Page 61 of The Primal of Blood and Bone (Blood and Ash #6)

POPPY

I dreamed of blood and terror, knowing, even in sleep, that what I’d seen and felt before was nothing more than a precursor to what I saw now.

It began with a shockwave rolling down hills and across once-tranquil waters, shattering everything in its path: trees, buildings, people .

Blood filled the ruined streets as a current of heat and ash raced across the landscape, igniting everything left standing and burning those who managed to survive the initial blast from the inside.

The flow of death traveled wide, forcing hundreds of thousands to their knees as they clawed at their throats, choking.

Large chunks of rock fell from the sky, striking people down where they stood or walked without warning—burying villages and cities in burning ash until it looked like a fiery winter had visited the land.

The very earth itself rattled as more of the Ancients woke, sparking eruptions from other mountains, those above and below the seas. Land broke apart and sank, taking entire cities into watery graves as waves taller than the steel buildings lining the coasts crashed through them.

All the agony, terror, hopelessness, and desperation suddenly stopped, like a candle being snuffed out. One after another after another…

I knew then that what I saw was no dream.

It was the end I couldn’t escape, not even in my unconsciousness. But I couldn’t wake myself or stop what I saw until the last of the agony and terror faded.

Only then was I able to pull myself free. My eyelids fluttered, heavy and reluctant, as dull pain throbbed along the base of my skull and throughout my limbs.

The memory of chunks of earth and rock hurling at me flashed vividly in my mind. I was surprised that all I felt was a dull pain.

Forcing my lips to part, I drew in a shaky breath. The air was fresh, carrying the scent of something woodsy and sweet, like damp leaves and crushed wildflowers, and a faint but continuous hum of energy. My senses immediately sharpened.

I wasn’t in Wayfair.

And I wasn’t alone.

A presence drew closer, bringing a different scent with it—an earthy and smoky one, like rich leather. It wasn’t entirely unfamiliar, making me think of narrow, dusty stairwells and secluded chambers. Of—

My eyes flew open and fixed on a wall of glass and…fluffy, white clouds beyond it. I snapped upright, twisting at the waist. My entire world came to a grinding halt.

All I could think was that what I saw couldn’t be real, but…

he was standing a few feet from me, and I couldn’t move—couldn’t even breathe—as my gaze swept over him, searching for any hints that my eyes were tricking me.

He was dressed in a way I’d never seen before, wearing loose, white pants and a light-gray tunic instead of the darker colors of a guard and a layer of armor.

But his hair was that sandy shade of blond and was, as he would say, in need of a trim.

His handsome features were sun-kissed and weathered, and his eyes were the blue of the Stroud Sea.

My hands trembled as we looked at each other. I was breathing again. Maybe too fast. I thought the eather should be going haywire inside me, but it was calm. Practically quiet. I really couldn’t focus on that right now, though.

“Poppy,” he said in that low, gravelly voice.

His voice.

Vikter’s.

One I’d never thought to hear again.

“It’s really me,” he said, and then he gave me that slightly crooked grin of his.

I sprang to my feet, moving before my brain could really catch up with what I was doing. Closing the distance between us, I threw myself at him.

Vikter caught me with a deep chuckle, staggering back a step as I face-planted his chest. Clutching the sides of his tunic, I breathed him in as I felt his chest rise sharply against my forehead. I could feel him. He was warm. Breathing. Alive .

“Poppy.” Vikter’s voice was lower, rougher. “You’re shaking.” His arms tightened around me as I felt his chin graze the top of my head. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt you shake like this.”

I was quaking like a newborn colt standing for the first time but couldn’t quell the tremors. “Is this a dream?” I asked, half-afraid of the answer. “Like what Tawny had?”

“No.”

My breath snagged. “Was that a dream?”

He pressed his chin against the crown of my head. “It was a dream of a different sort.”

“I have no idea what that means.”

His raspy chuckle caused my heart to swell. “You will,” he said. “One day, when you least expect it, you’ll understand.”

A shudder swept through me, leaving my knees weak.

That answer sounded so much like Vikter that it was ridiculous.

“I’ve missed you.” Tears dampened my cheeks and likely his shirt.

I wanted to stop them, to be strong like he’d taught me to be.

Like he’d raised me. And I knew he was never that great with showing emotion, let alone dealing with rivers of tears, but I couldn’t help it.

The tears kept coming. “I’ve missed you so much. ”

“I know.” A strong hand folded around the back of my head. “I’ve missed you, and I wish I hadn’t left you like I did. I failed you—”

I jerked back, lifting my head as his final words to me echoed like a painful reminder. “You didn’t fail me.” His face was a bit blurry through the tears as I gripped the front of his now very damp tunic. “Do you hear me? You didn’t.”

A small smile appeared as he cupped my cheek with a palm still calloused from handling a sword. “My sole duty was to keep you safe.” His throat worked on a swallow. “I made a promise, Poppy. One I was unable to keep. And—”

I blinked back more tears, fighting to pull myself together. “I don’t care about whatever promise you made.”

“You don’t understand,” he said gently.

“I do. Tawny told me that you’re a viktor , just like Leopold,” I told him, and his jaw tightened as something crossed his features, but I couldn’t be sure what.

It could’ve been the tears crowding my vision.

“You did your duty. You trained me, prepared me. Without you, I know I wouldn’t be here today.

You’re like a—” My voice cracked. “You’re like a father to me. ”

“Poppy.” He pulled me back against his chest, holding me tightly as he once again dropped his chin to my head.

“You have no idea what it does for my heart to hear that,” he murmured, his voice gruff.

“You were the daughter I didn’t get to see grow.

I couldn’t be prouder of who you’ve become and the choices you’ve made.

” He cleared his throat. “Including saying yes to that smart-mouthed, arrogant husband of yours.”

I was crying again but also laughing. “He’s not…”

“You’re not really going to claim that boy isn’t smart-mouthed or arrogant, are you?”

I opened my mouth, then closed it.

“Didn’t think so,” he said, amusement clear in his tone. “Wouldn’t have been my first choice for you, considering we only ever saw eye to eye on one thing—keeping you safe. I don’t think he’s good enough for you.”

My lips curled into a shaky smile.

“Then again, I don’t think anyone would be good enough.

But the boy loves you,” he continued while I tried to imagine Casteel’s reaction to being called boy .

“You’re the most cherished part of his life, and that promise he made to you?

” His fingers curled into the hair above my braid.

“When he said he’d give up the throne if that’s what you wanted?

He spoke the truth. So, I can’t really hate that choice for you. ”

A laugh bubbled up but realization quickly snatched it away. “How did you know I got married? Or that he said that to me?”

“I kept an eye on you when I could. Don’t ask how—I know you’re about to,” he said, and he’d been right. “There are things I can’t say without the Arae being all up in arms.”

He was talking about the Fates. In the past, I hadn’t believed there were beings who could see the lives of every single living creature.

It had sounded completely unbelievable to me, but that was before I came to accept that there had to be…

higher beings involved. And before Tawny confirmed they were, indeed, very real.

“So, I need to be careful with what I say,” he told me.

“But I have so many questions,” I muttered.

His laugh was lighter this time, and I was betting the skin crinkled at the corners of his eyes. “I’m sure you do.”

“Can you tell me if you were, like, born again?” I asked what I’d been wondering since Tawny told me about Vikter. “Like, did you have to go through growing up again and all of that?” I pressed my lips together. “That has to be the weirdest question I’ve ever asked.”

Vikter chuckled. “Normally, I would’ve had to. But not this time.”

“Why?”

He exhaled softly. “Because the situation with you is different.”

I had a feeling that was all he could say about that. “Was…was Camilia real?” I pulled back and looked at him.

“She was. And so was my babe.” His voice thickened with grief, and there was no faking that. “They sent me to Solis upon your birth to give me time to adjust to how things had changed. It had been a while since I’d been in the mortal realm.”

“How long?”

“A long time,” he said with a raised brow. “Longer than I can say.”

My lips pursed. The gods knew I wanted to push, but I knew if Vikter could give me an exact length of time, he would’ve already. “Was it hard adjusting to the mortal realm?”

“It was a little disconcerting at first,” he said after a moment. “But even though the land and cities looked different, those who inhabited them usually remained the same.”

I didn’t know if that was a good thing or actually kind of sad. Either way, it made me think of what I’d seen earlier.

“What you saw today,” Vikter said. “Beyond the Primal Veil?”

The Primal…?

Something…strange happened. I suddenly knew the mist hid the lands to the east and west of Iliseeum and the mortal realm. How I knew that without a single doubt was beyond me.