And Pulus was also the name of a lesser god, one who had served under the goddess Penellaphe and was known in our histories for asking a lot of questions.
“I have no plans to stay in Carsodonia,” Kieran answered, scanning the hills to our right.
“Oh.” Poppy nibbled on the cheese. A few moments passed. “Then will you travel back to Masadonia?”
“I will be traveling again,” he said.
She looked up as a thick cloud passed overhead, letting a bit of the fading sunlight reach us. It was later in the day than I’d hoped. “It must be tiresome making such long trips and then having to turn around and do it again.”
“I don’t mind it.” Kieran shifted on his saddle. “I prefer being out in the open.”
Her brows rose. “You prefer being outside the Rise?”
Kieran nodded.
“But it’s so dangerous.” She lowered the cheese. “You saw what happens to those who live outside the Rise, or even those who live in cities that have walls like Masadonia or the capital. They end up becoming what we faced in the Blood Forest.”
“What’s inside those walls can be just as dangerous as what’s outside them,” he told her.
Poppy’s head tilted. She started to speak, but then took another bite of the cheese as I drew my thumb over her hip. “I suppose you are correct.”
She was likely thinking about the Descenters and the night of the Rite. The so-called Dark One and the Atlantians the Ascended swore lived hidden among them.
“I have a question for you,”
Kieran said as a cool breeze caught in the nearby trees, rattling the limbs.
The scent of snow was in the air. “If you had a choice, what would you be doing right now?”
“Instead of annoying you with questions?” she responded.
“Yes,” Kieran stated dryly.
“Instead of that.”
“You’re not annoying him,” I said, cutting Kieran a dark look as I gave her hip a light pat. “He enjoys being asked questions because it means someone is paying attention to him. He likes attention.”
Kieran huffed.
“He doesn’t seem like someone who likes attention,” she noted, looking at him. “But to answer your question—what would I choose to do? I think…I think I would choose this.”
“You would choose traveling to the capital?” he asked as my stomach clenched.
“No. I’m not saying that.” Poppy fiddled with what was left of the cheese in the wax paper while a somewhat unsettling wave of relief went through me. “I mean, I would choose to be out here.” She looked up at the graying sky. “Just out here.”
Kieran looked over at her, the skin furrowing between his brows.
“I know that doesn’t make much sense.” Poppy laughed self-consciously. “It’s just that I’ve never been here before. I’ve never been anywhere, really. That I can remember much of, that is.
And I don’t know what…” She trailed off, squirming a little. “Anyway, I would choose this, but with more cheese.”
I had a feeling I knew what she had been about to say. That she didn’t know what was out there to even choose something different than this. And, fuck, that was…it was tragic.
I could tell Kieran had sensed what she was trying to say, too. I saw it in the tension of his shoulders.
“You’re making sense,” I told her, well aware of Kieran’s attention shifting to me.
My arm tightened around Poppy, drawing her back against my chest. “I would choose the same.”
PRESENT X
“Neither Kieran nor I could figure out how you had these gifts. It just didn’t make sense to us. Nothing I’d found on Ian or what was said about who you believed your parents to be indicated anything like that,” I said as I sat beside her, keeping my voice low.
Kieran slept beside her in his wolven form, as did Delano, who was at the foot of the bed. I didn’t want to wake either of them.
“I hadn’t fully figured out yet that you’d used your abilities on me. I had an inkling then, but not until we spoke about it.” I leaned over, fixing the strap on her slip. “And when I did? It blew me away that you’d do that for me.”
I swallowed thickly. It still blew me away that she’d taken that risk, and it had been just as risky as what she’d done for Airrick in the Blood Forest.
“I don’t know if you picked up on what I was feeling during that time. I was a…” A low, rough laugh left me. “I was a fucking mess of guilt and worry, and this desperation I didn’t fully understand then. I just knew I couldn’t allow you to remain under the Blood Crown’s control. That you deserved a shot at a real life.”
Pressing a kiss to her temple, I stayed there for several long moments, the bridge of my nose pressed against her cheek, until I heard footsteps approaching from the hall outside.
“What are you doing here?” Emil’s voice demanded from beyond the chamber.
Kieran stirred at once, lifting his head as I frowned, straightening. At the foot of the bed, Delano’s ears flattened. He jumped down, his claws rapping softly off the floor. A low growl started to rumble from his chest. I rose, grabbing the dagger from the nightstand.
A grunt came, followed by the sound of someone hitting a wall. Kieran moved, planting two massive paws on the other side of Poppy’s legs so he stood over her as I stepped forward, flipping the dagger. Holding the blade between my fingers, I cocked my arm back as the door swung open, revealing a glimpse of a pale-haired figure in black—
Millicent walked in, the hem of her tightly fitting tunic snapping at the knees of her black tights. She drew up short, pale blue eyes narrowing. “Please don’t,” she said. “I would really appreciate not having to do the whole dying and coming back to life thing at the moment.” Her attention shifted to the growling wolven before her and then the one on the bed. “Or having to regrow limbs. That shit sucks. Growing skin and bone isn’t fun. It’s painful, in case anyone is wondering.”
“I’m not wondering.” I didn’t lower the blade as my gaze shifted to the hall. I could only see half of Emil. A golden-brown-haired fucker had him pinned to the wall. My brother. “But I’m guessing Naill located you two.”
“Actually,” came Naill’s disembodied voice from the hall, “I did, and then I didn’t. Found one but not the other—”
“You know,” my brother drawled, “none of that is important right now.” Letting go of Emil, Malik turned and faced the chamber.
I tensed. Malik didn’t look well-rested. His golden-brown hair was swept back into a knot at the nape of his neck. His eyes were just as shadowed as Poppy’s, and he had a fading bruise on his jaw. He, too, wore black, but his linen shirt was wrinkled and torn across the chest. I was confident the breeches were the ones he’d worn the last time I’d seen him.
“Heard you were looking for me,” Malik said, crossing his arms as Emil flipped him off over his shoulder. “And yet, when I came here, I was told that I could not see you—by Naill, Emil, Hisa, and some other random-ass female wolven—”