Total pages in book: 44
Estimated words: 42412 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 212(@200wpm)___ 170(@250wpm)___ 141(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 42412 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 212(@200wpm)___ 170(@250wpm)___ 141(@300wpm)
“I was waiting for you to ask,” I told him.
A beat of silence passed. “Asking now.”
I let my hands rest in my lap. “He had no idea about Pensdurth, nor did he seem to know that Kolis had come to the capital.”
“You believe him?”
“Can’t smell shit other than dead flowers when I’m around him, so I can’t say for sure.”
“But…”
“But I think he’s telling the truth.” I paused. “He also doesn’t seem to realize that I’ve changed. Probably the same with you.”
Cas shifted, his shoulder brushing mine. “Learn anything else?”
“He’s not very talkative,” I said with a huff. “For once.”
“Of course,” he replied.
He fell quiet after that, and so did I until I felt his fleeting gaze. Drawing in a deeper breath, I looked over at him—at his profile.
Cas looked like himself. Well, a tired version of himself, but there were no bones. No shadows moving in his flesh. There was, however, a heavy growth of hair along his jaw and around his mouth.
I pulled my gaze from his profile. “You need to sleep and eat.”
“I’ve been sleeping and eating.”
“You need more of both things, then.”
His laugh was low and carried away by the wind so quickly I almost missed it.
“The thing about sleep? About me getting more of it?” Cas said, his voice low. “I keep having these dreams. And not the kind I want. Only had that once.”
I knew what kind he wanted. What he’d only had once. Dream-walking with Poppy. I wanted to ask about that, see if he thought that meant she was waking. But I knew that wasn’t what he wanted to talk about. “What kind of dreams?”
“Like the ones I had when we slept in the Skotos.”
My brows lifted, not expecting that. I glanced at him, and our gazes locked. His eyes were golden shards lit by the low glow of eather.
“It’s like before. She’s…where I can’t reach her. Caged, but…” The breath he took looked like it pained him. His gaze drifted away from mine.
“But what?” I pressed.
“But it’s not the same,” he said. “What she’s in, what I can’t get through? It’s a golden cage.”
Seconds passed, and he didn’t elaborate. I gave him a little more time, and still, he was silent. Knowing him as I did, I knew that meant he wasn’t ready to say more.
But his dreams made sense.
I’d dreamt of her, too.
There were no cages, though.
“Why?” I asked, clearing my throat. I looked over at him. “Why have you been coming here?”
His head tilted. “I found her here once.”
Now, I understood.
Looking forward, I took another breath. “You gonna let me say something you wouldn’t let me get out before?”
Cas was silent.
I took that as a yes. “I should’ve told you about the promise I made to Poppy.”
He inhaled sharply at her name.
“You were right about that,” I continued. “It shouldn’t have blindsided you.”
“I know,” he stated flatly. “And I…I should’ve said something to her. You were also right.”
“We were also both wrong,” I murmured, blinking the snow from my lashes.
“Sounds about right.”
My lips curved upward in a faint grin.
He moved again, erasing nearly all the physical space between us and what felt like a hell of a lot more. “I never really blamed you, Kieran. Not in any way that made a difference.”
“I know,” I acknowledged, but this time, the two words came out hoarse and uneven.
Cas didn’t say anything more. Neither did I. We just sat there in the flurries, shoulders touching with each breath. The shape of the snow blurred.
And for the first time since Poppy left, since everything went sideways, I felt…settled. Calm. Peaceful.
But I knew the peace wouldn’t last.
For either of us.
But in these moments, I didn’t let myself think about what would bring the end of that peace for us. I just let myself be, shoulder to shoulder with Cas, as it always had been.
As it always should be.
BRINGER OF RUIN, GIVER OF WRATH, THE PRIMAL GOD OF DEATH AND DESTRUCTION
Casteel
Cloaked in the shadows that clung to the damp walls of an alcove, I waited.
My patience was waning, but I’d waited longer in silence and stillness. Hours spent in cramped spaces, awaiting the right moment to make my presence known. I’d done just that in Three Rivers, learning the comings and goings of the Ascended there. I’d done it in Masadonia as I watched her.
I could wait for an eternity, if need be.
And I would, if necessary. Because if I revealed myself, they would make finding him even more tiresome than it already was.
They being Millicent and my brother. And him being none other than Callum.
They’d been careful in the weeks after Millicent returned with the Rev, keeping him away from me. I had figured they’d squirreled the golden fuck away in one of the many passageways beneath the capital. After all, Malik and his heartmate knew the tunnels better than I did. Tonight, I saw Malik entering the Shadow Temple and followed, unsurprised when he went through one of the side doors of the cella—the inner area of the ancient Temple—that led to the maze of tunnels below. We had to be damn near under the Elysium Peaks by the time Malik found Millicent.