Page 157 of The Primal of Blood and Bone (Blood and Ash #6)

Malik arched a brow and met his brother’s stare. “And why not? I know how to get to Pensdurth and remain unseen in the process.”

“I’m sure you do.” Casteel leaned back and eyed my plate. “But that doesn’t change what I said.”

“Is that so?” Malik demanded.

“It is.” Casteel held his brother’s gaze as he reached over and scooped up a spoonful of sliced cucumber and onion marinated in some sort of vinegary dressing.

A slow, tight-lipped smile crawled across Malik’s mouth as Casteel placed the cucumber mixture on my plate. I recognized that kind of smile. I’d seen it on Casteel’s face a time or a thousand. It was a sure sign that Malik was seconds away from committing an act of violence.

Emil glanced at Perry, who then fixed his gaze on his plate, while Delano sank a good five inches down in his chair.

Reaver leaned forward, momentarily blocking my view of them as he grabbed half of the roasted fowl.

“You do realize that I’m your older brother,” Malik stated, his finger tapping the stem of his glass.

Eat . Casteel’s voice drifted through the notam , his stare fixed on Malik. “And you do realize that I’m the King, right?”

Tawny’s eyes darted back to Malik as she drank her wine.

“Last I checked, being King doesn’t mean you can give orders without any explanation.”

Tawny’s gaze shot back to Casteel. It was almost as if she were watching some sort of match—one she was engrossed in.

“Actually,” Casteel drawled, leaning back in his chair, “I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what a King can do.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kieran pinch the bridge of his nose.

“Sure. If said King has no aspirations of being a good one.”

Naill’s lips pursed.

“I don’t think he has any interest in being a good King,” Reaver said around a mouthful of food. “Unless it involves his Queen.”

Kieran’s eyes closed.

“While your comment was completely unnecessary,” Casteel said to Reaver, “I never had any interest in being a King, let alone a good one.”

Malik’s mouth opened.

“Really?” Tawny said.

“Really.” He also tapped his glass with a finger. “Unless it has to do with my Queen.”

I resisted the urge to argue. Cas wasn’t giving himself enough credit. He did care.

“Huh,” murmured Tawny.

“Why do you have such a problem with me going?” Malik pressed. “Our father is missing, Cas.”

The cucumber and onion soured in my stomach.

“I know.” Casteel took a drink. “But I don’t believe for a second that is what fueled this offer.”

“What do you think did?” Malik challenged. “Me planning to try to join up with Kolis?”

Reaver stopped with a forkful of mashed potatoes halfway to his mouth. “Is that what you plan to do?”

Malik’s golden eyes shot to the draken, narrowing slightly as his lips thinned.

“It’s a valid question,” Reaver stated flatly and then shoved the potatoes into his mouth. “Since you brought it up.”

I worried Tawny might pull an eye muscle, glancing between the three of them as she finished her second glass of wine. Or was it her third?

“I don’t think that’s why you want to go,” Casteel replied, thank the gods.

Emil lifted the wine bottle and tipped it in Tawny’s direction. She nodded eagerly.

“Care to elaborate?” Malik asked.

“Not particularly,” Casteel responded.

Malik’s finger stopped tapping, and the mask of insolence he wore began to crack.

I figured it was time for me to speak. “I’ll go.”

Casteel’s head whipped toward me. “Absolutely not.”

“That won’t work on me,” I stated, putting my fork down.

His eyes narrowed as essence pulsed through them. “Want to bet?”

“It would be a boring bet because you would lose,” I countered.

“Oh, man,” Delano murmured, fully halfway down in his chair now.

“Mother and Father are fighting,” Emil remarked under his breath. “Again.”

I frowned at him, then shook my head.

“We already discussed this, Poppy,” Casteel said from between clenched teeth.

“We discussed me going there to kill Kolis,” I corrected, catching how Malik’s brows shot up. “Not going there to see what’s happening.”

“Actually,” Kieran drawled, “I’m pretty sure we covered that, too.”

“Not really,” I argued. “I’m talking about popping in and out before he even knows I’m there.”

Kieran turned a bland look on me. “Does the length of time matter?”

“Well, I mean…” My eyes narrowed. “It doesn’t, but—”

“I’m so glad our conversation really left a lasting impression on you,” Casteel cut in.

“It did, but—”

“You know what it means when you use the word but ,” he said.

“I understand what words mean, Casteel. But that conversation took place before ,” I said.

“It’s not like he’ll immediately know which Primal god is there.

It will take him a few moments,” I said, unsure whether I was right or not.

I had no idea how I felt to other gods. “There’s a difference between him sensing just one of us versus all three.

I would leave quickly, and it will take me maybe half a minute to get there—”

“What?” Tawny lowered her glass.

“She can shadowstep,” Reaver answered, eyeing the fish on my plate. “Move through and between the realms using eather.”

Tawny blinked as I picked up my glass. “I’m going to pretend that made sense.”

“Samesies,” Emil murmured.

“It’s something gods can do,” Perry explained. “We do the same to a lesser extent when we want to…move fast.”

I continued once the impromptu lesson was over. “We have to do something, Casteel. Your father is there. So is Thad. We cannot wait any longer.”

Kieran’s inhale was audible. “Poppy,” he began. “You’re—”

“Do not say I’m the Queen, and therefore, should not be endangering myself,” I cut in, lifting my plate and extending it past Tawny to Reaver. “You should know better.”

“Technically, since you are the Queen, you should not be endangering yourself,” Kieran replied. “But this is…different,” he said, speaking the last word with a heavy emphasis only Casteel and I understood.

I stiffened. “It’s not.”

“It is,” Casteel said quietly. His chest rose as he took a breath.

I took a deep breath, but it didn’t help with the irritation. I placed my drink on the table before I did something reckless and childish, like throw it at one of them. “Actually, you’re both right. It is different.”

“Glad you’re using common sense,” Casteel remarked.

“And because it’s different,” I said, “it has to be me.”

His finger stopped tapping. “Forget what I said about common sense.”

“Already did,” I retorted.

“Clearly.”

I looked away before I knocked him out of his chair.

Tawny raised her brows. “Your eyes are almost glowing,” she noted, head cocking as she studied me. “It’s pretty…and freaky.”

“It’s—” I jerked forward. “My eyes!”

“Your eyes?” Tawny repeated, glancing toward Kieran and Casteel like they knew why I’d shouted that. “Is there something wrong with them?”

“What do they look like to you?” I leaned in close to Tawny and then stood, bending toward Delano, who grinned at me. “What colors are they?”

“Uh, colors? They’re green and…” Curls fell back as Tawny straightened her head. “Silver.”

“Streaks of silver,” Delano added.

“That’s all you see?” I asked. Both of them nodded. I twisted toward Casteel and Kieran. “And you guys?”

Kieran frowned. “I see what I did before.”

“Same,” Casteel told me.

“Is there a reason you’re asking?” Delano asked.

Confusion rose. Why would they not see what Casteel and Kieran—? The answer suddenly came to me. “Uh, no…” I smiled. “I was just curious if you could still see the streaks of eather.”

That is not why you asked, Casteel’s voice reached me.

They can’t see the colors , I responded as Kieran watched Cas and me. Pausing, I brought him into the conversation. Only the Arae—the Ancients—the true Primal of Life, and the true Primal of Death can. And Deminyen Primals. The others don’t have enough essence in them to see them.

Casteel smiled. Well, aren’t we special?

I rolled the eyes we’d been talking about. “Anyway, back to what we were discussing. I should—”

“Poppy,” Naill said, drawing my gaze to him. “No one here is going to agree to you going to Pensdurth alone.”

“I second that,” Tawny tossed out, causing me to stare at her. She frowned. “Don’t look at me like I’m a traitor. I’m not going to agree to you shadowhopping—”

“Shadowstepping,” Reaver corrected.

“Whatever.” Tawny flung a hand up, silencing Reaver.

The draken’s brows flew up, and he looked positively affronted by her gesture.

“I’m not going to agree with you going to an area where a murderous Primal of Death might be hanging out,” she continued.

“It’s reckless and dangerous, and for me to say something is reckless, you know it has to be. ”

“It is dangerous,” Delano commented. I was surprised that he hadn’t disappeared under the table by now. “We don’t know what’s happening there.”

“And you are the very last person who should be anywhere near Pensdurth,” Casteel stated.

“I’d likely be the safest going anywhere near there,” I argued. “Neither of you”—I gave both Cas and Kieran a pointed look—“can go. For a multitude of reasons.”

Casteel clenched his jaw so hard I thought he might break a molar. Kieran just crossed his arms.

“She’s right,” Reaver stated.

My breath hitched as I looked at him.

“Out of everyone in this chamber or realm, she would be the safest.” He finished off the last of my fish. “Relatively speaking.”

“Because she’s a badass Primal god now?” Tawny asked.

Before I could say anything, I felt Casteel lean forward. “You did know,” he said to the draken, and the temperature in the chamber dropped.

My heart started pounding as Reaver’s eyes met mine. “I always knew,” he said. “Not everything, but the basics.”

I looked away, having no idea what to say to that. Or what to think. How to feel.

Across from us, Emil frowned. “Why do I feel like I’m missing a very important part of this conversation?”

“Agreed,” Malik muttered, his gaze flicking between us.

“Son of a bitch,” Casteel snarled.

I turned to him. His flesh…had begun to thin.