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)
Kieran raised his brows. “Why don’t you indulge me and find out?”
“We really don’t have time for that.” The Primal’s gaze went to the door.
I moved to the side, blocking his view. While I believed Reaver had sent him, he wasn’t taking a step toward her without me knowing something about him. “What’s your name?”
Silence stretched between us, heavy and strained. “If your brother and I didn’t share such similar features, your”—he shook his head—“your attitude would be a clear indicator of our relation.”
My lips pressed flat. “Your name.”
Eather flared in his eyes. “Attes.”
“Never heard of you,” I replied.
“I’m likely too old to be remembered.”
“How old?” I asked.
“Only Nektas and Kolis are older than me,” he stated, shocking the shit out of me. “That’s how old.”
“Wouldn’t that make you…?” Kieran trailed off.
My gaze sharpened on the Primal. “One of the original Primal gods.”
“Not original,” Attes corrected. “I am of the gods born of the original Primal gods.” His cool, silver gaze moved between us, then to the door. “I assume she sleeps?”
“She was asleep when I stepped out,” I told him. I had a feeling we’d know if she was awake. “What did Reaver tell you?”
“The basics.” Attes stepped back, running his fingers over the strap across his chest. “That your Queen woke from stasis with an…attachment.”
“Did he tell you she is a Primal god?” Kieran questioned.
Attes nodded.
“And did he tell you what the attachment is?” I followed.
“Kolis.” He spat the name with such vehemence it would be hard to feign such genuine disgust. I allowed myself to relax a fraction. “Reaver said he sensed him but wasn’t sure how it happened.”
“I’ve been trying to figure out how something like this is possible,” Kieran said. “I even spoke to Sven.”
I stiffened at the mention of Perry’s father.
“I didn’t give him any details,” Kieran quickly added. “But other than my father, he was the only person I could think of who might know something. Everything he brought up couldn’t have occurred.”
“I thought of something. The Revenant,” I said, and Kieran frowned. “He touched her while she was in stasis.”
Kieran inhaled sharply. “Fuck.”
“Where is this Revenant?” the Primal asked.
“Apparently, dead and decomposing in another cell,” I shared. Kieran showed no reaction to that, so I figured he’d either learned that around the same time I had or before.
Attes turned his head toward me. “How?”
“I killed him.”
His eyes narrowed. “You feel like a Primal. As does the wolven.” Eather crackled behind his pupils as he stepped closer to me. “But that’s impossible. Just as you being able to kill a Revenant is. So, what are you?”
“Extraordinarily impatient to help my wife,” I said since I couldn’t answer his question. I had no idea what the answer was. “That is what I am.”
The muscle in his temple started ticking again, more fiercely now. It caused the skin along the edges of his scar to pull taut. “There are some things I need to know first. Understand?”
My flesh cooled as the essence pulsed within me. “Understood.”
“Good,” he snarled. “What kind of state has she been in?”
“Not great.” I gritted the words, my chest throbbing.
“I need a little more detail than that,” he pressed. “What was she like when she first woke compared to now? How has her behavior been?”
Itching to get back to her, I took a deep breath and told him how she was upon waking and what had occurred since. “But even though she was confused, she was more worried about—” My voice thickened, and I cleared my throat. “She feared hurting me. Even now.”
Attes’s gaze sharpened. “It should’ve been impossible for her to fight the need to feed after Ascending.”
“I thought the same. But on some innate level, she knew who I was to her, and what was inside her,” I told him. “So much so that she fought to get away from me but didn’t use the essence against me.”
His head tilted, sending strands of hair across his forehead as he studied me. “Please continue.”
I scrubbed a hand over my chest as I turned back to the door. I told him how I’d finally gotten her to feed a little and how she seemed to sense something was wrong with her even before Reaver showed. “A few times after that, I was talking to Poppy again.”
“You’re sure?” he urged.
“Yes.”
“She summoned me,” Kieran added, and I managed to keep my expression blank. “And she knew who she was when she did.”
“And now?” Attes questioned.
“She’s exhausted. I can tell she’s been fighting him.” What felt like a fist punched through my chest. I turned back to him. “And doing so is causing her pain.” I replayed the time I’d spent with her. “She said he wanted in, and she didn’t have a choice.”
The Primal’s gaze lowered and then rose. “Has he communicated through her?”