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)
“And you will not speak unless it’s to answer our questions,” I continued. “Do you understand? That is a question. Nod if you understand.”
His nostrils flared, and he nodded.
I looked at Poppy as I linked with her. Do you have any questions for them?
Her response was immediate. No.
You sure? Even after what we’ve learned.
What did Mira say? That they ordered the tithes to be filled with crimson?
One side of my lips curled up as I eyed the vamprys. They did.
I am beyond positive.
Poppy stepped forward.
“Do you think you’ve won?” the female asked.
“Shut up, Laural,” the male gritted out.
“Why should I?” she countered. “I know how this ends.”
“Do you?” Poppy questioned.
The female nodded. “You didn’t answer my question. Do you think you’ve won? Now that you’ve taken the city?”
“I haven’t answered because it’s a silly question,” Poppy replied. “Asked by an even sillier…creature.”
“You haven’t answered because you know you haven’t won.” Through the strands of her hair, I saw her lips twist into a sneer. “Long live the Queen.”
Essence flared in Poppy’s eyes as she glared down at the vampry. “My mother is dead.”
Lady Hawley laughed. “No one truly dies now.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” I demanded.
She winced as she leaned back, jostling her arm. “It means exactly what I said.”
“Laural,” Lord Hawley snapped. “You need to stay silent.”
“No.” Poppy’s smile was as sharp as the dagger strapped to her thigh. “Let her speak.”
Lord Hawley’s jaw tensed, but he wisely kept his mouth shut.
“The true King has risen,” Lady Hawley said. “And he will take back everything that is his.”
“And what do you think belongs to him?” Poppy asked.
“Everything,” she whispered.
Poppy’s laugh rang out, and the air crackled with the heat of the sun. “Nothing here or in Iliseeum is owed to him.”
“Is that what you think?”
“That is what I know.” Poppy took a step toward the Ascended. “His days of ruling have long since passed.”
“He’s only just begun. And you—none of you—will be able to stop him.” Hair fell back from Lady Hawley’s face as she tilted her head. “You look like your mother. Well, except for the scars.”
I snapped forward, stopping only when Poppy held up her hand. I forced myself back and reached out to her. One more word…
I let the warning linger. If she mentioned Poppy’s scars—the beautiful proof of how strong my girl was—even once, she would no longer have a tongue to speak with.
“She had such high hopes for you,” she continued. Eather throbbed in my chest.
Poppy knelt before the vampry, causing Delano to reach for his sword out of reflex. “You know so much, don’t you?”
The Lady laughed.
“So, tell me, why would my mother want Kolis to return?” Poppy asked. My brows drew together. “Was it simply to see Atlantia burn? Was she truly that predictable?”
“She was.” Lady Hawley lifted a shoulder. “But she wanted more. They planned for you to sit by his side.”
My hands fisted, but I checked myself.
“Now, you will lay at his feet,” the vampry’s voice lowered. “Where you’ve always belonged.”
I saw red, but Poppy was so damn fast when she wanted to be. Her hand was around Lady Hawley’s throat before I even took a step, eather pulsing through her and lighting up her veins.
“I have never belonged there,” Poppy said as the vampry’s body jerked and then stiffened. And I…
I froze.
Poppy’s fingers pressed into Lady Hawley’s throat. Eather sparked from her fingertips and seeped into the vampry’s flesh. A wave of essence rolled through the Ascended, lighting up the network of veins first in her legs and then in her torso and arms.
“And I never will again,” Poppy whispered.
My heart pounded as Lady Hawley threw her head back. Eather spilled into her eyes, burning them from the inside and pouring out of her mouth. The Ascended shuddered, fissures racing across her flesh. Her skin cracked and flaked off, the bits drifting up before fading.
Within seconds, Lady Laural Hawley was gone, except for a pile of clothing. The Lord tried to run but didn’t make it far with Delano and Malik there. They drove him to the cold marble floor while I stared at Poppy as she rose, the green in her eyes vivid.
It was Poppy. Her eyes. The rage that swirled through her. But that voice? When she said she’d never belonged there—would never be there again.
It hadn’t sounded like her voice.
CHAPTER 43
POPPY
“We need to talk about the Ascended,” Casteel announced to what he’d coined our Shadow Council.
Though with Vonetta not due until tomorrow now, it wasn’t our full Council gathered to eat and for discussion.
“I was hoping you’d invited us all to supper to talk about the fact that the Queen of the Gods was here in the flesh—live and in person,” Emil stated. I frowned at him.
“We’re not discussing the Queen,” Casteel interrupted.
“But—”
Kieran raised his hand to silence the Elemental. “Please, continue,” he said to Cas.