Page 31 of The Primal of Blood and Bone (Blood and Ash #6)

“I thought the same. But on some innate level, she knew who I was to her, and what was inside her,” I told him. “So much so that she fought to get away from me but didn’t use the essence against me.”

His head tilted, sending strands of hair across his forehead as he studied me. “Please continue.”

I scrubbed a hand over my chest as I turned back to the door. I told him how I’d finally gotten her to feed a little and how she seemed to sense something was wrong with her even before Reaver showed. “A few times after that, I was talking to Poppy again.”

“You’re sure?” he urged.

“Yes.”

“She summoned me,” Kieran added, and I managed to keep my expression blank. “And she knew who she was when she did.”

“And now?” Attes questioned.

“She’s exhausted. I can tell she’s been fighting him.” What felt like a fist punched through my chest. I turned back to him. “And doing so is causing her pain.” I replayed the time I’d spent with her. “She said he wanted in, and she didn’t have a choice.”

The Primal’s gaze lowered and then rose. “Has he communicated through her?”

“He…got through for a few minutes.” I raked my fingers through my hair and then dropped my hand. “I got to chat with the fuck.”

Kieran’s head whipped toward me. “What?” He unfolded his arms. “When?”

“A few hours ago,” I answered, my gaze drifting back to the closed door. There was still no sound coming from inside.

“What did he say?” Attes demanded.

“Nothing beyond that he wants what he deserves. Whatever the fuck that is,” I explained. “And threatening to kill everyone I know while trying to get me to let her out.”

“That sounds like him,” Attes muttered. “Could you tell how aware he was of his surroundings?”

I thought about that, my mind flashing to when Poppy had tried to seduce her way free.

She hadn’t seemed aware of where she was.

“I don’t think he’s very aware. And when he was in control,” I said, tasting the bitter, acidic rise of Kieran’s anger, “he never said my name or anyone else’s,” I told them.

Come to think of it, he didn’t seem to sense the essence in me like Attes had either.

“But he appears able to make her see and hear things that aren’t there—at least, that’s what it seemed like to me. ”

Kieran’s stare sharpened on me as Attes said, “The true Primal of Death has unique abilities very similar to those of the oneirou, ” he stated, causing both Kieran and me to stiffen.

I remembered learning about the gods of dreams. “He can ferret out a person’s hidden fears and deepest shame, then exploit it. ”

“What the fuck?” Kieran rasped, taking an unconscious step back.

“It’s an ability designed to only be used against those sentenced to the Abyss.

There was a time when Kolis never would’ve thought of using that against anyone.

” A distant glint filled the Primal’s gaze, then vanished.

“That time has long since passed. So, while he would have access to those moments, he likely wouldn’t be able to sift through her memories. ”

I couldn’t say shit as I stood there, horrified by the idea of Kolis being privy to anything about Poppy, let alone her worst experiences.

“Did anything happen to her while she was in stasis?” the Primal asked.

My fists clenched at my sides. “Not to her, but to me. I was attacked.”

“Sorry to hear that.” His reply was so dry and without even a drip of genuine empathy, that in any other situation, I would’ve laughed. “But I’m not sure how that would impact her.”

“We completed the Joining,” I revealed as I searched for patience I didn’t have.

A crease formed between his brows as he glanced between us.

“You’re unaware of the Joining?” Kieran asked.

“It was likely something that came about after my time,” he answered. “I only woke briefly from stasis once before.”

As Kieran gave the Primal a quick rundown of what a Joining was, I stared at the door. I wanted to check on Poppy, but considering what’d happened the last time I returned, I risked waking her before discovering exactly how this Primal could help.

If he could.

“That could’ve done it,” the Primal said when Kieran finished.

My head jerked toward him. “Done what?”

“When a Primal or god enters stasis for any reason, they are already vulnerable, both physically and mentally. What he told me sounds a lot like the binding that was once done between the draken and the Primals to strengthen both.” He described what sounded exactly like what was done between the Elemental Atlantians and the wolven.

“No fusion of life forces, be it through blood or magic, is a one-way street. If one of you is wounded severely enough, she will weaken.”

My stomach churned as his words sank in, confirming what I already knew.

Kieran moved closer, his voice low. “It’s not your fault.”

“I didn’t say it was.” The Primal frowned.

“Casteel,” Kieran said.

I focused on the Primal, making sure my shields were in place. “So, that’s how he got to her?”

The Primal’s head tilted. “Her growing weaker could’ve given Kolis the upper hand, but he’s…” He shifted the strap on his shoulder, and unease settled in my gut. He shook his head. “There are different ways he could’ve gotten in.”

Kieran’s lips pursed as he dragged his hand over his head. “And what are those ways?”

Attes was quiet, his jaw flexing. Again, I was struck by the feeling there was something he wasn’t sharing. It was the same damn feeling I’d had when I asked Reaver what Kolis wanted from Poppy.

“Is there something you want to tell us?” I asked, my hands twitching at my sides.

His gaze slid to mine. “There is nothing I want to say that I haven’t already.”

Yet again, the way he said that…

“Could the Revenant have allowed him to get to her?” Kieran’s head lifted. “You never said if he could’ve been responsible.”

“I know of no magic possessed by a Revenant that could make someone act as a conduit,” Attes said. “But I’ve only been awake for a short time during the age of Kolis’s entombment. So, could such magic exist? Yes.” A thoughtful look crossed his features. “Perhaps Penellaphe knows of something.”

“Kolis can appear as a shadow. So, he could’ve gotten to her at any time. It would’ve taken just a blink of an eye, and we wouldn’t have noticed,” I seethed.

Kieran let out a low breath. “You’re right.”

I was, and my patience was rapidly wearing thin. “Can you help her?”

Attes stood still and quiet by the door for a few seconds. “I can try.”

“Try?” I whispered. “That’s not good enough.”

His chin lifted, and tension bracketed his mouth. “I only know of something like this happening once,” he ground out. “And severing that connection killed the possessed.”

Severing the connection killed…

My breath became shallow, and my body went rigid.

“What?” Kieran exclaimed.

Fear rose, insidious and suffocating. I reacted the way I had before.

Recklessly.

And furiously.

Kieran spun toward me with a curse.

He was too late.

Snapping forward, I grabbed the Primal by the front of his tunic. Fingers tightening around the soft fabric, I slammed him into the wall, cracking the stone. “This could kill her?”

His eyes filled with eather, becoming orbs of pure silver. Essence poured into the veins beneath, lighting them and the scar up. His lips curved into a tight smile.

It was a warning.

The only one.

His palm connected with my chest, sending me flying backward. I hit the wall with a grunt, the impact still rattling my bones as I landed on my feet.

Attes stalked forward.

Kieran growled, his flesh thinning as the shadow of fur began to sprout.

“If you don’t want to spend the rest of the day mending broken bones,” Attes warned him as the veins in his cheeks glowed with eather, “don’t even think it.”

Seeing that Kieran was definitely thinking it as he started to crouch, I straightened.

“That was your one shot,” Attes hissed. “Blood or not, you won’t get another.”

I forced a laugh, even though it fucking hurt to do so. “You sure about that?”

“Fates, you are—”

“Charming and captivating?” I suggested, relieved to feel the pain lessening already.

Attes’s steps faltered. “You’re so much like him,” he breathed, voice strained and cracking on the word him .

My brows snapped together. “Like who?”

He didn’t answer. Instead, he stared at me in that strange-ass way again. Like it pained him to do it. He blinked, and his expression smoothed out. “I didn’t say this would kill her. The other was mortal.”

Kieran halted. “You couldn’t have elaborated?”

I took a breath, hearing my ribs crackle inside. Fuck. It felt like my chest was half-caved in.

“Did he give me a chance to do so?” the Primal shot back, the eather slowly receding from his veins.

“You could’ve spoken faster,” I retorted, twisting my neck to loosen the muscles.

Attes’s head whipped toward me, and he did another strange thing. The fucker laughed. It was quick but deep. “My apologies,” he said without a touch of remorse. “What I was trying to say is that was my only knowledge of such a possession. This should work. And it won’t kill her.”

I noticed the way he took a deep breath. “But?”

“Can you control yourself if I answer?”

“Just spit it out,” Kieran said. “Delaying it will only give him time to do something idiotic.”

I ignored that comment and repeated, “But?”

“But,” Attes said, adjusting the satchel so it rested against his hip, “it will hurt her.”

I took a breath. It felt like icy fire in my chest.

“I don’t want to. It’s the very last thing I would ever want,” he said, “but it cannot be avoided.”

I stared at him as the corners of my vision dimmed.

“Casteel,” Kieran warned. “We need his help.” He stepped between Attes and me. “Poppy needs his help.”

My heart thudded heavily as I stared at the Primal. Part of me wanted to let the eather swirling inside me loose, but Kieran was right. We needed his help.

Poppy needed it.

Mouth clamped shut, I nodded. Kieran hesitated for a moment, then stepped aside and faced the Primal. “What do you have to do?”