his will alone.

And I couldn’t feel that.

I had to be brave. Fearless.

Feeling Casteel’s intense stare, I took Seraphena’s advice and willed my shields in place.

I had no idea if they worked, but the knots in my stomach loosened a bit, and my racing thoughts calmed, allowing me to do what Cas and Kieran were so damn good at.

I prioritized what I needed to be concerned with and placed the past I couldn’t remember at the very bottom—or tried to.

I failed.

Because my very next thought proved I had no idea how to do that.

I’m Sotoria.