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)
Malik remained. “Is there a reason you are asking me to give Kieran these orders instead of having me send him to you?”
I kept my expression blank. “No.”
“You sure about that?”
“Why would I waste time having you retrieve Kieran, only for me to tell him what I just told you?”
He arched a brow. “That response is far too logical.”
My gaze flicked up and then returned to him, the smallest sigh escaping me.
“Fine. I’ll find Kieran and let him know,” he said, backing up.
“Just one more thing.” I stopped him. “Did you talk to our father about our recent visitor?”
“I assume you’re talking about Attes.”
I nodded, figuring Kieran had given him the Primal’s name.
“I did.” He squinted as he brushed his hair back from his face. “It was kind of a strange conversation.”
My head tilted. “What do you mean?”
“I don’t know.” He lowered his hand. “He said he knew our bloodline was a strong one, but that he didn’t know anything about who we descended from.”
“What was strange about that?”
The corners of his lips curled as he pressed them together. “Most Elemental Atlantians are proud of who they’re descended from, charting their ancestry like our mother has—she has the damn family tree painted and hanging in the palace. Our father? Nothing. And he’s only ever spoken of his parents and Elian.”
My brows lowered. “I hadn’t really thought of that.”
“Me neither. I just figured he didn’t care. But…” He exhaled roughly. “I don’t know. I just got the feeling he wasn’t being honest when I spoke to him about Attes.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time.”
“No, I guess not.”
“But why would he lie?” I said.
“Exactly. Still, it could have just been my impression.” He shrugged. “I’m off to find Kieran.”
I wasn’t sure what to think about that as I turned to the chamber, noticing the thick grooves my claws had dug into the wood of the doorframe. I stopped and looked back at my brother’s retreating form. “Malik?”
He halted and faced me. “Yeah?”
I sighed as tense silence stretched between us. Fuck. It never used to be this way. Sure, we’d had our scuffles growing up. What brothers didn’t? But it wasn’t like this.
Malik and I had talked briefly while Poppy first slept—or yelled at each other rather. And I understood why he’d stayed with the Blood Queen. It had been for Millicent. I would’ve done the same for Poppy. But things were obviously still strained between us. Who knew if we would ever return to how we were before? But he…damn it, he was my brother, and I only met Poppy when I did because of him. Because I’d been willing to destroy cities and lives to free him from the Ascended.
I loved him.
I cleared my throat. “Has Millicent returned?”
He clenched his jaw. “No.”
“You think she’ll come back?” I asked.
His gaze cut to mine. “You may still have a hard time believing this, but she wants a relationship with Poppy. So, yes. She’ll come back for her,” he said. And with that, he walked off.
I didn’t stop him a third time.
The letter from Pensdurth and the implications fell to the wayside the moment I entered the bedchamber. Quietly closing the door, I carefully made my way to Poppy’s side, navigating the thick, gnarled roots the color of ash that covered the floor.
The bed.
Poppy.
The roots had appeared within an hour of me laying her on the mattress. They climbed Wayfair’s wall, snaked their way to the window, and then came through it.
I doubted they had gone unnoticed.
At first, I had attempted to stop them, remembering all too clearly when this had happened before. The roots had come for Poppy when she nearly died among the ruins in Irelone. I was fucking panicked, and Kieran…
He hadn’t been in the chamber when we returned. A fresh, pale-violet nightgown had been on the bed, and fresh water filled the tub. Food had also been placed on the small dining table. But wherever he was, he’d sensed the panic I didn’t think to shield and burst through the door.
He’d joined me without a word, tearing the roots away from her. It didn’t matter how many we snapped, though. They kept coming, curling over her legs and spreading across her stomach and chest. Then Reaver arrived.
“You both need to stop,” the draken had said as he entered. “They’re protecting her.”
“They’re choking her!” I snarled as Kieran tossed a broken root aside.
“They aren’t choking her. They are shielding her while she rests.” Reaver’s shoulders had tensed when Kieran growled at him. “Look, Primals are a part of the eather—the very fabric of the realms. When they enter a deep enough stasis, where they are weakened and vulnerable,” he said, which made Kieran and I halt, our breathing turning rapid—“the realm itself seeks to keep them grounded to the essence—protected and shielded.”
He’d said all of that while naked as the day he’d been born. And honestly, earlier was the first time I’d seen him in clothing since he returned from Iliseeum. I’d seen his dick more than mine the last two days.