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)
I almost laughed at that.
“We should probably get going,” Poppy said quietly. When I looked down at her, she seemed too calm about this.
But she was right.
I adjusted her cloak, making sure it hid her features, then led Setti out into the aisle. Gripping Poppy’s waist, I lifted her and swung up behind her.
Fuck if it didn’t feel different riding Setti now, but as Poppy relaxed into me, and we rode out of the stables and crossed the moonlit courtyard, it felt damn good having her with me, feeling the warmth of her body seeping into mine.
Our party of five was quiet as we passed through the inner Rise’s side gate. We took the most direct route to Stonehill, traveling across the narrow bridge, its worn planks creaking as the shadow of the western slope of the Elysium Peaks swallowed its length. The less glamorous bridge had been used for deliveries and errands the Blood Crown hadn’t wanted to draw attention to.
The night was quiet as we skirted the Garden District and took the road cradling the coast. Poppy told Kieran and me how she believed her ability to read emotions had strengthened as she stared east, where the Sun Temple’s diamond-encrusted limestone walls glittered like starlight.
“Reaver said I got my ability to sense emotions from Nyktos,” she said as we started across the bridge over the Nye River. “I wonder if Ires has the same ability.”
“Possibly,” I said, tracing a circle around her navel.
“It’s kind of strange for a Primal of Death to have that ability,” she noted.
“It actually is. The ability is similar to the empath bloodline,” Kieran said, talking about the Senturion bloodline from which we had briefly thought Poppy was descended. “And from what I remember, that was a bloodline tied to—”
“Penellaphe.”
Poppy twisted around to look at me as Kieran looked my way.
“What?” I grinned down at her. “That bloodline descended from the gods of Mount Lotho. I do recall some of my lessons.”
I saw her smile in the shadow of her hood before she faced forward again. “Perhaps,” she said, “I have an ancestor from that Court.” She turned her head. “And so would you. Right? If you truly have a changeling in your ancestry.”
Kieran snorted. “The belief that I have a changeling in my bloodline is more of a story your husband likes to tell.”
I started to grin before I caught myself, my jaw clenching, I turned my attention to the sea and the moonlight reflecting off the still waters.
“I think you—” Poppy stiffened as we left the bridge and entered Croft’s Cross.
I pulled my gaze from the sea. The top of her cloaked head grazed my chin as she sat forward. Her hands stilled, no longer idly stroking Setti’s mane. And between Kieran and I, Delano’s ears flattened.
“Do you feel that?” she asked.
I scanned the jagged, moonlit terracotta rooftops that lined the hills of Stonehill like a broken spine. This area of Carsodonia was full of the working class who paid just a little more than those who lived in the crowded, stacked-upon-one-another apartments in Croft’s Cross.
Yeah, I felt it.
Emil slowed his mount until he was to my left. His gaze met mine, and I knew he was thinking what I was. The air felt like it had the night I’d entered the Luxe. Heavy and thick. Oppressive.
“I do.” Tightening my arms around her, I drew her back against my chest.
Kieran guided his horse closer to ours. “What exactly did Naill tell you?” he asked since we hadn’t spent much time questioning Emil after he told us there were mortal deaths. We took just enough time for Poppy to put on her boots and don a harness and a dagger—a shadowstone blade instead of the bloodstone. I’d have to question her about that later, but I had a feeling it had to do with who the bone had belonged to.
None of us was that eager to learn what awaited us.
“All I know is that we have…” His strained tone drew my attention. It wasn’t like the Luxe, where he’d mainly been confused by what he saw and how he felt. He cleared his throat. “We have a lot of bodies.”
“How many?” I asked, swiping my thumb back and forth across her stomach.
Emil’s brow furrowed. “About fifty.”
“Gods,” Poppy gasped, causing Delano to swing his massive white head in our direction.
“Yeah,” Emil answered. And that was all he said as we climbed a street near the Temple of Saion, the God of Earth, Wind, and Water.
Emil guided us to our left, where the road veered and began a steady upward climb. The homes here weren’t dark like they were on the lower streets. Lamplight spilled from the windows, illuminating the shadowy figures of those watching from within.
Emil noted where my attention had gone. “They were asked to stay inside until we could figure out what had caused this…incident.”