“You think we’ll reach Padonia by nightfall?” I asked as we rode farther ahead.
“I do,” Kieran said from the horse that kept pace beside ours.
“We’ll have a day of rest before we have to leave for the Bone Temple,” Casteel tacked on.
“I wish we had longer—ouch.” I leaned back, pressing my palm against my suddenly aching jaw.
Casteel frowned as he glanced down. “What is it?”
“I don’t know.” A taste gathered in my mouth, iron-rich. “My mouth hurts.” I prodded at my upper jaw—
“If it hurts,” Casteel said, curling his fingers around my wrist, “then maybe you shouldn’t poke at it.”
“That would make too much sense,” Kieran remarked as Casteel drew my hand away from my mouth.
“I don’t recall asking for your opinion,” I shot back.
Kieran grinned. It faded quickly, though.
“Poppy.” Concern radiated from Casteel as his gaze flicked up from my hand. “Your mouth is bleeding.”
“What?” I ran my tongue along my gums. “Well, I guess that explains the taste of blood in my mouth. That’s kind of gross.”
“Cas…” Kieran eyed him.
I frowned, opening my senses to them. The concern had disappeared. “What?”
“Is it your mouth or your jaw that’s been hurting?” Casteel asked, still holding my wrist as if he expected me to keep poking myself.
Which was possible.
“It’s more like my jaw—the upper. And the pain sometimes radiates to my temple,” I said.
“And it comes and goes?” Casteel changed his grip on the reins.
I nodded. “Yeah. It doesn’t even hurt anymore. And I think it stopped bleeding.” I glanced back at him. “Why are you asking?”
One side of his lips curled. “Because I think I know why it’s been hurting.” The grin deepened until the dimple appeared. “Or, at least, I’m hoping so.”
Smiling, Kieran shook his head as Casteel urged Setti to the side of the road, slowing him so that Emil and Vonetta rode past us. The wolven following at our side did the same as Casteel drew up to where Reaver remained in the back of the wagon. Malik and Naill rode on the other side.
“What?” Reaver asked.
“I have no idea,” I said.
“Got a question for you,” Casteel started, letting go of my wrist.
“Great,” Reaver muttered.
Casteel was unfazed by the less-than-eager response. “Do Primals have fangs?”
My eyes went wide.
Reaver scowled. “To answer that random-as-hell question, yes. How do you think they feed?”
The other dimple graced us with an appearance as Casteel tilted his chin down. “That’s why I think your jaw’s been hurting.”
I couldn’t say anything for a full minute. “You…you think I’m getting fangs?” I asked.
Casteel nodded. “We don’t get ours until we’re about to complete the Culling. Our mouths will hurt on and off and bleed. It’s like teething.”
“Why am I not surprised you haven’t realized that yet?” Reaver muttered, giving us his back.
I was going to have…fangs?
Holy shit.
Immediately, I lifted my hand, and Casteel caught my wrist once more with a chuckle. “Don’t mess with your mouth, Poppy.”
How could I not? I was growing fangs! I ran my tongue over my gums, feeling nothing strange there. Sugary amusement filtered through from Casteel, but that wasn’t the only thing I felt as he rejoined Kieran. A spicy, smoky flavor gathered in my throat, too.
My neck craned back as my eyes snapped to his. “You’re excited about this, aren’t you?”
“Hell, yes, I am.” He lowered his head to mine, his voice low when he said, “I cannot wait to feel your fangs on my skin.”
Warmth crept into my face. “Cas—”
“On lots of places,” he added.
“Fucking gods,” Kieran muttered.
Casteel laughed as he brushed his lips over mine. He then explained what he thought I could expect, changing the subject to something a bit more appropriate. The fangs would come in, pushing out the other teeth, which was really gross to think about. But he said they descended once they broke through. None of that sounded like fun.
“It really isn’t,” Kieran said when I voiced exactly that. “Cas was a fucking whiny baby that day.”
“Yeah, well, when you have two teeth being pushed out, let me know how that feels,” Casteel shot back.