I had no idea who the golden fuck was. “And Reaver?”
“The draken is in a chamber below. We’re in the—”
“East wing of Wayfair. I know. This was my chamber when I lived here,” I interrupted, and his jaw flexed in response to that piece of information. “Have you been in here this whole time? How do you know Reaver is okay?”
“They’ve brought him by when I demanded to see him. He was rather well-behaved, which was probably the most unnerving thing. But like me, they gave him clean clothing and food. He’s under guard in his chambers.” He smirked. “Well, as locked in as they think we are. They have no clue what he is. If they did, I doubt they’d just put him in a chamber, lock the door, and call it a day.”
“And he truly stayed in his room?”
He nodded. “Even he seems to know better than to go off half-cocked when we’re literally in the heart of enemy territory.”
The Primal essence pressed against my skin, responding to the whirlwind of emotions. I felt as if I might go off half-cocked. “The satchel—”
“It’s right there. I grabbed it.” He nodded to the ivory-cushioned chair on the other side of the bed.
Thank the gods. “Have you…have you seen her?”
The Blood Queen.
Isbeth.
“No. I haven’t even seen any Ascended other than a small army of knights. They’re everywhere. Outside this room, in the hall, on every floor,” he told me. “I half-expected them to be in the damn wardrobe. The Handmaidens and that golden dick have been the only ones to interact with us.”
But she was here.
She had to be.
“Malik?”
Kieran shook his head.
I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. “Who is the golden one you speak of?”
“Name’s Callum. He’s a Revenant. And there’s something really off about him.”
“There’s something really off about all of this,” I murmured. My head felt as if it were all over the place, bouncing from the confusing nightmare to the knowledge that we were in Carsodonia. Inside Wayfair. It was a lot to process—how much our plans had gone off the rails. How much control we’d either lost or never had. A fissure of panic bolted through me, threatening to sink its claws in deep. I couldn’t let that happen. Too much was at stake. I had to deal.
My hands trembled as I closed them at my sides. “What about that Handmaiden? Millicent?”
“Haven’t seen her since we arrived here.”
I drew in a shallow breath. “Did you catch how she said we wouldn’t get into Carsodonia unnoticed if we didn’t go with her? Not that we wouldn’t escape. Did that seem odd to you?”
“There’s literally not one thing about her that I don’t find odd.”
Well, I had to agree with that.
Willing my thoughts to slow and focus, I placed my hands on the warm ledge of the window and looked out. Faint pink streaked the sky. My gaze immediately landed on the shadowstone spires of the Temple of Nyktos and then the shimmering diamond dome of the Temple of Perses. They sat across from one another, in different neighborhoods, one looking to the Stroud Sea and the other in the shadows of the Cliffs of Sorrow.
If Casteel was underground and in a tunnel system like the one in Oak Ambler, he could be under either of them.
So could my father.
I was where I wanted to be, but it wasn’t how I’d wanted to get here. I focused on the distant Golden Bridge, which separated the Garden District from the less fortunate areas of Carsodonia. My heart finally slowed. My thoughts calming as the eather settled in my chest. “This isn’t entirely bad.”
“It’s not,” Kieran agreed, joining me at the window. “We’re here.”
“It’s not like we’ll have free roam of the castle or the city,” I reasoned. “We will be watched closely, and there’s no telling what the Blood Queen has planned. She won’t leave everyone in their rooms fed and clothed for long.”
“No, that’s not her style.” Kieran’s gaze followed mine.
Seagulls dipped and swayed over the Rise, where it began to curve and look out over Lower Town and then the sea, where the setting sun glistened off the blue waters. The soft glow settled over the rooftop gardens and pitched roofs, and even farther out, where the homes were stacked one upon another and there was barely room to breathe, warm light bathed the city. Carsodonia was beautiful, especially at dusk and dawn, just like the Blood Forest. Further proof that something so stunning on the surface could also be ugly underneath.