Page 184 of The Primal of Blood and Bone (Blood and Ash #6)

The Fate’s smile spread. It was a stunning—and really creepy—smile. He’d also been staring at Casteel the entire time. “I’d better.”

What kind of answer was that?

“Is there a fucking reason you’ve been staring at me?” Casteel demanded. “Without blinking? Once?”

Thorne hadn’t blinked.

“Yeah,” Thorne answered, then finally blinked and looked away from Casteel. “Can I call you Poppy yet?”

“No,” I growled. “Absolutely not.”

His smile fell. “Maybe next time.”

“There will never be a next time.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that, Penellaphe.”

I barely stopped myself from arguing, considering he was a Fate. “You can leave now.”

“Rude,” he replied with a deep…smoky laugh. “Don’t think you can break through the ward.” His humor vanished. “You will not be able to. You will hurt yourself.”

Glaring at him, I crossed my arms.

Thorne’s gaze flicked back to Casteel and then over to Attes. “You’d better keep quiet.”

Attes rolled his eyes.

Thorne’s smile kicked up a notch when his attention returned to me. “Until next time.”

“I hope there isn’t—”

Thorne disappeared, and the tear closed behind him, leaving only the faint smell of burnt ozone.

Malik let go of Delano. The wolven spun and snapped at him. Malik narrowed his eyes. “Next time, I’ll let you get obliterated by a Fate.”

Delano huffed and then bounded over to me. I reached down to pet him.

“So,” Kieran said, turning to us. “ That’s a Fate?”

“Unfortunately,” Attes said. “And they are all varying degrees of that .”

My head cut toward him. “Do you know how many there are? I’ve met that jackass, Holland, and Lirian.”

“There’s also Aydun,” Casteel said.

“I know of two more.” Attes frowned. “Why?”

I let out an aggravated breath. “I need to know how many can die before the realms unravel.”

“Fucking gods,” muttered Malik as Attes slowly turned to me.

“Well, let’s hope,” Casteel stated, his voice threaded with disdain as shadowy essence flashed in his eyes, “that the realms can afford to lose two.”

“Someone has betrayed us,” Casteel announced to the packed Solar, his fingers idly spinning a bloodstone blade. “And it has to be someone in the chamber while we discussed our plans regarding Pensdurth.”

We’d returned to the Solar shortly after the incident with Thorne.

The Shadow Council had been summoned, with the edition of Valyn, Hisa, and Attes.

We were missing Perry since he was with his father and the un official members—Tawny and Reaver.

Casteel’s father and the Commander of the Crown’s Guard were the only two Casteel, Kieran, and I agreed could be trusted beyond doubt.

“Are we positive the thing masquerading as Isbeth was telling the truth?” Valyn questioned from where he sat across from Casteel on the other side of Kieran. “It could’ve just been an educated guess.”

“It could’ve been,” Kieran replied, shifting in his chair. “But add that to how Isbeth—the one we know was truly her—knew about our plans regarding Oak Ambler, and it lessens the odds that she made two educated guesses.”

Casteel’s attention shifted to his brother. “Were you aware of anyone who could’ve been working with the Blood Crown?”

Malik shook his head. “If someone told Isbeth about your plans to arrive in Oak Ambler earlier than expected, she never let on.” His half-closed hand rapped silently off the table.

“I know I’ve said this already, but she wasn’t forthcoming with her plans—whether she didn’t fully trust me or because she simply chose not to.

The only one she held counsel with was Callum. ”

I exhaled slowly at the mention of the Revenant. My… brother . No. That didn’t sound or feel right.

Several tight braids fell against Vonetta’s cheek as she leaned forward. “I can think of three who could be the rat.” Her winter-blue eyes met mine. “And I bet you can think of the same.”

“Murin, Gayla, and Aylard,” I stated.

“It’s got to be one of them,” she said, glancing around the table. Emil and Naill nodded. “Possibly more than one.”

Valyn swore as he exchanged a look with Hisa. “I know the three you’ve named have been…difficult to deal with.”

“Difficult?” huffed Vonetta.

“But for them to not only be working with the Blood Crown but also with Kolis?” he said, dragging two fingers over his brow. “That’s the kind of treason that goes beyond politics.”

“I think we can safely assume the Blood Crown and Kolis are one and the same at this point. But Alastir was also conspiring with the Blood Crown,” Casteel reminded him as he leaned forward and picked up the water carafe.

“He did so because he believed it was in Atlantia’s best interests.

” He topped off my glass, then sat back, once more spinning the dagger with effortless precision.

“It’s possible this person believes the same. ”

“Alastir belonged to the Unseen—not that I’m excusing his actions by stating that.” Valyn lowered his hand. “Only pointing out that there was significant history there.”

“Who’s to say there hasn’t been history with this person?” Kieran countered. “We don’t know how long they’ve been feeding information to the Blood Crown.”

“It’s hard to think of any of them being responsible. Even Aylard,” Hisa said, speaking for the first time since the meeting had been called. “But I swear to you.” Her steely gaze met mine and then Casteel’s. “I will find out who it is.”

“I’d love to assist,” Vonetta offered.

Hisa nodded.

Flashing a tight smile that promised violence, Vonetta leaned back and let her elbows rest on the arms of her chair. On her other side, Emil looked at her with a curve of the lips that said something entirely different.

Likely feeling my stare, Emil’s gaze shifted to me. I raised a brow. He immediately faced forward. Across from him, Naill smirked.

“Finding the traitor in your midst is important,” Attes spoke. He was another who had been quiet until now. “But there is a more pressing issue.”

My chest tightened as I reached for the glass. “He’s right. Kolis has demanded my presence.” I took a drink. “I’m to appear before him by noon tomorrow, or he will attack Carsodonia.”

The table went tomb-silent.

Naill was the first to break it. “With what army? We outnumber any forces he could’ve gathered.”

“He has over two hundred gods,” I reminded him.

“And we have three of…whatever you all are,” Emil countered, his golden eyes flashing angrily. “And a Primal of War. Fuck those two hundred cunt gods.”

My brows shot up.

“Kolis wouldn’t need an army or two hundred cunt gods,” Attes interjected. “If that Isbeth—or whoever she was—spoke the truth.”

“What truth?” Vonetta demanded.

“That Kolis isn’t as weak as we previously believed,” I stated. “That he was being fed for hundreds of years.”

“Fed from…” Vonetta trailed off, tension bracketing her mouth.

I knew she was thinking about the pit beneath the Temple in Oak Ambler: the bones, many of which were small. The dried blood. Hundreds of years’ worth of Rites, and who knew how many innocent mortals who simply disappeared…

“Kolis could’ve been in a stasis instead of withering away,” Attes continued. “He would be at full power or damn near close.”

“If that’s the case, why wouldn’t he have attacked by now?” Malik demanded, having moved out of his typical slouched position to sit forward.

“That’s not Kolis’s style,” Attes answered, and my gaze dropped to his hand. His finger—the thumb—tapped off his glass, and I knew if Casteel didn’t have the dagger in his, he’d likely be doing the same thing. “He’s all about the show. Even to his detriment.”

“What could he possibly hope to gain by meeting with you?” Vonetta asked. “He has to know we won’t negotiate for peace.”

“That’s not what he wants,” I said quickly.

“He wants to become the Primal of Life and Death.” Aware of three sets of eyes on me, I cleared my throat.

I wasn’t being entirely truthful. And Kolis could still very well want to become that for all I knew.

No one else needed to know about…Sotoria.

At least, not like this. We didn’t have time for the questions that revelation would spawn, and I couldn’t afford to delve into any of that right now.

My gaze flicked up from my glass to meet Delano’s. He sat silently on Emil’s other side. The look in his eyes… I wondered if he knew—if he’d overheard something.

“So,” Naill drawled. “It sounds like a trap.”

“I would normally agree with that statement.” Attes looked up through several locks of sandy-brown hair. “However, he’s requested that a Fate be present.”

“What the…a Fate ?” Emil exclaimed.

“It’s a common practice—or it was during my time—whenever a meeting between two or more Primals was held, and there was a concern that things could go sideways or agreements not be honored,” Attes explained.

“The one requesting the meeting would summon a Fate to oversee it. Normally, the Fate would be the one to deliver the message to the other Primal.”

Casteel’s gaze flicked to the Primal as the dagger danced between his fingers. “Normally? Then it would be considered abnormal for a Fate to not be the one to deliver the summons?”

“Abnormal, yes, but not unheard of.” Attes glanced at Casteel, his gaze dropping to the dagger. “It all depends on the Fate.”

“And how lazy they are?” I suggested.

Valyn coughed on his drink, his eyes widening on me. Hisa and Naill were looking at me the same way.

“Exactly,” Attes confirmed with a faint smile.

They turned astonished eyes on him.

“If you’d met one and were in their presence for two seconds, you would understand,” I said.

“I can agree with that,” Delano murmured. “They are not as…expected.”

Vonetta jerked forward, her braids swinging as she turned her head to Delano. “You met a Fate?”

“A little bit ago.” Delano’s gaze bounced between us. “I’ll have to tell you later.”