Page 28 of The Primal of Blood and Bone (Blood and Ash #6)

Poppy ate all the cheese. Her fingers hovered over the meat for a few seconds, and then she hastily grabbed a piece I’d cut up for her. I didn’t dare breathe too loudly as she ate, stopping to grasp the glass between her palms, her slick fingers glistening in the dim light.

When she finished everything on her plate, I blinked rapidly, surprised to find dampness clinging to my lashes. “Do you want more?” I asked thickly.

She gazed at the plate, then shook her head.

The chair creaked as I rose from it and cautiously approached her. She turned her body sideways, keeping her knees close to her chest. As I crouched in front of her, I noticed her hands were stiff above her knees.

“Here.” I picked up the cloth, maintaining eye contact with her as I lightly grasped her wrist. A barely-there charge danced from her skin to mine.

Poppy’s entire body tensed, but she didn’t move away. That was progress.

As I dragged the cloth between her fingers, she lowered her gaze. She was staring at the ring resting against my chest.

“It’s my wedding band,” I told her. “There’s an inscription on mine and yours.”

Her thick lashes swept up and then lowered once more. Her lips moved wordlessly, and I could’ve sworn she mouthed the words engraved in the gold.

My heart leapt in my chest. “Always and forever,” I whispered. “That has never changed. It never will.”

A small tremor ran through her as I moved on to her other hand. I was a greedy bastard, taking my sweet time wiping away any food remnants. But I was pushing my luck.

Giving her a smile I didn’t feel, I let go of her hand and picked up the plate and empty glass. It didn’t take me long to return to the table, but when I turned, she had her arms folded across her chest. She wasn’t clutching her knees anymore, but I wasn’t sure if that was an improvement.

I returned to the chair. Not much later, Poppy’s chin lowered, and her eyes closed.

Her breathing evened out. The moment I was positive she was asleep, I got to my feet and grabbed the quilt.

I turned back to her but didn’t take another step.

She was leaning against the wall, her knees having slid a few inches away from her chest.

What if covering her with the quilt woke her?

My grip tightened as I stood there. I hadn’t been this uncertain since I was a young man. I stood there for minutes, my heart pounding and my vision blurring. Moving slowly, I gently laid the quilt over her shoulders the best I could.

She didn’t wake.

I silently backed up until I was near the door. Dragging the backs of my hands over my damp cheeks, I took a moment and then turned and quietly opened the door. Meeting Emil’s gaze, I closed the door behind me. “Keep your voice down,” I said, my hand still resting on the handle. “She’s sleeping.”

Emil’s grip on the broadsword at his hip loosened as he nodded.

“I need you to do two things for me,” I told him.

“Anything,” was his quick response.

“Get me a status on the Rev.”

“Won’t take too long to do that. I put the pieces in a cell not too far from here,” he said. “But the last time I checked, he was still in pieces.”

I frowned, not knowing how long it took a Rev to recover. “I also need you to find Millicent for me.”

Emil’s brows rose. “Okay.” He paused. “I’ll send Kieran down—”

“No,” I interrupted. “Send Delano to watch the door.”

He opened his mouth.

“Send Delano,” I repeated, opening the door again before Emil could say anything more.

My gaze immediately found Poppy. She hadn’t budged, and the quilt remained tossed over her shoulders. Wishing I could move her to the makeshift bed, I leaned against the door. The risk of waking her was too great.

I kept my eyes on her as I waited. Sometime later, I heard footsteps and hushed voices, before a knock not heard but felt came. Pushing away, I quickly slipped out into the hall.

Delano was there, his pale hair messy. I had no idea what time it was, but there was a good chance we’d woken him.

“Emil just swung by. He’s still looking for Millicent,” he informed me, glancing over my shoulder at the door. “But he wanted me to let you know the Rev is still in pieces.”

“Really?” I crossed my arms. “It’s been…what? Five days? No improvement?”

“Well, if you consider decay improvement. And the gods know I’ve never thought to say this, but…I do,” Delano replied. “So, there’s that.”

Surprise shot through me. “The fucker is decaying?”

Delano nodded. “Yeah, he appears irrevocably dead.”

Shock rippled through me as I stood there, wondering if I was so damn tired, I hadn’t heard him correctly.

Because what was being implied was impossible. Only draken blood killed a Revenant.

So, how did I kill one?

Satisfaction gleamed in Poppy’s crimson-streaked eyes as I rose from the chair and stalked toward her.

She woke when I reentered the cell, and it clearly hadn’t gone well.

Because it wasn’t Poppy who awakened. But I hadn’t caught on to that at first. She hadn’t tried to attack or run, she’d said she was cold. Lonely. That her head hurt. So, when she rose, made her way to where I sat, and climbed into my lap, I hadn’t stopped her.

It wasn’t like I believed Poppy had returned to me.

I knew better. I’d just wanted to hold her.

And I had. I’d held her, desperately wishing her skin was warm and full of life instead of cold as death itself.

Still, holding her felt like a dream—one that didn’t last when she tried to get me to take her from the room.

First, she begged. And when that hadn’t worked, she’d tried seduction.

That technique hadn’t worked either, but the fact that Kolis had used her to try that? Bile clogged my throat, and I clenched my jaw, fighting the urge to expel the meager contents of my stomach.

The moment Kolis realized he wasn’t getting anywhere, he’d cursed me with her mouth and voice.

I’d sat through it, not moving an inch, not speaking.

The simmering anger grew into a rage as he used her hands to claw at herself.

When she drew blood on her cheeks, I couldn’t take it anymore. Could no longer bear witness to it.

I snatched one of the blankets she had kicked aside, and the sound of stitches ripping rent the air as I tore a narrow strip off with my bare hands.

“Is someone mad?” she taunted with a dry, cackling laugh.

Turning, I wrapped one end around my fist and moved fast. Grabbing her hand, I yanked it from her face.

“What are you—?”

“Stop speaking.”

“Make me. You can use your co—”

“Shut up.” I caught her other hand and rolled her onto her stomach.

That thin, reedy laugh scraped against my skin. “I wasn’t suggesting this, but if that’s what you want…”

“Shut the fuck up.” I dropped to my knees, using them to pin her legs together. I yanked both arms behind her—

“Why?” she whimpered, causing my gaze to shoot to the side of her face. The slithery coldness was gone from her voice. “Why are you doing this to me?”

Teeth grinding, I pressed her wrists together.

“You’re hurting me!” she shouted, bucking her hips to dislodge me. “Why are you hurting me? Why?”

My chest felt as if the claws of a Craven had dug into it, ripping open the cavity. I faltered—

Poppy reared with a burst of strength, nearly throwing me off as she broke my hold on her wrists.

Cursing, I clamped my knees against her hips and grabbed her upper arms, pulling them back once more as gently as I could—it was still her body.

“Please, don’t!” she screamed. “Please!”

The scratching on the door started again.

I shut myself down when Delano whimpered.

I felt absolutely fucking nothing as I quickly wrapped the strip of blanket around her wrists, keeping it as loose as I could but tight enough that she wouldn’t be able to tear her way free.

Once I was finished, I rolled her onto her side and rose, backing up.

“Please don’t do this,” she begged. “ Please .”

Breathing heavily, I dropped into the chair.

She yelled. Screamed. She screeched and thrashed about until her voice gave out. Lying on her side, she panted as she glared at me with icy hate, Delano pawing and digging at the iron door the whole time, whining.

I ignored it.

All of it.

Until she finally quieted—either him giving up or her body giving out. Her eyes closed, and her breathing became shallow and quick but steady.

Delano’s whimpers faded but never truly went silent as I stared at the thin rivulets of blood coursing over her scars.

In that moment, I knew three things.

Kolis was weak— very weak. That was why the bonds around her wrists held. That’s why he tried what he had to escape instead of fighting. He’d wanted to distract me.

Kolis also didn’t want to feed. It would’ve strengthened him, but it also meant strengthening her—the reverse of when she refused to feed. Both were trying to keep the other weak.

And the third thing I knew without a doubt?

I was going to kill him.