Page 174 of The Primal of Blood and Bone (Blood and Ash #6)

My gaze shifted to his left leg. Yep. Another dagger was hidden there, in his boot. I don’t know why I found that funny. Maybe because it was so bizarre. A laugh bubbled up my throat, and a tiny bit snuck out before I pressed my lips together.

Attes went quiet. For a second. “Did you…?”

I peeked up at him.

He looked utterly dumbfounded. “Did you just laugh?”

Figuring it would be wise to stay quiet, I kept my mouth shut.

“I would love to know what’s funny about…actually.” He held up a hand. “You know what, I don’t think I do want to know.”

I arched a brow as he stepped back, turned sideways, and thrust a hand through his hair. My chest warmed with something that reminded me of…fondness. Had we been friends?

“Do you have any idea…?” A muscle throbbed in his temple as he faced me. “What you would have done if I hadn’t shown up?”

“I would’ve done what I did in front of you.”

“Didn’t look like you were anywhere near doing that,” he gritted. I had hoped he’d somehow magically forgotten that. “I cannot believe you were out here—”

“Look, I already have a husband—” I stopped myself before saying and a … I frowned, unsure what to call Kieran. I shook my head. It didn’t matter at the moment. “—who feels entitled to lecture me on my so-called recklessness. I don’t need—”

His brows lifted in an incredulous arch. “So-called reckless?” He stepped forward. “There’s no question about it. That’s exactly what this was. And where is your husband?”

“He’s…” My mouth snapped shut when I felt him—his presence—throb in the center of my chest. My shoulders slumped as a streak of crackling eather lit up the space behind Attes. I really wished he couldn’t shadowstep. Or was afraid of it, like Kieran was. “He’s not in bed, sleeping.”

“No,” Casteel growled, stepping from the tear in the realm. “He is not.”

Every muscle in my body tensed as I watched Casteel prowl forward.

He must’ve pulled on the tight leather breeches in a hurry because they were unclasped and hung dangerously low on his hips.

He wore nothing else besides fury-filled eather that settled over his flesh as thick as any cloak.

His skin revealed the deep gray-and-crimson shadows beneath it.

Tendrils of essence slid through the flesh of his arms and across his chest, swirling along the packed, taut muscles of his stomach and disappearing under his leathers.

The moment I heard his voice, I knew I was in trouble. And it was confirmed the moment my eyes met his.

I had no one to blame but myself.

Swallowing a sigh, I stepped toward him.

“Cas—”

Casteel was in front of me in less than a heartbeat, his fingers, cold as a winter morning, curled around my chin. I sucked in a gasp as he tilted my head back and to the side. “You’re bleeding.” The veins beneath his eyes darkened. “You’re hurt.”

“I’m fine,” I assured him. “It was just a nick—”

“Just a nick?” Crimson-laced shadows lashed through his irises and filled his voice.

“Yes. I’m sure it’s already healed. I’m…” I trailed off as his hand slid to the nape of my neck. The shadowy eather deepened in his flesh as it flowed up the sides of his neck.

Casteel pulled his hand away and turned it over slowly, revealing the smear of crimson across his fingers. “Just a nick, too?” he asked, his voice cold.

“Yeah, it’s just a…bump.”

“Glad to see she was left in good hands,” Attes’s voice came, low, flat, and hard.

Casteel’s gaze lifted, and he slowly turned his head toward Attes.

“Do you have any idea what she was doing?” Attes demanded.

“I can only imagine.” Casteel’s words sliced through the air with the sharpness of frostbitten bloodstone. “But why don’t you tell me?” His head cocked. “Great-grandfather.”

My eyes widened.

Attes’s inhale was swift. “Well, I see that horse has fled the stable.”

“Indeed.” A muscle flexed under the eather rolling along Casteel’s jaw. “What are you doing here, Attes? With her?”

“Apparently, making sure she doesn’t get herself injured too badly,” Attes replied. “Since you weren’t cap—”

“Don’t,” I warned, twisting my neck to shoot the Primal a look of warning, “finish that sentence.”

“No.” Casteel’s voice dropped with that one word, sending a chill crawling up my spine. “Please, do.”

“Please, don’t,” I said, placing my other hand against Casteel’s chest. His skin had cooled even more. He stepped to the side.

Attes fell silent. Thank the gods.

Casteel, however, did not. “Or did you just realize what a fucking idiotic thing that was to say?”

I matched his steps, staying in front of him. “Cas,” I tried again.

“What did I tell you last time, boy?” Attes growled, and I felt more than heard him approach.

Boy ? I grimaced. Hearing Vikter call Casteel boy was amusing. Coming from Attes and being said to Casteel’s face? Not so much.

Casteel’s lips curved into a tight smile. “You might need to refresh my memory.”

“He doesn’t need to,” I cut in, pressing more firmly against Casteel’s chest.

“That is,” Casteel continued as he wrapped his fingers around my wrists, “if you can even remember what you said in your incredibly advanced age.”

Oh, my gods.

Attes’s laugh wasn’t nearly as chilling as what had come out of Casteel, but it was threaded with the same promise of violence. “I can kick your ass despite my incredibly advanced age. How about that?”

Casteel lowered my arms. “I’m about to sound incredibly clichéd, but I would love to see you try.”

“You won’t be seeing any of that.” I stretched onto my tiptoes, briefly considering reaching out to Kieran. I quickly dismissed that idea because I had a feeling he couldn’t help.

“If that’s true, then why are you hiding behind your wife?”

Oh.

Shit.

I didn’t even have a chance to react. One second, I was in front of Casteel. The very next, I was behind him, staring at his tense back muscles.

“Not anymore,” Casteel growled, getting right up in Attes’s smirking face. “So, what are you going to do?”

“Nothing.” I shot forward and threw my arm out against Casteel’s chest. “Neither of you is doing anything.”

They weren’t listening as they sized each other up.

“Do not make me separate the two of you,” I warned. “Because I can and will.”

The curve of Casteel’s lips matched Attes’s as I felt a throb of awareness. I quickly looked at the sky, then returned my gaze to them.

“Cas, you need to be angry with me,” I said, attempting to squeeze between them. “Not him. He’s done nothing but say some really idiotic things.”

“Oh, I’m angry with you.” Casteel’s swirling eyes remained fixed on Attes. “And we’ll handle that later.”

“I didn’t think I said anything idiotic,” Attes replied.

“How about we handle it now?” I managed to force myself between them. “You can lecture—” I squeaked—like a field mouse—as I was gently scooted back several feet. “What the fuck?”

“That wasn’t me,” Attes stated.

“No shit,” I snapped, glaring at Casteel. “I’m starting to get really angry with—”

Reaver broke through the clouds, scattering them as he extended his wings. He landed behind Casteel with a heavy thud, sweeping his wings back as his talons dug into the ground, sending bursts of soil and rock into the air. Smoke wafted from his nostrils as he puffed out a breath.

“Did someone call for backup?” Casteel asked.

My head snapped back to him. “You need to stop talking.”

“Why do I have a feeling that only happens when he’s asleep?”

“You, too,” I snapped, pointing at Attes as I stalked forward. “Both of you need to shut up.”

“That’s not going to happen,” came Reaver’s gravelly voice. I dared a quick peek at him, and yep…naked. “Both like to talk. A lot.”

“You wound me, Reaver,” Attes replied.

The draken snorted. “I’m sure I did.”

A muscle ticked in Casteel’s jaw. “He’s naked, isn’t he?”

“Of course,” I muttered, crossing my arms.

Attes frowned and finally, finally broke eye contact with Casteel to glance at Reaver.

“The people of this age are quite prudish,” Reaver stated.

“Not wanting your dick out near my wife doesn’t make me prudish,” Casteel shot back.

Attes’s silver gaze slid back to him, and his jaw loosened. “I think I actually agree with that.”

Reaver sighed.

“What are you doing here, Reaver?” Casteel asked. He still hadn’t pulled his stare from Attes.

“I sensed what felt like some shit about to go down,” he replied. “And when I felt Poppy’s rising frustration, I figured that whatever it was would at least be entertaining. I was not wrong.”

Drawing in a deep breath, I closed my eyes. It didn’t pass me by that his comment meant he was still bonded to me. But at the moment, I didn’t care.

“So, what is happening here?” Reaver asked.

“Well,” Attes drawled. Without even opening my eyes, I felt his stare.

I tipped my head back. “I saw someone on the Cliffs. I knew it wasn’t Kolis in person but figured it was him tagging along with a Revenant or Ascended. So, I decided to send him a message.”

“And you decided it without waking me?” Casteel asked.

I cracked open an eye. Those shadow-laced golden eyes were on me now, which I supposed was an improvement. “You needed your sleep.”

“I’m not going to even dignify that with a response.”

“Isn’t that a response?” I retorted.

Casteel lowered his chin.

“Why would you think that was who was on the Cliffs just because you saw someone out here?” Attes asked.

Um…

“That’s a good question,” Reaver chimed in.

I opened my other eye. “It’s a long story that doesn’t matter.”

Casteel went to speak but…

“At all,” I stressed. “I came and killed the Revenant. That’s it.”

Attes laughed. “Yeah, that’s it. That’s all I stumbled upon.”

“I know that’s not it,” Casteel said. “Because you were bleeding.” He turned his stare back on the Primal god. “Why don’t you tell me what you stumbled upon. But first, tell me how you managed to do so.”

Attes stiffened to the point he nearly matched my posture. I didn’t intervene because his appearance was awfully convenient.

“Waiting,” Casteel murmured.

“So am I,” Reaver added.

Attes’s jaw flexed. He took a step back and held Casteel’s stare. “I’m not your enemy.”

“I hope not, for your sake,” Cas replied coolly. “But that didn’t answer my question.”

A moment passed. “I suppose not.” Attes stretched his neck to one side and then to the other. “I was arriving, as expected. I stopped to see Setti. Figured it was a good idea to make sure he wasn’t left to roam the realm by himself.”

I swallowed a scream.

“Then, I felt the Primal essence,” Attes continued. “I followed it. That’s all.”

“That’s all?” Casteel murmured, and I saw the doubt I felt etched into his features. “And why the fuck did you think Setti would be roaming the realm by himself?”

Attes tilted his head, and…gods, while the two may not look identical, they were clearly of the same damn bloodline when it came to temperaments.

“Yes. That’s all. And do I really need to answer that question about Setti, considering where we are right now?”

The smirk returned to Casteel’s face, and I hit my breaking point with him—both of them. “You know what?” I unfolded my arms. “If you two want to stay out here and continue trying to out-threaten each other, go ahead. I’m going back.” I pivoted and glanced at Reaver. “Have fun.”

Then, without waiting, I shadowstepped back to the Solar.