A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire

Casteel became so still, I wondered if he breathed. I sensed an acute rush of emotions flow through him, so swift and sudden, I couldn’t make out what they were. That could’ve been my shock, though, because I’d never felt anything like that from him before.

Then he moved, lifting a hand. He hesitated as if to see if I would pull away. When I didn’t, he cupped my left cheek. His fingers splayed across the scars. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you refer to yourself as the Princess.”

Had I not?

His gaze searched mine, and a long, tense moment passed. “There is so much we still need to talk about.”

“I know,” I whispered. “But it has to wait. I know that, too.”

“But until then?” He stepped into me, causing my breath to snag. “I am honored that you are standing beside me now.”

I didn’t know what to say, and I realized that sometimes nothing needed to be said.

“Are you hungry?” he asked. “Thirsty?”

I shook my head as he lifted his gaze to the western sky.

“But you’re cold.”

“Just a little.”

“A little is too much.” He lowered his hand to my shoulder and turned me so I faced the west. I allowed it.

And when he folded his arms around me, pulling my back against his front, I only tensed for a few seconds. I allowed that too and relaxed into his warm embrace, letting my head rest against his chest. Casteel seemed to let out a breath, and for several minutes, we just stood there. Together.

It was in those moments that I thought about what the wolven had said. “Jasper sort of indicated that he doesn’t think I’m descended from the empath bloodline.”

“He did?”

“He said he’s never heard of or knew any that glowed silver.”

“Neither have I,” he said. “But no other bloodline makes sense. The only other thing I can think of also doesn’t make sense.”

“And what would that be?”

“That neither of your parents were purely mortal. But if that were the case, and you’re a mixture of two lines, it seems hard to believe that both your mother and father would’ve gone unnoticed by the Ascended.”

“And that would mean that Ian would also be part Atlantian.”

“Possibly.”

My heart tripped over itself. Casteel was right. It didn’t make sense. Because why would Ian have Ascended then?

If he actually had.

“It is possible that you come from an empath line that was rare and older,” Casteel said. “Just because we haven’t heard of or seen it, doesn’t mean it didn’t exist.”

He was right.

Something occurred to me then as I watched the western sky. “Was Jasper chosen as the speaker for his people because Alastir was already your parents’ advisor?”

“Alastir could’ve been both, but Jasper…well, he has a sense for things. Not like you. He’s just more in tune with people and even animals.”

I thought about that. “Kieran’s the same way, isn’t he?”

His chin grazed the top of my head. “Jasper once said there was a Seer somewhere in his bloodline—a changeling—and he’d gotten a watered-down version. When I was younger, I used to think he was just telling stories, but he seemed to know things. Like when it was about to storm, or what side to hedge his bets on. Sometimes, he knew what I was going to do before I even did it.”

Just like Kieran.

“And Vonetta isn’t like that?”

“She takes after her mother more—well, except for the cooking, but definitely the ass-kicking,” he said.

I smiled. “I asked Jasper if he expected you to marry.”

There was no tensing or stiffening as he said, “And what did he say?”

“That he didn’t,” I told him, closing my eyes. “That’s what I don’t understand.”

“Poppy—”

“I mean, I don’t understand how the speaker for the wolven doesn’t expect you to marry a wolven, but some of your people do. Other wolven did.” Namely Landell. “And, apparently, your father. And I guess even Alastir at one point.”

“Well, Alastir did expect it. I know that for sure. I’m almost confident it was his idea,” he said, confirming my suspicions. “After all, Gianna is his great-niece—Beckett’s older cousin.”

“What?” I opened my eyes just as I heard the distant call of a songbird. A signal that was answered with a closer call and then by one of the Guardians, who stood at the other end of the Rise.

“They’re back,” Casteel said.

I turned in his arms, our gazes meeting for the briefest of moments, and then we both moved. We weren’t the only ones hurrying to the courtyard. Alastir and Jasper were right behind us, along with Kieran.

Emil and Vonetta lifted the barricade, and the heavy iron doors parted as Casteel strode to the center. I squinted, seeing nothing—

Then ahead, on the dirt road, a white blur racing towards us—white fur matted with reddish-brown.

“Shit,” Casteel grunted, running out the doors. Someone else cursed, shouting for him to stay back, but he was already halfway to Delano.

Who was hurt.

Who was also alone.

I took off, the cloak billowing out behind me.

“Dammit.” That was definitely Kieran.

I didn’t slow down, reaching Casteel and Delano just as the wolven collapsed, sending clouds of dirt into the air. My heart stopped as I read the fiery agony in him. The physical pain snapped my senses open in the way they had before I woke the day before. The cord stretched out, connecting with him, and the pain caused my steps to falter.

Kieran caught my arm, righting me. I started to thank him, but he was already past me as Casteel dropped to his knees.

I reached them just as Jasper did. “Why am I not surprised that both the Prince and our soon-to-be Princess are outside the walls of safety?” he said.

“Welcome to my world,” Kieran muttered.

“He’s in pain,” I said, moving to where Casteel knelt. Once I did, I could see the wound in Delano’s side, under his front leg—his right arm. The blood there was fresher, leaking from a puncture wound.

“He’s unconscious,” Casteel bit out, looking up the empty road and then back at me. “Can you—?”

I was already on my knees on the other side of Delano, my hands tingling with heat. “I don’t know what will happen,” I said, glancing over at Casteel. “I don’t know if I will ease his pain or anything more beyond that.”

Eyes like chips of amber met mine. “Do whatever you can.”

Aware of the Guardians surrounding us as Alastir knelt behind Casteel, I sank my hands into the soft wolven fur. Like with Beckett, before I could start to pull from the all-too-shallow well of good, happy memories, the heat intensified. A faint glow surrounded my hands as I felt Delano’s pain rise suddenly, sharply, and then ease.

“Gods,” Jasper whispered hoarsely.

“I’m glowing again, aren’t I?” I asked.

“Yes,” Casteel answered. “Like moonlight. Beautiful.”

Delano shuddered as I felt the last of his pain trickle away. His ears twitched and then perked. A moment later, he lifted his head, stretching to look back at me as I lifted my hands.

“Hi,” I said, and I swore the wolven smiled.

“Delano?” Casteel leaned forward. “Can you shift?”

The wolven turned back to Casteel and shuddered again. As the fur thinned, Kieran whipped off his shirt, draping it over Delano’s midsection just as his legs lengthened, claws retracted, and pale skin replaced fur. A moment later, Delano was in his mortal form.

I rocked back. Watching a wolven change forms would never cease to amaze me.

Delano lifted his right arm as he sat up, wiping the blood off to reveal no wound. Just a pinker, ragged patch of skin. He lowered his arm, eyes meeting mine.

“Delano,” Casteel said. “What in the hell happened?”

Tearing his gaze from me, he turned to Casteel, his chest rising and falling with steady breaths. “They’re coming. The Ascended.”

Chapter 35

“They’re burning everything,” Delano said between mouthfuls of roasted meat and gulps of water as we sat in a room inside the fortress, off from the dining hall. “All of what was left of Pompay. All of the woods from Pompay to—to Gods, possibly all the way to New Haven. The Dead Bones Clan?” His bare shoulders tensed as he reached for the water. “I don’t see how they could’ve gotten out of there. They have to all be gone.”

My empty stomach churned with nausea. I was no fan of their people-eating and skin-wearing habits, but that didn’t mean I wished they’d all be murdered. Especially after learning that they’d survived the war and the Ascended by hiding out in those woods.

“As soon as we saw Pompay, we knew it wasn’t normal. There weren’t that many there. Maybe two dozen guards. But to create that kind of fire? To the point that the air is nearly black with smoke? We knew there had to be more.” His knuckles bleached white from how tightly he held his glass.

We.

But only he’d returned, and I knew what that meant.

I looked to where Casteel stood on the other side of the table.

His expression was utterly devoid of emotion, but I could feel the vast, icy rage inside him. “Did you see more?”

“We skirted past them, traveling farther west. That’s where we saw them—saw the rest. We got close—as close as we could. To see how many there were.” He downed half the glass of water. “They have camps, Cas. Horses. Wagons pulling supplies.”

Alastir, who’d been standing since we entered the room, sat in a chair, his face pale as Delano lifted his fingers, one by one, from the glass. “There have to be hundreds of them, close to eight hundred or so, I’d guess. A godsdamn army.”     PrevNextTip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between pages.

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