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)
Frustration rose, but I pushed it down, fully understanding where they were coming from.
Why had I expected Casteel to be open to this? I glanced at the others. Were any of them? My gaze lingered on Delano as he stared at his plate. Meeting a handful of Unbound couldn’t undo centuries of hostility and heartache. It didn’t erase the pain of loss that everyone in this chamber had experienced at the hands of the Blood Crown. I got that. But the thing was, they hadn’t been born into those lies. They hadn’t been groomed since birth to believe them. They had no idea what it was like to confront the truth and be forced to face the role they played in it. “That’s not much of a choice.”
Casteel’s gaze met and held mine. “What would you have chosen?”
I pressed my lips together.
“You would’ve chosen death.”
My hands dropped to my lap. “When you believed I was dying, you Ascended me, believing then that I would become a vampry. So, what does that say about you?”
“She has a point,” Kieran murmured.
Casteel’s jaw flexed. “No, she doesn’t.”
Irritation prickled at my skin. “How do I not have a point?”
“Because we are not the same, Poppy. And I thank the gods every day for that.” He sipped his wine. “Because if we were, I would surely be dead.”
“Poppy did try to kill you,” Kieran reminded him, and another soft, delicate snort came from Tawny.
“She wasn’t serious,” he remarked.
I had totally been serious when I thrust that dagger into his chest after learning what and who he was. And he knew it. “What does any of that have to do with what we’re discussing?” I asked.
“Everything.” Casteel leaned toward me and lowered his glass. “I’m a selfish bastard—”
“No truer words have been spoken,” Malik commented under his breath.
On the other side of the table, Delano’s eyes widened, and Perry shifted in his seat.
“I’m a selfish bastard,” Casteel repeated, “who was willing to do anything to save you. Which included having you forever hate me for taking that choice from you. As long as it meant you still breathed.”
I sucked in a thin breath as Tawny murmured, “That’s actually…sweet.”
“And, as I’m sure you know, I’m not all that forgiving or understanding. When you look at the Ascended, you understand the situation they were placed in,” Casteel continued. “Just as you looked at me and understood why I lied to you. When I look at them, I see those who did nothing to stop what the Blood Crown did to my people, me, you…and what they would’ve done to you if they still had control over you.”
The glow of essence behind his pupils pulsed, prodding at the eather inside me. The air in the chamber cooled. “You’re able to make peace with what they are, therefore allowing you to give them a chance. While I wouldn’t look away or feel even an ounce of regret if all the Ascended were pulled out into the sun to burn.”
I stared at him, my fingers loosening and straightening as I willed the eather to calm. Words I wanted to say piled up in my head and collided. I understood why he felt the way he did and knew my ability to give the Ascended a chance was because my suffering at their hands was nothing compared to what Casteel and far too many others had endured. And I knew, deep down, that Kieran was right. I was asking him—all of them—to possibly accept those who’d taken part in a system that preyed upon them.
But even knowing all of that, sentencing every Ascended to death had never felt like something I would do. It wasn’t that I couldn’t. And while it felt like I was only beginning to discover who Poppy Da’Neer was, I just knew it wasn’t who I was at the core of my being. That was why I had resisted when we first discussed this.
But if Casteel couldn’t get behind this…
Picking up my glass, I took a drink and cleared my throat. “So, what do we do?”
“Talk to the Ascended like you wanted,” Casteel said. “Give them a choice, and then we’ll do what we can to assist those who choose to live with the Unbound.” His gaze moved to Malik. “You will take the lead.”
“Gladly,” his brother replied.
After everything he’d just said, I hadn’t expected that to be his answer. “Are you okay with this?”
Casteel’s gaze flicked away. “It doesn’t matter.”
I frowned. “Yes, it does. If you cannot find peace with it, then neither will I.”
“I will be at peace with it.”
“Cas.” I sighed.
“I’m speaking the truth,” he said, his gaze returning to me. “I know what you see when you think about the Ascended, Poppy. You see Ian.”
The breath I took went nowhere. I couldn’t even respond.
“And because of that, you need to give them a choice. A chance.” Casteel leaned in and folded his hand around the nape of my neck. It was as if we were the only ones at the table. “If you need that, then so do I. It’s as simple as that.”