Page 152 of The Primal of Blood and Bone (Blood and Ash #6)

POPPY

Casteel quietly stood beside me on the veranda as I stared at the wilted flowers in the urns, my mind replaying everything we’d just learned.

Part of me couldn’t believe it. There were Ascended who didn’t feed.

At least not on mortal blood.

“ We feed on wild blood—the blood of beasts ,” Regis had explained. “ Not often. Only when we feel the bloodlust upon us .”

My mind immediately flashed to the birds we’d found in the other residence.

“ And what happens if you’re unable to do so? ” Casteel had actually asked something important while I’d tried not to cringe, telling myself I ate all manner of meat. What they did wasn’t all that different.

“ Since we’re not trying to maintain the strength of the Ascended, we do not need to feed often. Usually, a few times a month ,” Wesley had told us. “ But when we cannot stop the bloodlust from coming upon us, the same thing that happens to the Ascended happens to us. We go mad .”

“ And when that happens ,” Heath added, “ we are put down. That is the oath every Unbound takes and makes with one another. That is what we’ve done in the past and will have to do again.”

Shock had once again slammed into me, and all I could do was listen as they explained more.

According to Raina, many had been unable to stave off the bloodlust during what Heath had called the withdrawal period.

They had found greater success in gradually replacing mortal blood with wild blood, much like a mother weaned a babe.

Still, it wasn’t easy. And some chose to meet the sun.

Gods, it felt like someone had reached into my chest and squeezed.

Delano leaned against the pillar, angling his body toward me. “What are you thinking?”

Pressing my lips together, I shook my head. “Just…I’m thinking about the courage it takes to walk out into the sun, knowing what pain awaits.”

“It does require a lot of courage.” The breeze lifted the ends of his pale hair when his gaze drifted to Casteel. “It’s an act of true honor.”

One none of them should’ve found themselves having to do.

Footsteps neared, and Emil stepped onto the veranda. Casteel turned. “How long have you known about this?” he asked.

“Not long,” Emil answered, coming to stand beside us. “A few days.”

“And you didn’t think to tell us?”

“That’s on me,” Malik said as he walked out with Helenea. “I asked him not to say anything until I spoke with them.”

A muscle ticked in Casteel’s jaw. “And why would you do that?”

“I wanted to give them a choice.” Malik crossed his arms and faced his brother. “You know, since they have been afforded so few of them.”

“So, instead of telling me, you told Emil?”

“I was talking to him about the house we went into,” Emil explained, squinting as he stared at the clouds. “How normal it all looked and how it wasn’t what I had expected or seen in some of the other homes.”

“It seemed obvious to me that he,” Malik said, nodding toward the auburn Elemental, “had an open mind.”

“And you thought we wouldn’t?”

“I thought she likely would,” he said, glancing at me. “But I told you there was a lot you didn’t know about the Ascended. You didn’t seem interested in hearing more.”

“It wasn’t lack of interest, Malik.” Casteel’s voice was level, but the anger and frustration in it were apparent. “I just had other, more important shit on my mind.”

“I know.” Malik’s head tilted. “That’s why I told you before—”

“Before we made the mistake of killing them?” I finished for him.

He nodded and kept his gaze on his younger brother. “I never would’ve known about Mira and the others if it weren’t for Millie.”

My heart skipped. “She showed you this?”

“Yes. But, technically, she had no choice.” A brief grin appeared.

“Long story. And to be honest, I didn’t believe it when I first met them.

Ascended, who feed on wild blood? Who are willing to meet the sun instead of taking mortal blood?

Bullshit. Of all the Ascended I’ve known, I’ve never met one who would lower themselves in such a way to survive.

But the thing is, Cas, I hadn’t met all the Ascended.

I only met the worst of them. Unlike Emil, who hadn’t had much one-on-one time with them, I was blinded by my experiences and couldn’t even consider the possibility there was a different way for them to live.

Not until I saw it for myself. Which is why I wanted you all to come here.

” He met our stares. “I wanted you to hear what they had to say in their own words.”

Casteel fell silent. His shields were up, but I imagined he was feeling about a dozen different emotions. Because I was.

“How many are like this?” I asked.

“There are about two thousand Ascended in Carsodonia.” He rocked back slightly on his heels and glanced at the quiet Descenter. “You think roughly twenty percent of them?”

Helenea nodded.

“A Descenter,” Casteel commented, drawing her gaze. “I wouldn’t have guessed, in a thousand years, I’d find one cozying up to the Ascended.”

“You wouldn’t find me cozying up to the Ascended in a thousand years.” Helenea’s voice was steady, but she clutched her skirt in a white-knuckled grip. “Those in there? They are not the Ascended.”

“How could you see them as anything but vamprys?” I asked.

“Because I am willing to see the truth,” she said.

“Whether or not it fits my narrative or beliefs.” Her grip on her skirt eased, and her attention shifted back to Casteel.

“The Descenters may have started as a resistance group against the tyranny of the Blood Crown and as supporters of Atlantia, but our ideology has grown beyond that.”

“How so?” Casteel mused.

“It includes all those who have had their freedoms stripped away. And that includes the Ascended.”

My brows rose. “All of them?”

“We believe they should be given a choice—a chance to live without pain being inflicted upon them or inflicting pain on others. So, technically, yes. All.” Her fingers straightened as she let go of her skirt. “We do not believe the same for those who choose to continue as Ascended, however.”

So many thoughts rushed through my head. “Do all Descenters feel this way?”

“Sadly, and perhaps unsurprisingly…no. We are not a monolith.”

“And what happens with the ones who don’t support this ideology?”

Her brows knitted. “Nothing.”

“Nothing?” Delano repeated.

“We deliberate, vote, and then act upon the will of the majority as a whole.”

“Civic rule,” Casteel murmured, and I frowned. “In other words, a democracy,” he elaborated. “Where all choices are designed by the will of the people.”

I turned back to Helenea. “And that works?”

She smiled and then laughed softly. “I know it sounds as unbelievable as Ascended who don’t feed. But it does work—though not always smoothly or without problems. But this way, we can ensure that no single person or entity becomes the will of the Descenters.”

No single person or entity…

I liked that idea. A lot. But… “It’s hard to believe.”

“It shouldn’t be,” Malik said with a slight frown. “After all, Atlantia is a kingdom of civic rule, where the King and Queen carry out the will of the people.”

“Oh.” My stomach turned as heat crept into my cheeks. “I didn’t know that. I haven’t been Queen long and…” I trailed off, realizing the more I talked, the more uninformed I sounded. Casteel had spoken of something similar when we discussed how Atlantia was governed.

Casteel’s hand slid down my braid on my back.

“There really hasn’t been much time to educate you on all Atlantia’s inner workings or the terminology used.

” He lowered his head, and I felt the press of his lips on my temple as he reached out through the notam .

You have nothing to be embarrassed about .

“You may not have been Queen long,” Helenea spoke, “but you have accomplished more in that time than those who came before you.” She glanced at Casteel and Malik. “No offense to your parents.”

“None taken,” Malik replied.

The burn of embarrassment eased enough that I could refocus. “What about your brother? Does he feel the same as you do?”

“Not exactly, as I’m sure you’ve guessed based on what he said when you met him,” she admitted. “But he’s coming around.”

“And your sister?” I asked. “Is she…?”

The smile that played across her lips was sad. I immediately locked my senses away. “She tried to live as the Unbound, and we…we did everything to help her. But…”

“She met the sun,” Malik quietly finished for her.

An ache settled in my chest. “I am sorry.”

A sheen filled her blue eyes. “It was her choice. I wish it had been different, but I find relief in knowing she wasn’t alone when she died.”

I looked at Malik, figuring he had stood with Helenea’s sister.

“It was Millie,” he said. “Not me.”

“It is almost always Millie,” Helenea added. “I don’t know how she does it.”

My lips parted. I didn’t know what to say, but I felt…

awe that she could do that—be with those who took their last breaths.

I felt pride in knowing that someone who shared my blood could be so…

selfless. And what Millicent did, what she provided for those who could not go on, was selfless.

Because it must hurt. Seeing so many choose to die because of what had been done to them had to linger.

Casteel’s hand moved in a slow, soothing pass down my back. “What about the other cities?”

“I know there are pockets of the Unbound elsewhere,” Helenea answered. “But how many? It’s hard to say, as we must be careful about what gets communicated.”

So, around four hundred in Carsodonia? That wasn’t many, but… “How many of the other Ascended do you think would be willing to live off wild blood? Become Unbound?”