Page 9 of The Primal of Blood and Bone (Blood and Ash #6)

I barely tasted the whiskey as pieces clicked together—pieces that shouldn’t fit but did with an undeniable truth. Isbeth wanted Kolis to return. A vessel was one way for him to do that. She had asked for Malec to be returned to her—

My flinch was sharp and involuntary as a possibility occurred to me—one that was more than a little disturbing.

“I can tell your mind has gone where mine did.”

“If you’re thinking Isbeth was actually looking for a vessel and planning to use Kolis’s great-nephew as one? Then, yes.”

“It seems probable, does it not?”

More than just probable. It was safe to assume that if Isbeth possessed the knowledge we believed she did, then she would’ve known about the vessel. But if we were correct…

“Isbeth lied to us,” I said with a harsh, biting laugh. No shocker there. But it meant Isbeth never planned to sacrifice Poppy. And the tiny sliver of good we grudgingly thought she had was also a lie. She never intended to choose between Malec and her daughter.

Gods.

I briefly closed my eyes as anger rose, stroking the essence. It took several moments to push it down. I needed to focus because…what the fuck had she—or Callum—needed Poppy for then? He’d clearly lied at the Bone Temple.

I looked at Reaver. “Had this occurred to you at any point before now?”

“Not until the Blood Queen did what she did to Malec.”

“And it never occurred to you to mention it before now?” I asked slowly, doubting his intelligence now.

“No.”

I set the glass down before I shoved it through his chest. I didn’t need to kill a draken. At least not right now. “If Isbeth had succeeded, Kolis would’ve basically…become Malec?”

“For a time.”

When he didn’t elaborate, my already thin patience nearly snapped. But then I thought about how Seraphena would respond to what my mother had done to her son. Entombing him? Dread churned inside me.

“And?” I pushed.

“As far as Kolis returning to full form without a vessel? I am not sure,” Reaver said. “Besides Sera, Nektas may know how that would be possible.”

Him calling the Queen of the Gods Sera didn’t pass me by. Sighing, I scrubbed my hand over my jaw. The stubble scratched at my skin, reminding me I needed to shave. “When will he return?”

“I don’t know.”

My hand fisted. “I thought you said he was returning for his daughter. Or was that just an idle threat?”

“If Nektas could, he would be keeping vigil at her side.” His voice was scratchier, and I noticed the blue of his irises brighten. “But he knows there is nothing he can do.”

“Then can you find out exactly what soon means?”

Reaver turned to me. “And how would you suggest I do that? I may be a draken, but it would still take me several days to travel home. And I cannot open the realms. Only a…” His features pinched.

“I can try to get word to Nektas, but with most of the draken here and not knowing which gods have awakened, he’s guarding the Queen and King. ”

“I’m sure they’re capable of caring for themselves,” I argued. “Besides, Poppy is their Liessa .”

“They are capable.” Reaver crossed his arms over his bare chest. “And whether she is the Liessa of my kind does not apply to Nektas.” One side of his lips curled up. “The same goes for me.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” I demanded.

“Seraphena and Nyktos are…” He paused. “They are family. So are their sons. Our bond with them is greater than magic.”

I didn’t need to ask him why he was here then. I knew the answer.

Jadis.

I’d heard from Kieran that Reaver had located Jadis—or what he seemed to believe was her—a day ago.

Maybe it had been two days. I didn’t know.

Either way, she was where Ires had said, deep beneath Ironspire, the citadel located in the Willow Plains.

The female draken was entombed in stone, much like Nektas had been when we first arrived outside the City of the Gods to speak with Nyktos.

According to Reaver, the act was unheard of since it left them vulnerable, and it would’ve taken something drastic for her to self-entomb.

Since Poppy woke Nektas with a simple touch, he believed Poppy could do the same for his daughter. I wasn’t sure how I felt about Poppy getting hands-on with a possibly crazed, self-entombed draken, but that was neither here nor there at the moment.

Reaver stepped back. “Is that all?”

I nodded, my gaze returning to Poppy. My chest clenched as the door opened.

“One second.” I looked over at him. He waited.

“I don’t understand something about what you said regarding Isbeth’s plans for Malec.

If Isbeth never planned to sacrifice Poppy, why did she still need her?

And need her to Ascend? What did she want? What does Poppy have to do with Kolis?”

Reaver didn’t answer.

I looked at him. “Is it because he knows she could end him?”

“Possibly,” he murmured and looked away.

The corners of my lips turned down. “Possibly? What kind of answer is that?”

Reaver’s gaze met mine. “The only one I can give.”

In other words, it was the only answer he was willing to give.

The draken knew something—something he didn’t want me to know.