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)
Because I needed to know what had happened between him and Kieran that could have caused such pain—the deep kind of heartache.
Setti slowed, causing me to focus on my surroundings. Several horses were already tethered to a hitching post beneath the shelter of a carriage house—one bearing the gold-and-white saddle of either a general or a commander.
“Nice house.” Delano, who’d joined us, eyed the home’s ivory stone façade and ornate pillars framing wide steps leading up to a veranda. Other than a slight redness to his eyes when we joined him outside the stables and the lingering hum of sadness, he seemed okay.
“All the homes here are nice,” Casteel replied, drawing Setti to a halt. “Unlike Croft’s Cross.”
“Only the wealthiest mortals live in this section of the Garden District. Most of the homes are occupied by the Ascended. No Ascended live in the other districts,” I said. “At least from what I can remember.”
“That hasn’t changed.” Malik dismounted.
“Yet,” I murmured, my gaze flickering over the homes across the street as Casteel swung off Setti.
Many houses would soon be empty, which would go a long way toward alleviating the cramped confines of Croft’s Cross. That thought made me feel a little better—a tiny bit.
Making sure the hood of my cloak remained in place, I jumped off Setti’s back, landing on my feet as Casteel turned to assist.
“I could’ve helped you.”
“I know.” Stretching up, I kissed his cheek. Or tried. I ended up kissing his hood.
I stepped back and made my way toward the stairs. Malik was already at the door. As I passed two large urns on either side of the steps, my gaze flicked to the wilted flowers within and then lifted to the baskets hanging from the veranda ceiling. The stems draped limply over the sides, and the plants were clearly starved of water.
“So, what are you showing us?” Casteel asked his brother.
Malik opened the doors. “Follow me.”
Delano and Casteel exchanged a look as we walked inside. A pleasant scent reached me.
“That smell.” Delano sniffed as he closed the door behind us. “Apples and cinnamon?”
“That’s surprisingly…homey for a house occupied by the Ascended,” I remarked.
Malik crossed beneath a chandelier, heading for a door tucked into a shadowy corner of the stairwell. He opened it, and I tensed, knowing why we were headed downstairs. He hadn’t wanted to show us something but rather someone.
My hand reflexively went to my thigh and the shadowstone dagger I’d grabbed and hidden there before leaving the Solar. Not that I really needed it if push came to shove. I could level this house if I had to.
“The Ascended Kolis drained,” I said, entering the lamplit stairway behind Casteel and trying to shake the unease I felt at entering the home of an Ascended. “Were those homes near here?”
“Several avenues back,” Casteel answered.
The stairs emptied into a foyer of sorts, and I saw hats hung next to closed, colorful parasols and delicate, drawstring reticules. The sight of something so…normal was unsettling.
Malik opened the doors ahead, revealing a wide hall with golden vines molded into the walls and ceiling. The female Descenter from earlier waited at the end before an open archway. Seeing her surprised me.
I glanced at Casteel. He frowned and remained silent, though I knew he was thinking the same as I was.
This was the very last place I’d expected to find a Descenter.
Taking a deep breath, I cleared my thoughts and walked ahead. I needed to focus on whatever this was about.
Helenea bowed her head as Casteel and I neared, her nervous gaze bouncing to Malik and then behind us as if she were looking for someone.
“I was told you met Helenea earlier,” Malik said.
“Yes.” Casteel drawled the single word with a raised brow.
Before I could chime in, I was immediately distracted—and confused—by what I saw within the large chamber. And I wasn’t the only one as Helenea quietly closed the door behind us.
The space appeared as if it was bathed in sunlight, an illusion created by the windows painted along the walls and the soft blue skies and heavy-limbed oaks rendered inside the painted frames. The bright, overhead lights made it feel like we weren’t underground, but in a chamber above.
Both Casteel and Delano came to a halt as I scanned the chamber. I saw Emil standing by a lit fireplace, speaking to a male—an Ascended dressed in dark trousers and a loose shirt. They looked to be having a rather important conversation and seemed unaware of our arrival. A handful of other Ascended sat around a table, playing some sort of card game. Another female with glossy, dark curls and cool-brown skin was curled into the corner of a settee, her attention fixed on the book in her lap. None of them were dressed in fine silk or draped in elaborate jewels.