Total pages in book: 401
Estimated words: 390373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1952(@200wpm)___ 1561(@250wpm)___ 1301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 390373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1952(@200wpm)___ 1561(@250wpm)___ 1301(@300wpm)
“Right now,” I muttered, stepping around him, “I dislike both of you.”
“You, Cas, and I all know that’s not even remotely true,” he replied.
I tripped.
“You okay?” Humor filled his voice.
Swallowing a mouthful of curses, I bit out, “I’m fine.”
His low laugh ended when I sent him a glare over my shoulder, but a faint smile remained. Entering the sitting chamber, I grabbed my glass and took a gulp while eyeing the drink Casteel must’ve placed on the table on his way to the bathing chamber.
Kieran arched a brow at me as he went to the credenza and poured another glass. “So, you like what Naill did with this tunic?”
I nodded, sitting on the settee. I thought about the garments I’d seen earlier.
Leaning back, I looked over the embroidered detailing. “I wonder where he got the idea for the design? It’s very similar to what I saw on the Ancients—including the Arae.”
He tilted his head. “What do you mean?”
I explained the marks that looked like ink. “I think it’s the eather. I don’t know why it appears that way, though.”
“Your vadentia really is faulty.”
“Yeah.” I sighed and tucked my hair back from my face. “It is.”
A ghost of a smile appeared. “Do all Primal gods have the foresight?”
I shook my head. “Only the true Primal of Life and the true Primal of Death do.” I paused. “And me. I think it’s meant to help us…make wise choices.”
Kieran opened his mouth.
“You don’t need to say whatever is about to come out of your mouth,” I said.
He chuckled quietly. “Makes sense. Attes didn’t seem like he expected to see Malik and Cas.”
A brief image of a man who resembled Valyn flashed in my mind, except… The image had already faded from my thoughts, but a distinctive feature lingered. “Attes looked more like Malik, right?”
Kieran nodded. “I mean, you could tell that he and Cas are related, but yeah. Malik and their father clearly got more of Attes’s physical traits.”
“Did Attes…have a scar?”
“He did. Right about here,” he said, lifting a finger and running it from his hairline across his nose, just as I’d briefly seen. “How did you know that?”
“I…I don’t know.” I rubbed my palm against my chest. “I just kind of saw him in my mind.”
Kieran frowned. “Maybe it’s from when he was here. You did look at him.”
I sat back, thinking that had to be why. “I told Cas about Setti and who Attes was in Iliseeum.”
“Let me guess.” Kieran took a drink. “He had little to no reaction.”
“Correct.”
“He wasn’t very impressed by Attes,” he said. “Nor his bloodline.”
My brows lifted. “Really?”
“To be honest, I think the feeling was mutual.”
Now, I frowned. Only Cas could be unimpressed by the fact that he descended from a Primal god. However, something about that tugged at my thoughts. Something that felt important. But like so many other things since I woke, it slipped out of reach as soon as I tried to grasp it.
Casteel reemerged, his face clean-shaven as he pulled a linen shirt similar to the one I wore over his bare chest. He crossed the chamber and draped what appeared to be my robe over the back of the chair next to Kieran.
“I ran into Naill earlier.” He paused and sent a blatant stare in Kieran’s direction as he picked up the glass he had left earlier. “Surprisingly, he’s been in Wayfair all evening.”
“My bad,” Kieran murmured, a barely-there grin on his face as Casteel moved beside me. “I was under the impression he was away.”
“Sure, you were,” Casteel remarked dryly. I smiled.
“So,” Kieran drawled, leaning back, “is everything set for the meeting with the generals tomorrow?”
“Yeah. It’s set for the afternoon,” Casteel answered, then said to me, “I know you’d prefer it to be first thing in the morning, but the time was chosen under advisement of Lord Sven.” Casteel patted my hip. “He asked about you and was pleased to hear that he would be seeing you soon.”
I smiled at that. Lord Sven was one of the few generals I actually liked. Lizeth Damron, a wolven, was the other. And, of course, Casteel’s father.
I sat straighter. “Any news from Pensdurth?”
“None,” Casteel answered. “But it’s unlikely that Thad has returned.”
“When do you think he’ll be back?”
“I would think by tomorrow night,” Kieran answered. “Or the following day.”
Casteel leaned over and brushed his lips across my temple before settling into the settee. “We should have a plan in place regarding how we’re going to deal with Kolis before we meet with the generals.”
“Agreed.” Kieran watched me as a prickly, itchy sensation invaded my skin. I wiggled to free myself from Casteel.
Spying the robe draped across the empty chair beside Kieran, I rose.
Kieran cleared his throat. “A plan will be heard and allowed to develop without knowing what state Kolis is in.”
“I think it would be wise to assume that he has returned to his physical form,” Casteel decided, his gaze tracking me. “Did the vadentia tell you how long it will take for him to return to full power?”