CHAPTER 9 #3
Thoughts fluttered through my mind like a hummingbird, most disappearing quickly before I could grasp them as some kind of material scratched my skin. I didn’t like the feeling. I wanted to tear the cloth from my body, but I couldn’t move.
I couldn’t think.
A thick fog clouded my mind, leaving room for only the pain: the sharp stabbing invading every limb. The thumping in my temples and behind my eyes. The dryness in my throat. The gnawing hunger in the pit of my stomach. I couldn’t figure out what had happened to me or where I was.
Or even who I was.
My chest hummed feebly as I concentrated on my arms and legs, but all I managed to do was curl my toes against something soft. Maybe I was lying on a bed. But whose? I wasn’t sure that mattered.
Gathering what strength I had, I managed to part my lips. A shallow breath lifted my chest as I breathed in. Pine…I smelled pine, lush spice, and something else. The scent was amazing.
I… loved that smell.
It comforted me and made my skin feel too tight at the same time, my body aching with a need as all-consuming as the razor-sharp hunger. My chest felt like it rumbled as the inside of my mouth tingled. I wanted to be surrounded by that scent. To drown in it. My fangs throbbed, and I…
I needed to feed.
That was the source of the hunger and the bone-deep, cold ache in my chest. Desperation bubbled up, stroking the strands of eather coiled in my chest. The essence flared weakly as sound slowly returned.
The distant call of birds. The soft whirl of a gentle breeze.
The low hum of conversation. Two males spoke in hushed voices.
I zeroed in on one. At first, I couldn’t make out what was being said, but…
his voice was deep and melodic. Eyes like heated honey and hard, sandy-hued flesh flashed in my mind.
That ache pulsed hotly, more intense now.
What they were saying became clearer. “How many?” he demanded, his voice thin with barely leashed displeasure.
“Right now? Looks to be about the same as before. Eight more,” the other answered. His voice also sounded familiar to me. “The Ascended were all in one manor in the Luxe this time. Situation identical to the incidents from earlier.”
A feeling…of bitterness and disgust churned through me, but I couldn’t pinpoint why. My stomach cramped.
“Is Kieran there?” he asked.
Kieran .
That name felt familiar. Important. I tried to grab on to why, but a fog still cloaked my thoughts.
“No. He’s actually passed out in the Council chambers,” the other said. “I can go and—”
“Don’t wake him,” he interrupted. “Let him sleep.”
I couldn’t recall exactly what they were talking about. All I knew was that I was hungry. Starving. But some feeling in the back of my mind told me that whatever I’d overheard should have concerned me. That it would .
But I was so hungry.
I heard the soft click of a door closing, and that scent increased as footsteps neared me.
The whispers of warning picked up as a strange taste gathered in the back of my throat. Thick, like heavy cream, and tangy, with a trace of hot acid—lingering anger. I dragged in another breath, this one deeper.
The footsteps halted.
“Are you…?” He went silent, having only spoken those two words, but I knew it was him. The one whose voice strangely captivated me. “Have you returned to me?”
CASTEEL
Hope.
Hope was such a fucked-up, powerful emotion. It had the power to make the most cynical among us believe in miracles. But it also had the power to unravel the realm.
And that was where I stood, teetering on the cusp of believing in miracles and the brink of unraveling the realm as seconds turned into minutes.
I didn’t move as I watched Poppy’s chest rise and fall in the shallow pattern I’d begun to love and loathe.
I couldn’t. I didn’t blink. I couldn’t .
It didn’t feel like I was breathing, but my heart pounded.
Poppy’s chest rose as she took a deeper breath.
My legs felt like the tendons had turned to jelly, the bones replaced with liquid. I felt fucking weak in the knees as the shadows beneath her eyes slowly receded, no longer leaving the delicate skin there looking bruised.
I staggered toward the bed on those weak knees.
My mouth opened, but my tongue and vocal cords were utterly useless.
I seemed to have lost the ability to speak.
Or think coherently because, at the moment, I didn’t know if I could trust that I had felt the Queen of the Gods’ presence.
I didn’t know if I was seeing what I thought I was.
Had her hand moved?
Where they rested, folded against her stomach, I think her fingers twitched.
My heart slammed against my ribs as my gaze swept the length of her. Beneath the thin blanket, her foot moved, the toes curling.
My mouth dried.
She was waking.
I managed to take one more step toward the bed.
Poppy’s chest rose once more in an even deeper and longer breath.
A low, throaty hum rumbled from her chest, reminding me of a large, very content feline.
The sound went straight to my cock, but I barely felt it as I sat beside her.
Or fell. Her lips parted, revealing the very tips of her fangs.
The taste of something sweet and sharp gathered in the back of my throat.
My arms trembled as I focused on her pulse. It matched mine.
That was a good sign.
Planting my hands flat on the bed, I leaned toward her. “Please,” I breathed. “Please open your eyes, Poppy.”
The breath she drew in then was sharper. Her lashes fluttered—
Poppy sprang into motion, bolting upright and onto her knees. The sudden movement sent shockwaves of pain through her stiff muscles. I could feel that as her head whipped toward me.
Time seemed to stop as our gazes locked.
Instinct warned me that she was sizing me up, stirring the eather within.
But I was a silly fuck because her eyes…
They were a kaleidoscope of churning greens, blues, and browns, pierced by tendrils of silver essence.
The only sign of crimson was in the aura behind her pupils, streaking the shadowy silver glow.
There was no sign of Kolis.
There was also no sign of Poppy as she eyed me like the predator I was.
But that wasn’t entirely abnormal. It even took Atlantians a few moments to make sense of their surroundings after completing the Culling. At least, that was what I kept telling myself as I stayed completely still.
I let my senses stretch out as her gaze swept over me. What I tasted was a mixture of confusion, gnawing hunger, and something hard to decipher. But it wasn’t anger or fear.
That was another good sign.
So was the fact that she was most definitely checking me out in a way that wasn’t predatory. More like needful . Or maybe not, as she shifted into a crouch with an otherworldly grace.
The eather thrummed more intensely, almost as if responding to what coursed through her veins.
Power .
Old, ancient, and unbound power. I could sense that the essence was weakened, but I knew it wouldn’t stay that way.
She was dangerous.
But so was I. The essence in me pulsed, drawing forth instincts all Elemental Atlantians carried with them: the desire to make her run purely so I could give chase, the instinct that demanded I dominate. But it was heightened. Stronger.
The threads of crimson and shadows swirled out from behind her pupils as her chin dipped. A low growl rumbled from her, and every part of my being recognized the challenge in the sound. But that wasn’t the only thing I heard in the warning.
Hunger.
Pressure seized my chest. I wanted nothing more than to give her my vein and assuage the pain she was feeling, but if Kolis was still hidden somewhere inside her…
Fuck.
Words scratched their way up my throat. “Please,” I repeated hoarsely. “Please, give me a sign that it’s you and only you.”
Poppy’s body jerked as her eyes widened slightly. Her confusion increased, but I…I tasted something sweet and sharp again. Not anticipation or excitement. Not even need. More like…yearning.
I inhaled sharply.
Her gaze lowered, and she seemed to go rigid before lifting an arm and reaching forward—
She jerked her hand back.
“What?” I glanced down, my heart fucking skipping as I realized she had been reaching for the ring. My gaze flicked back to her as I lifted my hand.
Her throat vibrated in a low warning.
“It’s okay,” I assured, keeping my voice pitched low and soothing as her gaze snapped back to mine.
Hope swelled as I forced myself to lean back, giving her space.
“You were reaching for this, weren’t you?
” One side of my lips curled up. “Always wanting to touch things.” I laughed.
It was short, but fuck if it wasn’t the realest laugh in days.
“Do you want it back? It’s mine, the one you’ve been carrying, but I was wearing it…
while you slept. You can have it,” I offered, reaching for the ring again.
Poppy’s lips peeled back, and the growl ended in a hiss.
My brows shot up. “That does sound…catty,” I murmured, thinking of what Reaver had said.
I drew in a shallow breath. Then took another one, this one deeper.
“Okay. I’ll take that as a no.” My thoughts raced until an idea occurred.
It wasn’t perfect, but it was the best I could come up with.
If it turned out that she answered yes, then…
gods, I couldn’t even think of that. I forced a smile.
“I…I know you’re confused,” I said, tasting her faintly tangy, almost bitter anguish.
It took everything in me not to act on that.
“I want to help you with that, but I need to know something. I need to ask a question. Can you answer just one question for me?”
She eyed me as I held myself completely still and waited. Patiently. Endlessly. I would wait forever, but I didn’t need to. She gave me a quick, short nod.
“Does…does your head hurt?” I asked.