Page 5 of The Primal of Blood and Bone (Blood and Ash #6)

“I know you. Shirking your duties will get to you,” he continued. “Maybe not right now, but it will.”

I snapped my mouth shut.

“You are a King, whether you prepared to be one or never wanted a crown. It’s in your blood,” he said as my gaze tracked the sliver of moonlight falling across the foot of the bed. “You need to see what happened to these Ascended.”

Rubbing my hand over my brow, I exhaled heavily. “You must be getting really tired of being the one to keep both Poppy and me in line.”

Kieran chuckled as he approached. “Someone has to do it.”

“I…” Drawing my lip between my teeth, I shook my head. “The idea of leaving her side…”

“I know.” His hand curved over my shoulder. “I won’t let anything happen to her. Nor will Delano.” He paused. “And if she happens to wake while you’re gone, I could simply knock her out before she realizes you’re not here.”

I snorted. “You would never.”

A slight grin appeared. “Depends on whether she wakes up asking a bunch of questions.”

I laughed. “We’d truly be blessed if that’s the…” I sucked in a sharp breath, realizing that we may not be blessed if that happened. Poppy could wake up with questions driven not by her curious nature but because she had no knowledge of who she was.

We both fell silent as our attention fell on Poppy. Those unspoken thoughts hung in the air like a thick, choking fog.

“Go,” Kieran said quietly. “She will be safe. And if anything happens, I will make sure you’re notified at once.”

I rubbed my thumb over her knuckles and briefly closed my eyes. I knew what I had to do.

Neglecting my duties to the realm would eventually get to me.

I had responsibilities—several million of them.

It took repeating that a few times for me to convince myself it was true—or at least get me to move.

I may not have needed as much convincing before Poppy.

But now, she was the only duty I felt obligated to see to.

I rose and leaned over, softly kissing her slightly parted lips. Then, I did what I didn’t want to do but had to.

Because Kieran was right.

I was a King.

Whether I wanted to be or not.

The auburn-haired Elemental Atlantian riding beside me was surprisingly quiet—and he was never quiet.

Emil had joined Hisa and me as we left Wayfair, and a tart and lemony taste gathered in my throat when I glanced over at him. Unease. I couldn’t fathom what could’ve happened to the Ascended that would’ve bothered him or Hisa.

My gaze flicked up to the city as the Golden Bridge came into view, its gilded sides glimmering in the fractured moonlight. Jacaranda trees lined the road, their normally pinkish-purple blossoms taking on a paler, silvery hue in the moonlight as the rows of stately homes appeared.

Something in the air shifted as thinner, arrow-straight trees replaced the jacarandas, and we got closer to the Luxe. It felt…heavy. Not with humidity, but like Setti was trudging through pea soup.

“You feel that?” Hisa asked, speaking in a soft tone I’d never heard from her before.

“Something’s definitely off,” I said, adjusting the hood that concealed my identity. “Can’t put my finger on what yet.” I glanced at Emil as thick clouds moved in, blocking the moon. “You?”

He nodded as Hisa surveyed the shadows clinging to the courtyards’ stone walls. “I do.” He lifted his head slightly. “It’s almost like they can feel it, too.”

My gaze followed his, and I felt myself stiffen atop Setti when I saw about a dozen or so mortals standing in small groups on verandas, wrapped in their house robes. They spoke in hushed tones to one another as they followed us with their gazes, some stares worried while others were openly hostile.

I knew how Poppy felt in crowds.

One look in their direction had concern swamping me while bitter anger pooled in my mouth. Pulling my gaze from them, I quickly constructed a thick wall in my mind, shutting them out until only my emotions resided inside me.

I didn’t know how Poppy did it. If I didn’t already know how to put up mental blocks, the emotion they projected would have choked me.

And she’d had to learn how to shut herself off through trial and error—no one had been there to teach her.

I knew my wife was strong, but gods, the reminder was a blessing in a way.

If she’d gotten through life so far struggling to block out others’ emotions, she could return to us as she was before.

Eather throbbed in my chest as a sudden sense of awareness rose. Instinctually, I glanced at the night sky, seeing nothing but dark clouds.

But I felt something.

Craning my neck, I caught sight of the shape above. My eyes narrowed—

Large wings sliced through the thick clouds like a blade through smoke, scattering the shadows across the night sky. The draken came straight at us like an unleashed arrow, beams of silver moonlight reflecting off his purplish-black scales.

Feeling a surge of panic press down on me, I tightened my grip on Setti’s reins. Not even a heartbeat later, screams erupted as Reaver dove low.

A gust of wind roared down the road, lifting the edges of my cloak as the draken’s wings skimmed the roofs on either side of us.

Emil’s head jerked up. “What the—?” He cursed as Reaver’s spiked fucking tail whipped through the air inches above our heads, nearly causing Hisa to topple off her horse.

“Asshole,” I muttered. Setti snorted with irritation, shaking his mane.

A loud, rough sound like laughter came from the draken as he suddenly veered upward, sending the mortals fleeing into their homes.

Emil slowly turned his head toward me, his brows raised. “I think I just saw my life flash before my eyes.”

That fucking draken.

Rubbing Setti’s neck to calm him, I watched Reaver extend his wings and disappear back into the clouds.

“That was…fun.” Hisa straightened in her saddle, her face pale. She cleared her throat. “I’ll ride ahead and let the others know you will be there soon.”

Emil’s gaze followed her. “I have to admit,” he said, one side of his lips curling up, “if I were a draken, I’d be doing that shit all the time, too.”

“No part of me is surprised to hear that,” I replied dryly, glancing at the homes we passed.

Night had long since fallen, but it wasn’t that late.

Still, no sounds of music or conversations drifted from the open windows, covered porches, or elaborate courtyard gardens.

With the pleasant weather, this area of Carsodonia should be alive with activity, even with all the businesses and establishments closed due to the curfew.

Except for those who had been out on their verandas, I saw no one else.

Everything that had happened in recent days likely played a role, but it wasn’t like the mortals were forbidden to be outside at night. They could do as they pleased as long as they remained on their property.

The city was quiet.

But it wouldn’t— couldn’t —stay that way for much longer.

As much as I hated to acknowledge it, things needed to start happening if Poppy didn’t wake soon. We needed to find Kolis. Lift the curfew. Deal with the Ascended locked in their homes. And those were only a few of the decisions I’d have to make—choices I didn’t feel right making without Poppy.

My grip tightened on Setti’s reins. She would wake soon.

She had to.