Page 158 of The Primal of Blood and Bone (Blood and Ash #6)

“Oh, shit.” Emil straightened. “Is he about to shift? I don’t want my day to end almost being eaten.”

“Well, now I have even more questions,” Tawny murmured once more from around the rim of her glass.

I had no idea how I could quickly explain it, but I wasn’t worried about him shifting into a cave cat. As tiny bumps erupted on my skin, I was more worried about him going full Primal.

“Did it, at any point, occur to you to tell us?” Casteel demanded, tendrils of shadowy eather piercing the whites of his eyes. “That having that piece of information might’ve been helpful?”

“He has a point,” I whispered, reaching under the table to place my hand on Casteel’s leg.

“I couldn’t.” Reaver took a drink.

“Bullshit,” Kieran snapped.

“It’s not bullshit.” He set his glass down. “I was sworn to keep my mouth shut.”

“By who?” I demanded.

“Nyktos.”

My mouth dropped open.

“How?” Kieran leaned forward. “You were still asleep when he was awake.”

“That wasn’t the only time he was awake,” Reaver said. And he was right. Nyktos had said he’d been awake on and off. “And he was already awake when we were awakened. I spoke with him before I left Iliseeum. And you don’t disobey Nyktos.”

“Why?” I asked, unable to understand why they wouldn’t want me to know as soon as possible. “Why would he demand that of you?”

“He wanted Seraphena to be with you when…” Reaver trailed off.

He didn’t need to finish. I knew what went unsaid. Nyktos wanted Seraphena to be with me when I learned about Sotoria. That…

I looked at Casteel, seeing his glare still fixed on Reaver. Cas?

Jaw ticking, his gaze shifted to me.

That makes a difference. I squeezed his knee as I opened the notam to Kieran, telling him the same. It does.

Neither looked like they agreed, and I understood their anger.

I did. Could having that information have assisted them when I was under Kolis’s influence?

Maybe. Maybe not. But Reaver shouldn’t have been the one to explain any of that anyway.

I would’ve had questions he likely couldn’t have answered. And—

“Is someone going to tell the rest of us what you are all talking about?” Malik answered.

The three of us said nothing, and an awkward silence descended as my attention shifted to Malik. My senses opened, and all I picked up from him was confusion and curiosity. If he’d known about the whole Sotoria thing, he would understand what wasn’t being said. Did that mean Millicent didn’t know?

“Okay, then.” Malik cleared his throat. “So, I will go then.”

“Back to this again?” Casteel snapped. The essence was calmer, but the chamber remained chilly.

“Well, you still haven’t said why,” Malik replied.

Casteel’s lips flattened. “I think you want to go to see if Millicent is there.”

I coughed, spraying a fine mist of wine onto my plate.

“You okay?” Casteel turned, placing his hand on my back.

“Yes,” I wheezed, taking the linen cloth Tawny handed me. “You think Millicent is there?” I asked Casteel.

A muscle tightened in his jaw. “I don’t.”

The but went unsaid.

Dabbing at my chin, I turned to Malik. “Do you think she’s there?”

The muscle that ticked on his face was in his temple. “I don’t know where she is. She could be anywhere.”

“But is there a reason she would go there ?” As soon as I asked the question, the answer came to me. It wasn’t the vadentia . It was my common sense Casteel had believed wasn’t present.

Kolis could call upon the Ascended and the Revenants—summon them. It would be like a compulsion. They were his creations. “Have there been any reports of the Ascended attempting to escape? Like trying to do so without the ability to stop?”

“Some have tried, especially those with dwindling stockpiles,” Naill answered with a curl of his lip. “But not like they seemed unable to stop themselves.”

That brought me a little relief, even though it didn’t mean he hadn’t summoned the Revenants.

If he had, would it even apply to Millicent since she wasn’t exactly a Revenant?

I didn’t know. But I knew Malik worried it would.

One look at him, and I felt it coating his skin.

If she’d gone there, it had to be because she had no choice.

I couldn’t believe the same person who stood by the Ascended as they met the sun would willingly join up with Kolis.

But I now understood Casteel’s refusal to send Malik. He knew Malik would stay if Millicent was there, and it would likely end in his death.

Casteel was trying to protect his brother.

“We need to give Thad and the others until the morning,” Kieran said, eyeing the bottle of wine Emil had a death grip on. “Let’s table the discussion regarding Pensdurth until then.”

There were murmurs of agreement, and then our Shadow Council pretty much scattered from the Solar. Tawny was the last to stand. Casteel had tracked Malik’s movements and still stared at the doors.

“You should talk to him,” Kieran suggested as he stood. “Make sure he doesn’t do anything idiotic.”

Casteel gripped the arm of his chair. “And you think he’ll listen to me?”

Kieran sighed. “Good point.”

“Perhaps you should both speak with him,” I suggested. “To make sure he doesn’t do anything.”

“Good idea.” Tawny plopped back down. “Then Poppy and I can have some alone time.”

Casteel’s gaze swept over us. “Why do I feel like that would be a bad idea?”

“You probably think everything is a bad idea,” she retorted, reaching for the wine with a tilt of her head. “You probably only enjoy bad ideas.”

“Go,” I urged before Casteel could respond to that. “I’m not going anywhere.”

He hesitated.

“She’s not.” Tawny topped off my glass and then hers. “I will attach myself to her like a tree bear.”

“That won’t be necessary,” I told her.

“We shall see.”

Casteel exhaled, briefly glancing at Kieran and then me. Poppy …

I’m not going to run off to Pensdurth , I assured him.

Promise me.

The hand resting in my lap curled into a fist. I promise.

And I wouldn’t break that promise. At least not tonight. But if we heard nothing by tomorrow? I would go.

He hesitated for a handful of seconds and then bent forward to cup my cheek, his lips brushing over mine. “Behave.”

Tawny snorted.

Pushing back from his chair, he stood. “Let’s go talk to my brother.”

Kieran walked around the table and stopped at my side. He stood there silently for a moment as Casteel stepped off the platform.

I peeked up at him.

He waited.

I sighed. “I’m not going anywhere. I swear.”

“You’d better not,” he said, squeezing the back of my neck.

Rolling my eyes, I crossed my arms. Kieran nodded at Tawny and joined Casteel.

The moment the door closed behind them, Tawny looked at me. “I half-expected Kieran to kiss you before he left.”

“I’m not even going to respond to that,” I muttered, picking up my glass.

Tawny giggled. “I thought the Da’Neer brothers were about to engage in fisticuffs.”

“Fisticuffs?”

Her head bobbed. “Are your suppers always that entertaining?”

My thoughts flashed to the one in New Haven when Casteel had announced his intention to marry me. “They can be even more…entertaining.”

Her eyes widened. “Do tell?”

“Sometimes, people start their suppers with their hearts in their chest.” I took a drink of the sweet wine. “And end them missing said heart and dead.”

“Oh.” Tawny looked away. “Wow.”

I smiled.

“So.” Tawny drew out the word. “You going to tell me what Nyktos forbade Reaver from telling you?”

My grip tightened on the glass.

“If not, I’m going to be offended, and you know how I get when I’m offended,” she added. “It will probably end with one or both of us not behaving. Then Casteel will never leave you alone with me.” She turned in her chair, flashing the widest eyes possible. “Do you want to be responsible for that?”

I shot her a bland look.

“And do you want to stress me out?” she tacked on.

“How am I stressing you out?”

“Because I know something is stressing you out. Except for the whole Ascended business, you were weirdly quiet and, I don’t know, still throughout dinner. And you’re never still.”

I frowned.

“I have a feeling that whatever made you quiet has to do with what wasn’t said. How do I know? Because after Reaver said he always knew, you went quiet and still again.”

Inhaling a deep, slow breath, I closed my eyes and shook my head. “I…” A hoarse laugh parted my lips. “It’s going to sound impossible.”

“Good thing I believe in the impossible,” she replied. “I mean, look at me. How can I not?”

I did look at her. I knew I should take this time to tell her what I’d done to her— why she believed in the impossible. But when I spoke, it wasn’t about that. “Do you know the legend of Sotoria?”