Chapter 40

Chapter 40

Chills of dread were like icy fingers on the back of my neck and down the line of my spine as Casteel lifted his head, and his chest rose against my back with each heavy breath. Swallowing hard, I followed his gaze. The larger division had arrived, and we…we were engulfed.

An army of Solis soldiers ran forward, overcoming the carriage as they drew unmarred swords. They swarmed the road and fields outside the Rise, and then the Rise itself.

The chill of dread seeped into my skin and bones as I closed my eyes. There hadn’t been enough time for Kieran and Alastir.

Casteel shifted so he was beside me. His fingers touched my cheek, and I opened my eyes. Even with the blood covering him, he was still the most beautiful man I’d ever seen, and I suddenly wished we’d accepted our pasts and opened up to one another sooner than we had. There would’ve been time then to really get to know each other. Maybe just a few days or weeks, but I could’ve discovered if I’d read his favorite book and he could’ve learned that strawberries were just as much a weakness for me as cheese was. He could’ve told me about the conversations that drove him and Malik to the caverns, and I could’ve shared the dreams I’d had when I was a child, before I was veiled as the Maiden. We could’ve explored each other, and he could’ve proven just how sensitive all those other areas he’d mentioned were.

Because now, there was a good chance we were out of time before we even had it.

He smiled at me, but there were no dimples. The expression didn’t reach his eyes, and I felt tears stinging mine. “It’ll be okay.”

“I know,” I said, even though I knew it wouldn’t be.

“I’m getting you out of here.”

A knot formed in my throat. “I can stop this. They won’t harm me. I can go—”

“They cannot have you, Poppy. I know what they will do to you.” His bloody fingers splayed across my cheek. “I cannot breathe when I think about that. I’m getting you out of here.”

A knot formed in my throat. “What about the others? Naill? Delano? Von—”

“They will take care of themselves,” he swore. “I need to get you out of here. That is all that matters right now.”

But it wasn’t.

Spessa’s End mattered. The people mattered. “What about the people? The ones who can’t fight.”

“They’ll be warned. We had plans in place in case this happened. They’ll be warned, and they’ll have time to get out. They’re in a better position to do so than us. We’ll have to fight our way out.” His eyes held mine. “You understand that?”

I nodded as the knot expanded. “I’m sorry—about Spessa’s End.” My voice cracked. “About Elijah. About all of them—”

“You are what matters now.” Casteel kissed me, and it was hard and fierce. A clash of teeth and fangs that tasted of blood and desperation. “You do. We do. Us surviving this. That is what matters.”

Dragging in a deep breath, I cleared my mind of the panic and sorrow, and nodded.

“You ready, Poppy?”

“Yes.”

He smiled again, but this time, his dimples appeared. “Let’s kick some ass.”

“Let’s,” I whispered.

Casteel rolled out from under the catapult and shot to his feet, thrusting his sword into the first soldier. I followed, climbing to my feet. I’d been wrong earlier. I hadn’t truly known madness until then—until they came from all sides, reaching for me when they realized who I was, stabbing and lurching at Casteel.

Sweat and blood slicked my skin, my grip on my sword and dagger perilous. I smelled and tasted and saw death. Each handful of feet we gained, we were surrounded again. The ground became oily with offal. My boots sliding as I screamed, driving the dagger into a chest. My muscles shrieked with protest as I swung the sword, slicing into necks and stomachs and arms—at anyone that got too close.

A blow caught my cheek, causing me to stumble into Casteel. Catching myself, I kicked out, dropping the man to his knees. I didn’t think twice as I drove the sword through his skull, and I couldn’t keep my senses locked down anymore. They opened, seizing my breath as my senses stretched out, forming connections with those around us, and…oh, gods, there was so much fear. The bitterness mixed with the taste of the blood, choking me as I swung, my arm knocking into Casteel’s as I stabbed at a man—

A man who was afraid.

They were afraid to die, afraid not to fight, and just…afraid. I shuddered as I turned, seeing faces young and old, white and brown and black. Their emotions poured into me. I couldn’t shut it off. Couldn’t take the time to concentrate as I moved in front of a blow meant for Casteel. A blow that was pulled back only at the last second, and then I killed him. I killed the man who projected terror into the air.

And something…something was happening inside me. It was waking up, stretching and expanding, filling my veins and causing my skin to hum as I leapt forward, slamming the wolven dagger deep into a chest, swallowing the soldier’s fear and drowning in his agony—in their fear and agony.

A hand grabbed my braid, yanking me back. My feet went out from under me, and Casteel spun. More hot blood sprayed the air, our faces. Our gazes connected as he helped me stand, and then we spun back around, hearts pounding as we tripped over bodies, as soldiers pressed in, as orders were shouted—take her, kill him, seize them both. As something exploded from deep within me, inhaling all the fear and agony and primal emotions, and all of it rose inside me. The swirling, churning mass of emotions clawed at my insides, my throat, and I needed to shut it down. I had to shut it all off—

I dropped the sword as I brought the dagger to my own throat. “Stop!” I shouted. “Stop, or I will slit my throat.”

Casteel whirled toward me. “Poppy—”

“I’ll do it,” I warned as one of the soldiers stepped up to Casteel. “I’ll cut my throat wide-open if any of you take another step forward. I doubt any of you will live if that happens. He’ll take you down.”

“I’m about to take you down,” Casteel growled.

I ignored him. “And if he doesn’t, what do you think the Duchess will do? The Queen? They’ll do what you did to your men. You’ll die. Every last one of you. That, I can promise.”

Faces paled and glances were exchanged. Several stepped back—

The sky was ripped apart by deep wails, by snapping growls and piercing howls that came from the woods and everywhere at once it seemed. It was a crescendo, a call that kept rising and rising, and was answered by yips and barks that seemed to come from the trees, from the bush surrounding the left side of the Rise, and from the western road.

The soldiers before us started to turn—

Wolven raced out from the forest, streaking over the ground and launching into the air. They were a sea of fur and claws, taking down soldiers, tearing through armor and flesh. I saw Jasper and Delano among them, Vonetta too, but there were…there had to be dozens and dozens of them, and their timing…

Their timing had been impeccable.

A large brown wolven lifted its head, ears perked. Another and another did the same, luminous pale eyes locking onto mine.

Slowly, I lowered the knife from my throat.

All of a sudden, it sounded like the Rise was coming down around us. Like a thousand boulders tumbling and falling to the ground from the sky, but the Rise still stood, and nothing, not even the stars had fallen. I swung toward Casteel.

He smirked, eyes lit from within as he took a step back, exhaling deeply.

What reminded me of thunder grew louder, and as I turned, I realized that what I’d heard was the pounding of hooves.

Pale horses poured out from between the trees and filled the western road, mud and blood streaking their legs as they kicked up dirt and grass. Moonlight glinted off golden armor and raised swords. Those blades—those horses—mowed through the lines and rows of soldiers as white banners streamed and rippled behind the pale mounts, banners bearing the golden sword and arrow lying across the sun. The crest of Atlantia.

Atlantia had come, and there were hundreds of them.

Tired muscles in my arms loosened as they charged past us, stirring the blood-soaked air and lifting the tendrils of hair that had escaped my braid. They set fire to the remaining catapults, to the wagons as they swarmed the Solis army, and I knew none would be left alive.

As the wolven followed the army, a warm, damp nose bumped my left hand, and I looked down into the pale blue eyes of a large, fawn-colored wolven.

Kieran nudged my hand again, and I opened it, revealing the golden mark and the ring on my finger.

“Yeah,” I said hoarsely. “You missed it.”

His ears perked as he looked over to where Casteel stood.

“You missed a lot,” the Prince said.

Kieran trotted over to him as I turned and saw the crimson carriage untouched.

Was she still in there? Or had she run?

I was walking before I knew, running toward the carriage, barely aware of Casteel shouting my name. I tore open the carriage door, and the Duchess hissed from the dimly lit interior. She lurched forward, catching herself on the door when she saw me.

Her eyes widened with surprise. “Penellaphe—”

I punched her in the face.

The Duchess stumbled backward, falling between the seats as she cupped her nose. Blood poured out between her fingers. “That hurt,” she seethed, glaring up at me as I climbed into the carriage.

“Things are going to hurt way worse than that,” I promised.

She lowered her hands. “When did you become so violent, Maiden?”

“I was always violent.” I caught her arm as she reached for something. My fingers curled around her cool skin. “And I was never the Maiden.”

“But you were. You always were.”

“Where is my brother?” I demanded.

“Come with me, and I’ll show you.”

I shook my head. “Where is Casteel’s brother?”

“With yours,” she said, and I didn’t believe her.

“Is he alive?”

“Which one?”

“Prince Malik.”

“How else would we have been able to Ascend Tawny if he wasn’t?”

I let go of her wrist as my stomach sunk. “You lie.”

“Why lie about that?”

“Because the Ascended do nothing but lie!”

“You know that Tawny couldn’t wait to Ascend.” She rose to her knees. “She was ecstatic when I told her the Queen had petitioned the gods for an exception, that she would Ascend. I sent her to the capital. The Queen did it for you. I told her how close you and Tawny are.”

“Shut up.”

“She wants you to be comfortable when you return home, her blooded granddaughter—” Her eyes widened as she caught sight of my hand. “What is that?” The Duchess scrambled forward, clasping my left wrist. “The imprint.” She stared at the golden swirl across my palm. “You’re married.”

I pulled my hand free as she rocked backward, laughing.

“You’re married? To the Prince of Atlantia?” Pitch-black eyes lifted to mine as a wide smile broke out across her face, revealing the fangs of both her upper and lower jaw. “If I’d known, none of this would’ve been necessary. You. Born of flesh and fire. The Queen will be so thrilled to learn you’ve done what she could never accomplish. Seized Atlantia right out from under them, under her. Our Queen will be so proud of—”

“Shut up,” I snarled, thrusting the bloodstone blade deep into her chest.

Duchess Teerman’s eyes widened only a fraction in surprise. I met her stare, holding the dagger there until the cracks formed in her skin, until the light went out of her eyes and her body caved in around the blade of the wolven bone and bloodstone dagger.

And just like an Ascended, I felt nothing but a sudden iciness as I watched Duchess Teerman turn to ash.

I turned.

Casteel stood outside the door, the lines and angles of his features sharp in the moonlight. “You beat me to her.”

“I did.”

A long moment passed. “Did she say anything to you?”

“No.” I swallowed thickly. “She said nothing.”

“Are you okay?”

I nodded. “Are you?”

He said nothing as the sounds of battle grew fainter, and I tentatively opened my senses. His emotions ran the gambit, a swirling storm that was hard for even me to make sense of.

“No one comes near this carriage,” he said, speaking to whoever was beyond the opening. He hoisted himself up into the conveyance. The ceiling was just high enough for him to stand. “I’m very conflicted right now.”

“You are?”

He nodded as the door swung closed behind him. “I’m furious with you for threatening your own life. For even thinking that was a suitable option.”

“What else could I do?” I demanded, lowering the dagger. “They were—”

“I’m not done yet, Princess.”

My brows flew up. “Do I look like I care if you’re done?”

A shadow of a smile appeared in the dim glow. “I’m livid that you would do something like that.”

“Well, I’m annoyed that you don’t seem to realize that, at that moment, we were out of options,” I snapped.

“Still not done,” he said.

“Guess what? I don’t care.”

His eyes deepened to a heated honey. “I’m furious, and yet, at the same time, I’m in awe. Because I know you would’ve done it. You would’ve killed yourself to save the lives of those who still stood. You would’ve done it to save me.”

Backing up as he came forward, I stepped on the cloak and whatever else the Duchess had been wearing. “You don’t sound like you’re in awe.”

“That’s because I don’t want to be awed by something so incredibly reckless.” His chin dipped, and his voice deepened. “And that’s because I need you.”

A sudden hot flush chased away the coldness stirring inside me.

“I need to feel your lips on mine.” He planted his hands on the carriage wall, caging me in. “I need to feel your breath in my lungs. I need to feel your life inside me. I just need you. It’s an ache. This need. Can I have you? All of you?”

I didn’t know who moved first. If it was him or me or both of us. It didn’t matter. We came together, the kiss just as wild as the one under the catapult, and it said everything that words couldn’t communicate at the moment. We kissed as if we hadn’t expected to have the luxury to do it again. And for far too many minutes, I knew we both believed that.

We’d been on the cusp of either being separated or killed, and that kiss…and what came next in that shadowy carriage was proof of how rattled we both were by the knowledge that we could’ve lost each other just as we’d truly found one another.

And it was more than that which allowed me not to care where we were, what I’d done in here and what was happening outside these thin walls, when he slipped the dagger from my hand, sheathing it on my thigh. Or when he turned and lifted me, placing me on my knees on the cushioned bench as he tugged the leggings and undergarments to my knees. What allowed me not to care was what the Duchess had said before I killed her, the utter coldness and emptiness I’d felt as I watched her die, and the haunting intuition that there had been some truth to her words.

Casteel placed my hands on the wall as he scraped the sharp edge of a fang along the side of my throat, sending a bolt of wanton heat and dampness through me.

“This is so inappropriate,” I panted.

“I don’t give a fuck.” He nipped at my skin again, and my entire body arched. “Brace yourself.”

I did, but nothing could’ve prepared me for what happened. He struck as fast as a viper, sinking his fangs deep into my throat at the same moment he thrust into me. The twisting shock of pain and pleasure stole my breath and fixed my wide eyes on the ceiling—on the circle with an arrow piercing the center embossed in black and crimson. Infinity. Power.

The Ascended Royal Crest.

And then…then I became that fire again, the flame.

There was nothing but an excess of pleasure and ecstasy, intensified by the deep, rumbling sounds he made, the hand that slipped between my thighs, and those wickedly skilled fingers.

A new madness engulfed us, one not too different from what I’d felt when I stepped out into the courtyard. And maybe all the death we saw and inflicted also drove us to this moment, to the hungry way his mouth moved at my neck and the nearly greedy way my hips pushed back against his. The feel of each other was a reminder that we were alive. That we’d survived. That there would be time for all those things I’d thought of as we were pinned to the ground under the catapult. That even as uncertain as our future was, there was one. And when the storm inside of us crested and took us both over the edge, I knew it was also the intensity of what we felt for one another, what we had both been fighting, that drove us.

That drove Casteel to abandon his people to save me.

That drove me to hold a dagger to my own throat, ready to slice deep to save him.

The intensity of the emotion, how all-consuming it suddenly felt, didn’t make sense. My head fell back against his chest, and he kissed the corner of my mouth, the longer scar, and then the shorter one, I didn’t care.

“You already have me,” I whispered.

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