Total pages in book: 401
Estimated words: 390373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1952(@200wpm)___ 1561(@250wpm)___ 1301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 390373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1952(@200wpm)___ 1561(@250wpm)___ 1301(@300wpm)
As Seraphena spoke quietly to Jadis, my gaze went to Reaver.
He remained where he stood, his brow furrowed, lips pressed into a thin line, and hands clenched into fists at his sides. His chest rose with ragged, uneven breaths that bled agony into the air with every exhale.
“Reaver,” Seraphena called, her voice thick with barely suppressed emotion. “I summoned Aurelia. She will be here shortly to take Jadis home.”
The unspoken message was clear. She was asking Reaver to leave.
He looked like he would argue for a moment but then bowed his head, his hair falling forward and shielding his face. With a nod, he turned on his heel. Chest aching, I watched him leave the chamber.
Seraphena’s gaze flicked to us as she rocked the too-small draken pressed against her. She didn’t need to vocalize what she needed. Taking my hand, Casteel led me out, but it felt like some part of me would remain there, with all the parts of Jadis I knew would also stay.
CHAPTER 37
POPPY
We didn’t speak until we returned to the sunlit hall.
There was a knot in my throat. “That was…”
Stopping by one of the windows, Casteel laid the strapped swords on the floor and pulled me into his arms. “Yeah.”
I rested my cheek against his bare chest, feeling his heartbeat. “I wish I could’ve helped her. Took away her pain.”
“I know.” He ran a hand over the back of my head, and we stayed that way until I felt the presence of a draken drawing near.
I looked up to see a statuesque woman wearing a loose, gold tunic and nothing else, carrying something dark in her hand. Her hair was as black and glossy as shadowstone, and her skin was a warm, rich brown. I almost didn’t recognize her since I’d only seen Aurelia in her mortal form once, and that had only been for a few seconds.
Stunning, cobalt-blue eyes met mine as her steps slowed. She bowed her head, then lifted the balled-up black material. “Reaver asked me to give this to you when we crossed paths earlier,” she told Casteel.
He turned and took what appeared to be a shirt.
“That was thoughtful of him,” I said, considering…everything.
“He said something about you all being as prudish as mortals,” she added.
Casteel, the least prudish person I knew, arched a brow.
“Do you know where they are?” I asked.
“I do.” Aurelia started forward but stopped, the lean muscles of her thighs tensing. “She’s not…” Her chest rose with a deep inhale. “It’s bad, isn’t it?”
Wrapping my arms around myself, I wished I could lie. “Yes.” I glanced down the hall we’d come from and then at Casteel, who was scowling at the shirt. “You should prepare yourself for the worst.”
Aurelia closed her eyes, her lips pursed. Then, with a slow breath, she nodded again and turned, her footsteps quiet and quick. Within seconds, I no longer saw her.
“Does Reaver think I’m an adolescent boy?”
I faced Casteel. “What?”
Lifting his brows, he held out the shirt. “I’m bigger than he is, yet he picked out a shirt that wouldn’t even fit him.”
The tunic was…smaller than one would’ve logically chosen. “I’m sure he was in a hurry and grabbed what he could.”
“Uh-huh.” He pulled the shirt on over his head. The stitches stretched along his shoulders, and I swore I heard some pop as he jerked it down over his waist. His hands fell away, and he met my gaze. “I can barely breathe.”
Despite everything, I laughed. “It is tight.”
“Tight is an understatement.” He bent, and I half-expected the tunic to rip up the center of his back as he picked up his straps. “I would call him an asshole because he is one, but right now, he gets to be an asshole.”
My smile faded as I remembered the look of absolute desolation on Reaver’s face. “I’ve never seen him look like that.”
“Do you know what their relationship is?” Casteel slipped the strap over his chest, the simple act loosening the stitches along his biceps. He sighed. “I thought they were related, but apparently, they were only raised together.”
“He’s never really talked about her much, so I’m not sure.” I drifted over to the window. “Whenever he did speak about her, I heard the sadness in his voice. I know he believed she was already gone.” Her hoarse words echoed in my mind. “She said she didn’t…”
“She needs time.” He sounded closer. “To get through what she’s been through.”
What she’s been through…
The breath I took was sharp. It stung, and the dense, scale-like foliage of the cedars blurred. I knew only a fraction of what Casteel had suffered while in captivity. How long did it take him to get through? “Did you…?”
He leaned against the window’s ledge. “Did I what?”
My fingers dug into my sides as I looked at him. I had a faint memory of him talking about how he’d dealt with the trauma he’d experienced, but I knew we hadn’t had that conversation. “Did you not want to live after you were freed?”