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)
In the past, her emotions were always right beneath the surface. She had many feelings about lots of things multiple times throughout the day. But that had changed when she was wounded by shadowstone and fell into a deep sleep.
My senses brushed against a void of nothingness, reminding me of what it was like when I tried to read the Ascended or a Revenant. But she was neither of those things.
What she had become…
The memory of me sitting by her side, trying to heal her after she’d been wounded, returned. So much eather had poured from me into her that my palms sometimes felt as if they were on fire. She hadn’t woken until she was being cared for by Wilhelmina—the Miss Willa. She was one of the eldest Atlantians, and I knew if anyone could help Tawny, it was her. But she wasn’t the cause of the changes in my friend.
I was.
Even though I hadn’t healed her with my touch.
“Poppy?” she whispered, making me realize I had gone silent.
I swallowed against the burn of tears. “I’ve missed you, too.”
“You better have,” she murmured, her hand fisting my braid. “I would’ve been offended if not.”
A shaky laugh left me.
Tawny pulled back just enough to give me a once-over. “How are you feeling? Are you okay? Where did you go?” she asked, one question running into the next. “Will you ever be allowed to be alone with anyone in private again?”
“I know you—” I blinked, her last question completely caught me off guard. “Why would you ask that?”
She held my stare as a slight furrow formed between her brows. “You should ask”—she cast a narrowed-eye look that was awfully close to a glare over her shoulder—“Prince Hawkethrone over there.”
“It’s King”—Casteel shoved the door shut with a finger as he returned her look— “Hawkethrone to you.”
“Whatever,” she muttered, facing me again.
My gaze darted between them as my brows inched up my forehead. “Do I even want to know?”
“I think you already do,” she said, clasping my arms. “Your husband is seriously overprotective.”
I glanced at Casteel as he lifted his glass with an unapologetic tilt to his lips. “I kind of know that.”
“Kind of?” Tawny snorted.
Casteel sent me a wink.
Tawny huffed as she looked at him. “It’s a good thing you’re nice to look at.”
Another laugh burst from me as I pulled her back to me. Gods. Only Tawny would say that without a hint of fear or concern. She was still her. That had to count for something. It had to be all that mattered.
That insidious voice from minutes ago, the one that told me I’d be fooling myself believing in what I knew wasn’t true, returned.
Sorrow choked me, and I squeezed her despite the chill of her skin bleeding through her gown, not wanting to let her go.
Tawny’s milky-white eyes widened in alarm. “Poppy?”
Casteel was at my side in a heartbeat, causing Tawny to give a start. “What’s wrong?” he demanded, the eather pulsing brightly in his eyes.
“Nothing’s wrong. I swear,” I assured him—both of them—as my heart pounded. Letting go of Tawny, I stepped back. Maybe I was wrong. But I knew I wasn’t. Bile crept up my throat.
“You’re starting to worry me,” Tawny said quietly, inching closer. She reached out, seemingly unaware of how Casteel tensed beside me, and placed her hand on my arm. “Poppy?”
I looked down at her hand, her cold skin chilling mine.
Oh, gods.
Tawny didn’t deserve this.
“Hey,” Casteel said quietly, moving his hand to my cheek. He turned my head toward his. Talk to me.
I opened my mouth, but I couldn’t say anything as I looked at her. Not like this. I couldn’t read her emotions, but I knew she was worried now, just as I knew she had been happy before. Excited. I couldn’t take that from her. Not right now.
At least that’s what I told myself—and it was partly true. What was also true was that I was a coward.
But I could live with that for a little while. So could Tawny.
Casteel swept his thumb over my cheek. “Poppy?”
Taking a deep breath, I forced a smile and pulled myself together. “I’m fine.”
The look Casteel gave me said he knew better. And he did. I found his mark through the notam and said, I’ll tell you later.
“Are you sure?” Tawny asked at the same time Casteel’s voice whispered that very question in my mind.
“Yes. I think I’m still having weird moments since I woke up,” I lied smoothly. Too smoothly. Having been raised by the Ascended, I’d had plenty of practice doing so.
Tawny’s gaze intently searched mine. “How are you feeling?” she asked.
“I’m good. I promise.” Taking a deeper breath, I exhaled slowly. “I really can’t believe you’re here.”
“More like you can’t believe I made it here alive.” She tipped her head to the side, sending a pale curl against her rich-brown cheek as Casteel slipped away. “And I’m shocked, too. I actually camped, Poppy. Camped. In the woods, on the ground, with only the gods know how many bugs and small critters with long, thin tails.”